The Beginning of Our Journey

When Jake and I were dating, we talked about adopting at some point in our lives. It has been my dream. We had 3 children of our own, and then had the impression it was time to begin looking at adopting. We had originally thought we wanted twin girls, not sure from where, but because my husband served with the Asians and had a great love for them, we thought maybe that is where we should start.

We had the opportunity to go to China for my husband's MBA program. We left the kids with Grandma and thoroughly enjoyed our time there. We were able to visit an elementary school and spend time with the kids. It was obvious, by the time we arrived home, that China was our destination.

So, we started the LONG process of getting our paperwork done. We completed our Dossier over the process of 6 months, and then submitted it to CCAA (Chinese Children Adoption Agency in China). It was officially logged in on April 24, 2007. They estimated our wait for a "healthy child" (or twins as we had requested) would be 18-24 months. Almost 48 months later, they still estimated the wait to be 2 years away.

In the mean-time, the market went downhill, my husband, a builder, lost his job. We had invested our adoption money in some property, thinking it would be safe there and when it was time, we could sale the property and pay for the adoption. We lost everything when we lost the business because it was all under the business name. We felt hopeless.

My brother and his wife in Missouri had started the process at the same time and accepted a "waiting child," or a child with a known medical condition, about a year ago. She is so darling, and appears to have "no medical condition." She's perfect, full of energy, and a typical 3 year old.

We began to wonder if this was ever going to work out. We wondered if we should go somewhere besides China. We decided we didn't want an infant anymore, and wondered what kinds of "known medical conditions" we could handle, so we began to research, turned in our "medical needs checklist" with all the things we'd be willing to accept, and then searched the photos.

That is where I found Zheng Lan! We pray the Lord will bless our lives and touch others to help us bring her home. It has been a long journey so far, and the most exciting part is just beginning!