Spring, Adoption, Visitors and more! by Tiffany

 

All around us the plants and trees and grass and flowers are waking up!  It is an amazing gift to be able to take part in, watching day by day as things seem to grow before my very eyes.   I never cease to be amazed by our God.  His beauty and creativity are overwhelming!

 

 

 One of the many grandparents on our campus, with his grandbaby, who spend their days walking around and enjoying community.

One of my many classes.  I just love these students!

We have been working lots of extra hours lately, doubling up on the classes that we teach each week.  We are trying to get ahead by two weeks so that when it is time to go pick up Eli, we can take that time off.  It is drawing ever nearer!  Yesterday we received the last of the papers we needed from the U.S. government and now everything will all be sent to China for their government to wrap it all up.  We were told that will take between 2 to 4 weeks.  At that point, China will issue our travel approval and then we will be allowed to make the trip to pick up Eli anywhere from 10 to 21 days later!  Please keep him in your prayers, I have spoken to the director there at his foster care center and she said that he has been feeling down recently.  Eli now knows that he has a Daddy, Mommy, sister and brother but I don’t think he understands why he is not yet with us.  Because of being deaf, fairly new to signing and living in a foster home where there are no fluent signers he is not able to communicate with or be communicated with fully.  However, from my understanding, he has somewhat recently begun receiving schooling 2 or 3 partial days a week at a school for the deaf.   He seems to be picking things up quite quickly from a wonderful teacher whom he loves deeply.  He is smart and very eager to be poured into.  What fun that will be to do the “pouring”!  We are praying that God will comfort him and that His Spirit will communicate with Eli’s, understanding beyond words. 

We have visitors coming!  My Mom and George will be here in just a week!  We are super excited to show them all around, introduce them to our friends and just let them experience a little bit our lives here in China.  We are making a list – I hope they come well rested and ready to go! 

We keep you close in our prayers even though we are far away in distance.  We miss you. 

Many blessings to you all~  Deryk, Tiffany, Hannah and Ayden

Adoption Update by Tiffany

Elishama

 

We have wonderful news!   Last week we completed the LAST of our paperwork!  All we are waiting on now is the final approval from the U.S. government and a final travel date can be issued and we will be all set.  As of now, we have been given a tentative timeframe of mid-April to early May.  It is hard to believe that it is almost here.  I am blown away when I think about all that God has done to bring us to this very point.  He is SO amazing!  And I am excited as I think about all that He is going to do to make the future possible.  So much that we don't know - his language, specifics on his health, all that he has been through up to this point, how to make such a huge adjustment - but what we do know far outweighs what we don't and that is that our God is able to do exceedingly more than all we ask or imagine.  We have seen Him do it multiple times before and we will watch in awe as He does it again! 

We would greatly appreciate your prayers for what needs to happen to finalize the adoption as well as for all the changes that are about to take place, for Eli, Hannah and Ayden, and Deryk and me, too.  Thank you so much and may God bless you~