Greg & Amy P.
China 2012

We have five (5) biological boys and have always desperately longed for a daughter. After trying repeatedly over the course of a decade to have a girl - and finally having twin boys at our last attempt - we realized it was not in God's plan for us to have a biological daughter.

We now realize it was because God had something much better in mind for us - adoption. I once heard the saying, "Childbirth is an act of nature. Adoption is an act of God." There couldn't be a more true statement. Everything about our adoption has been a miracle orchestrated by God.

We were matched with our daughter Savannah from China on Amy's (wife/mother's) birthday. Savannah's Chinese name literally translates to "Gift from the Divine Land or Kingdom", i.e, "Gift from God."   So out of all the millions of orphans in the world; the millions of Chinese names our daughter could have been given; and out of 365 days in a year, we were sent a daughter whose name literally means 'gift from God' on her mother's actual birthday. We also learned that Savannah's birthday was only 3 days after Amy's.

But that was just the beginning of the miracles that were about to occur.

Our paperwork was sent to China only days before a rule change was about to take effect that would render our dossier useless - meaning we would have to start over from scratch (a second time - we had already lost an adoption to Mongolia that we began in 2009) if our documents did not reach China in time.  They arrived only HOURS before the cut-off. God made sure that we made the deadline.

We only had 24 hours to decide whether or not to accept our daughter's file and her special needs. We tried to reach our pediatrician and specialists at the children hospital. Neither was available.  But then we received a call from both of them. They had each dropped everything to review her medical records for us. In fact, our pediatrician even came in on his vacation day and made himself available by cell phone. The nurse practitioner at the children’s hospital spoke to us at length and gave us advice - she is a complete stranger to us, but for whatever reason, decided to help us that particular day.

One month after being matched with our daughter, Greg (husband/father) got hired at a local business, after unsuccessfully seeking employment for a period of four (4) years when he was a stay-at-home dad. We didn't know it at the time, but his new employer supports adoption. In fact, if you are employed there at least six (6) months, you become eligible for their adoption assistance program - whereby you are entitled to two (2) weeks off with pay (adoption leave), along with a $5,000 adoption reimbursement/contribution.

Our trip to China was exactly two (2) weeks. Our plane tickets to China cost exactly $5,000.00.
His six (6) month probationary period ended on May 2, 2012. Our Travel Approval arrived 48 hours later on May 4, 2012. If it had arrived any sooner, we would not have been eligible. So once again, God had this all worked out within HOURS.

We saved for our adoption for three (3) years and were able to set aside $15,000.00 in cash toward that end, but were still short another $25,000.00. We planned to simply refinance our home for the difference - we had improved it considerably and had a good relationship with our local bank - in fact they had loaned us the money for a new vehicle just last year. So we were shell shocked when they said no.

I was physically sick and did not sleep for a week from this news. Here, I had waited my entire life for a daughter (I had even chose her name - Savannah - when I was a 4 year old little girl myself) and was so close to finally getting her....yet now we had no way to get her home.  This was only a couple months before we were scheduled to travel to China.

Our home had lost too much value in the housing crisis and would not appraise high enough to borrow against its equity under the strict lending guidelines of today's market. There was nothing more they could do, they said. How in the world does a family of 7 come up with $25K in 60 days without a loan? Impossible. It would never happen. Not without a miracle.

We prayed about it - that was all that could be done now, besides cry tears of grief and loss. After waiting a painful 133 days for our Letter of Approval to arrive from China, I didn't know how much more of this agony I could take.

But God answered our prayers.  And He answered BIG.  To the point that He was showing off.
Our hotel expenses in China for two (2) weeks were $2,000.00.  In the mail, arrived a check for exactly $2,000 from a loved one.  Our orphanage donation and civil affairs fees were $6,500.00. In the mail arrived a check for $4,000 from Amy's unused vacation time from work and we held a church fundraiser that produced the remaining $2,500.00 - so that made up exactly $6,500.00. Our other foreign fees were approximately $1,000.  In the mail arrived a check from a family friend (who we hadn't seen in at least 25 years) for exactly $1,000.  And the employer reimbursement of $5,000 that we qualified for within 48 hours of travel approval issuance was granted. We were able to scrape together the rest, but we were still short several thousand dollars and leaving for China in only a matter of DAYS.

That's when we got the call from A Child Waits Foundation.  By some miracle, they were willing to consider us on extremely short notice and even threw together a board meeting that wasn't on their schedule to review our application.  The angels on earth that work for this organization approved us for a $4,000.00 grant - the final piece of the puzzle to get us to China and to bring our daughter home. 

