Waiting for Referral
Update 1 |
Update 2
| “God
has a plan and it isn’t for us to understand, only to know that
He has His reasons and because He is all merciful and all loving
we can depend on it that there is purpose in whatever He does
and it is for our own good. What you must understand without any
question or doubt is that I believe this and trust Him and you
must too. What you must also believe is that I love you more and
more each day and it grows more bright and shining all the
time.” -Ronald Reagan |
Where we are in the
our journey . . .
Our documents went to China or DTC on May 6, 2005 and were
logged into the national adoption database in China or LID on
May 31, 2005. We are now in the waiting game! Our next step is
to receive our referral from China. Our referral will contain
all of Reagan’s information, like birth date, Chinese name,
health information, etc., and pictures of her. In late January,
China sent out referrals for people whose documents were logged
into the database by May 13, 2005. SO…WE ARE SO CLOSE!!! We have
contacted our agency to ask for a guesstimate on when we will
receive our referral. They said we could receive it anytime from
late February, being the earliest, to April, being the latest.
After we receive our referral, we will travel anywhere from 6 to
9 weeks later to China to get Reagan. We will spend 10-14 days
there to finalize the adoption, and then we will come home! When
Reagan hits US soil, she will be a citizen!
What we have been doing . . .
School Mission Project
Towering Oaks Christian School, where Ashton and Kieron attend
and where Angela teaches PE, partnered with Our China Angels in
a mission project to show love to the children in China who are
waiting on forever families. Our China Angels is a support group
in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia for families that have
adopted or who are in the process of adopting a child from
China. We belong to this wonderful group that was started by a
very inspirational woman, Angie Blevins.
Background of the Mission Project
Several hundred thousand forgotten children languish in
state-run orphanages in China. No one knows exactly how many,
but many orphans in China will spend their childhoods waiting on
a family that never comes. By the time these children are
fourteen years old, they are no longer even eligible for
adoption. Because Chinese society is so deeply rooted in the
family, life for these orphans is unspeakably tough. Those
living in state-run orphanages remain, for the most part,
overlooked. Help for these orphaned children, if it is to come
in the near future, must likely come from sources other than the
Chinese government. These are children who live their entire
lives in the orphanage with little or no hope of being adopted.
Some of these children have never had a toy or have ever
received a gift. If a package is ever received at an orphanage,
it will generally have items for the young babies. It is very
unlikely that the older children ever receive anything. For this
reason, we collected things for children of the ages of 4 to 14,
the children who are a lot of times completely left out.
What We Did
Our school collected basic necessities, gifts, and toys for
these kids. Since our Christmas program this year was about
giving, we had a special time during the program for the
children to bring all of the gifts onto the stage. This
instilled the message of giving in each student as they lived
out in real life what they were acting on the stage. It was such
a blessing. There was not a dry eye in the house! Most amazing
was the children and their giving hearts! We got so much stuff
to make some wonderful gift bags to give our China angels still
waiting on their forever families! There was so much stuff that
it has filled up the back of our entire van to the ceiling with
the back seat down, and we have a large van! The kids also drew
pictures of themselves to send! As a part of the end of the
program, we dedicated all of the gifts to these angels and
prayed over them! We did all of this to Steven Curtis Chapman's
song "When Love Takes You In." It was beautiful. So many people
surrounded these gifts and prayed over them, especially the
children! It was so touching to see all of these kids,
kindergarten to 8th graders, praying around these gifts! We also
prayed over one of our families, the Sanchez family, who were
going to be leaving a few weeks later to go to Guatemala to pick
up their newly adopted little baby girl, Arianna! I am happy now
to announce that Arianna is now with her forever family!
