A Family for Christina

Christmas 2009

2009-12-26T08:31:00.000-08:00

2009-12-26T08:27:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2009

2009-12-26T08:11:00.000-08:00

Christmas - a day set apart to remember and praise the gift of God in the person of His Son - sent as a babe, destined to die for our wretchedness and grant us an ADOPTION into His heavenly family. I am now a child of the King - a daughter and full heir of His entire inheritance - without a doubt, by faith alone, set into His family by nothing I have done or could ever do - merely to accept the wrapped-up gift of His salvation and thank Him forever.

Joyous Christmas to all of you from ALL of us! We didn't think we would be able to handle the opening of gifts today - but we did. We didn't think the jetlag would leave us alone for quite some time - but it has! John is now at work for 3 nights in a row ... the only one of us desperately trying to STAY on China time!

Greatest joys - Lushi and Christina are home .... we are ALL home and enjoying the separated time of holy-days with snow falling on top of snow already piled all over which fell while we were in China. We arrived home 7:30pm Christmas Eve to a fully decorated and cleaned home - thanks to my wonderful daughters! All of the presents were wrapped and under the decorated tree .... perhaps leaving home for 3 weeks before Christmas does have some advantages!

Greatest trials - 1) Christina is DEATHLY afraid of even the smallest of dogs ... and we have a large golden retriever that is an INSIDE dog ... keeping them apart has been a real job! She is nearly always chatting or laughing and gets along well with all of the children. She is trying different foods - some she likes and some she does not. And 2) poor Lushi not being able to communicate well to us - so very hard on him. At breakfast, lunch and dinner, he peeks over my shoulder while I'm in the kitchen and says, "noodles" ... half in demand/half pleading!! He's had noodles 3 out of the 4 meals so far ... even for breakfast! He has searched the refrigerator and spices for anything to "help" to make it spicy and tasty! He is not easy on the boys, giving Nathan several face plants in the snow today .... but Nate only came in whimpering, not balling, with tears. He is tender to help when he can. They both seemed to enjoy opening a few presents today.

Well I started this note just after putting the younger children to bed (and Lushi who is not on US time yet) at 10:30. Then Caitlin and Grace and I chatted, shared and then decided to watch "Pride and Prejudice" that Cait got for a present. We outvoted Grace who wanted to watch her "Half Blood Prince"!! So now it is after 1:30am and I must go to bed. The laundry has not stopped - even over Christmas Eve and Day .... like John's Mom always said, "it's like shoveling poop against the tide!"

God bless you, every one!!

Mary

Monday the 21st

2009-12-21T05:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Sunday, was a rest day for us. We chose to do breakfast at the New Victory as we heard more adoptive families eat over there - being in the Old Victory, we can chose either buffet. Just after sitting down, I looked up to see Linny Saunders with Emma and dear Jubilee just glowing! The 2D pix of Jubilee do NOT do her justice .... or else she is just aglow with the joy of family now!! I threw a hug on Linny before she even knew who I was. We then chatted for about 30min while my breakfast (the first I could actually eat since being sick) got cold. John tapped his watch and said church is in 45 minutes. Linny left to get her breakfast and I got up to get a fresh cup of hot tea (mine was cold by now) and when I returned to the table my breakfast was gone .... the clean up crew was way too fast for me! Guess I wouldn't be eating much this morning anyway. I grabbed a few super sweet clementines (called sugar sweets here by some) and they were very good. We went off to church and for the first time in all our adoptions we were the ONLY adoptive family there! Very strange. But I did run into two new officers from the consulate who were there for worship. :) Sunday was cooler and sunless - we spent more time in the hotel room. We did venture out for dinner to the Italian spot we had heard about... La Vita Dolce .... another God orchestrated moment as we ran into yet another family I have only known on the web - the Everetts - Hal and Susan. We both have sons from Jiaozuo, Henan and met on that yahoo group 4 years ago. Nice family from Texas - and here with their entire family of 7!

Monday we were up early to have the TB tests read at 8am - both negative altho Lushi's was a bit raised and wheeled - not large enough for a "positive" .... praise the LORD!! If it had been "positive" he would have had to have a chest xray prove negative to clear him through the tuberculosis evaluation. Angela waited over another hour for the reports to be completed and translated. Almost not enough time to then grab a taxi for the Consulate Appt at 10am - she was bussling! We had to stay in our room for the allocated 2 hrs "in case" she needed to call us with any questions. For all of our prior 4 adoptions we have never had a call. At 10:50 the phone rang and I jumped - Lushi was now 14 and HAD to be present, unbeknownst to us, to give his red thumb print of approval for his own adoption. John and he jumped a taxi asap as he had to be there by 11:30 to get it done. John said they were dropped off at 11:27 and ran to the right room. Angela was just a BIT frazzled by this time and had already called me to see if they had got a cab right away! All was well .... and Angela said we would actually swear in TODAY, this afternoon instead of tomorrow! We had enough time for a lunch and then back into the van for yet another trip to the consulate. A large group eventually gathered and each family was called up one by one - no guides allowed in the room anymore, per a new rule set just this October. We then had the oath - all right hands raised .... and of course, I always tear up at this part .... it is all finally over and done! Congratulations were said and we were out the door. Oh, and 4 newly adopted children celebrate(d) birthdays in December and were announced - two 1 yr olds, a nearly 8 yr old and our Lushi, 14yrs! He did not understand what was happening since Angela was not there to translate!

We gathered with several other families for dinner at the Cow and Bridge - 22 of us in all. Angela came and then after we were seated she graciously said she was not staying! Afterwards I told her she was a weasle .... to which I had to then translate the meaning for her! Lushi is off playing ping-pong with another family's teen son - will gather him up in just a bit.

We are relieved it is nearly all done - just need to wait to receive the final visas - due by Wednesday, but may come in tomorrow (Tuesday) - still will not be able to change any flights and get home early .... shucky darns!

Thanks for the continued prayers!! I, Mary, am all well stomach wise, but now have a cold and chest cough - will gladly take this over the pukes and squirts! Everyone else is well. I will be sad to say goodbye to Angela - sure wish she would come to the states for visit sometime - she said it would cost so much and be hard to do .... yeah, tell me about it!

Blessings to all! And nearly a Merry Christmas! Our home is getting more snow each day this week while we enjoy the warm Guangzhou weather - Christina and Gideon will be in for such a shock!!

Mary

GZ pics

2009-12-19T09:12:00.000-08:00

Being stuck in a hotel room will do this to you.

the look all over Shamian

What a beautiful day!

Saturday in Guangzhou

2009-12-19T00:57:00.001-08:00

Much has happened since our last post. Yesterday was health exam day for the kids. The exams went just fine, other than Lushi being embarrassed at having to undress in front of the doctor. Angela said he didn't think it was any of their business what his special need is!! Then came the vaccinations. Poor Christina was balling just having her blood pressure done. When we signed to her that there were to be pokes, she was very upset. I held her tightly on my lap while Mary and another nurse held her arm for the TB test. Then came 3 other shots, accompanied by much wailing. Lushi was sticking his head in the door laughing at the whole scene. Little did he know that he needed to get the TB and FIVE shots. When the time for that came, he handled it very well-- looking away and grimacing with each stick. After 2 shots in each arm, the nurse told him the last shot needed to go in his leg. He argued quite forcefully! He is very embarrassed that due to his urinary incontinence he needs to wear adult diapers. All of a sudden, he decided he needed to go to the bathroom before the final shot. He came back quickly, minus the diaper, and let out a little yelp when they stuck him. I felt sorry for both of them. We Tylenol'd them as soon as we got back to the hotel and they've both been mildly complaining about the pain at their injection sites ever since.   Mary and I are very concerned about this whole vaccination process. You would NEVER see a child get this many shots at one time in the states. We talked to another mother this morning whose new daughter had to get SEVEN vaccinations today. That is ridiculous. The worst part is that in our prior adoption experiences, many of the kids who get all the vaccinations in China need to have them re-done once they get home because their titers are not acceptable.

Mary has been under the weather for several days now. We're thinking it was something she ate that is bothering her. Last night, she ate very little for supper. Normally she LOVES the Thai food at the Cow + Bridge restaurant here on Shamian Island.   When we got back to the room, she went straight to bed but was soon up sitting on the pot while holding a garbage can in her lap. It was a long night for her. Today, she's taking it quite easy and is feeling a little better. We went for a long walk around the island today. Very sunny and in the low 60's today. The kids (well, at least Christina) enjoyed the park for a while, then we walked along the riverfront where the sun was shining bright. The rays feel great on the skin.

