We're off and running!

Well, the time has arrived! After nearly three years of waiting, we're about six weeks (give or take) from our trip to China to get little Josiah David. God has taught us many things during our time of waiting, not the least of which is reliance on Him. Though it's been difficult, we know that our blessing awaits us. Children are indeed a blessing from the Lord!

When we began, our intent was to adopt an infant girl from China. Like so many others we were impacted by the Chapman story of adoption and felt led in that direction. However, we soon realized that the wait times were growing nearly exponentially! After three years of waiting, we were still an estimated three years away from being matched. As we had already been planning another adoption (for a little boy), the Lord led us to switch gears.

We were reading through the monthly agency newsletter in November, 2008 and saw that many boys were waiting to be adopted while the wait times for girls continued to lengthen. After much prayer we decided that we would switch to a special needs boy between two and five years old. We expected to wait between eight and twelve months for a match. What a surpise when we got the call two and a half months later!

Little He Dong Feng (soon to be Josiah Nelson) is described as being "developmentally delayed." However, after speaking with medical professionals, we are fairly unconcerned about his delayed speech and motor skills. After all, that may very well be due to life in an orphanage in China. But in any case, we will welcome him as he is into our family. We are ecstatic to have another son!

So, we're gearing up for our adventure. Please pray for sanity, safety, and peace as this process is moving along more quickly than anyone involved anticipated. Also, pray for the financial part of this process - as the agency and travel fees are pretty much due now. We are riding along in God's adventure for our family. Hopefully we won't fall off the ride!