Everyone saw the beauty of adoption and these wonderful children
that have joined their forever families from our school! These
adopted kids at our school have blessed us so much! This meant
so much to these kids! I have never had so many people say how
touched they were by a program. It was a God thing! We delivered
all of these items to Our China Angels. They are working on
creating packages for the children in these orphanages. Once the
packages are shipped, China Angels will send a letter to our
school letting us know some information about the orphanage to
which we have contributed, its location in China, its history,
how many children are there, their ages, and etc. We were taught
so much by the giving hearts of our children! If you are
interested in contributing to these angels waiting in Chinese
orphanages either by donating items (small and inexpensive) or
by making monetary gifts to help pay for shipping these items,
please e-mail me at
phantom58@ntelos.net.
Happy Chinese New Year
On Saturday, January 28, we attended a Chinese New Year
celebration in Bristol, Virginia, hosted by Our Chinese Angels.
It was amazing! The decorations were beautiful and so were the
children! Sean loved the food that was catered by a wonderful
Chinese restaurant! They celebrated all of the children who have
found their forever families and also those who are to come
home. They recognized our newest angels and also recognized each
angel by their Province. There was a wonderful video that was
put together by Emily Millwood of the angels on their “Gotcha”
days, and pictures of all of the children at our monthly
meetings and playdates. You needed a tissue for this! It was so
moving and meaningful! They also had a special ceremony for
waiting families. They called us up front and gave us all a
rose, given to us by one of these special angels! This was our
second year as a waiting family. Shelley Swindler beautifully
sang the song “Legacy,“ and there was not a dry eye in the
place! There was also an amazing marketplace for families to set
up tables to sell items to fund their adoption. This was set up
by Susan and David Clapp. They also set up an area to for people
to take pictures. If you cannot tell, it was an outstanding
night! We are so fortunate to be a part of such a special group
of people and children!
Aluminum Can Drive
We are collecting aluminum cans to help fund our
adoption, and need your help. If you don’t already save your
cans for yourself, could you save them for us? Just let us know,
and we will pick them up from you. Thank you for helping us get
closer to our angel, Reagan!
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Waiting for Reagan Christmas ornament - her first ornament. We
get the girls an ornament every year. We plan to give them to
them when they get married.
Parents, teachers, and students praying over gifts collected for
children waiting on forever families in Chinese orphanages.
Gifts collected by Towering Oaks Christian School students for
children waiting on forever families in Chinese orphanages.
Ashton and Kieron at Chinese New Year Celebration.
Our family at Angela's mom and dad's house
at Christmas.
Our Christmas Card 2005.
Prayer Requests
Reagan - for her health (physical and emotional)
Reagan’s birth family
Her caregiver(s) at the orphanage or foster home
Children in orphanages who continue to wait on forever
families
Everyone working on our behalf (social and agency workers)
For the financial resources to pay for the remainder of
the adoption costs
For our referral, consulate appointment, travel
arrangements
Decision on whether or not to take Ashton and Kieron to
China
Safety as we travel
Our family (preparation, God’s guidance)
Completion of the room in our basement (resources)
Completion of Reagan’s room
Angela’s back problems
Extended family and friends - understanding and support
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Dear sweet Reagan,
As a girl I had a common dream, to be a mom someday.
My baby would have eyes of blue and hair the hue of hay.
But now my dreams have been transformed. New visions fill my
head.
Now the tresses that I long to stroke are raven black instead.
And in my dreams those eyes are not so big or blue or round.
Now in my dreams they’re almond shaped and colored cocoa brown.
And in my dreams my arms can stretch across enormous seas.
They reach half-way around the world and hold you close to me.
As you grow in your mother’s womb, carefully knit together,
you’re also growing in my heart, where you will stay forever.
And in my dreams the moment that your mother says good-bye,
I’ll be right there to comfort you and hold you as you cry.
Our features may not look alike: we’re different as can be.
But still I know the Father has created you for me.
And though I’ve not yet seen your face, or hold your tiny hands,
and though we’re half a world apart in very different lands,
I’ll be right there to get you just as soon as God allows.
But ‘til He says the time is right I give to you this vow.
I’ll pray for your protection every day on bended knee.
For God to hold you in His arms, until you’re here with me.
-Gayle Leubecker |
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Now faith is being
sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This
is what the ancients were commended for. Hebrews
11:1-2 |
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myadoptionwebsite.com
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