The plan for the next 24 hrs is dinner tonight... not sure where yet. Tomorrow morning we'll go to church at the Shamian Christian Church, maybe followed by an outdoor lunch at Lucy's :-)   Sorry to all you family and friends in Maryland. I've heard about the 20 inches of snow you're getting. I'll be thinking about you all while I eat my lunch outside tomorrow :-)

Have a great weekend.
John

In Guangzhou- finally

2009-12-17T15:42:00.001-08:00

We finally got to Guangzhou. Our flight from Nanchang was delayed by over 2.5 hrs, and we finally touched down after dark here. We shuttled in from the airport and checked into the Victory Hotel-- the rooms are very large, but were a bit disappointed in that the entire Shamian Island is covered with scaffolding. Every building is being "beautified" by the local government in preparation for Guangzhou hosting the 2010 Asian games. The normally beautiful Shamian Island is not so beautiful right now :-( We're gonna have to tour the island today and find out where everything is again. Many of the shops where we have had laundry done and purchased trinkets over the years have moved. It's supposed to be sunny and in the 60's today... so we'll suffer thru that excursion! We did find Lucy's just fine last night- dodging new concrete being poured in the street right outside their front door- finally getting to eat at 9pm. It was worth the wait. The Iced Tea went down just great.

On the adoption side of things, today are the medical appointments for Lushi and Christina that are required by US Immigration. They are gonna have to get some vaccinations- this is another new requirement- and I'm sure that will go over just great with them- NOT.

Keep Mary in your prayers, as she's not feeling so great.

Have a good Thursday night as we begin our Friday.

More pix

2009-12-16T20:38:00.000-08:00

On the Nanchang walking street

Nap time

Everything was good

Chicken, onions, peanuts and just a few hot peppers for decoration!

Beef hot pot. Very good!

Guangzhou UPDATE

2009-12-16T19:41:00.001-08:00

We have Christina's passport and will be off to the airport in about 90 minutes. We should arrive in Guangzhou at 4:15pm (2:15 am Iowa time) and after the van ride downtown, should be at Lucy's by about 7pm. WooHOO.

Guangzhou Day TODAY!!!

2009-12-16T18:01:00.001-08:00

We'll be heading off to Guangzhou today, provided the civil affairs office has Christina's passport done (pray please). We are so looking forward to the warmth and familiarity of Shamian Island. Mary is especially looking forward to a cold iced tea at Lucy's!

Yesterday was a rather unexciting day (boring to a point) as it was cold and dreary outside and we had no appointments or places to go. Angela has been fighting off a cold and spent a good part of the day resting. John did some reading. The kids watched TV and wrestled. We finally headed out later in the afternoon. Another adoptive family that knows Angela came over to our hotel and we all went to dinner together. We then went down to the "walking street" so the gals could get some glazed strawberries on a stick. On the way back to the hotel, we were walking into a stiff, cold headwind. I (John) popped Christina up on my shoulders and picked up the pace-- her short legs have trouble keeping up sometimes :-) We ended up bouncing and singing and laughing all the way back to the hotel. It was a good bonding experience for us!

Mary had a rough night, as something she ate didn't agree with her. She felt a bit better this morning, and ate a little toast for breakfast. Hopefully the rest of the day will see her getting her strength back. Perhaps this is what she had trouble with??? ADDENDUM: THE PICS I TRIED TO POST DIDN'T WORK. I'LL FORWARD THEM TO CAITLIN AND SHE CAN UPLOAD THEM. SORRY. THE PIC I INTENDED TO SHOW HERE WAS A CHICKEN DISH LOADED WITH HOT PEPPERS. :-)

Tuesday Evening/Wed morning

2009-12-15T15:52:00.000-08:00

Good morning from China! Last night after everyone went to bed I stayed up to send pix and typed up a nice long blog explaining the visit with the fosters and other things …. suffice to say, the connection was lost and so was the note …thought it was saved but alas, no such luck!! So I will try again – this time in Word and copy and paste it!

As some of you know all 3 of our China girls are from Jiangxi … just so happened that way – and Sarabeth, home now 3 yrs was from Nanchang – fostered her entire life with one family who dearly loved her and did EVERYTHING for her … a true China “emperess”. We keep in loose contact with them – pix and letters over the email a few times a year. We had Angela call them to set up a time to have dinner – planned for 5:30 Tues night to meet at this hotel and go down the street for dinner. All of us except Angela (who is now down with a cold/sore throat…please pray for her) went out for lunch and onto Walmart for a few things. John had transferred all the pix we have taken of Sarabeth into one folder and wanted a flash drive to download them and give to the fosters. We came back to find the family already at the hotel at 3:00!!! Not a true surprise to us considering how they frequently just would show up during our week adopting SB … we had to insist they stop as it was truly confusing for dear SB.

Anyway – they decided to change plans – wanted us to go to their home to visit and then onto a restaurant of their choice close to their home. No problem – they also brought along the woman who taught SB to speak a bit of English prior to her adoption – this woman is now in college 2nd year. We went by taxi to their home – truly my worst taxi ride EVER …the driver was obviously the best at playing “chicken” with all the other drivers/buses/mopeds/bicyclists and wanted to show us his expertise!! ACK!! Lushi was laughing at me as I would gasp and say “I’m gonna die!” We pulled into a back alley and then onto an even “backer” alley – SB lived in a 6th floor apt and I was panted heavily by the time I reached the top – no surprise to me that I am totally out of shape!! Their home is quite small with 2 bedrms, small living area and kitchen/ bath….and no heat. It has been below freezing here several days and it was quite chilly! They offered clementines and a crunchy corn stick snack that SB used to love. We chatted a bit and then were off to walk to the “close by” restaurant. NOT!! But although the walk was long and very cold (poor Angela), we went through the “largest” market in Nanchang – veggie/fruit and clothes venders of all kinds – this was a true community sense that we experienced. A small city within a city. We arrived at the restaurant – VERY large and with 3 inch pine wood trim everywhere – walls of brick or white pine logs everywhere – very different from anything we have experienced in China.

Angela and the elder sister ordered- the first dish to arrive looked like beans and beef – I, Mary, took a “bean” and bit into it …. It was a pepper … and a very HOT one at that. I did not regain my taste buds for ½ of the meal!! Several dishes came out that we had never had before – some good, some not so good. The fosters all the while encouraged us to eat, eat!! while they did very little eating. At the end of the meal they brought out some fried thin bread that we have had at the Cow Bridge Restaurant before – very yummy. Dujie dropped two sets of chop sticks and a spoon (broke it) – she is a bit clumsy or probably just mindlessly active.

After dinner the family wanted us to then go the younger sister’s home – we have seen pix of this and know it is very modern and comfortable. We were just tuckered out and knew dear Angela needed some meds and rest for her cold. We taxied back to the hotel.

The dynamic duo of Lushi and Christina is forming true sibling love and hate – chiding eat other, teasing, blaming each other – they chatter on and on. So glad we bought a bag of sunflower seeds – this has kept them busy in front of the TV during the long hours of nothingness that the adoption waiting can produce – the weather earlier was rainy, cold and even snowy. No walking streets during that!

We are now into our Wednesday and getting ready for breakfast – will meet up with another WCF family today – the McNews – for dinner. Tomorrow we will be off to GZ hopefully and onto warmer weather and the comfortable “ahh” of Shamian Island!

As always, we are thankful for your prayers and comments – they encourage us while we are so far away!!

Mary and John

More pix

2009-12-15T07:44:00.000-08:00

Bored watching TV and eating sunflower seeds

Sarabeth's foster family

Her foster parents

@ foster family's house

Tuesday Dec 15, in Nanchang

2009-12-14T18:33:00.003-08:00

It's been a few days since we posted. Sorry for the delay. On Sunday afternoon we headed off from PHF to the Beijing airport. Christina did not look back. We had thought there might be some tears shed but she handled the transition well. Our guide Angela met up with us at the airport and we headed to the gateway. Christina was excited to go up in the plane, but because it was dark out by the time we took off, she couldn't see as much from the air. Air China must be obsessive about "on-time" departures! People were still finding their seats when the door was closed and the plane was pushed away from the gate. In the US, that plane wouldn't move until everyone was seated. Then, we were blasting down the runway and lifting off while the safety video was still playing! Very different from at home.

