One Less Orphan in the World!

Gao Wen Liang is now officially Jedidiah Wen Liang Gunnink!!

This little boy, who was fearfully and wonderfully made thousands of miles away from Sun Prairie, WI, is no longer just growing in our hearts, but now has come into our arms and into our family forever!

We are still a bit in awe that this is all happening!

We met some Chinese officials in a conference room here at the hotel at 9am.  In an hour's time after more paperwork and an interview, Gao Wen Liang became our son!

Here is the official paperwork:

The adoption director from his orphanage was there again for this and she presented us with a gift from the orphanage, an authentic Mongolian outfit for Jedidiah and a certificate saying thank you to us for helping them in the plight of orphans.  It was very humbling when she gave this to us.

Jedidiah did great during all of this 'business.'  He found some curtains to hide behind and peek out of.  He likes to play and laugh.  Very adorable.  He is for sure a typical 20 month old.  He likes to discover things and he does not like not having his way. :)  We are doing a lot of redirecting!  :)  He is going to fit right in with our boys...he likes figuring out how things are put together and how they work...very like Jonah and Elijah!

We had the rest of the day on our own.  We ventured out to the store together and just had a quiet day together just the three of us.  We accidentally, though, successfully traumatized our son for the first time.  We went to the barber in the hotel just to get the sides of his hair trimmed, just around his ears. Well, Jedidiah was not at all happy about this, and just when I was going to say forget it, let's not do this, the barber's clippers went straight up the side of Jed's head and took off a whole patch of hair.  Horrible!  This forced the job to be completed.  Not a good experience.  Because of the way the clipper went all the way up his head, we had to cut it all off.  I am sad, but it will grow!  I am the most sad, of course, on how we traumatized him.  Praying God helps him forget the whole experience!

Post-haircut Jedidiah:

Beyond the haircut, please pray for this little guy.  His whole world has turned upside down.  Everything is new, everything.  So much for him to adjust to and we need wisdom on how to best help him.

I also suddenly have come down with a bladder infection.  Some wonderful friends prayed for me and encouraged me through email last night, which I know made the difference.  Praise God the medicine my doctor had us bring is the exact one he would have prescribed if we were at home.  I started taking it, and although I still am not feeling completely right, I am a ton better.

We go tomorrow to get Jedidiah's passport, then Friday head to his orphanage in Baotou, and onto an evening flight to Guangzhou, way down in southern China.

IN BRAD'S WORDS:

One less Orpan - boy, there is no better feeling than knowing by my simple little act of obedience, this little guys life will change forever. In this process, we have had our eyes opened to the need around the world for families to step up and "do for one what you wish you could do for many." Today as I was thinking about this post I re-watched the message from Andy Stanley of NorthPoint Church in Atlanta.  Here is the link to the message, it is well-worth the 37 minutes. If you can, please watch it now:

Do for One, What you wish you could do for everyone! by Andy Stanley

Here is my call to action for the men of Heartland Community Church and the others reading this blog. We are very blessed to live in the richest country on the planet. Our tour guide here in China was raised in an apartment of 752 sq. feet for a family of four.  We all have homes that could easily fit one more, I bet the cars in your garage have seating that could accommodate another child. With acts of obedience like our adoption and Andy's story, there is much joy! If you think back to his message or if you didn't have time to watch it, let me recap three main points:

1. Go deep not wide - If you think you are going to change the world by giving money here and there, you may help yourself feel better, but you really will not make a real difference!

2. Go long-term rather than short-term - I think at the end of our days when we look back at our lives, do you think that anyone will say, the $ spent on extra vacations and the lake house is where it was at, I am glad that is what I did with my extra time or money.  People are the only thing that is eternal, and if you can make room for one more, I will bet you, you will not regret it!

3. Give time, not just money - what you really love is where you will spend your time, it is easy to spend you money, we are being called to something greater, by investing in eternity by investing in people!

Back to my challenge for the Men of Heartland:  wouldn't it be cool if we became known as the church in Sun Prairie where families step up and make room for "one more!"  Before you know it there could be 10 or 12 less orphans in the world!

