November 4, 2006: Nancy & Lonnie went to an adoption fair. Initially we thought about waiting a few more months before submitting our application to our agency of choice (Holt), but we decided to proceed with the adoption process. China was the country that God put on our hearts. Nine months later, Zachary was born.
August 3 2007: Zachary was born in Shanxi Province, China.
August 2007: Nancy & Lonnie vacationed in northern Minnesota. This is where they purchased the first item for the future nursery--the Brian Andreas Print "Such Small Things". It says the following: For a long time, there were only your footprints & laughter in our dreams & even from such small things, we knew we could not wait to love you forever.
December 2007-December 2008: Zachary moved from the orphanage into foster care. The foster family and God prepared his heart for being in a forever family one day.
December 2007-December 2008: God prepared Nancy & Lonnie's hearts for modifying their adoption dream. He planted seeds of possibly adopting a child of either sex (not just girl as initially thought) as well as considering a child with minor correctable health concerns.
August 3, 2008: Zachary turned one!
August 2008: Mom and Dad really struggled with waiting on God's timing to build their family. Mom re-read the book The Dream Giver and was reminded how the wasteland is not a waste. She blogged her frustrations on August 10, 2008.
December 2008: Zachary came back to the orphanage and was ready for his forever family.
December 2008: Doors closed for Nancy & Lonnie to adopt other kids--both domestic and from China. Christmas day Nancy & Lonnie informed Holt that they would be interested in adopting a child with cleft lip/palate.
January 2009: Nancy & Lonnie got a referral on Zachary
May 18, 2009: Zachary joined his forever family!
The above journey is full of God's fingerprints. I like what 1 Peter 4:12 says: Friends, when life gets really difficult, don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner. (The Message)
We went through some tough spots and sometimes we questioned if God was "still on the job". Now looking back we KNOW he WAS and IS on the job. We thank him for the refining he did in our hearts. Give Him the glory.
1 comment:
I hesitated to leave a comment until I read this post.
I stumbled upon your blog while I was searching for images for Jester Park - one of the images shown was this one: http://bit.ly/Usy9c Was it meant to be for me to make contact? I don't know. :-) I'm Chinese & have 2 small children. We live in WDM.
Congratulations on your son Zachary. Speedy recoveries as he goes through surgery.
J e n n i c.
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