TRAVEL!!.... Yipee!

Not this past Monday, but the Monday before, I was in Publix on a hunt for dessert - and a loaf of Italian bread, which is also dessert for me.  Anyway, as I was pulling in and trying to rationalize a reason for stopping for dessert, I thought, "wouldn't it be nice if I was getting a cake to celebrate receiving our Travel Authorization" - the coveted TA!  But alas, I thought it was too early and that we were going to have to wait until the next Monday.  God is good at surprising me... while I'm there, I get a phone call from our agency telling me that they received our TA and wanting to know whether we wanted to travel 10/4 or 10/11... well... no question - we want to go TODAY.  However, I told her I'd check with Brian and call her right back.  This particular Publix has terrible phone reception, so Brian had no idea what I was talking about (thought I was asking him something about a wedding dress?) and I ended up having to leave my dessert and head outside - whereby I noticed my cell battery was about drained - to add to the excitement & urgency.  Anyway, long story short - Brian said let's go the earliest & thus we are now preparing for our trip - leaving early morning Thursday, October 4!

Lots has happened since that day with getting tickets (ouch!) and having our travel conference call with the agency, and letting everybody know who we need to let know.  Having survived that wave of excitement, we have now landed and are scurrying to do all the things we wish we had done months ago.  Last night I finished getting the gifts for the officials that we were told to get ... ended up choosing  scarves, t-shirts, "quality" makeup - (yes, that's what they said - they don't know what passes for quality make up with me) candy and chocolate.  Why they would want a "nice pen" or "stationary" over chocolate is beyond me, so I just went with my instincts and chose the things from the list that I would want.  The scarves are especially nice!

It was hard finding non-Chinese made items!



No trip to the store is complete without more stuff for Jonah. 
Not sure how the Lego Batman underwear will go over... but I liked them!

 Right now I'm home wasting my time on the computer instead of packing or cleaning house... so I need to go do that now.  I wonder if Jonah knows we're coming yet?  I wonder how they're preparing him?  I'm hoping they don't take him from the foster home before we come - as I heard sometimes they do that for some reason.  I'm thankful that God is growing this child in my heart as we speak.   I'm also glad that this morning I heard a message from Dr. Charles Stanley, one of my favorites, on the "Blessing of Inadequacy".  It so well spoke to me - and helped quell my fears - long and short of it is:
  God does not require me to feel adequate for those things which He has prepared ahead of time just for me to do.  My adequacy does not come from my efforts or experience - or the measuring stick of others - but from Him.  So... no excuses, or whining that I'm not prepared for this - because my God is!

When it rains..... the roof leaks!

Well, a twist on that old saying, complements of Hurricane Isaac.

We were very thankful to be spared the brunt of this storm.  However, we would have been even happier if we had not looked up from our bed before sleep last night to see this:

See it? That little brown spot?

You know what that means....

At the same time, we are still fighting with this:

The other Beast.  

Yep, we can't seem to housebreak our air-conditioner.  It's still piddling all over the floor.  Hence, we had to punish it and turn it off for the day.  No air in muggy South Florida.  (Love those nice cool libraries though.)

But I'm not complaining.  No, really!  I am praising God that He never leaves us to handle it all on our own.  I have no doubt that He will provide, in whatever way He wills, a new roof (very much overdo), a resolution to the air conditioner situation.  And....  most of all on our hearts right now, funds for the remainder of our adoption expenses.  That's how I feel, really.  And it's not just the nice caffeine kick of my morning coffee!

While talking to you about fixits, I have to tell you that my husband, who has been updating this blog faithfully while I did "other stuff", is the most awesome guy around.  My dad was pretty awesome also - but unfortunately, he's not around - he's "Heaven-bound".  

Anyway, my husband is the best fixit man I know.  Don't think that these pictures I posted are in anyway meant to disparage his care of our home.  We have not given a penny to service men in the 20+ years that we've been married.  Yes, sometimes it's not just a service call, but a whole new roof or air conditioner overhaul that might be needed.  But MY HUSBAND does not pick up the phone every time there's an "issue".  I just had to tell you that.  Yup - just had to brag on him.  Not only can I tell you that, but my aunt and uncle can, my mother (who is without her fixit man), my godparents, my brother and his wife.  He handles it all!  

