Red Thread Chapter Two

As most of you already know Jason and I were approved to adopt a beautiful little girl from China last Thursday. We are both in awe at the outpouring of encouragement and prayers we have received from everyone. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives. Although do not feel like “angles” or super special people as some have said. We are just average everyday parents with a little more room in our home and willing to open our hearts up to adoption. Desperately hoping our adoption will go through without a hitch and our hearts will not be broken.

How can one fall in love with a child they have never met? It's incredibly difficult for me to explain. But when you look into the eyes of your child for the first time, it will send chills down your spine, you will begin to well up with tears, and you will “just know“ that she was meant to be in your life! We already feel as though Lia is our daughter and have watched the video the adoption agency has sent us 2-3 times per day!

After receiving our approval Thursday, we are knee deep in paper work (OK well let’s be honest, I am knee deep in paperwork, Love Jason but he‘s not the “paperwork type“) this weekend . All of which needs to be sent to China within three days to receive our pre-approval from China. Yikes! Trying to take it one step at a time, I know everything will all get done. I am truly blessed to have the support of a close friend experienced in adopting from China. She has been helping and counseling me every step of the way. Thank the Lord for Amy! Love ya Girl! I do believe she will keep me sane during this emotional rollercoaster.

Yes, it has been an emotional rollercoaster. Quite honestly while I’m am very excited I am also very anxious during this process. It’s similar to being pregnant. You see two pink lines (decide to pursue adoption), get very excited and meet with your doctor to confirm (are “matched” with child) and then shout it from the mountaintops (blog and post it on face book, LOL). While very excited, in the first and second trimester, you're also very anxious. You feel like at any given moment something can go awry and you will have a “miscarriage”. I would say I’m in the “first trimester “ of adoption at this point. Needless to say everything is very new, exciting, and anxiety ridden. You want to do everything perfectly so you can realize your dream of a child. When I feel overwhelmed I cannot explain how much the support of my friends and family keeps me plugging away. Each day I am getting one step closer to my daughter. You all mean the world to me! Thank you and God bless you all!

Meet Lia

Lia is the beautiful little girl who will soon be a part of our family with the support of our family and friends. Jason and I are so incredibly blessed to welcome her into our home and offer her the life changing medical interventions she needs.









Lia was found at six months old. She is now a beautiful four (almost five) year old. She was born with club feet and radial club arms. Due to her condition she is not yet able to walk, cannot bend her elbows/wrists and is dependent for most of her self care skills. She's only had three other families look at her file in the past few years and all three have declined her.




Jason and I instantly fell in LOVE with her. How could you not. We just want to do everything we can to help this beautiful little girl. I know adoption is not for everyone. It's something Jason and I have been called to do for a long time now. We know we can offer Lia a loving family and the leading medical interventions she needs to grow and develop. As a pediatric Occupational Therapist we feel our home has a lot to offer little Lia.

The thing that weighs on our hearts is that we cannot fund her adoption by ourselves. We have to do something we are not good at. We have to swallow our pride and ask people to help us. Without the help of our friends and family we may not succeed in our journey for Lia.


We've already applied for adoption grant money which will help us fund $7,000 of this journey. After all the grant money is applied we will need to come up with $15,000 to fund Lia's adoption. We believe if she was meant to be ours the Lord will work a MIRACLE for us. We appreciate all your prayers and help bringing Lia home to a family who cannot imagine living without her. May the Lord bless you as we all try to work a MIRACLE for this precious little girl.

A Ladybug Day!

For those of you who do not know......Ladybugs are a sign of good luck in the adoption community. While I'm not superstitious I do believe God gives us little signs, things are going to be OK, if we just watch for them. I thank God for all he is doing in our lives (and for the ladybugs he's been sending my way).

Ok it's official I do not think I've ever been more excited! What a wonderful couple of days. Jason and I have located a homestudy agency and have started the paperwork to get our homestudy going. We received the video of Wang LeTong today and I was yet again in tears! She is so happy and beautiful I just can't imagine that anyone could decline her file. Lucky us the other family looking at her file decided to do just that today. So we are off to committee tomorrow and will know by tomorrow afternoon if we are "matched". I am so excited and can't wait to get her home. I know with love and support she is just going to blossom.

Our Red Thread Chapter 1

I realized that Jason and I were destined to go to China and get our daughter when I read about this ancient Chinese belief:
"The Legend of the Red Thread"-

- "An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break.

"This is about our magical ride on the red thread...


So there I was at work when a friend stopped in with a picture of a child. She asked me if I knew anyone with a heart for adoption who my be interested in adopting a child from India. About two weeks prior, Jason and I had a conversation about adoption. I had hit a low point and was in tears because I never felt like we were never going to "make it". I felt like time was slipping away and we would never be able to afford adoption. God must have been listening to us because fast forward two weeks and here he was tugging at my heart again.

I took the picture and showed it to Jason but nothing really came of it (other than to spark the adoption conversation once again). That night I tried to contact the woman regarding the child in India with no success. I got online and started looking at waiting children (something I've been know to do). Then after an hour online I found her. I can't explain the emotion that came over me when I first saw her. I showed her picture to Jason and he said ah the cute chubby one. She looks just like our kids when they were little. Again in tears I looked at Jason and he said all we can do is try. Just give them a call and if it's meant to be it will be he told me. I could hardly believe my ears. Jason, my husband, said we can try. I was so overwhelmed with emotions. Happy,excited,anxious, mixed in with a little fear, just like I felt years ago when I saw two pink lines!

The next day was Jason's birthday and I made my first ever call to an adoption agency! The woman on the phone was extremely helpful. She stated that the little girl had been with them for a while and only had two other couples look at her file. Both couples had turned her file down stating that her needs were to significant for them to handle. I explained that her special needs did not scare Jason or I that the most we worried about were finances. She told me that this particular little girl had a grant money we could apply for if we were "matched". So we would only have to raise about $14-15,000 for her adoption. I know it sounds lik a ton of money. But like Jason said, "look at how much money people spend on SUV's.... this is the future of a little girl we are talking about, we have to try." With that we were off to do everything we could to bring her home.

Jason and I filled out tons of paper work, answered many questionnaires, and had a conference call with a social worker from the agency. During that call, we were told that another family was also looking at her file and my heart sank. The social worker told us that it would be one-two weeks until we were presented at committee depending on if the other family decided to pursue her adoption or not. So now we begin the dreaded waiting......