Guangzhou - April 12-13

The main reason we travelled south to Guangzhou is this is where the US Consulate is located.  Every family who adopts from China has to come to Guangzhou.  It is where we get Jedidiah's US Visa in order to enter the US.  Our consulate appointment is not until Tuesday morning at 8:30am, so until then, we get to explore the city.  And actually, for a day afterwards as well.  We cannot leave Ghuangzhou until 36 hours after our consulate appointment (that will be Wednesday night). This process is very precise, that is for sure!

Our experience already in Guangzhou is completely different than it was in Hohhot.  In Hohhot, we were the only family from our adoption agency, so it was just us with a guide and a driver.  It was nice, in a sense, because we were more in control of our schedule, but being the only westerners in a more remote place had a bit of an isolating feeling.  Here in Guangzhou, our hotel is filled with Americans who are adopting. Everywhere we turn, we meet more and more families adopting.  It is very cool to hear everyone's story and meet their child or children.  It has been especially nice for me to connect with other moms who are adopting.

Our hotel in Guangzhou at night. We are totally enjoying our very bright and spacious suite here!  And they serve an amazing breakfast!

Saturday, April 12
In the morning, Jedidiah had his medical exam, which is required by the US Consulate.  Brad had to take him there without me.  I had been sick since Thursday and Friday's hectic day just made things worse, so I was still out of commission on Saturday morning.  Brad is such a trooper.  He had no problem going it alone.  And, in the end, me being sick was really good for Brad's relationship with Jedidiah.  Initially, Jed was going much more easily to me.  He had been very attached to his women nannies at his foster home, so it totally made sense that he would gravitate towards me.  Not to mention, Brad's size was probably pretty overwhelming to such a small guy.  In Hohhot, we actually had people ask our guide if they could take a photo with Brad, the tall man. :)

In the afternoon, I was feeling a bit better, so I did go for a late lunch with them.  This was our first western food since we have been in China.  We ate at Pizza Hut of all places!  And the pizza actually tasted pretty similar to the pizza back home.  Before we came to China, we heard of other people eating a lot of western food in Guangzhou and we could not figure out why people who want to at all, but now after a week straight of solely authentic Chinese food (not what you get at Chang Jiang), we were ready for some familiar tastes!  Jedidiah had spaghetti for the first time and ate a ton of it, so that is a good sign.  He loves Chinese noodles, so we thought spaghetti was a good bet.

We then went and bought some items we needed at the equivalent of a Chinese WalMart.  It was huge, of course, because every shopping area is huge here.  And unlike the Sun Prairie WalMart, this one had a bin of chicken feet for sale and lots of live fish to buy and make for dinner.

I went back to the hotel to lay down after this excursion, but Brad and Jedidiah went and explored the hotel grounds together.  Brad picked up KFC for dinner - still on the American food kick - and they came back to the room to eat it.

In Mandarin, the word for dad is 'ba-ba.'  So that is what we call Brad.  After spending most of the day together, just the two of them, Jedidiah and ba-ba have really bonded!

Sunday, April 13
Finally, today (Sunday), I have been feeling more back to normal - thank you God!  It is very hard to be sick in a foreign country!  I really think God used my sickness to help Brad and Jedidiah bond more, which has been awesome, but I am very ready to feel better!

This morning we went with another family from our adoption agency to the Cantonese Folk Museum, which was a very interesting place.  We saw artists do stone name stamping, finger painting (these pictures were amazing!), and scroll painting.  Some very interesting techniques!

 In front of the Cantonese Folk Museum

 The Wanninger Family from Alabama

Miko, our wonderful guide here in Guangzhou

One of the artists at the museum

 In front of the museum

The entry way into the museum

We then headed to a shopping mall named Liwan Plaza.  The place was huge, but every shopping center is here in China.  It is amazing the amount of items for sale...floor after floor after floor!  This mall is known for its pearl and jade items.

 Liwan Plaza

We got Chinese noodles and brought them back to the room for lunch, which were excellent, then put Jedidiah down for a nap and afterwards headed out to the grocery store.

The coffee table in our room is perfect for Jedidiah to eat at

 The street we walked along to the mall

Entering the grocery store

Since it was a smoldering 90 degrees here today, Brad and Jedidiah quickly changed into swim trunks and headed out to the pool.  I tagged along to take pictures and see Jedidiah's response to the pool.  He was cautious about venturing too far in, but he seemed to like it.  Definitely the first time he had been in a pool!

We then headed out to a restaurant a lot of the American families eat at - Tekila Authentic Mexican Food. Yes, in China we are eating Mexican - how pathetic!  And again, we were surprised how much the food tasted like our Mexican food in the US.