On arrival in Nanchang, we headed off to the Gloria Plaza Hotel and finally hit the sheets at about 11:30pm. We had an early wake-up tho, as we needed to be at the Civil Affairs Office by 8:30am. At Civil Affairs, there were MANY adoptive families milling around the waiting room. We talked to several families who had been waiting for their new healthy children for up to 44 months! That seems so foreign to those of us who adopt from the "waiting children" lists. The longest we've ever waited from login to travel is 9 months, and that was excruciating enough.

After signing all the paperwork and paying all the bills, we went to the Nanchang Wal-Mart, which is ALWAYS mind-boggling! You'll never see a Walmart like this in this states! Everything from live squid to turtle, fried everything on a stick, LOUD salespeople on megaphones shouting their pitches and the same annoying version of "Jingle Bells" repeated over and over again on the store's loudspeakers. Arghhhhhhhhh! After quickly gathering up some water, Pepsi and a few snack items, we headed back to the hotel. After lunch and a short nap, we took a trip several blocks from the hotel to the pedestrian mall area. We walked the length of the "walking street" and the girls enjoyed some glazed strawberries on a stick. We love the atmosphere on the walking street-- so many people gathered, walking arm in arm, talking etc. After supper at a local restaurant, it was time for a much needed sleep.

Today, we were able to sleep a bit longer as we have no appointments. We are in the worst part of the adoption travel time-line.....waiting, waiting, waiting. It is cold and rainy (with a few snowflakes mixed in) outside. Our only thing scheduled today is to meet up with Sarabeth's foster parents. It has been 3 yrs since we left Nanchang with our lovely Sarabeth, and the fosters still miss her greatly. We will be meeting them at 5:30 for dinner and I've put together a photo album on a flash drive that we will give them, which chronicles Sarabeth since her adoption. Tomorrow....another day of waiting. Thursday though is the day we've been waiting for- Lord willing, we'll have all of Christina's paperwork returned and be off to warm Guangzhou.

We'll send some pictures off to Caitlin and hopefully she will get them uploaded to the blog soon. Thanks for the many comments, notes and prayers. We appreciate all of you.

John and Mary.

PHF pictures

2009-12-13T13:03:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the wait...here are the pictures!!

Sunday - day to FLY

2009-12-12T20:51:00.000-08:00

Hi all! Sorry for no pix - our daughter was really busy Saturday with ACTs, Christmas play practice and being a "Mom" to the littles - hopefully some pix will show up soon.

Last night we went to a local restaurant ... a stone's throw over the PHF wall .. to celebrate Lushi's 14th bday. We WAY overordered not realizing the portion sizes per order. Beef and onions, kung pao chicken (lightly spicy with nuts and carrots/cukes), braised beef ribs .. mmmm, and cashew chicken .... then the stir fried beans, bok choi and stir fried broccoli - Lushi ordered noodles (mian tiao)- he loves noodles. This time he conversed with the waiter and next thing we know he has a bulb of raw garlic .... peels it and holds a clove of raw garlic in one hand and eats the noodles with the other - like we eat bread with soup ... a slurp of noodles and a bite of garlic ... he ate 2 cloves this way and wow did he stink the rest of the night. Guess he boosted his immune system for the entire trip home!! :P We had a cake and candles with us and we sang to him at the end of the meal - in english and chinese - he was beaming. I did the traditional 1 for the money (for those who know us well) and had to mimic blowing out the candles to show him what to do. Clay and Jewel Floch went with us and Stacey too. The rest of the staff are typically off for the weekend.

Christina slept in a bed by herself in Mary's room last night. She is gradually getting more comfortable with us as the hours go by. A BIG change in her life will come this afternoon when we leave the village and head to the airport. She will be leaving many memories and friends behind as she begins a new stage in her life. We head to Nanchang tonight, where we will sign her adoption papers tomorrow. We will then wait several days for her passport to be released to us before we can go on to Guangzhou.

Have a blessed Lord's Day and keep us in your prayers as we continue our journey.
Mary

Saturday morning in China!

2009-12-11T19:42:00.000-08:00

Christina slept with me (mary) last night in a queen bed - I had started some laundry and was not ready to go to sleep but laid down beside her - she was out within 15min at 8:30. She woke about 2am and seemed confused with me beside her and we were both up for good around 5:30am. John and Lushi stayed in another room in separate beds. We have found that Lushi is not continent at all .... we are not making anything of it, but try to encourage him to wash well ... with hand motion over bottom and peri area .... at which he just laughs and says "okay,okay,okay" .... that's one of his phrases ... along with "no,no,no". Christina and I waited until 6:30 to officially bust into the boys room - they were awake but in bed. The lights went on and I started to check email while Christina bounced and bounced on Lushi's bed. Christina had made John and I a painted 12x12inch canvas with the word "love" in the middle of a large heart that was painted with smaller hearts all the way around - signed and dated on the back - so sweet. She let me open it in the room earlier and then brought it over to show Baba .... she was on the bed with Lushi and said to us "love (pointing to her artwork) .... I love you" .... to which Lushi responded also "I love you,too!" WOW oh wow .... his first official sentence and it's "I love you, too" with a huge smile on his face.

The boys dressed and we headed to the dining hall area for a pick up breakfast of yogurt and peanut butter bread - while we were eating, I looked at Lushi and it hit me .... "Lushi, it's your birthday!!" The four of us, along with Clay and Jewel all sang Happy Birthday to him and then Christina sang it to him in Chinese! It doesn't seem like a birthday - we will go out to eat tonight we - have a cake and candles - perhaps we will do a bit of shopping. We did get him new sneaks yesterday ... size NINE on this smallish 14 yr old and boy do his feet STINK !! I forgot how bad teen boys feet stink ... he is great about washing his hair in the sink around 3 times a day, but I don't think the rest of him sees much water!! :P Mama will have to change that!

We went over to the House of Love to visit - played with the children, saw where Christina slept, took pix with ayis, friends and bedrooms. I snuggled a few of the kids - especially sweet Noel Joy .... yes she grabbed my heart in Feb of 08 - and she is doing much better ... she has CP. What a giggle Noel has - steals your heart!

We skyped with the kids back at home .... first had to call on the phone to find them at the Leckrones - had been there all day sledding. I said to Caitlin, "it's 6:30 ... you better get home and get a good nigh'ts rest ... ACTs tomorrow." She gasped and said she had totally forgotten! The cat's away the mice do play!

We just had lunch and Christina is used to napping with the other kids now ... seems like a good excuse for Mama to rest, too.

We send more pix to Caitlin for her to post.

In HIS strength and mercy alone,
Mary

Christina pix!!

2009-12-11T17:32:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the wait; I (Caitlin) was away with the kids all day. Here are the pictures!

Christina's Gotcha!

2009-12-11T06:58:00.001-08:00

After a short 1 hour flight from Taiyuan to Beijing, we were met at the airport by PHF staffers Clay and Jewel Floch. They shuttled us out to Shepherd's Field where we got settled in our rooms at the Inn of Eight Happinesses and met with some of the other staff. They gave us several things, including a portfolio of Christina's schoolwork and a DVD of pictures they've taken of her over the years. After the children's naptime, Christina was brought over to the Inn to meet us. At first, she was shy and wouldn't come to us. She did however, take to Lushi! Eventually, after some talking and teasing, she began to warm up to us and the REAL Christina began to emerge. She is quite the PISTOL! She'll give Juliana and Nathan a run for their money, and she may even rival Jeremy in decibel level. She can be very demanding, several times calling out "Mother!" and is very confident in herself. Her english vocabulary has impressed us so far and she loves talking with Lushi in chinese too. At one point, we could not find them. They had taken off (sans coats) and found their way to the playground!

Little did we know when we invited ourselves a day early to PHF that they had their staff Christmas party scheduled for tonight. They invited us to join them and we had a wonderful time. Several of the children participated by singing carols, and Christina was included in this group. They sang Silent Night, We Wish You a Merry Christmas and Jesus Loves Me (in english and chinese). They were very good. After an excellent meal, we brought them both back over to the Inn and showered them. Soon, it was off to bed. The Lord has blessed us tremendously and we are so thankful. I'm so looking forward to getting them home to meet the rest of their new family!

