Jacob - Our Second Adoption Journey

Welcome to our adoption blog as we invite you to follow along and partner with us in prayer on our adoption journey to bring our son Jacob home from China. We don't know who he is yet, but we know the Lord has already chosen him for us! We can't wait to meet the child which God has picked out for us!

For us this is more than just about expanding our family. This is also a ministry that we feel called to do. It is an oportunity for us to introduce another child to Christ. And, we are commanded in the scriptures to care for the orphans. There are currently over 200 million orphans in the world. Almost half of those are in China alone. Many of these children will never have parents. Many will be turned out on the streets to fend for themselves once they reach a particular age. Many more who have "special needs" will live out their lives in an institution.

God has placed upon our hearts to do our own small part to not only provide a home and family for an orphan, but to introduce them to God's grace and an opportunity for a "second adoption" into His family as well. We hope that you will remember us in your prayers as we continue on our Journey to bring Jacob home.

In Christ's Love,
Ken, Trish, & Ellie


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Day 3 - Gotcha Day!

We don't go to get Jacob until 4:30 this afternoon. So after breakfast we ventured out of the hotel for a very short walk. We were surprised to find the weather very pleasant. It was about 75 degrees with a nice breeze blowing. We were not so surprised that we were the only non Chinese people on the sidewalk. One man kept staring at my K.C. Chiefs t-shirt and smiling. I'm not sure if he was a fan, or if he thought I was a real Indian Chief. After that we went back to our hotel room. That's when I encountered our second snafu of the trip. I discovered that I had left one of my medicines behind. Oh well, that is in God's hands. We decided to take a nap to kill some time before going to get Jacob. We didn't wake up until 3pm. I guess we were a little tired.
The government Adoption Center Office was being renovated so we went to their temporary office. It was located on the top floor a very old hotel. That's where we met our son Jacob for the very first time! He had a little shortsout fit on and pink "Hello Kitty" clogs on packing a water gun and a Mickey Mouse backpack. He was there with his foster family. His foster mother told Jacob we were Ma Ma and Ba Ba (Daddy) and she made him give us kisses. Trish was able to ask the foster mother several questions through an interpreter about foods he liked, sleeping habits, pottying, and all those other things that are important to mothers. All this time Jacob is running around and shooting all of us with his water gun. He thought that was just so funny and would giggle each time he did it!
After awhile and some picture taking, it was time for the foster family to leave. The foster mother had done a wonderful job of preparing Jacob for this moment as he had already taken to Trish and I he didn't cry much at all when they left. She had shown him pictures of us, told him who we were, and that he would be going to live with us. Trish and I hugged the foster mother. We thanked her for taking such good care of our son for us. Trish told her we would meet her again in heaven. That's when the tears came, not from Jacob, but from Trish.
After that Trish played with Jacob while got to fill out a whole lot of paperwork. I had to sign and thumbprint my signature in triplicate on about 5,000 documents that were all in Chinese. Ok, maybe not 5,000, but they were all in triplicate.
Finally, we were finished and we went to Walmart to get some bottled water, snacks for Jacob and us, and look for an A/C voltage converter. This was a very unique Walmart in that it was all underground including the parking. And this place was like a small city it was so huge. About 3 times the size of our supercenter at home. It had everything from fresh fish and seafood still swimming around in the tanks of water, to a deli which had stir fry made to order with the "fresh" meat hanging up right by the woks. With the help of our guide Michael, we found all of our snack stuff and we got Jacob some milk since his foster mother said he loved milk. I struck out on the converter though. Of course Jacob had to go to the bathroom during all of this. I stayed with the cart while Michael helped Trish and Jacob find the bathroom. Trish saw a mother lift a little girls dress and she went to the bathroom right on the floor in the middle of Walmart. I guess Trish is old fashioned as she preferred to find the bathroom for Jacob.
There was also a KFC in Walmart so Michael helped me order dinner to take back to the hotel. Jacob got a bath before bed and he loved playing in the water! He was splashing around and giggling most of the time. However, he did not want to go to sleep that night. Mommy and daddy wanted to get to bed because we had to get up early next morning for another round of paperwork. But, all he wanted to do was play!

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