The check arrived in the mail 24 HOURS BEFORE WE BOARDED THE PLANE FOR CHINA. We wired it to China literally ON THE WAY TO THE AIRPORT THE NEXT DAY. So God provided, all the way up until the LAST POSSIBLE MOMENT......with the help from the wonderful individuals at A Child Waits Foundation.

The miracles didn't stop there - our entire trip was seamlessly smooth - not a single hiccup. No lost luggage, no delayed or missed flights on six different airplanes - in fact, we were even personally escorted through the employee lines at both the O'Hare and Hong Kong airports. No issues at the Consulate, or at Immigration or Customs.  Not a single thing went wrong on our entire two week trip - we didn't misplace anything, we didn't get lost or have translation problems - nothing. And we were the only couple in our large travel group that opted not to have the continual assistance of a guide. It was the most effortless trip I have ever taken...God just took care of every last detail.

Savannah bonded with us immediately - in fact she walked right into my arms on Gotcha Day and never shed a tear, just clung to my neck so tight, in a "Don't you dare let me go" type of way. It was as if she knew we were coming for her and that we were her parents. While others struggled with their newly adopted children, Savannah fit right in once home as well - not a single issue.

Then God out-did himself.

We adopted Savannah knowing she had a potentially life threatening blood disease for which there is no cure. We did our research, consulting with our pediatrician and the pediatric infectious diseases department at our local children’s hospital. We prepared ourselves, knowing this would always be in the back of our minds....that we would worry about her every day for the rest of her life.

How many years would we be blessed with her in our lives? Would we be burying our daughter someday? Would she ever be able to have children of her own, knowing she could pass this highly contagious virus on to them? Would she spend most of her life feeling sick? Her disease could also potentially cause her to get cancer - a word a parent never wants to hear in reference to their child.

Once home from China, we knew the first order of business was getting her blood tested for the anti-body that showed up positive in China that placed her on the Special Needs List. As a newborn, she was in the isolation room at the hospital after being found and a certificate of disease diagnosis was issued by the Disease Prevention & Control Center, with the stark cold words: "ADVICE: None. Incurable." appearing on the certificate.  After a baby reaches 18 months, they can be tested to see if the maternal anti-body has disappeared (this only happens 15% of the time and there is no medical explanation as to why); whether it has turned into an acute, slowly worsening condition; or, whether the anti-body has blossomed into the full blown disease - this is the case 75-80% of the time.

It was in God's hands - all we could do was pray.

The results came in, bringing me to my knees - tears flowing uncontrollably.  Our daughter was one of the fifteen percent.  The disease had completely disappeared. Gone. She is a completely healthy and normal little girl. Not a thing wrong with her.

So the end of the story is this: we have our Happily Ever After.

But what if the story had been different? What if we had been too scared to proceed with her adoption? What if we had said no? What if she was still sitting in China, waiting and alone?


Thankfully, with a little help from A Child Waits Foundation, that is not the case. He had a plan for this very special little girl. And He has a plan for all of the 163 million orphans that are out there - waiting for YOU to take the leap of faith and follow His command to help the widows and the orphans. Will you answer the call?

Every adoptive parent I know has experienced some type of miracle in their process. You will too if you adopt - this I guarantee you.

Yet adoption can also be frustrating and expensive, an emotional roller-coaster. The waiting can be brutal, the paperwork intimidating and overwhelming, the red tape and governmental hoops annoying. Therefore, one can often lose sight of the end goal - helping orphans find their forever families. Not every agency out there has this as their first priority.  At times, it feels like adoption is less about the homeless orphaned children and more about paperwork and money - and where the money goes, you sometimes skeptically wonder to yourself, unfortunately.

Our family can attest, from firsthand knowledge and experience, however, that every penny of the operating budget of A Child Waits Foundation goes to helping orphans get home and find families. We don't know how we would have gotten our precious daughter home without their help - help that arrived just in the nick of time. Within mere hours and minutes of leaving to get our daughter, in fact.

If you are looking for a reputable and trustworthy organization to make a tax deductible charitable contribution to, we urge you to consider A Child Waits Foundation.  They perform miracles every single day and do it simply out of the genuine goodness of their hearts.

The individuals at A Child Waits are passionate about their cause and making a difference in this world, once child at a time.

Our daughter is living proof of that.
Greg & Amy P.
http://www.searchforsavannah.blogspot.com/