Welcome!

Ever since I was a little girl, I have been fascinated with the land of China. I remember hearing the stories of missionaries who gave their lives in service to the Lord in this exotic land before the gospel was pushed underground by the Communist government. I loved their food, their art, their music, and their rich history...so much older and complex than our own. When Dave and I met, we talked at length about adoption, and we both felt drawn to adopt a daughter from China, where little girls are routinely left on roadsides and in train stations due to the one child policy and the desire for sons to carry on the family name. Dave even got a job working for a Chinese ministry for a couple of years, and we were blessed to travel to China in the summer of 2000...we both came home more drawn to this land and her people.

Since then, God has led us down many interesting paths. We adopted a sibling group of two brothers, now ages 13 and 10. Then God opened my womb and I have since borne two more sons, now ages 3 and 9 months. There have been many job changes for both of us...after teaching in both the public elementary school system and a Bible college, I am now pretty much a full-time stay at home mom, and Dave is working hard to support our family on one income. We have recently moved in order to cut down his commute a bit which has meant a change in schooling for our older boys and a change in church for all of us. Change is hard, but good, and we are settling in.

Which brings us to this blog. One might think that four children would be sufficient in this day and age, and in many ways, they are more than sufficient! We love our boys and certainly have our hands full with the age span God has given us and the needs they all bring to the family table! However, the desire to adopt a daughter from China has never really gone away. After the birth of our youngest last October, it almost seemed to intensify, especially for me--could it be the over-abundance of testosterone in our house? Perhaps, but I also feel very strongly that the Lord has given us this desire, and until He takes it away, or closes the doors, we must walk by faith in the direction the desire takes us. This blog is our first baby step in that direction. I will post more about the requirements to adopt from China and how we will have to work really hard to meet them before we can even start the adoption process. I will also post about the long wait for Chinese adoptions at this time and how it could be many years before a child is referred to us, if we go the traditional Chinese adoption route.

But for now, suffice it to say that we know God has directed us to take the first steps on our silk road...a journey to adopt our daughter from China. Thanks for walking it with us!