Wednesday night, way past my bed time, and I just can't fall asleep. I was born a night owl, and it seems even 3 kids can't change that! I decide that it would be a good idea to check the weather in both the cities our kiddos in China are at. I might want to start thinking about packing, so to pack, I need to know the weather.
Finding that out leads me to wonder if I can find out about the "local" scene, you know the secret places everyone should visit, that no one knows about. I decided to do random internet searches. I'm just weird like that, typing in random words to see what pops up and what information I can find out about where my babies are from.
Somewhere among the zillion searches I did, I found a link to a yahoo group that is composed of people who have adopted, are adopting, associated with, etc the same city/province as Caleb is from. Well of course I join the group. Maybe to find some random pictures someone took and my baby is in the background, or maybe just to learn more about where Caleb is from.
I told them my name and Caleb's Chinese name, and said hello!
Hours later, I received an email from the DIRECTOR of Swallows Nest in Zhengzhou, with the question...
Is this your son?
Finding that out leads me to wonder if I can find out about the "local" scene, you know the secret places everyone should visit, that no one knows about. I decided to do random internet searches. I'm just weird like that, typing in random words to see what pops up and what information I can find out about where my babies are from.
Somewhere among the zillion searches I did, I found a link to a yahoo group that is composed of people who have adopted, are adopting, associated with, etc the same city/province as Caleb is from. Well of course I join the group. Maybe to find some random pictures someone took and my baby is in the background, or maybe just to learn more about where Caleb is from.
I told them my name and Caleb's Chinese name, and said hello!
Hours later, I received an email from the DIRECTOR of Swallows Nest in Zhengzhou, with the question...
Is this your son?
That is my boy! I emailed her back saying YES, YES, he is ours!! She gave me her phone number and said she is actually in the States, so call to talk to her. I have the phone number of the woman who is in charge of the care of my son, and she is American, and she speaks English.... at this point, I am so overwhelmed I am about ready to throw up! (either that or Kenney made pigs in a blanket for dinner, not quite sure which)
So we talked, and she told me about him, all about his hearing, who cares for him, his personality, etc. Then she gave me the email of a lady doing an internship there, that cares for 6 of the kids, one of them being Caleb. Again, all within minutes, we are facebook friends and I am able to look through her photo albums, and see tons of beautiful pictures of my boy! Then I find out she is a Christian, a real, Bible believing, John Piper-ish kind of Christian. I see pictures of my boy being read the BIBLE!
She tells me to send all kinds of pictures of our family, she'll share them with Caleb, and get him ready for us to pick him up! She'll use lots of English too! She said we can email her all the questions we have, and she'll do anything to answer us. She even said that she has a very VERY special place in her heart for Caleb...
OVERWHELMED!
I can not tell you how crazy this is, every adoptive family wishes for a glimpse into their child's life that they can not be a part of, and here, I have a wide open picture window!
The best part is, I didn't pray for additional information, I didn't ask God for more information than we already had. I have a couple of pictures and some medical information and that is it. We were happy with that. We were happy we had a 15 second video clip of Caleb. It didn't bother us that we were never given updated information. It didn't bother us that his medical information seemed so incomplete. I can honestly say we really were at peace with our decision, and ready to face all the unknowns. We kinda felt like Abraham. In Hebrews it says , Abraham, by faith was called, and went out, not knowing where he was going. So with our little boy, we didn't know where we were going, just that we were going!!!
God, in his perfect timing, infinite wisdom, His glorious self, choose to make known the unknowns for us. Praise God!
The difference between knowing and seeing- I've read verses in the Bible over and over, and I've quoted them, over and over, and used them over and over, but to have them be real. To take root in my heart, so much so that they effect my life.... sadly it doesn't happen enough, but tonight, the verse, it became so real
Ephesians 3:20
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us
Oh, wow!! So overwhelmed for you! God is SO good! Praise Him for all his good gifts, of which this is certainly one! So glad I checked for updates before going to bed tonight. What a joy to be able to welcome this precious boy into your home in just a few short weeks. Even though I can't see his full face in the picture of him seeing you ... I can tell he's grinning. Things like this DO happen when we are along for the adventure of being in His will. So thankful for your testimony, Kenney and Laura. To God be the glory!!!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, how wonderful is that!!! He is so beautiful too! God Bless You! How touching!!
ReplyDeleteOH Laura...this is WONDERFUL! He DOES provide exceeding and abundantly of all we can even THINK or IMAGINE! What a faith booster!! Thank you so much for sharing!! I love to "picture" those I'm praying for...and now I have a PICTURE! xxoo
ReplyDeleteoh wow Laura....amazing. I think I too was about to puke when I got a email asking if this was our son also with his name. Started shaking and thinking...No Way Lord...you truly amaze me and answer prayers that I never even knew I wanted answered so bad. We will be holding those boys soon!!!
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