Almond Family Adoption: Day 7 - Jacob's Finding Place 8/25/11

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

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Day 7 - Jacob's Finding Place 8/25/11

Today we were fortunate to be able to go by cab to Jacob’s finding place. He was found abandoned in Hebin Park which is in the Nanning District of the city on March 18, 2009 when he was about a month old. It was a beautiful park with many different activities for adults and children. There were amusement rides including a Ferris wheel, a miniature monorail ride, a roller coaster, and several little children’s rides. There was also roller skating and paddle boats in shapes of animals and cars on the small river along the park’s side. There were people doing Tai Chi and group dancing throughout the park. It was just seemed like a fun family place to hang out. I wonder if that’s why Jacob’s birth mother decided to leave him there. It was just such a happy place and maybe she just wanted Jacob to be happy and well taken care of. Jacob slept for most of the time we walked around the park. He is a heavy boy to be carrying around! Ken & I enjoyed being able to walk around a bit ourselves since we knew we would be spending lots more time in the hotel room with little activity. Jacob is doing so well in his new family. He is such a funny little guy. He can crack himself up very easily. He also likes to have things his way. It may take awhile for him to figure out that isn’t going to work. He turns on the tears when he doesn’t get what he wants. He has a bit of a temper. Hopefully that will cease quickly. He loves to run & jump & eat. He loves to be held too. And he seems to like us both, although he likes mommy best in the morning. He seems to have less patience with daddy if he doesn’t get his way. His hugs are awesome! He has also figured out Daddy’s cell phone. He has attempted to make at least 2 calls to a St.Louis # & done a couple of internet searches in addition to taking many photos of the wall & floor on the phone! This could be a problem! So glad we still have some baby proofing things at home-we will need to use it all. And we thought we wasted money since we didn’t need to worry as much with Ellie!

SORRY, THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH UPLOADING THE PHOTOS FOR THIS DAY. IF/WHEN IT CAN BE FIXED, WILL ADD THEM.