Buying Bunk Beds and Finding God's Grace

With the decision to bring and 8 year old boy into the family instead of a baby girl came the necessity of switching our thinking regarding configuration of bedrooms...namely from a baby in her own crib and own room to bunk beds with two boys sharing the same room. That led to a distinct problem. We had a crib but no bunk beds. So we started looking. My sister Sharon suggested checking Craig's List. I couldn't see any bunk beds listed. But Sharon pursued a posting which read "Tons of furniture Priced to sell - $1." She discovered a children's bunk bed (mission style with built in desk and drawers...slight water damage. I was a little skeptical but decided to call anyway. The woman who answered told me that she hoped to get $200 for this bunk bed system. After some research I discovered that this was probably a pretty good deal if there wasn't too much damage because most bunk bed systems sold for well over $1000. We called the next morning to see if we could make an appointment to see the bed and had to leave a message. We heard nothing all day.

I have discovered with age and maturity that I have a tendency to become discouraged easily. This was no exception. I convinced myself that someone else must have purchased the bed and decided that if no one had it must be in awful shape. Alan and I started shopping around (in part because Alan's parents are providing money for this purchase and because there is a great need to replace our guest room matress). We found a plain oak bunk bed that was very reasonably priced. We started weighing options. I nearly pushed Alan to purchase it. But God had other plans.

The very next morning we received a call. The bunk bed was still available if we wanted to look at it. By this point we weren't sure but decided to look anyway. When we were shown the pieces we were pleased to see that it was actually in excellent shape...very little water damage and only a few scratches. It was a beautiful bed and wasn't so high that we couldn't easily converse with whomever was on the top bunk. The construction appeared to be solid pine in a cherry finish. We were sold. It was a great bargain at $200.

As I was writing the check the woman exclaimed how wonderful the Lord was to bring together the sale of all her furniture before she moved cross country and only about one week after posting her items on Craig's list. I stopped, not sure if I had heard correctly. I asked if she was a believer. She responded, "You bet I am!" Then she went on to offer some of her son's outgrown clothes to use for Jadon telling me she wanted to bless me. I was blessed!!!! I couldn't stop smiling.

I looked back over the journey of the bunk bed and realized that while I was looking for a bunk bed for my sons I found God's grace too. It shouldn't surprise me. It happens absolutely every day. I just don't see it as I ought. It took someone else bringing God glory for me to recognize His glory in the ordinary (or not so ordinary) experiences of our lives.

Preparing a Place

The house preparations continue. The plan is to have Andrew and Jadon share a room (the one that is currently Kirsten's). In order for that to happen we needed to do some work in the downstairs bedroom. In September Spence (a friend and blessing as a servant of God) put in his first egress window in our basement--worked great. The room needed to be finished off with some insulation to keep Kirsten toasty warm. This weekend Spence came over to frame some walls, put in insulation, add some electrical outlets, and make some tremendous improvements to the room. It will help keep the whole house warmer. Much was accomplished and we thank God for his provision. Spence was helped by family members and another friend from church--Becca! What gifts!

In thinking about all this preparation for Jadon, I can't help but consider the preparations that are being made for God's adopted children. Some day we will go home to a place that has been prepared for us. In that place we will be a part of God's forever family and be able to enjoy Him forever. Praise God from whom all blessings flow--blessings of church family here and blessings which we are able to anticipate for eternity!

Waxing Philosophical

Jadon doesn't know he has a family yet. I have found myself pondering this extraordinary thought quite often. He won't know he has a family until the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) has finalized approval on our request. That could take a month. We have all been growing in love with him more and more, praying for him, waiting for approvals, wanting to leave right now. And he has no clue we're even here. He is probably still longing for a mommy and daddy and doesn't realize he already has one!

God is continuing to teach me about my own spiritual adoption through this journey. I am seeing through my current philosophical contemplating that I was...indeed all who are chosen by our heavenly Father...were once just like Jadon, having a Father and a family and not even knowing it.

What is he thinking right now? Is he aware that people are praying for him yet...not knowing why he feels this way? Is he hopeful? Is he discouraged? Is he longing for home?

I watch so many people stumble through life, searching, even longing for something bigger than themselves. And so many never are satisfied. How wonderful when God's wooing brings the woeful sinner home!!!

Adoption is opening my eyes to the wonder of redemption as if for the first time. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that You chose to love me even when I was so dead and unlovable!!!

