Hi Everyone!! Well, as Shannon said in her message, we are having technical difficulties and are not able to connect to the internet on our laptop. So, right now we are in the computer lab at New Day and just wanted to send a quick message. We have had a full day with Daniel (Friday), learning his routine, learning how to catheterize him, going over his records, etc.

When Karen and Grace (co-directors of the foster home) gave us all his records this afternoon, we were given a tiny bracelet that was on his wrist when he was left at the hospital when he was just a few days old. That brought tears to all our eyes as we thought of his biological mom and how she must have felt as she left him. I'm so glad we have that keepsake for him so that he will always know how much she loved him.

We introduced the walker that we brought with us, and amazingly he took right to it. He is very protective of it, not wanting any of the other kids to even touch it! We had our first meal with him in the dining hall at lunch and boy, can he eat!! He thought it was pretty cool that he got to sit at a table with us instead of with all the other kids. He is attaching really well to Neil and is slowly warming up to me.

Tomorrow we are going into Beijing with Daniel to have lunch at a famous Peking duck restaurant and then do shome shopping. It will be our first outing with him alone. I (Lora) had my first experience catheterizing him this afternoon and it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be. Tonight it is Neil's turn! We are having a great time with him - he is so much fun. We'll post pictures as soon as we get our computer issue taken care of. Thanks for all your prayers. We are feeling a little overwhelmed, but are feeling God's peace through it all. We feel so blessed that God has given Daniel to us!

Love you all,

They've Arrived!

Hey everyone! This is Shannon. I just received an email from mom and dad. They got there safely. They got there in time to see Daniel and put him to bed. They've been helping him decorate the Christmas tree in the foster home and they've been spending time with him. It seems that he has attached to dad already (but mom was prepared for that). They didn't sleep much on the plane, and of course, didn't sleep through the night because of jet lag. They're having some issues with the internet, so they asked me to post for them and just let all of you know that everything is good. I think they're excited, but exhausted at this point. They said Daniel has been showing off :) Anyways, I'll let you all know as I hear more. Blessings!

We're Off to China!

Well, it's 11:45 p.m. on Tuesday and our flight leaves Bloomington tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. The bags are packed, we've said our goodbyes to the girls, and we're finally heading to bed. We just wanted to post one more time before we go. It's hard to believe that the next time we post on our blog, we'll be in China!! We're totally exhausted from all the preparation for the trip, but we're also totally excited that we'll be seeing Daniel in just about 30 hours. We want to thank all of you for your prayers these past days. We have felt such a peace in the midst of the busy-ness that we know can only come from God. And thanks for all the calls, emails, etc. of encouragement. We sincerely feel that you are all traveling with us in spirit and it is a comfort to have friends and family by our side. We covet your continued prayers in the next hours and specifically around 5 a.m. Thursday morning (here) as that will be about the time we'll be meeting Daniel. Thanks and we'll "talk" to you from China!

Parting thoughts from Neil.

When we sent the email out to the people who were on our email list that we (actually Lora) had created a blog to share with people what was going on with our adoption of Daniel I wasn't to sure what this was all about. My sister, Patty, sent me a reply about this blog and then asked me what a blog was anyway. In my great wisdom I told her that it was a great way to share information and post pictures of our journey with Daniel in China. When I shared this with Lora she gave me a totally different perspective on it. To her it is a way to journal what her daily thoughts and feelings are as we travel this path that God has laid out for us and to share that with anyone who wants to live this story with us. Is she great or what?

So, here I sit with only one day left until we leave for China. The packing is almost done and most of the preparations are finished. As I reflect over the past few months I am in awe of what God is doing and I wanted to share with you a few thoughts about how God has brought me to this point in my life.