The "Great Firewall of China" does not allow access to blogspot. I've been using a proxy server to submit these posts, but am not able to post pics. For those of you requesting more pics, so sorry! I will forward a few of the pics we took tonight in an e-mail to Caitlin, and hopefully she will get them loaded onto the blog this morning.

Its been a long day and everyone else is fast asleep. I'm off to join them. I hope you all have as great a Friday as we've just had! Good night.

John

Heading to Langfang!

2009-12-10T14:27:00.000-08:00

Good evening/morning depending on where you are!

The Lord was gracious and we did get the notary papers last night around 8pm - we had resigned ourselves to not getting it last night when it hadn't arrived by 6:30pm. We went to eat at KFC and after dinner we told Angela she had better call Shelby at Shepherd's Field and tell her we would not make it until Sat - Angela took out her phone and squealed "it came, it came"!! There was a message on her phone saying the papers were at the hotel just after 8pm!! Then she softly said God is so good! Yes!

Now Christina's gotcha will not be the same as Lushi's birthday!! We will forever more have such busy celebrations in Dec with 2 gotchas and a bday in the same week! So we fly out at 10am - couldn't get our money back on the other flights for Sat, but the amount of the new plane tickets was about the same as the cost of the 2 rooms at the Shanxi Grande ... we wanted adjoining rooms and had to go to the "business level" to get them - and they are the most expensive hotel rooms for our entire trip.

So we should meet Christina this afternoon sometime and we will get an extra night at the Inn of the Eight Happinesses at Shepherd's Field!

We are hoping Lushi and Christina can understand each other - we will soon find out. And there are some of the older boys at SF that Lushi will be able to meet, too!

Thanks for all your prayers!!
Mary and John

adoption paperwork nearly done!!

2009-12-09T22:49:00.000-08:00

It is now Thursday afternoon - we are only waiting for the notary paperwork to be delivered - tonight hopefully!! We have only been here two days - sorry we are doing this so fast - I know so very many of you are waiting and waiting. I am not sure why God chose for us to do these adoptions like this but it is certainly all Him! The workers at the civil affairs office were asking our guide, Angela (my angel), why is everyone pushing this along so fast - what is so special about this boy?? Why him? She was without response - I told her I would have simply said - this is how God has chosen to place Lushi in a family - all the children come via their own path .... Lushi has waited nearly 14 years and he has certainly waited long enough!! He is opening up and laughs at Mama's attempts to use chopsticks ... and speak chinese!! He jokes with the civil affairs officers and is smiling lots and lots! And Mama has found out he is VERY ticklish! His only request before we came was for a translator ... electronic. We went today to look at some ... in a FREEZING cold building - he was so stubborn, so 14!! He wanted this one and ONLY this one that he obviously has seen someone else using. It was so confusing to use and finally I told him this translator would be like his didi's (little brother's) prosthetic arm - fine to look at but quite useless for everyday functioning. He then agreed .... my nearly 14 yr old son agreed and said he didn't want it!

He opens doors, pours our tea, passes the first coke to me - he actually has some manners! We had a very nice lunch at a local cantonese restaurant .... mmm,mmm very good (sorry Cait and Grace :P )- the orphanage adoption worker that brought him finally agreed to join us and he shared some about Lushi and how he has a very sensitive heart. I simply can't WAIT to be able to converse with him and joke with him. When Angela leaves us and we head home, he asked who will help translate -this will be his biggest adjustment, but hopefully he will tackle it head on and work hard at it. I told him it will take many months but it will finally happen and he will be able to talk with us and we will all understand each other.

Since our work is all done we are going to try to fly off to Langfang tomorrow and spend a bit more time at Shepherd's Field. I will miss out on going there in the spring for the planned mission's trip and will cherish sharing with the children and meeting up with Christina!! I'm sure she will totally enjoy leading us around to show us all the babies and loving on them with us!!

For all of you not in the midwest area, please pray for our teen daughters and younger kids - they got 14inches of snow yesterday and everything is still closed around the area. Caitlin was the "man of the house" and conquered snow blowing the driveway with much effort ... said there were 5 foot drifts from the 40 mile/hour winds. They stayed in most of the day Wed and made cookies ... eating most of the dough before it could even be cooked! Sounds like MY daughters!! Raw dough is so very yummy!!

Can't wait for all our family and friends at home to meet Lushi - watch out James S - he can put some spin on a pingpong ball!!

In HIS strength and mercy alone,
MaryK

More pictures

2009-12-09T14:32:00.000-08:00

Pictures of Lushi!!

2009-12-09T06:23:00.000-08:00

Gideon Zhang Lushi Kamberger

2009-12-09T02:32:00.000-08:00

First off, Blogger is blocked by the "Great firewall of China", but I have been able to find a proxy server that allows us to post. It will not give me a picture uploader option though, so the pics will need to added later, perhaps by Caitlin.

We awoke from a short sleep in Beijing and headed off to the airport at 5:45am. We needed to be in Taiyuan by 10:00 to meet Lushi at the Shanxi Civil Affairs office. Our flight was delayed just a bit, so we didn't have time to check in at the hotel upon our arrival here, we just went straight to Civil Affairs. Lushi was waiting in the office for us, and seemed a bit shy and nervous upon meeting us. We signed several papers and were off to the hotel. Our guide Angela talked at length with Lushi and translated several questions/answers for us. We enjoyed lunch at a restaurant across the street from the hotel, with Lushi enjoying the local specialty of noodles, and John enjoying a spicy beef hot pot. We also had a bok choy dish and sweet/sour pork. Back at the hotel, we spent time talking with our new son, trying to get to know him. Mary gave him a short math quiz, trying to find out where he is academically. During our talk, we found out the he HAS had surgery on his spinal cord. We're not sure what exactly was done, but there's a good sized scar on his back and he says the surgery allowed him to have bowel control, but not bladder control. We also found out that he had been in foster care for approx. 8 yrs, and is still very close to the large foster family. They gave him a huge going away party last week and it is obvious that Lushi is very attached to them. We have contact info and will stay in touch with them. We may in fact, travel to Linfen later this week and try to meet them. We'll see how our schedule works out.

We had a short Skype video call with Caitlin, Grace and Sarabeth. The other children were already asleep for the night. The kids are experiencing a blizzard in North Iowa, with up to a foot of snow and 40 mph winds tonight. Keep them in your prayers.

The plan for tomorrow (Thursday) is to have our notary work done and all the paperwork completed at the Civil Affairs office, then perhaps do some shopping for clothes for Gideon. He's smaller than most 14 yr olds, and the clothes we brought for him are mostly too large. We'll remain in touch. Thanks for your prayers and words of encouragement.

John and Mary

In Tokyo

2009-12-08T01:04:00.000-08:00

It was a very long flight from Minneapolis to Tokyo. We chased the sun all the way- leaving MSP at 12:45pm Monday and arriving Tokyo at 3pm Tuesday- and never passing thru the night. That always amazes me. It is now 6pm here (3am in Iowa) and we've been awake for about 21 hrs. We'll board our next flight at 6:35p and arrive in Beijing at 11pm, ready for a good night's sleep. On Wed morning, we'll head off to Taiyuan and meet Gideon! Hope to post again soon. If we have trouble getting on to blogspot in China, we'll e-mail our posts and pics to Caitlin and she'll copy them to the blog. To everyone in Iowa-- enjoy the snow!

Getting ready to fly!

2009-12-04T07:08:00.000-08:00

So, so sorry if you only follow us on the blog - no info for 3 days - YIKES! We are all set to fly - well, not packed or ready in that sense but booked to fly at least!! Our itinerary is as follows:

Monday 7th .. John and I fly out of MN
Tuesday 8th... arrive in BJ at 11pm! sleep at Angela's (sweet!)
Wednesday 9th ... fly out early Beijing to Taiyuan, Shanxi and MEET Gideon at 10am!
Thursday 10th ...free
Friday 11th ... get passport and have BIG birthday dinner!!
Saturday 12th ... fly to BJ and onto Langfang and MEET Christina afternoon!
dinner with office staff AND Pam Baker
Sunday 13th .... enjoy day at LF and fly to Nanchang in evening
Monday 14th ... province paperwork for Christina
Tuesday 15th ... free
Wednesday 16th ... free
Thursday 17th ...get passport in morning (hopefully .. please PRAY)
Fly to Guangzhou in afternoon
Friday 18th .... Medicals
Saturday 19th .... free
Sunday 20th .... free
Monday 21st .... check TB sites (PRAY) and CA at 10am
Tuesday 22nd ... oath/swearing in at consulate (tissue time)
Wednesday 23rd .... get visas and take train to HongKong in evening
Thursday 24th ...Fly out of HK towards HOME at 8am
Thursday 24th ... arrive at Minneapolis around 4pm

So there you have it - God's unfolding plan for us to bring these two children into our home, our family, our hearts! Please pray for trust in their hearts to feel safe with us - for bonding - for health along the way - for God to continue to work His will as we continue to walk the path of faith!