Gotcha Day - April 8, 2014

Jedidiah is in our arms!  The whole day has been extraordinary!  As Brad and I got up and ready for the big day, tears just kept flowing.  The years of God whispering to my heart about adoption, the years of Him patiently waiting for me to be ready, the years He readied Brad for this moment...it was all coming together on this very day.  It was very emotional, to say the least.  I did eventually have to get it together...I couldn't get an ounce of make-up on with all my tears. :)   But complete joy filled our hearts and we just wanted to meet this little guy God was giving to our family!

We finished getting ready, spent some time praying together, and went to have breakfast in the hotel.  The breakfast here is amazing.  They have typical American breakfast food - eggs, waffles, sausage, muffins, toast, cereal, yogurt, fruit, orange juice and coffee.  But they also have a complete Chinese selection - things like noodles, steamed rolls and dumplings, pork, chicken sausage, spinach and sauteed vegetables, hot water and hot milk tea.  They serve plain hot water all the time.  Our guide, Aggie, brings hot water with her every day to drink in a water bottle.  She says hot water is good for fertility..."warms the womb." :)  At breakfast, I have not ventured away much from the American breakfast food.  Brad has, though...some things like the dumplings and the sauteed mushrooms he has liked, other things like the steamed rolls and some of the meat dishes he has not liked too much.

After breakfast, we went to a mall to buy some clothes for the orphanage and get some formula for Jedidiah.  Malls here are not like malls at home.  There are floors and floors of stores.  It is crazy and the amount of items each of these stores pack into their space is pretty amazing.

Hohhot, the city we are in, has 2 million people.  The stores are crowded and the streets are filled with traffic and people.  It is crazy getting around.  Thank goodness we have a driver who takes us where we need to go.

We got back to the hotel about 20 minutes before Jedidiah arrived.  We were going to meet him in the hotel lobby, which we were very happy about.  Also, we had tried the Wifi in the lobby the night before and FaceTimed the kids so we were all very excited it worked and they were going to be able to see us meet Jedidiah live...amazing what technology allows us to do!  Rocky, our driver, got ready with the iPad...he was in charge of that plus our video camera...what a guy!  We reached the kids...by this time it was around 10:20pm Monday night in Kenosha where they are staying with my sister, Eden, and her husband Brian.  It was way past their bedtime, but everyone was very fine with that!  I wish you all could have seen the kids' faces...they were filled completely with anticipation and joy!  I won't ever forget their faces!

At 11:30am China time on Tuesday, April 8th, the adoption director from the orphanage carried Jedidiah through the hotel's revolving doors.  The second I saw him, tears erupted again...such immense joy and love and peace and excitement and anticipation all wrapped into that one single moment.  The emotions were truly overwhelming!  The adoption director came straight over to me.  She told Jedidiah in Chinese 'This is your mama.'  Thank goodness the Chinese call mothers 'mama', otherwise I would not have understood what she was saying.  But our guide, Aggie, was right there to translate every word.  The adoption director told Jedidiah to go to me and then the most precious moment took place...he reached his arms out to me and I took him in my arms.  Elation!   A mother's dream!  Jedidiah then stayed with me the whole time...we had to sign paperwork and take specific pictures for the adoption paperwork.  Poor Brad...every time he asked Jedidiah if he could hold him (by reaching out his arms), Jedidiah just shook his head no.  Once we got up to the room, though, Jedidiah warmed up to Brad well.  He is still a mama's boy for sure, but he is letting Brad in more and more.

The time in the lobby took about an hour or so.  Poor Rocky was holding my iPad the entire time.  We kept asking the kids if they wanted to hang up, because after the initial meeting it was a lot of paperwork and semantics, but they did not.  They wanted to be part of every minute...and I was very glad!