About 2-1/2 years ago our marriage was in a mess. I will leave out the details here but suffice it to say that we had some problems so we went to Larkspur, CO to a ministry called Stone Gate to go through some very intense marriage counseling with Dr Harry Schaumburg. We got a lot more than just counseling in those 10 days that we were there. I will only speak for myself from here on out but God really opened my eyes to see how selfishly I had been living my life. Everything about my life was based on what I felt I needed or deserved. One of the areas that God had to work on was in my perception that since I had raised 3 girls, and the youngest one was almost ready to go to college, that I could make plans to move, or to do whatever I wanted because now I was "free". This really hit home for me when Lora called me about the email we got from Shannon about Daniel. By this time God had knocked enough crust off of my heart that I could feel His Spirit move and say "Now is the time because this is your son". A lot of people will say how lucky that Daniel is to be a part of our family but the truth is that I am the one who has been blessed by him.

There is so much more that I could share but I won't go on and on like the Energizer bunny. I would like to leave you with this last thought. This adoption is not a sacrifice on my part. Because Jesus Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for my sin I want my life to be one of obedience to him and part of that is the call to care for the widows and orphans. God wants us to put the needs of others before our own comforts and conveniences. Micah 6:8 says "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." I hope you will do the same and thank you for allowing me to share this with you.

Humbled by His grace,
Neil

Our Itinerary

We received our in-country itinerary yesterday and I thought it might be helpful to post it here.

11/29 - 4:05 p.m. - Arrive in Beijing
11/29 - 12/02 - Stay at New Day foster home. Get acquainted with Daniel.
12/03 - 8:30 a.m. - Fly to Urumuqi (Wulumuqi), Daniel's home province.
12/04 - Adoption processing and passport application.
12/05 - 12/06 - Sight-seeing in the mornings.
12/07 - Pick up adoption documents and passport. Fly to Guangzhou. Check into White Swan Hotel.
12/08 - Daniel's medical examination.
12/09 - Sight-seeing.
12/10 - Visa interview at the American Consulate.
12/11 - Go to Consulate to take our oath and pick up Daniel's visa.
12/12 - Fly back to Beijing. Catch evening flight to Chicago.

As you can see, this is going to be a full schedule with lots of travel. We are wondering how Daniel will adjust to all of this and how we'll hold up. We're just committing it all to God, knowing that He has already gone before us and knows EXACTLY what to expect!

The countdown has begun!!! Each morning as we do our devotions together Neil says, "Only 10 more days, only 9 more days, etc. etc." It is just so surreal that our long journey to adopt Daniel is almost finished and he will soon be here with us. With every small event now, we talk about what life will be like when Daniel is here. When we sit down to eat, we talk about what it will be like when we're eating with Daniel. When we run errands, we talk about what it will be like to run errands with Daniel along. When we do our devotions together at 6:30 a.m. we talk about how we'll probably have to get up an hour earlier once Daniel is here with us!

I'm not going to lie - in the midst of all the excitement and joy, we are both battling a lot of fear and doubt right now. Do we remember how to take care of a 4-year-old? Do we have enough energy to be "fun" parents - now that we're in our 40's? Are we prepared and capable to raise a special-needs child? What about the financial cost of all his medical needs? Will we be able to make ends meet? Of course we know that these doubts and fears are not from God. Even as these thoughts come, I am reminded that all God's promises are YES in Christ Jesus! And He has promised to meet EVERY need that we have. Neil and I know the truth and know that the truth will set us free. It's just that the enemy is very sneaky. If you think of us today, please pray that we will keep our minds set on TRUTH today and not believe the lies of the enemy.

Things are coming together. Daniel's room is finally finished - hallelujah! This weekend we finished up lots of odds and ends around the house that have been waiting for our attention. I cleaned the toy room and removed all the games and toys that are not age-appropriate for a 4-year-old. I was shocked to find that there was not much left! It's a good thing that Christmas is just a couple of weeks after his arrival - toys and games will be much appreciated gifts! This week I must start thinking about packing for the trip. Thinking of Daniel's needs is a bit tricky since I'm not exactly sure what size he wears (in American sizes), but my friends Sherry and Lisa (who both have little boys) have helped me think through this. I think I at least have a plan now as to how to begin. Thanks, friends!

We received word from the foster home today that Thursday, Nov. 29 will be the day we meet Daniel. (There was some question about whether we would arrive at the foster home early enough on Thursday to see him before he went to bed). But it is now official - the 29th will be Gotcha day. We should arrive at the foster home around 7 p.m. which will be 5 am here in the states. I don't know if many people here will be awake to pray for us at 5 am, but I hope so! It will be such a special moment when we meet him.