Now I just have to pack, get the children's new rooms set, get new mattresses, plan for meals for my eldest to cook, list up Christmas gifts for the olders to help buy while we are away, get the tree up so they can decorate it whenever, go and visit my son, his wife and baby Hannah tomorrow ... all day since our kids are DYING to see her, check the bag weight, repack accordingly, stay calm, have a full day of church on Sunday including fellowship at night ..... oh, my, Lord, give me strength for today and hope for tomorrow!!

In His strength and mercy ALONE!!!
MaryK

TA times TWO!!

2009-12-01T20:25:00.000-08:00

My head is spinning!! I just got an email from our agency director and since it is 12noon in China, she found that CCAA has issued us two TAs!!!! AND she got us a CA ..... but did not tell me when!

Just 32 days ago I found out about Zhang Lushi - now I will fly out on Monday and he will become my son next week!!! Only God .... only God!!

Thank you, thank you for your prayers and fasting and encouragement!!

MaryK

More miracles!

2009-12-01T06:57:00.000-08:00

Hello all my faithful praying friends!!

Two huge things have happened already this week. First of all I would like to announce the birth of my FIRST grandchild, Hannah Lynn, who I thought would be born when I was in China ..... BUT GOD!! decided otherwise - she was born yesterday at 10:45am weighing 8lbs 9 oz, 19inches long with a head full of brown hair!! I was able to visit with her last night and will see her again on Saturday. Praising God for His overwhelming blessing in having her born before I left!!

Secondly, we now have Article 5 for both children!! One day turnaround .... and will be waiting for the issuance of the TAs tomorrow.

I am now preparing to fly out on Monday or Tuesday of next week - still need to wait for the TA to make the CA and set up firm flight plans home. Since we will be in GZ during Christmas week, we will have to stay an extra 3 days on top of the extended stay since they won't issue our visas on Christmas (obviously) and we would have to wait until the next Monday/Tuesday.

This will still work out well and I am very grateful for the Lord's mighty provision through this entire process!!

You are welcome to go to www.kambergerchronicles.blogspot.com to see pix of my beautiful granddaughter, Hannah!!

Mary

What FAITH can do!!

2009-11-26T17:35:00.000-08:00

I could not find ANY way to bring this song by Kutless into my playlist to play on the blog, so you have to click play to hear it. Oh, my, what a song!! These adoptions are a true manifestation of what faith CAN do. Listen and enjoy!

Mary

Happy GLORIOUS Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T06:10:00.000-08:00

It truly is a glorious Thanksgiving - it will long be remembered as the 2009 Thanksgiving of Miracles. God has clearly shown His hand in ALL of this and I simply want to say, "thank you Father!" Thank you that, "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly". Thank you that YOU have promised, "I will NOT leave you orphaned"!! Thank you Lord for "placing the lonely and fatherless in families". You have promised to always stand for the fatherless and YOU HAVE!! Thank you for the family you have blessed us with! Thank you that you have drawn them to yourself and already five of our seven children KNOW you as Savior! Thank you, Lord, that Jeremy just said the other day, "just how DO you get saved?"!!!! Thank you, Father, that you never change - that YOU are the same God of Abraham, Joseph, Gideon, Elijah - that You still are a God of miracles!! Thank you that this country/world can never get too technologically advanced to still not NEED You and your miracles. Thank you for the adjudication of yesterday ... I just love that word ..adjudication! Ya know that is what God does for us in Jesus ... He adjudicates us from being a total rotten sinner without hope into a child of the King with an unfathomable inheritance!

Have a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!! Thank you for heeding His call to give your tiny loaves and fishes and EXPECTING a miracle!! Thank you for stepping in the Jordan with us and WATCHING the waters part so we could walk across on dry land! Wow, that is all I can say, just Wow!

Mary

I800 processed and preapproved!!

2009-11-25T11:59:00.001-08:00

Wow!! Have I had a looooong day so far ..... but it was all worth it. We are past the next step and rec'd I800 provisional approval ----- super fantastic caseworker, thank you, thank you ---- and our file has now been moved on to National Visa Center!!!

Praise you Father!!

Mary

Ready for some GOOD news?

2009-11-24T15:00:00.001-08:00

What a roller coaster ride this has been. Too many stories and hoops that I've encountered today, but the end result is this: our file has LEFT Texas!!! and is being overnighted to Missouri!! Hopefully our caseworker can do the adjudication (impressed by my big fancy words?) of the I800 tomorrow .... hopefully before 1pm so it can go out fedex to New Hampshire. Once there, all the rest can be done electronically!! So maybe, just maybe the Lord God Almighty will be answering this prayer even EARLIER than we hoped!! As Linny would say "Yippee Jesus!!"

Speaking of God - listen to this!! Dick Graham, a sick em Great Dane if there ever was one, is in contact with the supposed 'top gal' with this division in the CIS - he tells her that many people have been praying about this, to which Cheryl says, " we have named this file "the reverend file" because we are ALL praying for it!" Talk about God grabbing the glory all across the board! What a testimony this one is!

Thank you all for your prayers, encouraging words and your heart deep love for the orphan ... cause there are two more coming home soon!!

In His strength and mercy alone,
Mary

Still in need of PRAYER

2009-11-24T09:55:00.000-08:00

PLEASE would you all stop right now and pray about LuShi - I am finding out this morning that the CIS in TX may not be able to "log it in, take the money and send it on to CIS MO today" that may be too much to do all in one day. : / of course I don't walk in their shoes, so perhaps it truly is a bigger job than I am portraying.

And then it has to go to MO .... Texas won't fedex it to MO... not "policy" even if I give my acct # and pay for it!! IF it was to somehow be completed TODAY and sent snail mail and actually reached MO tomorrow.... well my very helpful (truly no sarcasm cuz she is doing ALL she can) CIS worker said if she couldn't do all the work on it and get it out via Fedex by 1pm..... it will have to sit on her desk and wait to go fedex on FRIDAY!! But couldn't someone take it to a fedex center,,, no not policy..... it has to go out through the mailroom .... could I have someone pick it up if it gets done after 1pm from the mailroom and take it to fedex (I KNOW the adoption community - there HAS to be someone close to Lewisville, MO who would do that for Lushi) .... no that is against policy. Then she remarked "I can't believe if you are this far into the adoption that China can't give you an extension" ....... ummmm cuz it's not just "policy" it is LAW!!!!

Then it still has to go to New Hampshire - the National Visa Center .... it CAN be fedexed to them - the NCV has to scan it over to Guangzhou.....and my agency gets the preapproved I800 to fedex to GZ so they can meet up and stil be handled by the GZ consolute who then has to issue the Article 5. Ya know only in America .... does a file go to Texas to get the money out, then go to Missouri to do the actually work/approval on it, then have to go to New Hamshire to actually be scanned in and sent to GZ.

Now please if anyone knows, can you tell me how the HAGUE has made adoption so much BETTER?? So sorry for my frustration showing .... I knew this was impossible to start with - THAT is why I said to the Lord, "if YOU want Lushi in our family, You can do it!" And then when man has a totally impossible situation and it DOES work out ..... only God gets the glory and praise. I, for one, would really love to give that praise and glory to God on 12/12/09.

In His strength and mercy alone,

Mary

Nothing yet

2009-11-24T07:18:00.000-08:00

Sorry, bloggy followers for not posting for 2 days, but there has been no overt action to report. Except that many are in prayer and some are fasting for this to resolve. Our I800 application is in Texas and they have been contacted by our Senator Grassley's office and by someone high up in CIS to "move it, move it" however they can. I am anxiously waiting for some news of that file hitting Missouri today ... our caseworker is off Friday as well as Thursday and needs to clear/approve it by TOMORROW.