I can't wait to see what God will show me when I have Jadon home in my arms!

Family Photo Story

Funny story connected with this picture. In order to lock Jadon's file we needed a family photo. We haven't had one taken in some time. We were fighting the clock so Ruth and I pulled Andrew from school on Monday morning, took him to Memorial High School where Kirsten was just beginning her English class and had the DARE officer take the picture in the hallway outside of Kirsten's class. When he went to take the picture, the batteries were too low, so he left us to find two AA batteries, came back and took this picture. All the school personnel were very helpful and excited in the process. Soon we will need to take a new picture with our son who is currently living across the ocean.

Jadon Timetable

It has been a whirlwind the past few days. We have completed all of the paperwork, pictures and payments necessary to get things off to China. Our EA (Electronic Acceptance) was sent yesterday (January 6).

The next steps are:
1. PA (Pre-approval) from the CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs). This basically is an initial letter from China stating that we have been pre-approved to proceed with the adoption of Jadon. It is not an official approval since the full dossier has not been examined in conjunction with his file. We would expect this PA sometime in the next month.
2. RA (Referral Acceptance) from the CCAA. This is a confirmation that we have been approved to adopt Jadon. At this point we may post pictures of our guy and contact him with a care package and pictures. Getting the RA generally takes between one and six months. We should be on the short end of this timeframe since our dossier has already been reviewed and approved in the NSN (non special needs) area.
3. TA (Travel approval) from China. This takes 2-6 weeks after the RA is received. Once we have this we will make arrangements to go on a date that is doable with others from America World.
4. Off we go!!

Please pray for all of us as we go through these steps. We have been waiting for a long time, but now it becomes more difficult to wait since we have a name, a face, and a location. Pray that we would be wise in making appropriate preparations (much to do in the house and in preparing to have another person in the family--lots of reading to do). Pray for Jadon and God's preparation of him as well.

God's Mysterious Plans

In March 2005 our family traveled to China with the UW-Eau Claire Women's Concert Chorale,which Alan conducts. It was the trip of a lifetime!! Such a wonderful family experience and life changing in so many ways. As our plane began to leave Beijing on our trip home, Ruth stated that she felt as though she was leaving someone behind.

In May 2005 we decided as a family to look into the possibility of adopting a child from China. As we looked into this, we learned that the process of adoption from China generally was very carefully laid out and took only about 10 months to a year.

On August 1, 2005 we filled out an application with America World Adoption Association (www.awaa.org), a fabulous Christian adoption agency and made arrangements to meet with a local social worker to begin the "paper chase" process.

By December 2005 we had completed the major paper accumulation and were going about the process of getting things notarized and authenticated.

On February 10, 2006 Alan and Andrew picked up the materials in Chicago prior to going to Lambeau field for the Ohio State -vs- Wisconsin hockey game (Badgers won!!) for Andrew's birthday. Materials were mailed to our agency that week.

On March 13, 2006 we were officially logged into the China Center of Adoption Affairs and officially in the waiting process for a child to be matched to our family.

There have been many blessings in the waiting process--new friends through AWAA, growth in family relationships, supportive family and friends--all from a merciful and gracious God. At the same time we grow older (and bodies act older). We have learned much about the process that God has used to prepare us. We are much more ready to welcome an additional person to our family now than we were in 2005, 2006 or 2007.

All along we expected that it would be a little girl. All along God knew what He was doing.

In spring 2008, God had us consider a young boy with special needs. After consulting a doctor, it became clear that we were not well equipped to care for this boy (who has since been adopted by another family). So we waited.

Alan and Ruth began to feel that God may be directing them to an older child. We weren't able to shake the strong feeling that Ruth had that we were leaving someone behind. On December 23, 2008 we filled out an application for Waiting Children (those with special needs or older than three). We stated that we would consider either a boy or a girl (since we had already done that).

On December 30, 2008 we received a call from America World asking us to review a file for an 8 year old boy. We were all in a bit of a state of shock since this was not what we had planned. It was, however what God had planned. After a long week of prayer and discussion the family arrived at the mutual decision to pursue this little boy.

On January 5, 2009 we met with our local social worker, accepted the referral, completed much paperwork, made several calls to America World and thereby essentially added Jadon Sheng Rieck to our family.

God knew it all along!! He does work in mysterious ways, and we wouldn't change a thing!