There were a lot of tears for them and some special moments with Jedidiah.  He waved to them when we showed them all to him on the iPad.  He was pointing at the pictures they showed him of their cousins, Hayes and Hartley, who are only 3 weeks younger than him.  He was attempting to interact with all of them as much as a 20 month old is able to...the kids were thrilled!  I cannot tell you how thankful we are that we were able to share the moment of meeting Jedidiah with them.  I felt like it was such a blessing from God.  God knew all along in the adoption process I so wanted to bring our kids on this trip.  As time went on, we knew it was the best decision not to bring them, but it was heart wrenching for me.  So, allowing the whole FaceTime thing to work was a huge gift from God.  I am beyond thankful!

After we were done in the lobby, we went up to our room and spent time getting to know Jedidiah.  He immediately warmed up to Brad while playing on the floor together.

We ate some lunch - a Chinese lunch - Jedidiah loves Chinese noodles!  He was a great eater.  Then I was thrilled when he let me rock him to sleep for his nap and he spent the nap sleeping on my chest.  Love!

After naps, we took a walk outside in the courtyard of the hotel.

We had another authentic Chinese meal in the hotel for dinner.  So authentic that they had to call the restaurant host, a guy named Andy, who is the only one at the hotel who speaks English pretty well, to help us order.  Thank goodness!  It was all really good - I had a pork and mushroom dish and Brad had fried rice and a chicken saute.  Again, Jedidiah loved his noodles!

We then finished the day with a bath.  Jedidiah loved his bath!

He fell asleep with Brad and I in our bed tonight.  The end to a beautiful day!

Thank you for sharing this journey today with us.  It ranks up there with one of the biggest moments in our lives.  We feel blessed to get to share it with you!

Tomorrow, more paperwork, and then Jedidiah officially becomes a Gunnink!

The Grasslands - Inner Mongolia

QINGMING FESTIVAL - APRIL 7

We had a very peaceful and fun day today.  It is a national holiday today in China called the Qingming Festival.  All government offices are closed and children have off school.  Three main activities happen during this festival:  tomb-sweeping - people clean the tombs of deceased relatives, place flowers on graves, and will bring the person's favorite food and drink to sacrifice to them so they are being taken care of in their afterlife, the second activity is kite flying, and the third is to take a spring outing - people go to the countryside and relax.  To commemorate the holiday, we engaged in the third activity today by taking a 2 hour car ride north of Hohhot to the grasslands.

We drove through a mountainous area to get to the grasslands.

The scenes along the way were first mountains, and then it leveled off into flat land.  We saw lots of sheep along the way and fields where they grown mainly wheat and potatoes.

In the grasslands, we saw many Mongolian yurts.  These are resorts and they rent out the yurts for vacationers.  The herdsmen that live in the grasslands are known for their hospitality.  

The one we visited today was more of a 'mom and pop' type place.  A herdsman and his wife rent out 10 or 11 yurts on their property.  They welcomed us into their home, we ate in their dining room/bedroom.  They were very kind and generous to us, serving us way more food than we could ever eat.  It was very neat eating authentic food with this couple.  

When we first arrived, the wife had this snack ready for us, millet, 3 different types of cheese, butter, a small cookie-type item, some coarse sugar, and hot milk tea.

We took off our shoes and sat where they eat and sleep.  I asked them how long they had lived here.  They kind of chuckled and said for many generations, hundreds of years.

Here is the outside and inside of one of their yurts.

They had chickens, sheep, and two cows.

Here is the only bathroom.  Inside, there are just holes in the ground...makes our outhouses look pretty fancy.

 Here is the herdsman and his wife.

Brad and our guide, Aggie. The herdsman was marveling at Brad's heighth, so Aggie wanted to compare to him. :)

It was a very peaceful place.

Across the road was one of the herdsmen's shrines.  Their tradition is to walk around the shrine 3 times clockwise and then make a wish.

We really enjoyed the grasslands today.  We were very thankful to have this day to get to explore more of Jedidiah's homeland and see the different ways people live here.

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY...our Gotcha Day!  It is in 13 hours from now...11am Tuesday morning here, which will be 10pm Monday night back home.  And we think we have figured out how to FaceTime with the kids at the moment we meet Jedidiah. Pray for us that it works and the kids will get to see the event live!