I am setting up flight plans - for those who were offering sky miles we found out definitively last night that for just my flight we would need 165,000 miles and we don't - not even close. There is still one option left for the flights, but we won't find out until next week about that one. But truly, with the giving that has occurred we can still pay for the tickets .... it would just be frugal to do what we can without the cold hard cash.

I hope today I can shout His praises again .... but wait - even in the midst of the storm and NO answers I can still shout His praises for He is STILL God and one who has stepped out from His expanse to come down and draw us back into our His life through the blood and person of Christ! Praise God!!

In His strength and mercy alone,
Mary

Why Wouldn't I?

2009-11-21T09:33:00.000-08:00

People often ask and many other probably only "think it" .... why are you adopting, AGAIN??? View this video - the answer is obvious, "why wouldn't I?"

God's hand again!

2009-11-21T09:22:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,

Since I would be traveling ALONE to pick up these two older children, our agency director was very concerned. She realized the need these older children have in being understood and having a guide with us as much as possible to translate for them. She thought she could arrange that in Shanxi for LuShi but was not sure about when we traveled to Jiangxi to get Christina ... having two of them ... she was very concerned that we would need more guide help.

I told her that I have a friend in China who was our very first guide when we adopted Juliana ( who is also a believer!!) and that she was still registered to be a guide .... but after ALL that CAWLI is doing for us, I did not want to say "I don't want your guides" .... Lillian quickly said "Call her! Get her to book everything for you in China - would be much better for you and will cost less". So I emailed my friend while she was sleeping and waited.

She was so excited to say YES ... my dh, John, connected us up via Jaja phone and we giggled like schoolgirls!! She is going to book EVERYTHING for us - planes, trains and automobiles ... no wait that's a movie ... planes, hotels and appts!! AND she will be my travel companion the WHOLE time - right in the room with us every minute!! While we were talking I mentioned that we would be hitting GZ just prior to Christmas (if the timing and miracles continue) and could get the medical done on Christmas day ... she got very quiet and I said, "you did realize we will be there over Christmas?" She screamed,"that's right." I thought she may want to back out, but she laughed and said how fun it would be to spend Christmas with us!! What a sister in Christ .... from the "ends of the earth" together to celebrate His glorious birth!! Thank you, dear Angela ..... she is also the angel that helped me find DuJie - ain't God something!!?? Making these plans by having she and I meet over 5 yrs ago?!!

So I want you to again praise God for His bountiful provision and yet still be in deep intercession for the upcoming week. CIS must be expedient for this to work out and my Senator's office said they have done all that they can do. It is purely God's hand that needs to move and get that application package of papers from TX to MO so our caseworker can complete the process stateside.

So, like Esther before the planned destruction of the Jews asked of her people, "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for 3 days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do". I am not asking you to fast for 3 days and not to eat OR drink for that long, but please be in deep prayer for God's hand to move and grant LuShi a family, a home and the medical care he needs to perhaps heal him of this nearly 14 year involuntary flow .... which brings to mind the healing of the woman with the 12 yr hemorrage.... I will be fasting from food today and probably Monday - if any of you are of the persuasion to truly go before God and seek him with a fast - I would be so very thankful! The last time I fasted for another person, was the same day the Lord gave me the Word of Ps 127 that "He would supply for His loved ones, even in their sleep" when I also was praying for the deep financial concerns of our upcoming adoption.

In His strength and mercy alone and humbled in His presence,
Mary

Continued prayers

2009-11-20T15:10:00.000-08:00

As I was thanking the Lord this morning for the incredible miracles He has provided, He whispered caution in my ear. We are still not sure what given name we want for LuShi, but I wanted one of the OT men that, through the miracles of God, "beat the odds" - David against Goliath, Joseph against his brothers and Pharoah's wife, Gideon against the army that outnumbered him so terribly or Elijah against the prophets of Baal. God was whispering to not be frightened after this present miracle because another "jezebel" may be right on it's heels. To NOT be afraid of the odds or the chances, but to face it head on like the other "impossibilities" that were already conquered this week.

Please, please continue to pray because the I800 is still in transit along with the Article 16 to go to Texas' "lockbox" where it was relayed to me by my Senator's office:

I talked to the Texas Service Center yesterday and was told that they have Contractors that input the I800 petitions at the lockbox. They are given 14 days to get the application back to the Missouri Service Center.

We do NOT have that much time - in NO way, shape or form. God knows that - but please go to Him in full FAITH that He has the ability to work His perfect will .... whatever that may be. I will be asking for a turn around time so fast that it will grant our I800 approval by Wednesday of next week .... because next week is Thanksgiving and things stop on holidays. And I'm not sure how many of the workers will even be off on Friday - so let them do the work before they take holiday.

Because then that will give the Consolate in Guangzhou only a week to turn it all around and issue the Article 5.

That all sounds incredibly impossible BUT so did everything else that transpired so far this week!

Thank you for your continued support, your notes of encouragement and especially your prayers.

The two new pix - one of an "older Lushi" even though it is still a year old!! And a new one of Christina someone took on a visit there recently.

Mary

2 LOA's overnight!!!!

2009-11-20T06:43:00.000-08:00

My wake up email today from my caseworker from CAWLI:

By the way - good news!
2 LOA's for you today!

The director faxed the I800A approval last night to 3 different CCAA directors but it was our Lord that moved their hand. I could NOT stay in my desk chair, but literally had to fall on my face before our Heavenly Father and tremble in awe!!

Can you even begin to imagine what plans God has for the future of these children???

Please start to pray for God's huge hedge of protection on our travel, on our and the children's health, on ANYTHING the adversarial prince and power of the air might try to throw in our path ... of course I firmly believe this adversary has to first ASK permission before the Throne to do so ...... so if God is for us WHO can be against us??

If you are NOT a firm believer in the saving power of Jesus PLEASE see this as a testimony of what He WILL do for the sake of His children ..... and then read Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ, the Gospel of John and the book of Romans.

In His strength and mercy alone and humbled in His presence,

Mary

God didn't want to STOP

2009-11-19T08:15:00.000-08:00

I thought by me telling you all to stop that you all would do so ..... well we don't EVER tell God what to do!!! I rec'd another phone call this morning from Lifesong and they have provided a matching grant of $2500 for us .... that means if we raise $2500, they will match it with another $2500. I told them what happened last night and they said the choice was up to me .... we will spare the larger funding group the extra expense and have Lifesong help us out. So IF you were going to send a check to Shepherd's Crook for tax sheltering, you can now send it to Lifesong directly and they will match it for our adoption. Send it to -

Lifesong for Orphans
POB 40
202 N. Ford Str
Gridley, IL 61744

Please indicate “Kamberger 1083 Adoption” in the memo section.

I still have to get back to the BJRAAF (long named funding group) to tell them exactly what we will need to complete the adoption.

AND then GOD still moved even MORE!!!

WE WERE APPROVED FOR OUR I800A

..... exactly 24hrs from our fingerprinting!!! God is sooooo good!!

Now I have to fill out yet more paperwork!

Praising Him for his abundant blessings!!!

Mary

STOP GIVING!

2009-11-18T21:18:00.000-08:00

I did NOT think I would EVER say those words!! But I have - stop giving - "uncle" - we can't handle anymore!! The MIRACLE has been realized!!

To ALL of you who deeply care for the orphan -

The Lord has granted us miracle after miracle over the last 2 days. By the hands of His people - many of you have given, agencies and individuals alike. I would like to give praise to God and Him alone for the wondrous work He has done on behalf of the fatherless - those He greatly desires to place in homes.

We have been given:

over $6000 between our chip in and Kelly R's purse fundraiser
a Love Without Boundaries grant of $3000
a Grant Me a Chance grant of $1000
a $13,000 NO interest loan from a private donor and a $6000 grant from a private donor.

Totalling $29,000!!!!!!!!!!! PLUS donations via Shepherd's Crook tax ded fund of an unknown amount.

All in less than 2 days ...... I think I can now safely say ..... STOP...... we have enough!!

And I want to add that all the grants and loan were by individuals who called or emailed ME - not I to them. On my first post on this blog I mentioned that the Lord had given me Ps 127 as the verse to hold onto : "He provides for his loved ones even in their sleep, children are a GIFT from Him" - He was assuring me way back then that HE would supply and He has done so with abundance!!!