"Big B"

So, to wrap up this entry, just want to say:  "Thank you Honey!  You're the best! -- and that's no "Hooakey" (little inside joke).  You have a heart to serve those in need.  What a wonderful heart.  I thank God for you - and that He took two wayward twenty-somethings, had them meet in a college town jazz bar, meshed them together in marriage, and then undertook to transform them into His, while rescuing their marriage and their souls.  Now He's using them to rescue Jonah Xiaohua, placing him in a forever family, where his beautiful little soul also can be rescued and redeemed for God's glory.  And it will go on.... just watch Him work! 

Leaky roof? Leaky air conditioner? Leaky bank account?  "Hooakey!"  Our God provides!

Hamburgers and Ice cream cones......

Brian Posting.............


Our special envoy has made a connection............If you look a few posts back, I had mentioned the circumstances of how my wifes' friend happened to have a foreign exchange student staying with them........From China...........Shenzhen China..............Longgang to be exact........... Her name is Jennifer (well her American name anyway). She was traveling back to China from the U.S. to spend time with family prior to starting the next leg of college in Paris.

She was kind enough to hand deliver a package to Jonah at the orphanage..........She took her father with her to deliver the package and letter we sent........... yesterday we got an e-mail from her. They were able to take him out to eat and spend some time with him.

What kid doesn't like ice cream?

  Too cool...............

  That's the face we all love.....

More pictures? I'm trying to eat my fries........

Special thanks to Jennifer and her father............Thanks for lovin on our Boy...


Jennifer had mentioned that he is "He is very polite and loving." Apparently he's not top of his class in academics, but, he loves sports and is a fast runner............Also, he's outgoing and gets along well with the other kids in school and in the foster home................

He's got a great natural smile and I for one can't wait to see it in person.........

Hang in there Jonah we're coming soon.............

L.O.A. and HOW LONG HAS IT REALLY BEEN?

Brian again..........


Finally, Finally, Finally  The Leidy's have their LOA.................

We received notice from CCAI that it had come and we received the actual document via FedEx on Tuesday July 31, 2012.

Now that our LOA is under our belt their is nothing left to do but................... more paperwork....
Yeah, that sounds like fun.....Exotic and unusual......


Oh wait that's what we've been doing for how long already?

Paperwork......wait..........paperwork.......wait.........paperwork........ wait...........

Don't get me wrong.

This is really exciting and a true milestone in the whole adoption process, but patience is not one of my strong suits. God has other plans....

Let me share a little secret with you about how long the "birth " of Jonah has really taken.


A few weeks ago. I looked in my notebook / prayer journal. Out of curiosity, I flipped to the front and started to skim some of my notes and prayer requests from 2008. I remember praying for an unknown unnamed child to come home to our family.

I simply noted to pray for "baby Jonah". That first "baby Jonah" entry was somewhere  around the first week of March 2008......That is almost 4 years ago.  Then out of the blue is the entry on Easter Sunday of 2008 "Lord bring Jonah Home" and right underneath that is the beginning of the sermon notes that say two very prophetic things................Both apply to to the orphan..........."Sorrow will be turned into Joy" and " Beauty from Ashes".

It amazes me how long we have been waiting, yet when I hear 10 to 12 more weeks my initial reaction is "oh, please let's get this over with". In hindsight  10 to 12 weeks is a drop in the bucket next to the initial prayers of  "Lord bring Jonah Home", 4 years ago.

Thank you God for answered prayer.

If their is one thing I want to make sure Jonah knows, it's that he is loved and wanted and we can't wait to have him with us.

My wife is Awesome

Brian Posting

As we travel through the mundane things of our day people say so many things. Some grab your attention and others turn into background noise that is quickly forgotten of passed over. One of those statements of verbal white noise hit my ears this weekend. Don't get me wrong , but, sometimes our desires are just verbalizations of what we think should happen and we never expect them to come to pass.


My wife in passing says what we both have been thinking......."I wish I had some new pictures of Jonah." It would be nice to see him. Anything will do. Even though we won't here his voice or see his movements or how he acts, just a few still shots would sure go far right about now. That having been said, with a shrug I went on with my day. My wife on the other hand had a different idea.

Through her tenacious and unquenchable need she went to God and then the web.....With the world population heading toward 7 billion, that's billion with a B, the odds were pretty slanted against finding any new photos or information. Then from the other room I here.......Brian, come and look at this.....