Milestones In Our Adoption Process

NOVEMBER 2012 - APRIL 2014

Adoption Journey - Part 2

Late 2011 - 2012

Brad and I prayed throughout 2011 about adopting.  I think we were both feeling called by God to adopt, but we kept looking at our life with 4 very active growing kids and could not get out of our comfort zones.  With a 9 year old, 7 year old, and two 5 year olds, life was definitely feeling very manageable.  We were able to do more things as a family, and getting farther and farther out of diapers gave us lots of flexibility and freedom, to be honest. We were loving the ages of our kids.  We were in the zone...the comfort zone...and it was going to take a movement of God to get us out of it.

And, of course He moved, not just in Brad and my hearts, but first in the heart of our 9 year old daughter.  In October 2011, Ella and I had a fun night out with my sisters, Eden and Leanne, at a concert.  We all went to dinner and then to a concert with Steven Curtis Chapman, Andrew Peterson (one of my favorite artists!), and Josh Wilson.  It was a great concert!  In the middle of the concert, a family with 2 biological children and 2 adopted children were interviewed on stage.  It was a very moving part of the concert.  God used it to keep working on my heart and the family's story really impacted Ella.  Afterwards, with tears in her eyes, Ella said to me that she thought God might want us to adopt and she was going to start praying about it.  Wow, that blew me away!  Ella and I had never talked about adoption for our family, and she had no idea about the journey God had Brad and me on.  And it wasn't just an emotional high from the concert for Ella.  From that day on, she regularly prayed our family would adopt!  If she only knew!  I have to admit, I did talk to God about this...really...putting adoption on the heart of one of my kids!  My heart was melting.

The final turning point came for both Brad and me in early 2012. My friend, Karen, gave me a book called The House of Hope by Elisabeth Gifford. It is the true story of a couple in China whom Karen had spent time with when she was a missionary there. This couple, Robin and Joyce Hill, started volunteering in orphanages right before Robin was planning to retire.  What they experienced would change their lives forever.  They saw children dying in Chinese orphanages, who with surgery and some loving care could instead heal and live a full life with the possibility of being adopted into forever families. Instead of retiring, Robin and Joyce, a medical doctor, opened a medical needs foster home called New Hope in Beijing. Now, 12 years later, they have 5 of these homes in China, which altogether care for hundreds of children.  It is an inspiring story about listening to the call God puts on your heart...just taking a step out of your comfort zone and watching what God can do with that one simple step of obedience!

This book and the Hills story was all my heart needed.  Through massive tears, as I read the stories of these precious children they were saving, I cried out to God and said yes! I will do it! I will get out of my comfortable spot and take a step. I felt strongly that God was leading us to adopt in China and through the special needs program.  Wow, God, adopt...and not only adopt, but special needs. I did not feel one ounce equipped, but I prayed and told God I would trust Him.  And also said if He wanted to give us a special needs child that had been cared for by the Hills at New Hope, that would be aweome, too!

In January 2012, at the same time I was reading House of Hope, God used a message at church called 'One Not Everyone' to rock Brad's world and put him on the adoption road. Through a video teaching by Andy Stanley from North Pointe Church in Atlanta, Brad felt God leading our family to adopt. The whole gist of the message was do for one what you would like to do for everyone.  Brad felt like God was saying to him, 'If not you, then who?  I am just asking you to do for one what I know you wish you could do for many. Just do it.  Just do it.  Be My hands and feet.  Don't worry about the details. I got those.'  Kind of EXACTLY what Brad needed to hear at the exact time he was wrestling with all of this.

God moved, and we were finally ready to move with Him!  We were willing to check out the details...China...special needs...adoption agencies...just ready to take the first step and see what happened.

It took us until November 2012 to get set on exactly what direction God was leading and to move beyond the 'just checking things out' stage.  Through more prayer and research, we came to the definite conclusion, that yes, it was the special needs program in China that God was leading us to and it was Lifeline Children's Services out of Alabama who was to be our adoption agency.  Through the book, House of Hope, I really liked an adoption agency they mentioned, but the more we prayed about it, we felt God leading us to Lifeline. Although I was bummed, because that meant, in my head, giving up the idea of having a New Hope baby, we felt confident that our path of obedience included Lifeline.