 Must be the Chinese way to spell tequila?

 Our Chinese waitress dressed in Mexican clothing!

Jedidiah attempting a Mexican look with a sombrero

Jedidiah eating a quesadilla

In case anyone is wondering...Brad is surviving without his Diet Mountain Dew!  The closest substitute here is Coke Zero. It is painful for him, but he is surviving!

Street vendors along the sidewalk on our walk home from dinner

We are headed to bed.  Another busy day tomorrow...this time at the Guangzhou Zoo.

THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for all of your prayers and support along the way!  We have read every comment that has been posted on Journey for Jedidiah and the blog posts.  THANK YOU!  We could not be doing this without all of you!  God has truly blessed us!  We have felt your prayers in a big way here!

God has overwhelmed us with His presence.  He has met us in a special way here in China and we are so grateful.  We have felt His loving arms around the three of us here and our 4 children back home and it has kept us going at times, kept us trusting at other times, and kept us on the path He has for us!

Baotou Trip & Museum - April 11

Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight... (James 1:26, 27 MSG)

This, by far, has been the toughest day here for us in China.  Schedule-wise it was hard - we had to leave the hotel at 6:30am, travel 2 1/2 hours by van to Jedidiah's orphanage in Baotou, stay for about an hour, travel 2 1/2 hours back, quickly pack up the remainder of our things, stop by the Inner Mongolia museum on the way to the airport, then take a 3 hour flight down to southern China, to the city of Guangzhou.  We got to our hotel at 10:30pm.  A very long day.  And the visit to the orphanage  and Jedidiah's place of abandonment made it an extremely emotional day.

SWI - Baotou (Jedidiah's orphanage):
We still aren't completely sure how long Jedidiah lived at his orphanage.  It seems like he was there the first 9 months of his life, and then he moved to the medical needs foster home, New Hope, in Beijing.  We will visit the foster home at the end of our trip, and find out for sure, but we do know when Jedidiah was 1 day old he was brought to this orphanage in Baotou.  We know for sure that he began his life here.

The building where the younger children live

The wall as you come into the building

Our adoption agency had told us that as far as orphanages go, SWI-Baotou was a 'good' one.  It is hard for me to talk in terms of 'good' or 'better' than another.  This is an orphanage.  Kids living here have been abandoned and some will never be adopted.  It was very sad for me, no matter how you classify it.  It was hard to look into the eyes of these children and not know what their future holds.  It was very heart-wrenching, to say the least.

However, there were definite bright moments to our visit.  The nannies seemed really happy and were really engaged with the children.  I saw smiles on the kids' faces, and lots of excitement when we handed out dum-dums and these minature oranges (at least that is what they call them...they look like an orange, but they are the size of a large grape and when you eat them, you eat the whole thing, peel and all) to the kids in each of the rooms we visited.

One of the kids holding on to his suckers

The area we visitied was where Jedidiah lived.  It is for the younger children.  There are a few hundred children who live in this building.  We were able to see three different rooms of children.  They also showed us his crib.

Jedidiah's crib

Some of the nannies and babies in the area where Jedidiah lived

Jedidiah was with us and I was unsure how he would respond to being there.  He wanted to stay right with Brad and I.  When a nanny would reach out her arms for him to go to her, he would shake his head no.  I was happy he felt safe and secure with us.

Seeing the orphanage and interacting with the children there is something we will never forget.  It only strengthened our resolve to keep the message going, 'do for one what you wish you could do for many.'

Where Jedidiah was found
Ever since we found out Jedidiah was found at a day old in a park in Baotou by a policeman and brought to the orphanage, I have longed to go to this park...to be in that very place that his parents made, what had to be the hardest decision of their lives.  His mother, abandoning her baby at a day old...I cannot imagine the pain of that decision.  It was a very emotional time for us in that park.  And such a busy place...people everywhere.  We know without a doubt, that Jedidiah's parents were sure he would be found in this place.  I am glad we can tell him that some day!

Inner Mongolia Museum
Once we returned to Hohhot and checked out of the hotel, we visted a beautiful museum on our way to the airport.  It was nice to learn more about the province where Jedidiah was born.

After the museum, we took a 3 hour flight (which was not without challenges with a 20 month old!) south to the balmy city of Guangzhou.  Wow, a completely different place than Hohhot.  Hohhot was extremely dry (always feeling thirsty and needing tons of lotion), highs in the 60s and very 'brown' looking after the winter...trees and flowers were just starting to bud.  Here in Guangzhou it is very green and unbelievably humid.  At night the temps are still in the 80s.

Our hotel here in Guangzhou

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!