THANK YOU from the Kambergers, especially from DuJie and LuShi who will soon be part of their forever family because of the help of givers like yourselves.

Please continue to uphold us in prayer as we continue with the paperwork - we still have many hurdles to cross on the way to bring these children home.

In HIS strength and mercy alone,

Mary and John

Tax sheltered giving

2009-11-18T13:33:00.001-08:00

Several individuals have asked if there is a place to donate funds for our adoption needs to a nonprofit organization where their donation will be tax deductible. We now have a place to do that. Shepherd's Crook has gone out of their way to make this available due to their relationship with Richard and Cheryl Graham of IAAP {these are the original people who advocated for LuShi and were also the ones we adopted Nathan through}. If you desire to donate in a tax deductible fashion Shepherd's Crook has set up a beneficiary account in the name of LuShi Kamberger. Please just direct anyone interested in helping to send their tax-deductible donations to

The Shepherd's Crook Ministries
P.O. Box 773
West Chester,OH 45071

and make sure to indicate that the donation is for "LuShi Kamberger."

Thank you all so very much for your help in our time of need!
Mary and John

10:30pm GOOD NEWS last night

2009-11-18T12:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, last night as I was literally exhausted emotionally and mentally, I read an email from Anne Little (sweet southern belle that she is) that said "I have a secret, but I want to call you ... what's you number?" I responded with my # and waited ... and waited .... and finally decided I better get these littles in bed if she is not gonna call me! I bedded down 3 of them and then had my "snuggle night" with Nathan - each evening one of them gets Mommy all to themselves after the others go to bed. After Nate went to bed, I came downstairs and was wondering why Anne STILL hadn't called but then saw another email saying "get off the phone!! I want to talk with you and your phone is busy!" So I quick checked all the phones and sure enough one was acting funky. I started my email back to Anne when she called and said, "are you sitting down?" Then told me that Love Without Boundaries has granted us $3000!!!!!! WOW, oh, WOW! AND then I opened another email from Holly Brooke saying that Grant Me a Chance is giving us $1000!! Praise GOD!

Blessings!
Mary

Fingerprints are DONE

2009-11-18T12:08:00.001-08:00

One more step in the right direction. We were fingerprinted today down in Des Moines. Now we wait for the prints to clear and be sent to the Hague unit in Missouri - then we will receive approval for our I800A and on to the next step. We will be waiting for China to review our dossier and issue us an LOA/LOC which basicly asks us "do you STILL want to adopt these children?" ..... hmmmm, let me think .....YES!! Then it the LOA along with MORE paperwork which I will begin to fill out TODAY will be sent back to the Hague unit in Missouri where we HOPE it will move along at the same incredible speed with which it has already!! I have two more WONDERFUL things to share .... well actually three, but they deserve their own personal "titles".

In HIS strength and mercy alone,
Mary

The adoption community is FANTASTIC!!

2009-11-17T17:05:00.000-08:00

WOW - that's all I can say is WOW and I'll even say it backwards ... WOW! You guys are so great! God is good ... all the time, but when He works a miracle through the hands of His people He is fantabulous!! Ya know Jesus could of whipped up food to feed the 5000 in thin air, but He chose to use the offerings of a young boy - his little loaves and fishes and THEN He worked the miracle! Well He's doing it again!

Let me tell you what else God is doing. I emailed our Senator's office over the weekend in hopes they could help move CIS who said on Friday that our paperwork would have to be done in the order it was received. Now to all you adoptive families out there ... I KNOW you because I am one of you and if there is a family behind you in line that honestly HAS to move up and take "cutsies" you all would step graciously out of the way knowing that THIS is the only chance for this particular child to have a family!! Well, I rec'd a call at 8:40 this morning from a different CIS caseworker who said she was reviewing my file. I said, but I thought so and so was doing it ..... she said not since Sen Grassley's office advocated for you! Praise you, LORD!! She has reviewed our file completely, faxed us our fingerprint appt papers and we will be fingerprinted tomorrow in Des Moines!! She also said she did not think that this would ever be able to go through by the middle of December. I sweetly thanked her for trying her best non-the-less and that we appreciated her efforts!! Cause if God is moving everyone better just get out of the way!

A woman I didn't even know emailed me and then we chatted on the phone - she was a huge encouragement to me. She relayed how this same situation just happened over a month ago and the family is still in China bringing home another dear 14 year old boy who NOW has a family to call his own. Can I get a whoop, whoop!!??!! This lovely woman said she had no doubt this would be going through and to advocate for help on another yahoo group I used to be on .... well, I went to that group and guess what!? There are folks over there already advocating for me, my family and dear LuShi - folks that don't know me from Eve (thought I was gonna say Adam didnt't ya?). Blessed my socks off!

Look at that chip in folks - it's from folks like you who have given 10, 20, 50, 100 and some even more for LuShi to come home!! Thank you - thank you - thank you!!

In HIS strength and mercy ALONE,
Mary

We desire to give LuShi a home! SECOND PA!

2009-11-14T18:08:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago, on October 30, Dick and Cheryl Graham with Bringing Hope to Children advocated for a boy rapidly approaching his 14th birthday. We have been in process to adopt Christina DuJie since August and had just recently sent in our I800A after an extended wait for our Home Study. I don't usually open these emails, but was moved to see what the situation was. The moving has not stopped.

We are now PreApproved to adopt Zhang LuShi in addition to DuJie and are trying desperately to give this child a home. His 14th birthday is December 12th .... just 4 short weeks away!! China is willing to do whatever it takes to get this child a family. Our agency, CAWLI, is doing everything THEY can to expedite this process. And we see days flying by with little to no time to raise the money needed to bring these children home or give USCIS the time to process our case.

I am asking for TWO things from this fantastic adoptive community:

First - PRAY for God's will to be accomplished - if He is pleased to place LuShi in our home, then He can pave the way through this seemingly IMPOSSIBLE short time period to do so. Pray for USCIS to be moved by compassion or whatever it takes to truly push this file through. China is willing to have everything else in fax only and even to let us travel without TA in hand.

Second - help us is ANY way feasible and within your power to get to China and give this boy a chance. There is a chipin right here on this blog and a purse fundraiser (done by the lovely Kelly R!) at http://www.hopeandhealingfororphans.blogspot.com/ . We could use frequent fly miles to help get us there and back or help with our stay at the hotel. Spread the word to any groups you belong to!

LuShi is from Linfen, Shanxi and has urinary incontinence and was diagnosed to have a tethered spinal cord 2 years ago (tho he has no history of spina bifada). He has only been allowed to go to school the last few years after LWB stepped in to support the cost of adult incontinence pads. There is no surgeon in China that feels skilled enough to do his surgery. He is nearly 14 and I am sure growing like any other 13 year old boy!! That cord could snap at any time, leaving him in a worse place than he is already in.

John and I are willing to do whatever the Lord desires regarding LuShi - we want to give him the opportunity for family, support, love, expert medical care and the chance to be told there is a God who loves him very much. Could you or your coworkers be looking for a great compassionate giving idea for the Christmas season? What a gift this would be for LuShi who has been overlooked for far too long. And what a story to tell him in future days of the support and love of a huge adoption community who KNOW what a true miracle this would be!!

Home Study DONE!

2009-10-24T16:56:00.000-07:00

My, oh, my it took an extra 6 weeks to get this done ... waiting on Iowa DCI (dept criminal invest) to show my (Mary's) record is "clear". This is the first time in 5 adoptions that we have had to have hard copy fingerprints done for each state we have lived in since we were 18 yrs old. Thank the Lord we have only lived in Maryland and Iowa! Mary's prints for Iowa came back "unreadable" after waiting 3 wks to hear from them. Then I had them redone .... and they were "unreadable" again! Geez. So then they had to request a clearance with just my name. This alone set us back 6 weeks!!! That really makes a difference when we're wanting to tack a mission's trip to the front of the adoption trip - take our teen girls and some others doing ministry work at Philip Hayden/Shepherd's Field before officially doing the adoption of Christina. We may not be able to do that now ..... but trust God for His timing and His direction.

