Our hearts have been on such a rollercoaster ride lately...and I'm not even referring to our own adoption process...yet. To hear from the Colliers while they were in China, (they even sent the picture of them blowing kisses to our baby girl/s...which I'll post as soon as I get some direction!) and to see pictures of them in the PRC as well as when they arrived home...have been very exciting and encouraging. Their family is precious! Three biological sons and now three little daughters from China are tremendous blessings to this wonderful couple. Forrest and Robin are full of love, patience, generosity and joy. They truly reflect God's love in countless ways. It is a joy to see their family grow in number, love and outreach. What a wonderful message they are living and sharing with this world! Thanks Forrest, Robin, Andrew, Aaron, Stephen, Laura, Shiyan and Maria for shining so beautifully for Him! It is a blessing to know and love you all!
Meanwhile, our hearts have also been touched by the Haiti earthquake and the lives lost, touched and shared in that situation. As many of you know, our daughter, Rachel, spent about two weeks in Haiti last June on a mission trip. The pictures she brought back as well as the accounts of her experience moved our hearts deeply. To know that the cities she visited and people she served have all been affected deeply by this disaster is shocking. Yet we see people from all over the world sending assistance, rescue workers and supplies which proves there are definitely wonderful hearts and lives in this world! The outpouring OF so many TO so many brings us all back to the basics of the way it should be! Let us never lose sight of the importance of helping one another along this life.
I must admit that I wish I could travel to Haiti and bring back several precious children who need a forever family. My heart aches for those families in the middle of their adoption processes with Haiti. I pray the process will be accelerated so those sweet children can join their loving families very soon. They need one another more than ever! I know they would all appreciate our prayers!
As we well know by now, the adoption process is not one for the weary of heart or impatient temperaments. :) We continue to secure final documents for our 36-Month update. We have the majority of our documents and appointments complete. But, as adoptive parents know all too well, there are always those "last minute down-to-the-wire" papers we are hoping and praying will arrive each day! Please pray for those documents to arrive very, very soon since time is quickly running out in our rush to meet this deadline. There have been so many, many wonderful people helping us along in this journey. Each precious soul who has prayed, completed forms, written letters, notarized, etc. has been an incredible and vital part of making this possible. We are so thankful for each of you!
I want to share a bit of news with you. Yesterday our social worker, (another true angel sent from heaven!), visited our home to interview our son, meet with us, collect paperwork and do a "home tour" of our house for the homestudy requirements. Tim and I had previously discussed the possibility with her re: special needs options. Yesterday we confirmed that we are willing to parent healthy and/or mild special needs little girl/s from China. We have been praying about this for a very long time and now the door is open "just a bit wider" in this capacity. We know that at our ages, we could not assume care of any major special needs child. But there are so many little children with very mild and treatable needs and we feel led to open our hearts and family to what (and who!) God has in store. So please continue praying that in His perfect timing and design, God will lead us to the very specific little girl/s that He has already selected to join our family! Hold on, dear JennaBeth...(EmmaKate?)...we're moving closer and closer to you each day!
Yes...we're still moving forward...slowly but surely. It's been 33 months since we were logged in China's system and almost four years since we first applied to adopt. The wait is much longer than we ever anticipated...but the joy and love will definitely exceed every concern, frustration, moment and action involved in bringing our daughter/s home. May God bless you all as abundantly as you have blessed our lives along this journey! May we all move forward...and reach out to those who need our help to do so...as we all continue our journeys of blessings!
Cherishing each step in the journey...
Terri & Family
Jenna Elizabeth (aka "JennaBeth") Song Lorenz
Waiting For Our Little One To Come Home From China!
1 comment:
Adoption is NOT for the faint at heart, or the impatient ones... like myself... BUT: as each day passes, I truly know that "we're one day closer" and all of the impatience, faint heart, goes away. The excitement of looking at the sweet little pair of shoes, precious little toys awaiting Jenna's/Emma's arrival... just makes it all right! Oh what a joy it will be to see the look on that (those) precious one('s) face(s)... She'll/they'll be SO full of love, they won't know how to act! She'll/they'll be here forever! With her/their forever family. We're ready. We're waiting. "Please, Dear, Precious Heavenly Father, bring our Jennabeth or/and Emmakate to us soon. We are so anxious... even though You tell us NOT to be anxious for tomorrow... we just can't help it. Please forgive us for being so anxious. We try to obey Your command. We trust You, Lord - we know You have a plan and we promise to do better. As long as You are beside us, we will make it. We love You, Lord. Thank-You for the Lorenz family, our family. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
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