Not only does it have his name....It has his birthday. 1-23-2003. That smile is definitely his. Oh, but that isn't all......Their is much more. The calls from the other room did not end their. Like a small stream, the calls from the other room trickled in.....One after another.....Hey come look at this.......come see this one......
All I can say about the whole thing is that God is soooooo good. Thank you

It is so great to see him interacting with others, His face filled with laughter....Or maybe he's getting a wedgie....Not really sure.

The other really cool thing is that he's wearing a shirt we sent to him  6 or 7 months ago. So, these pictures are not very old. Toni had found these on a blog (not really sure, it was in chinese) of a woman who is part of a volunteer organization called the "corn volunteers". Apparently, they visit the orphanage on a regular basis and she likes to post pictures...... How great is that.
These were just a few of the photos we were able to retrieve. They should hold us for a while. I am just especially pleased that my sweetie didn't give up looking......These photos were a great suprise.

Lot's of smiley pictures of him.......He seems to be a pretty happy go lucky kid.....
We can't wait to see him and hold him.....The days can't pass fast enough.........

THE PAINT IS DRYING AND THE GRASS IS GROWING !

The hands of time are standing still.........Just like the last day of school before summer break. The second hand on the big round institutional clock on the wall is sitting on the same number and vibrating with each tick of the clock but not moving..... Oh, when will it start moving again. (that's how it feels anyway)

 Charts and graphs of what amount of time certain milestones should take place are interesting and helpful, but just like when you take a mouthful of water when swimming and it feels like you're about to drown. Even if you're next to the side of the pool........you still need a breath of air..........I need a breath of air.....I'm not drowning of course, but I am anxious for the next step to happen.

 My mind is racing, while running through a long list of questions....Is he ok.... How does he feel today.... What is he doing....He knows we haven't  forgotten him doesn't he.... I hope he's not worrying about anything....How's he doing in school....I hope he's not too anxious about being adopted....Will he like us....Will we all be able to blend together as a family.....I wonder if his health is good........Blah, blah, blah.

It goes on and on in an endless repetition of questions. Rarely vocalized , but always present.As cliche as it sounds........I know this is what God has in store for our family and it is what is best. Mind you I didn't say easy or fun or whatever. This is what is best....For all parties concerned...The waiting is part of the journey..That I have great peace about and have no doubts. That knowledge is what makes the waiting bearable.


By the way we are still patiently waiting for our latest update.........

Brian here..........

There are so many people with so many important things to say about adoption. As I read through the stories of others on the web and trace the journeys they have taken. It blows me away how God can take a simple thing and turn it into a life changing event. One of the main drivers of that is how prepared you are to answer His call. Something so simple as helping someone in need can change your life. It can put you on a path that once you start down.......you will never be the same.


One such story is lived and blogged by this Godly young man who answered the call. He stepped out in faith and has forever changed a child's life. Here's a link to his page.    http://eyesopen-heartchanged.blogspot.com/2012/01/your-pain-has-changed-me.htmlthat It talks about the end of a camp he attended in China for orphans.....The photos in the body of his text tell a powerful story of how important it is for us to have close connections and unconditional love.


The good news is that because of the actions this young man took as an advocate for this little boy, this boy now has a forever family. The story does not end there, it just pauses and starts a new chapter. It's the proverbial fork in the road.........Because this young man cared so deeply for this orphan boy he had basically, just met, both their lives and the lives of his new family are radically changed forever for the better..... His story is here..... http://myshelbybaby.blogspot.com/

We have a Log In Date......YEAH

Brian here.

Wow,  2 weeks exactly, right on the money.  Next in line is our P.A. ( I think it stands for Provisional approval.) So many acronymns. This is terrific. According to current guidelines, I can finally answer the FAQ of "When are you going to pick him up?". Our current guesstimated time of travel is end of October/beginning of November. This being the case, I can't think of a more lovely way to ring in the 2012 Holiday Season. Imagine what Jonah will think.

 We will be loaded with candy still from Reformation Day ( halloween to some). Shortly after that will be Thanksgiving.........Oodles and oodles of turkey and delicious deserts. Then right around the corner is Christmas. He'll probably be smothered with presents from his new extended family. Then New Years and of course the Chinese New Year. (No they don't happen on the same day.) ........

This Kid is going to think all we do here in the USA is party, celebrate and eat.......That doesn't even take into account the many, many birthday parties sprinkled among the National Holidays. .............Anyway, one more box to check on the long list of boxes to check. The time will hopefully fly by for all concerned.