So yesterday I picked up the original Home Studies (3 original copies). I was going to Fedex one of them with the I800 application. {This is the first time we have had to file an I800 - a brand new system was set up about 18mths ago by the Citizenship and Immigration Dept - new form (5 times longer) and longer wait times with triple extra steps and more red tape .... joy, oh joy!} Anyway, I called our adoption agency, CAWLI, and told her I was getting ready to send in all our paperwork for dossier and their records and I was sending off the I800. Thank you, Lord, for prompting my heart to call! She said I needed to send a "letter of approval" from CAWLI along with the I800 and the Home Study ...... basically saying that they reviewed the HS and it met all requirements. So I, instead, just sent all the paperwork to CAWLI - they will attach the letter and send the I800 off on Monday. CAWLI actually does all the certification and authentication for all their dossiers - NO ADDED FEE!!! Unbelievable!! This is the first time I haven't had the chasing paperwork blues with forms coming and going and sending and receiving and waiting and waiting!! Soooooo, while we wait the extra time for the I800 to do their new clearance work, CAWLI will do the cert/auth! Sweet!

We were able to pay the initial agency fees and the home study fees with the monies that came in from insurance from that sweet attic fire we had back in May. Then we had been saving monies in our "pickle jar" after that. I had to get a cashiers check to pay Immigration with the I800 application - $830. I went to the pickle jar and there was about $30 over the needed $830!! Praise God! The next day, or perhaps that afternoon, John opened another envelope from our insurance company ..... for the remaining electrically work and new light fixture .... about $356. Our social worker emailed me yesterday morning saying to release all the paperwork, she needed for us to "prepay" the agency for the postplacement evaluations that would not be done till Christina was home 6mths and 12mths. This was a requirement of our adoption agency assuring that we would DO the postplacements .... which we have done x4 with previous adoptions. So, the amount needed? $340 .... thank you again, dear Lord. We are keeping up with expenses so far.

And on top of all that, we also got some new pix of Christina! Is she a sweetie or what??? : ) A missions group is going to SF next week ..... lucky dogs! ..... so I sent off a package for them to take over for Christina's birthday. She will turn 10 on November 9th. We still can't tell her we are her "family" - we have to wait till time is closer to when we will travel! Shucks! But..... I did put a picture of our family in her card - just to let her know what her "sponsors" look like and tell her we love her. I told dear Dawn Choate to just whisper in her ear, "mama, baba!" I know she won't - she plays by the rules .... don't you, Dawn!?

Just wanted to let you know we are another step closer!!

The Vera Bradley purse giveaway is still in progress - there will be 15 purses given away!! Go to
http://www.hopeandhealingfororphans.blogspot.com/ for your chance to win!! and help us get this sweet, sweet child home!!

In His strength and mercy alone,
MaryK <3

New pictures!

2009-10-01T18:22:00.000-07:00

Christina got to hold the ribbon at the ceremoney to open the new school.

I received a few new pictures of Christina today. A family was there just a few weeks ago and snuggled our girl! We getting close to having the Home study completed - then all the papers will head to our agency for certification/authentication while we submit immigration paperwork (I800). I've done all I can do, now it's just a waiting game for clearances to come in.

Mary

Vera Bradley purse fundraiser

2009-09-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

A dear friend of mine in the adoption world is sponsoring a fundraiser for us. She is raffling/giving away 15 Vera Bradley purses and several other extra items. She, herself, arrived home in June with their 4th child from China - all are special needs, too. Even though she is VERY busy with her own children, she is making the time to do this for us. Go to her site and see what is happening:

www.hopeandhealingfororphans.blogspot.com

There has already been $850 given over the last week!! And many other donations by private check were also received.

THANK YOU, KELLY!!!!

PA for sweet Christina!

2009-08-24T14:26:00.001-07:00

Christina

It is with great JOY
we announce that we have
Pre-Approval (PA) from the
China officials to
pursue the adoption of
DuJie .... Christina
who lives at
Shepherd's Field Langfang Village!

It is a long God story in how we went from deferring to another family for the adoption of Gregg to pursuing the adoption of Christina who we have been sponsoring .... and John has been smitten with .... since last year. We met Christina in February 2008 while visiting The Village prior to adopting Jeremy - same time we met Gregg. There will soon be a blog where I will write out the story behind this announcement. We are so happy to know that it is a pleasing thing to God to have this child placed into our family.

Christina will be 10 on November 9th - our oldest child from China, but will always be our smallest .... her special need is that she has a form of dwarfism and presently stands at 38 inches tall and wears 3-4T clothes. I simply can't wait to send her a new outfit and the family photo album I have already put together for her - to let her know that SHE finally, after so very many years, now has a family of her own!

The Beginning of the Story

2009-08-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

While John and I were pursuing Gregg, John had said that he had a heart for ALL the kids at Philip Hayden, but if he had to bring just one child home, it would be Christina. We met Christina while visiting Philip Hayden just before we picked up Jeremy. I reminded him at that point that "she already has a family!" We have been sponsoring her since last year and have rec'd updates. She had a family pursuing her even when we had met her back in 2/08 so I did not allow my heart to go out to her - mom's don't tread on each other's turf. So after we deferred to the other family in regards to Gregg, I asked Deb Padden who is aware of what family is going for what child (I didn't even know she did this until we were pursuing Gregg) - I asked her what was up with Christina's family - they have been "adopting" her for nearly two years. She responded that this family was never able to find Christina's file - that they searched and searched - and unfortunately not long afterward, the father had lost his job. They were still not able to find her file and now would not qualify to adopt from China anyway. I asked her why Christina's file was never found - she said others tried to find it and never could - that she thought her file must have gone to Europe.

I asked for any info she could give me - the director of Christina's originating orphange said her file had gone to "American California Children of the World Adoption Agency for Orphans" - no such agency. I searched EVERY registered agency in California - no such agency. I emailed acouple agencies whose names were similar - even ones in other states - but they did not have her file. I have a Christian friend in China - I emailed her and she was able to personally ask this director for the agency's name .... same long name was given. My friend requested if she could ask CCAA for the name of the agency - verbatim.

It took acouple weeks for this to happen - meanwhile I regoogled parts of this long agency name and found an agency in California named Bal Jagat - their name in Hindi means "Children of the World" and my heart jumped - I emailed them - they never had her file or any file with a child with that special need. My friend got back to me later and said the special needs director at CCAA read verbatim what agency had Christina's file ... but that they must be mistaken because the letters didn't seem to make any sense .... "Bal Jagat". After another week's worth of emails CCAA conferred with Bal Jagat and it was found that Christina's file was totally lost in transit. Her file had been sent out 2 years ago and never landed anywhere - and then within less than 4 weeks, God unveiled the truth. I asked CCAA via my China friend if I could have an agency request her file ( CCAA frowns on "pre-identified" adoptions) - but they totally said we could! On July 27, we received word that an agency of our choice could request her file - our agency {one that I searched out in this waiting time period so we could have an agency that was reputable, less expensive and would be willing to request a file (not all do)}. They requested it on Monday night and we had Christina's file the next day - Tuesday morning. LOI was sent to China on Monday, August 3.

We are not sure why CCAA did not keep track of her file - agency's usually can only hold a file for 3 mths and if they can't find a family for the child, they must return the file to CCAA - but the file was never returned, but CCAA did not search it out either. God hid her file for 2 years and then opened door after door. We knew that if we continued to walk through every door that opened, we would have to commit to this child --- or the agency would never request her file. John saw this as a real God thing and amazingly (or not so amazingly) all of our children are so very excited about this adoption. Especially Sarabeth - Christina is 2 1/2 months older than Sarabeth so Christina will be the eldest of the adopted kids from China, but will always be the smallest. : )

The following Monday while our Letter of Intent to request permission to adopt Christina was going out to China, I fasted and prayed for God's direction. I asked Him for verses to guide me especially as to the money - He whispered Ps 127 - I did not know what was in Ps 127, but opened up to it. It states that it is vain to build unless the Lord builds and it is vain to stay up late or rise up early working to make bread/money that "the Lord gives to his loved ones even in his sleep" - this is the way it is in the NAS - other versions say it differently - and then it goes on to say children are a GIFT from God, a heritage from Him. He really spoke to me and assured me that He can provide any/all money for this even while I sleep - don't I remember that children are a gift from Him - you don't have to pay for a gift.

So we step out again in faith and will watch to see what the Lord provides - we will continue to walk as doors open. And if for some reason, the doors close, then it will be His will - at least Christina's file is now found.