So, on November 27, 2012, we officially started the adoption process and turned in our application to Lifeline Children's Services.  A couple of months before this, we told the kids we believed God was leading us to adopt.  By this point, they had heard Ella praying for adoption...she started out praying on her own and then would include adoption in family prayer time.  God used Ella to pave the way for the other kids.  By November, all of our kids were very on board and us starting the process brought much joy from each of them!

We were on our way...just one step of obedience at a time.  That is all God was asking of us.  Although we definitely wondered how we were really going to do this, we felt a pretty amazing peace behind our moments of fear and doubt. We knew we were where God wanted us to be, and there is something pretty awesome about living life at that place!

Adoption Journey - Part 1

LIFE LEADING UP TO ADOPTION
2006 - Early 2011

Our adoption journey began way before we realized it was beginning.  For me, God put a place in my heart for adoption when he created me.  I did not really understand that until recently.  I have always been intrigued by adoption.  I loved seeing families interwoven with birth children and adopted children.  I loved hearing their stories and watching them grow and bond as a family.  I saw the love of God in families who embraced children who need the love and affection of a forever family.  I guess, though, I loved looking in on these families, but never thought it would be us.  When the twins were born in 2006, I distinctly remember saying to myself, ‘I feel like our biological family is complete.’  At the time I wondered why I put the word 'biological' in there, that with newborn twins in my arms and a 3 and 1 year old at home, the thought of more children would even be in my mind, but I it was and I did...more evidence that God was working in my heart even when I did not realize it. 

Life got completely nutty when we brought the twins home.  With 4 kids under the age of 4 years old, we were in complete survival mode.  They were all I could focus on.  Still, God was moving my heart.  When I would go to concerts and Compassion or World Vision would be there, and they would talk about children in need, my heart was always touched, I would often be in tears through it all.  We sponsored children through these organizations and I was thankful we could be part of their lives.  And we had more and more friends adopting children. I saw up-close how God was changing lives through adoption. My heart was stirring all those years.   

And then as the kids got older and we left the completely chaotic years and entered the somewhat chaotic years :) God started to really speak to my heart.  By 2010, I started to sense God saying, ‘What about you? What about your family?  Are you ready for Me to show you all I have for you?’ Was I ready to open myself up to all God may have for our family?  Honestly, I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t exactly sure at that point what He was asking and I felt like I was just coming up for air after some pretty all-consuming years of child-rearing and beginning home schooling. In the fall of 2010 God placed me at a conference to hear Steven Curtis Chapman speak, a huge adoption advocate.  I bought his wife’s book, Choosing to See.  I soaked up every word of Mary Beth Chapman’s book.  I knew God was asking me if I was ready to see what He had for me, and through that book, I started to feel drawn towards adoption, not just watching others adopt, but for me and my family.  Just as soon as the idea of my family adopting even entered my mind, fears welled up inside of me.  I felt like I was barely managing with 4 kids.  I did not know what God would be thinking asking me to open my family and my heart to another child.  We could send money to support children, we could support others who were adopting, but us adopt?  I just was not sure I had it in me.   

AND I certainly knew adoption was not something Brad was drawn to for us.  Brad was feeling pretty satisfied with a girl and a boy after we had Ella and Jonah.  He knew I did not feel done and he willingly said we could try for a third, but only for 3 months, and if it didn’t happen we would need to re-evaluate what we thought God had for us.  Gee, turns out, we got pregnant the first month with twins!  Instead of 3 kids, we were going to have 4!  Although Brad loves his kids a ton and loves being their dad, he was feeling like our family was complete. In my prayer time one day, I remember saying to God, ‘Okay, You have my attention about adoption and I am willing to start praying about it, but You are going to have to move a mountain to get Brad’s heart wrapped around the idea.  I will pray and I will leave Brad up to You.’   

