One home...Many hearts: April 2009

Welcome to our story...

God has richly blessed us with a big, fun family...
We have 10 children... 3 homegrown & 7 born in our hearts!

Blake... our oldest is 25 and has a heart for the Lord. He enjoys; church, family, mission trips, making music, playing guitar & drums at church, and writing.

Brianna Faith... is 21 and has a compassionate & tender heart. She's a wonderful big sister. She began talking to us about adoption when she was 11 yrs old. She is "Faith in motion"

Brent... is 17 - he's an awesome guy! He's in highschool. He has a special heart for family and God. He loves sports! Brent loves to laugh & is full of life!

Bethany Lidia... now 15, joined our family in August 2006 at 9 yrs old. She's from the beautiful country of Guatemala. She started school for the very first time (at 9 yrs old) and is now in 9th grade. Lidia's passion is sports & dancing!

Benjamin Ross... 15 yrs old. We first saw his picture in April 2007 & came home in May '08. Ben is deaf, but his special need is that he needed a family. Ben loves making home-runs & hanging out with family & friends. Ben is from Tianjin, China.

Briella Xiyao... our beautiful 15 yr old daughter from Fujian Province, China. She joined our family in July 2009. She's always wearing a big smile! She has a passion for the deaf & very proficient in sign language. She loves basketball!!

Bellamei Ying... our Inner Mongolian princess. Bellamei is 14 yrs old and held my hand for the first time on July 18, 2011. She has melted into our big family seamlessly and it is truly an honor to be her mommy.

Brinley Grace FuChuan... is 9 years old and joined our family in July 2007. She's from Jiangxi Province, China. She has the most gentle, sweet spirit... she's an angel!

Bayla Shea Chao-Yu... our youngest. She's 9 yrs old, 5 months younger than Brinley. Bayla's from Hunan, China & came home at 11.5 months. She's bright, funny (and spicy!) We can't get enough of her hugs & kisses.

and our caboose... Braxton Emanuel Jordan - 8 yrs old? (see post below) He's from Guangdong Province and is now officially our son!

April 18, 2009
While we were sleeping last night, it was daytime in China & Lori King was at Briella's orphanage & sent me this email along with pictures. Lori just adopted Levi (a little cutie!) and had the opportunity to visit the orphanage. Her blog address is www.paulandlori-kingskids.blogspot.com if you'd like to take a peek. I met Lori on a forum for families adopting from this specific orphanage. Here's what she wrote...

Dear Lisa,
Your daughter is so sweet with a very ready smile. She is very friendly and seemed like a happy little girl. She was very curious about why we wanted to take her picture and was told that it was for her Mommy and Daddy. I asked the director if she was aware if she was being adopted and she is. Maybe you were already aware of that, i wasn't sure. I think they tell them as soon as they are matched with a family.
Enjoy the pictures!
Lori King

Here are the pics she just took... (click to enlarge)

April 16, 2009

When we face challenges... when we are tired and frail... when our doubt is bigger than our faith... WHEN FAITH AND FEAR COLLIDE... Where does your strength come from?

I would never have fathomed that God would take me here... this place where I am right now. I believe with every cell in my body that God has me exactly where I am supposed to be. When I truly trust in His plan, that is when I experience His wonder.

I'm so humbled and excited to announce the coming of my new daughter!
She's a lovely 11 year old girl living in Fujian Province, China. Her name is Xi Yao (pronounced see-yow). Her name means "Hope" in Chinese.
We will name her Briella XiYao. Briella means "God is my strength".
We just received final approval from China, and Lidia and I will be traveling in June to pick her up. We can't wait !!
Here she is...

Psalm 121 ~ "I lift my eyes up to the hills. Where does my strength come from. My strength comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth."