Eric & Wendy D.
China 2014
Our family lives and serves in China working as teachers with our primary mission being Kingdom work. After spending time volunteering in 2 orphanages we found God leading us to adoption, but frankly we didn't really want to. We had long decided that our family was complete, not to mention our long list of (in our mind) valid excuses why adoption wasn't for us. Life was comfortable and we were quite satisfied with our numbers (2 biological children).
But, thankfully, He kept tugging at our hearts. We found ourselves knowing that we SHOULD adopt but didn't have the desire.
We just decided to bring it before the Lord. A few months later He moved mountains inside of us and completely transformed us. That is a long but great story! We went from being willing to adopt out of obedience to adopting, to a total passion for orphans and desire to bring a family to the fatherless.
We completed our first adoption in May 2014 (from China) and have been with our new son 6 months now. He was involved in a terrible accident at age 2 and nearly lost his life. Four years later all the paperwork was completed, funds paid, and we were finally able to scoop him up into our arms and whisper in his ear, "You are ours.....forever."
His joyful spirit has been a blessing to our family. How can such joy come from a little guy who has encountered so much difficulty? This we don't know but we are so grateful for his adjustment and temperament. As his English develops he has been able to verbalize more about his accident, 6+ month hospitalization, abandonment, and years in the orphanage. Recently he told us in his best Chinglish that a long time ago he had many mommies (caretakers) in the orphanage and no one ever hugged or kissed him.
We are getting plenty of hugs and kisses in now and trying to make up for the lost years but sadly- we never will. We prayerfully trust that God can fill in those empty spaces from his past and close the holes in his life and heart like only He can.
We also just completed our second adoption 6 weeks ago (Sept 2014). The second little boy (also Chinese) was abandoned at 6 months and weighed just 5 pounds. We gave him the English name, Pierce because when we first met him in our local orphanage he 'pierced our hearts'. He is 6 years old now and has had a tough transition but we are seeing beauty from the ashes. On our 'gotcha day' he begged us, screaming and crying to take him back to the orphanage and let him grow up there. We are seeing a lot of smiles and good times now but the hard times are quite difficult. He is having a very hard time with our authority and obeying simple things such as: 'Please come here' or 'Please don't touch'. However, we trust that with time, prayer, and love his little life and past can encounter a healing and restoration that can only come from HIM!
We praise our Maker for bringing us all together!
We are quite grateful to A Child Waits and the assistance provided by your foundation. The grant was invaluable to our family. Our personal funds were quite minimal considering our jobs in China and we needed a lot of help financially. God and His provision has wowed us during this process!!
But, thankfully, He kept tugging at our hearts. We found ourselves knowing that we SHOULD adopt but didn't have the desire.
We just decided to bring it before the Lord. A few months later He moved mountains inside of us and completely transformed us. That is a long but great story! We went from being willing to adopt out of obedience to adopting, to a total passion for orphans and desire to bring a family to the fatherless.
We completed our first adoption in May 2014 (from China) and have been with our new son 6 months now. He was involved in a terrible accident at age 2 and nearly lost his life. Four years later all the paperwork was completed, funds paid, and we were finally able to scoop him up into our arms and whisper in his ear, "You are ours.....forever."
His joyful spirit has been a blessing to our family. How can such joy come from a little guy who has encountered so much difficulty? This we don't know but we are so grateful for his adjustment and temperament. As his English develops he has been able to verbalize more about his accident, 6+ month hospitalization, abandonment, and years in the orphanage. Recently he told us in his best Chinglish that a long time ago he had many mommies (caretakers) in the orphanage and no one ever hugged or kissed him.
We are getting plenty of hugs and kisses in now and trying to make up for the lost years but sadly- we never will. We prayerfully trust that God can fill in those empty spaces from his past and close the holes in his life and heart like only He can.
We also just completed our second adoption 6 weeks ago (Sept 2014). The second little boy (also Chinese) was abandoned at 6 months and weighed just 5 pounds. We gave him the English name, Pierce because when we first met him in our local orphanage he 'pierced our hearts'. He is 6 years old now and has had a tough transition but we are seeing beauty from the ashes. On our 'gotcha day' he begged us, screaming and crying to take him back to the orphanage and let him grow up there. We are seeing a lot of smiles and good times now but the hard times are quite difficult. He is having a very hard time with our authority and obeying simple things such as: 'Please come here' or 'Please don't touch'. However, we trust that with time, prayer, and love his little life and past can encounter a healing and restoration that can only come from HIM!
We praise our Maker for bringing us all together!
We are quite grateful to A Child Waits and the assistance provided by your foundation. The grant was invaluable to our family. Our personal funds were quite minimal considering our jobs in China and we needed a lot of help financially. God and His provision has wowed us during this process!!