The beginning of 2011 was a huge turning point in our adoption journey.  God really used two trips we took early in 2011 to turn our eyes towards adoption.  First, Brad and I went on a mission trip to Haiti in January 2011.  We were blown away by the poverty and the destitute lives people were living, especially the children.  Yet, God was there.  Their simple lives, staying in the moment, only focused on having meals for that day, not worrying about anything for tomorrow was refreshing.  There was a contentment there that seemed more present in the midst of that poverty than we ever experience here in the States.  When we visited families in the small village where we were and would ask them what we could pray for them, they often had no specific requests.  I could think of a ton of things to pray for them, yet they have nothing, but ask for nothing.  It was a contentment I could not understand.  We brought Christmas presents for each child in the village.  Their sheer elation over every item...just as much joy over a small toy as underwear or a toothbrush...was humbling.  I went to Haiti to help people there, yet at the same time God was using this time and these people to change my heart.  He was teaching me that there is beauty in the simple.  That my hustle and bustle ‘full of stuff’ life is not better than these peoples' lives.  Actually, my stuff often kept me from hearing God and really following Him in my life...from the everyday acts of kindness He wants me to extend to the people around me to being obedient when He asks me to do something for Him that may turn my life and my priorities upside down.  I left Haiti with this verse on my heart: 

Ephesians 5:1 (NIV)
Be imitators of God, therefore as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.                                

God also started to etch away at Brad’s heart while we were in Haiti.  Seeing the poverty opened his eyes to the plight of many children in this world.  While we were holding babies in an orphanage one day, Brad said, ‘Let’s just take a few of these kids home.’  Ah, what?  That just came out of Brad’s mouth?  Okay, God was moving... 

In February 2011 Brad had a work trip to Jamaica for a long weekend.  Although I totally did not want to leave my kids again, we went and God rocked my world!  I think ultimately, he needed to get me out of my environment to first, process the Haiti trip more, and then to get me in a quiet place of solitude, like a Jamaican beach, so He could talk loud and clear to my heart.  On the first day, as we were getting ready to go down to the beach for the day, I told Brad that it was really nice being here, and the resort was amazing, but it was hard, too, since we were just in Haiti.  I was wrestling with what I have, what others don’t have, and how I should live amidst it all.  The majority of people in the world do not live lives of luxury, but instead poverty and hardship.  We had just experienced that kind of desolation.  I felt God asking, ‘What are you going to do with that truth?’ I so wanted our kids to grasp that truth more, for our family to step out and live in a way that could make a difference in this world.  How could we help an aching world?  So, I went down to the beach that day with these thoughts in my mind.  A few hours later, a song came on my iPod that would change my life forever.  I had downloaded a new CD from MercyMe called The Generous Mr. Lovewell for the trip, so I was listening to the songs for the first time.  A song called ‘Won’t You Be My Love’ came on.  ln the middle of the afternoon, on February 24, 2011, God was talking to me through this song:

When you fall asleep tonight
In your warm and cozy room
Know that I'm awake
And I've got no shelter and no food

I am not alone
My friends are broke and lost
Looking for someone to lead them to my cross
I need your help, I need your help

Won't you be My voice calling
Won't you be My hands healing
Won't you be My feet walking into a broken world
Won't you be My chain-breaker
Won't you be My peacemaker
Won't you be My hope and joy
Won't you be My Love

The other side of the world
She is just a few days old
A helpless little girl
With no family of her own

She is not to blame for the journey she is on
Her life is no mistake
Won't you lead her to My cross?

Won't you be My voice calling
Won't you be My hands healing
Won't you be My feet walking into a broken world
Won't you be My chain-breaker
Won't you be My peacemaker
Won't you be My hope and joy
Won't you be My Love

To those I call My own
To those I've set aside
As spotless without blame
The chosen ones My bride

We will be Your voice calling
We will be Your hands healing
We will be Your feet walking into a broken world
We will be Your chain-breaker
We will be Your peacemaker
We will be Your hope and joy
We will be Your love
By the end, I was sobbing! My heart for adoption, which had been slightly opening throughout the last year, was split completely wide open! I thought of a little girl in China who was just born.  She will live in an orphanage never experience the love of a mother, a father, or a family – and worst of all maybe never know the love of Jesus.  I wanted to embrace her, I wanted her to be my daughter, to be Ella and Jonah and Elijah and Lila’s sister, for Brad to be her daddy and for her to know who her Heavenly Father is.  I wanted to be God’s love to her.  I immediately asked Brad to listen to the song.  I then shared all I was feeling, through lots of tears. I think he was pretty shocked that all this was transpiring on a beach in Jamaica, but he said let’s pray about it and check into adoption.  Wow, I was so thankful for his response!

