14 More "Sleeps"

It is so very hard to believe that in 14 more days we will finally be able to hold our little girl. We have loved her from the moment we began this process. She doesn't even know us, or have any idea how we have been working to come and get her, but in 14 more nights she will be put to bed for the first time by a mother. I know that there have been wonderful people taking care of her, but not a mother. I pray that she will feel our love for her and adjust easily, I pray that the LORD wraps her in HIS love and she is protected during this transition. As we wake up each day, she is going to bed, and as we go to sleep, she is beginning her day. But in 14 days we will be together.

Katherine

Those Eyes

"For my eyes are toward You, O GOD, the Lord; In You I take refuge; do not leave me defenseless." 
- Psalms 141:8

If asked, I could not tell you exactly why I decided to log-on to an orphan advocacy website the Tuesday evening of March 20th especially when I never paid any serious attention to them up to now and probably not visited one in the previous 6 months. There was no reason to since we had been patiently waiting on our agency to match us in the conventional way when they received a child who matched our profile. Why then would tonight be different? I have thought about it a great deal over the last few months. Perhaps it was due to my excitement building as we were drawing closer to our second adoption and I wanted to see the profiles of the children who were available and needing a family to take them in. It may have been because our dear friends where in China at that very time adopting their little boy and we were praying for them daily and hanging on every bit of news they were sharing with family and friends through their journey. In some strange way, when I am reading and researching about China and specifically the orphans in China, it makes me feel closer to Katie-Kay. Strange I know, but somehow it connects me and God has used this to show me how I can specially pray for immediate needs concerning the orphans in China. My conclusion, as you will see unfold in our upcoming post, can be nothing short of a super-natural miracle from God. I believe God used all of the reasons and many others I am positive I'm unaware of this side of heaven. I have hesitated and apologized in the past for over spiritualizing situations and events in my life but the older I become and the more I grow in my faith in the Lord, the more I believe just the opposite. God is sovereign and incomprehensible and by his providence and grace, He directs our steps and gives us the desires of our hearts - this is the answer I was seeking and the reason why He alone is God and worthy of all of our praise, honor and worship. 

Once I was on this website, I filled out the parameters of the child I knew would fit our profile. Things like sex of the child, age range, country, ect…. Then when I hit "enter", this picture (above) of these gorgeous eyes appeared as our number one relevant match. To say my heart skipped a beat would be an understatement. I was totally captivated and my first reaction was to ask Katherine to come look and we quickly agreed it could not hurt to complete and submit the simple online inquiry to find out more of her status. She seemed like a match straight from heaven; this had to be some sort of mistake, she must already have a family pursuing her and her profile was accidentally left up on the website. Surely the agency we were making the inquiry too will realize their oversight when they receive our inquiry and delete it from their site. How could this beautiful child remain on a public orphan's advocacy website more than 2 minutes, it made no sense to me. As we prayed before we went to bed that night, I felt a peace in my heart as we ask God to watch over this child and make her transition into the family HE had chosen for her as smooth and seamless as possible and that her family would teach her about Jesus so that one day she could trust Him as her personal Lord and Savior. 

I went to sleep intrigued but realistic of what the response might come in the morning. Those eyes were never more than a few minutes from my conscience thoughts as we waited to hear the next day as the website promised a next day reply. Would we have a chance to see more than just those big beautiful eyes, would we have an opportunity to review her file, what part of China is she from and the biggest question we held in our hearts, is this Katie-Kay, our daughter? What we could not have possible known that night was the incredible journey God was inviting us on.  How He was going to stretch us, challenge us and deepen our love and faith in Him. We were entering into uncharted adoption territory and God would have to show us the way - His way.  

David

"The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps." - Proverbs 16:9

The Story Continues

"Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart."    Psalms 34:7

We are thanking and praising the Lord for giving to us the desires of our heart. We are honored and humbled God would allow us to the privilege of bring another precious child into our family. It is with with full hearts and great joy that we introduce the newest member of our family, Katie Kay Dennis. 

Katherine and began praying for her before we left China in the summer of 2010. The summer the Lord blessed us with Kirby. We wanted to wait until we received our official Referral Acceptance (RA) from The Peoples Republic of China before we shared publicly the answer to our prayers. The call came this past Monday,  April 30th from our agency, AWAA. It is only the latest unexpected twist in a story that only God could and continues to write. 

Please join us as I plan on retracing the steps that got us to this point through a series of blog post as we wait and prepare to return to China later this summer to united with Katie Kay and welcome her into our forever family. 

We covet your prayers during these days, especially for the Lord to protect, comfort and provide for Katie Kay's every need as He equips us with everything we will need to raise her into the Godly women we all desire her to be.

In HIS strong love,

David

"With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the LORD; And in the midst of many I will praise Him." Psalms 109:30

Isn't she beautiful !                                               

Katie Kay Dennis
Photo taken on 4/27/2012

 Katie Kay Dennis
Photo taken of 4/27/2012

 

Celebrating our 1st Gotcha Day !

It's hard to believe it was one year ago today that God poured out His grace and blessing upon us; allow us to become Kirby's parents and forever family.

Kirby loves her bothers and does not hesitate grabbing their hands and pulling them to exactly where she wants them and directing them into what ever activity she wants them to participate in. Even though she can distinguish between her identical twin brothers, James & Nathan, she prefers to just call them "guys". David is actually a jungle gym disguised as a big brother who loves to get in the floor and let Kirby climb and play.

Im not sure who actually loves having a sister more, Laura Sims or Kirby. Kirby actually just calls her Sims and that suits her big sister just fine. One of Kirby's favorite things to do is go into Sims' room and look at all of her "wow" clothes.

As for Katherine and I, every day we are humbled, challenged, amazed, thankful, tired, but more than anything, we are reminded how truly blessed we are to be given the joy of raising Kirby. She has captured our hearts in ways which could only be describe as supernatural and we thank God every day for how He has transformed all of our lives through precious little Kirby.

Washington DC on the 4th

Gotha Day - July 26

Kirby fits right in with America's 1st Family

Visiting the Capitol

Kirby and "Pandalow"

Getting "sugar" from Grandma Ann

Gotha Day dinner at New China

Gotcha Day hug from Mommy

Visiting Andria in DC

playing with Granddad Jimmy

July 26 will have additional significance for our family in the years to come. Today is when we signed our I-800A USCIS petition form requesting the US to grant us permission to adopt another little girl from China. We hope to travel in the next 8-16 months to bring home our daughter and would be so thankful for your prayers as we follow God's call and will be required to make some very crucial decisions in the coming weeks and months.

Blessings -

Enjoying her pool

AWAA Adoption Seminar - What a blessing !!!