Remembering.......

I often go back to our journeys the Lord took us on for our children. I kept journals for both of the kids during the whole adoption process and I read over those often to remind me how incredible God is and how He was at work in every moment of their adoptions. We have a chest full of special things for both Lyndlee and Gavin, special things from Ted and Bev, special things from the hospital when they were born, special gifts from their birth moms, treasures from their home country, etc. Lyndlee is just now at the age where she loves to look through all these things and she is so proud of every piece. We just looked through it this morning and her number one question was "How mom did I wear these pretty tiny shoes" Love that girly girl. She knows all these special things belong to her and that they are from Taiwan, the very place where she is from and where our hearts are always.
Last night memories were flooding in.......
My husband received a phone call from one of the boys who live at the Home of God's Love in Taiwan. It was during the wee hours of the morning so I first thought someone was hurt and I began to panic, thanks mom for passing that constant worry along! Then my heart raced as I thought I heard Ted's voice and I listened as my husband even talked to this person as if he was talking to Ted. But it wasn't Ted, and the sweet boy wanted to ask for prayer because he had a big test in school. Bless his heart, he probably didn't think about the time change, but we didn't mind.
So my mind has been going back.
It made me think back to the times when we got the special calls about our children. It made me go back to when we would call the Home, talk to Ted and Bev, hear that oh so precious nursery music they would play when transferring you to the baby room. Oh the joy of hearing updates on our babies, and then the precious staff would put the phone to our babies ears so we could speak to them, pray with them, hear them. Precious memories that will always stay forever in my heart. I still remember the day before Gavin's heart surgery and Bev put the phone to his ear so we could pray with him. I still remember hearing Lyndlee scream through the phone, she was well known for lungs there! I still remember meeting Lyndlee and Gavin for the first time, kissing their sweet faces, and not wanting to let them go. I still remember waking each morning in Taiwan and just wanting to be with them, hold them and feed them. So many memories.

Our Lyndlee Jya-Ying
We went on waiting list December 2005
born May 9, 2007
called May 25th, 2007
Adopted August 22, 2007
We received a picture of the sweet babies in Taiwan from friends who were adopting their boy from there. I remember in May 2007 taking that picture and emailing it to my best friend and asking her to pray along with me that this baby in the bright pink blanket named Jya-Ying Lin could be ours if that was the Lord's will. And so we prayed. May 25th, 2007 was just another day until my phone started ringing and that international number we knew well was on my phone. Our hearts raced as we picked up and Ted said he had a little girl for us, that her name was Jya-Ying. Wow, God you do amazing things! And so we heard the first news about our daughter that night and proceeded to call our friends and family to share the good news. The next day we received pictures of our sweet girl. I still remember getting those pictures, crying and falling in love with someone I didn't even know. But I knew she was my daughter and that the Lord brought us together as a family.


Our Gavin Pan
We went on waiting list April 2008
born June 9, 2009
called October 10, 2009
adopted January 21, 2010
June 2nd, 2009 we were stateside after serving a year in Haiti. And all though we had no plan or idea what we were doing, we knew the Lord was in control. I love the timing, that we came back June 2nd and that Gavin was born June 9th. God had His plan set in motion to bring Gavin into our family! We knew waiting and praying was the game and if God was going to bring us more children, it would be in His time and not our own. So we turned in our home study and were ready to wait. The Lord led us to a youth ministry in Branson, Mo. October 10th 2009, I remember this weekend well because my family was coming to town so we could all go to Silver Dollar City.
That Saturday morning we got an email from Ted, asking us to call. And to our surprise, they had a little baby boy they were hoping we would welcome into our family. Wow, again God you do amazing things! His name was Ding-Dung Pan. So we got to hear the first news of our son and share it with our family coming in for the weekend. I still remember my parents buying us ding dong hostess cakes as a joke, and my dad picking out a cute blue elephant that we ended up mailing to our sweet Gavin. And that next day we got pictures of our Gavin. And once again, I was in love with someone I hadn't even met but knew that he was my son and that the Lord brought us together as a family.

Oh God, you are an amazing God. Thank you for my sweet babies. Thank you for Ted and Bev and how they answered the call to go and love the people of Taiwan. They have blessed so many families, and so many children because they love you Lord.