Two blessings!

So many are asking questions like, "Does she know any English?" and "How are you going to teach her, especially with homeschooling?" We were asking the same questions. No worries - we just knew it would come with time. We thought we would probably use ESL (English as a second language) in public school for a while. We knew she would learn conversational English quickly living with three sisters that talk NON-STOP. She would truly be immersed in it.

Well, with every adoption comes many miracles. It is fun to watch them unfold. I will share two with you.

There is a couple from Florida that was on this same mission trip as Criss. They have already been back to Lucy's orphanage in Fushun since. They have a heart for orphans and especially for the older children. Their daughter is now in the process of adopting Betty, a 13-year old friend of Lucy and Cindy. It will be another year for Betty to be adopted due to some delays.

Here is the first blessing - Betty's grandparents are paying an AWAA guide to go to the orphanage every Saturday to teach the children ENGLISH so they will be ready for adoption. (by the way, neither Betty nor Lucy know they are being adopted yet.) How cool is that!? FREE tutoring! Here's a picture of their first class (Lucy, in the pink jacket, has really grown a lot in a year).

Here is the second blessing - we had a couple begin coming to our Sunday school class a few weeks ago. Their daughter adopted from China a couple of years ago, so I was sharing with them about Lucy. Well, the husband told me this very week he just finished up with his course on teaching ESL. He is now just looking for the students to teach!!! And he just wants to work with children in the Hampstead area. Well, that is exactly where we live and always assumed we would have to drive into town for something like this (30 min. drive). How cool is that!? Thank you, Tom Spencer!!!

So, really NO worries. We would be crazy to worry! So if you hear of any worry come from me during this process, you have permission to knock me in the head with something!

"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."Matthew 6:34.

Meet Cindy

Cindy is an awesome 13 year old girl that my friend, Criss Keegan, fell in love with on her mission trip. She used to live with Lucy in China but now lives here in Wilimington with the Keegans. In the first picture of our first post on this blog, she is to the left of Lucy. She is attending a private school here in town and is loving it. You can read their story at crisskeegan.blogspot.com. Cindy is really excited about Lucy being adopted. I look forward to the day when they will see each other again. I saw Cindy at the mall this week, and she told me that she prays all the time that Lucy will come quick.

Criss is a wealth of knowledge and now works for AWAA, our adoption agency. I am so thankful for her help with our last adoption and now for leading us to Lucy!

This picture is from Criss' first visit to the Fushun orphanage last summer. As you can see from this picture, Cindy is very talented.

"For this child I prayed"

In 1 Sam. 1:27, Hannah prayed these very words when God answered her prayer and blessed her with a son, Samuel. I can relate to Hannah and will share with you why.

Last summer, a close friend of mine was in China on a mission trip and was so kind to post her daily events and pictures for us back here in the States. She had adopted 2 precious little girls from China already at this point (in addition to the 5 she and her husband already have.) Thinking that she was done with adoptions but with her heart still in China, she decided to start taking trips annually to do mission work in the orphanages. (more of her story later).

I will never forget the first few pictures she posted, where I was sitting, and the conversation I had with my oldest daughter, Lauren. Have you ever had that REALLY weird feeling about something that you could never explain but could never forget? Well, I do not have them often, but I did this day. I saw picture after picture posted with lots of children in them but had my eye only on Lucy. It was like I KNEW her. Without even thinking, I called Lauren over to the computer and said, "Lauren, this girl could be your sister. Looks like a mix of you and Lily." (: Yes, I really did say that. I was even zooming in on her hands, fingers, fingernails, etc., seeing the resemblance.

Lauren immediately called her daddy at work, jumping up and down, begging to adopt Lucy. She didn't even say "Hello". By the time Tom returned from work, Anna Claire and Lauren were both begging (and maybe me). I think he was a little shocked that she looked to be around 10 years old. We had never talked about older adoption up to this point.

Well, I am married to a man that is completely opposite from me - not quite so spontaneous, but quite level-headed. He did not give us the "Yeah! Let's do it!" like we wanted. Instead he gave us the "let me pray about it" answer. Well, to make a very LONG story short, he finally said yes about two months ago - year and a bit later! I am pretty certain that I have never prayed for anything so diligently in all my life.

God's timing is perfect. I can look back now and see why now is the right time. I forgot to mention that we just built a new home and moved in this past summer. I wanted to do it all at the same time.(: Yes, it is good to have a level-headed one in the mix.

I can hardly wait to bring her home! Still lots of prayer is needed through this process. It is complicated and there is always a chance that it all might fall through. We are trusting that God will work it out in the end.