The reality of it all was scary to me, but I knew that if this desire growing in my heart was from God, He would guide us. I so wanted to be God’s love in a hurting world, and if adoption was one way God was asking us to be that as a family, I knew God would direct our paths.  He would give us His eyes and His heart for a little child somewhere in this world who needed the love of a family and needed God’s love!

I prayed for courage and strength and started down the path of adoption!

James 1:27 (MSG)
Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this:  Reach out to the homeless  and loveless in their plight...

Who We Are & Where We Are Going

So this is the Gunnink family...our last 'formal' family photo in December 2012 shortly after we got our first ever pet, a yellow Labrador named Tabitha (Tabbie is her nickname).  The kids have grown leaps and bounds since then!  Brad and I have been married since 2000 and we have 4 very great kids at our house, and everyone is very excited to soon welcome our 5th child, a son (I will talk more about him later).

Ella, our oldest, is 11 years old. She has a heart of gold, very thoughtful, loving, honest and creative.  She has strong convictions and tries to stick to them.  She definitely is the leader of the bunch around here!  After me, the other kids look to her to organize the fun and keep things rolling.

Jonah, our 9 year old, is such a lovable kid. He is very sensitive and humble, always putting others ahead of himself.  He definitely is the analytical one and if he isn't trying to figure out how things work, he is building something or reconfiguring something. Always moving, this boy!

Then comes our twins, Elijah and Lila, who are 7 years old.  What a surprise to find out we were having twins!  Even though it brought some incredibly crazy, hectic years, we would never trade all of that for anything.  Love having kids so close in age!

Elijah is a huge sweetie.  He has a gentle personality. He is so kind and really tries to be a good friend to everyone. Love that he can just go with the flow.  He is the peacemaker for sure around here.

Lila is a very passionate little girl.  She has strong desires and strong convictions and lets us know them regularly, actually many times a day. She is very determined and likes to work hard and accomplish a lot.  She will stop anything, though, to help anyone who is hurt or upset. Love that about her!

And here is a photo of where the kids spend most of their free time...THE POOL!

All 4 kids are great swimmers and swim on a swim team most of the year.  They dabble in lots of other activities too - music, writing class, football, basketball, soccer, dance, biking, running, triathlons - but most often you will find them - and Brad & me as the chauffeurs - at the pool.

And since I am talking about my family, I cannot leave out my amazing husband!  Brad was single until he was 34, so after all those years of single life, things quickly changed for him after we got married.  He so can go with the flow (Elijah gets it from him), and that has enabled him to survive 4 kids in 4 years quite well!  He is so fun-loving and addicted to adventure, so God gave him the perfect family for him!

I am a stay-at-home mom who home schools our 4 kids.  This is our 6th year home schooling, so it comes pretty natural now for all of us.  It still can get hectic, and I definitely have those want to 'pull my hair out' kinds of days. But we just pray, regroup, and start fresh the next day!

The bottom line...I am blessed. I am in awe of the family God has entrusted to me.  I sometimes can't figure out why He has, but then decide to just lean that much more into His strength and His love, and then it all makes sense again.

We are about to embark on a whole new journey as a family...the beautiful, yet sometimes overwhelming and heart-wrenching journey of adoption.  We have no doubt God has led us to this place. Again in awe that He has chosen us for this privilege.  All we had to do was say yes to the call. And then let him work and orchestrate, and change our hearts as He takes us through each step.  It has been humbling for sure, but not a journey I would have wanted to miss.  Our adoption journey...the subject of my next post!  :)