Wow, what a week this has been! Our visas arrived and our flights have been booked. God is amazing!! We will depart Bloomington at 6:03 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 28 and arrive in Beijing on Thursday the 29th at 4:05 p.m. This means that Thursday will (likely) be the official Gotcha day. (I think this depends on what time we would actually arrive at the foster home - if it's too late he might already be in bed and we might have to wait till the next morning. That would be terrible!) Today is the 16th, so that means in just 13 days we'll have our little boy. Amazing!

God was SO faithful in the purchasing of our airline tickets. We were able to book all three tickets (our round trip and Daniel's one-way) for less than $2500! For those of you who have traveled internationally, you know this is a great deal. This is much less than we expected to pay. Again, God is amazing. (This is becoming my own personal motto for this journey.)

We will return to Bloomington on Wedesday, December 12 if all goes as planned. Please pray for us in this regard. Our agency warned us this week that Daniel's home province, Xinjiang, does not handle very many international adoptions and so are not always as easy to deal with as some of the others. They said to expect delays and be prepared to be flexible. They said that if for some reason things are delayed in Xinjiang, we might miss our consulate appointment in Guangzhou on the 10th. Please pray that this doesn't happen! Thanks.

Also please pray for our peace of mind in the coming days. There is so much to do in such a short amount of time. I can't even think straight... I find myself just wanting to sit at the computer and look at pictures of Daniel all the time. I can't wait to see him face to face and hold him in my arms. (If he'll even let me - he's a little firecracker. Smile.)

God is amazing! I just can't quit saying it because it is so true.

We have received our invitation to travel! Yippeee!! It came last Wednesday (Nov. 7), but as of today we still have not received word from our agency as to when to book our flights. When our agency coordinator called on Wednesday she said we would "probably" need to be in Beijing by December 2, but that was just an estimate. We are growing more and more impatient every day to receive the official word!

I am trying to figure out this blog thing so thanks for your patience! Neil and I have decided that we are definately from a different generation. My thanks to our friends the Arnolds and the Millers (who are also adopting little ones from China) for their beautiful blogs. (I pray that they won't mind if we "share" some of their ideas.)

Please check out the link below to see some more pictures of Daniel:

http://www.onetruemedia.com/my_shared?z=22859000edad7e6952b17e&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Our Introduction to Daniel

On September 2, 2006, our oldest daughter, Shannon, who was teaching English at a language school in Beijing, (and volunteering her time at New Day Foster Home), sent us an email with a picture attached, introducing us to a darling little three-year-old orphan named Daniel. Here is a portion of her email to us:

"Mom and Dad, I would like to introduce you to Daniel. I have pics of Daniel from last time I was here. But I don't know if you remember him or not. Daniel is now three years old. He is such a great kid and I love him soooooooo much. Daniel is not even close to being matched with a family yet... Daniel has spina bifida. Basically, he can't walk completely. He can with different things that roll. He totally scoots and moves. It's just that they can't get braces for him here in China. They are trying to get him some made in America, and they think that with braces he will learn to walk fine. He also had some swelling around the brain when he was little, but he has a shunt now so that is all fine. I know I always bring up this adoption thing, but I just felt compelled to tell you about Daniel. He's such a cutie. I will point to a part of my face and he will kiss it and then I do the same to him. He has the cutest smile and everyone loves him to death. Everyone here really wants to see him have a family... Anyways........just a thought. Look at his pic. Think about it. He'd be just about the cutest little bro ever!!!!!"

As you can tell, God had laid a deep burden for Daniel on Shannon’s heart.

Neither of us was surprised by Shannon’s request. Our family had been talking about adoption for 15 years. We agreed that we would do as Shannon asked and pray about adopting Daniel. Within just a couple of days it was clear that we wanted to move forward in the adoption process. Although it is hard to put into words here, the truth is that God moved in our hearts and made us feel a connection to Daniel that is beyond explanation. Neither of us has any medical background, and we had never considered adopting a special needs child. But God made it clear that Daniel was supposed to be part of our family.