Package On It's Way

Brian here

We received an email from Ann in China that Jonah will be getting his care package from us in 2 days...That would be Thursday the 24th......OK, I'll take that. With every great success their are always mild disappointments. Ultraman will not make an appearance at the Longgang Model Family Foster Home. The versions in the store currently were deemed "too low quality" to warrant their purchase. Instead, the worlds greatest standby present for any boy.........drum roll please.........A TANK......good alternate choice. The next best thing to fantasy role play with some form of superhero is to fantasy role play with some form .....any form of militaria....Tanks, planes, cars, trucks, little green soldier men.....even anything that can be held in the hand as a gun, sword or other weapon of mass destruction.

Anyway, Ultraman was not the purpose of the package in the first place. Contact........that is the ultimate purpose, even if the contact goes through an intermediary. Jonah needs to know, we are coming, we have not forgotten him and we are working as hard as possible to bring him home. All the other silly things, the toys and comic books, are window dressing for the big picture. My hope is that as he receives these and things he will have some idea of how much we already think of and care for him. That he is not alone. That he will have a family that loves him. Hopefully, these little tokens of fun will help to remind him......We are coming.

Waiting on our L.I.D.

Brian again.
I know it's not long enough but the time passes so slowly. Our D.T.C. was 5-11-12 and It's only been 10 days but still the wait is so frustrating.  No L.I.D. (Log In Date) yet.....maybe in a week ,hopefully, or two.
In the mean time to add to the waiting frustration, we are expecting to here from Ann re: the package and letter she was supposed to deliver for us to Jonah. With each letter and package we send, we get another little sliver of Jonah's personality. A little more info and snapshots to tide us over until the next package.  Photos and such from Ann are anxiously awaited. Toni has included her email address in the hope that someone, anyone in contact with him will relay a message to us.

Who knows it's worth a try. Sometimes the questions we send get very short answers. It would be delightful to speak to someone who has seen and spoken to him in the last few days or weeks.

Well until something else happens we will be forced to sit patiently and wait........Whether we like it or not.

DTC (Documents To China)

Mark the date May 11-2012 we have finally gotten over the hurdle of getting our documents to China. This is Brian posting by the way. I have to say that my wife has done such a spectacular job with all the paperwork. She has been on top of everything. I would be lost without her. We can kind of catch our breath as we wait for the next domino to fall in the process. It's difficult for me to imagine what it must be like for Jonah to have to wait all this time. He has been aware that we have been working on the adoption as far back as December of 2011. I think back to when I was that age (9) and remember how long it took for Christmas, Birthdays, Thanksgiving, summer break, etc...... to come around each year. It always felt like a lifetime while I would wait in anticipation for the upcoming event, whatever "it" was. Now I think of how Jonah must feel. He's been waiting since December already and still will have to wait another 5 to 7 months......At his age it must feel like forever...I just have to keep telling myself that God's timing is not like our timing. This time that he is apart from us, God, I'm sure, is using it to shape each one of us and to prepare our hearts for the time to come....In His economy it is a necessary time. That's the only way I can make the tedious and slow progress make sense to me. Hopefully, His timing is really fast....Also, it has been quite a while (2 months ) since we've sent him anything, so it's time for another package. This time he's getting necessities only........An Ultraman action figure and 2 packs of comic books. Exactly what every kid needs. Of course a loving letter composed by his mama will be in there as well......Toni knows exactly what he needs to here and she says it in a way only a mother could.

Introduction

Hi! Let us introduce ourselves. We are the Leidys, currently a family of 5:
Brian - age 46
Toni - age 48
Ashlyn - age 18
Noah - age 16
Emma - age 7 (almost 8!)
     We live in Boca Raton, Florida, which is located on the southeast portion of Florida between West Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale. We actively attend church, Calvary Chapel Boca Raton, a satellite church of Calvary Chapel Ft. Lauderdale (Pastor Bob Coy) - the best church in the world!  calvaryftl.org
     We are a homeschooling family for two of our children - one to graduate from high school this May (Woohoo Ashlyn!). Noah will continue his homeschool high school adventure, while Emma attends a private Christian school, which she greatly enjoys.
   Emma became a very special part of our family through adoption from China in 2005, at the age of 13 months.  The love and joy she has brought to our home was a great impetus in our desire to adopt from China again. However, the main reason was what the Lord had laid upon the heart of Brian for the past 6 years: a strong and continuing desire to give an orphan a forever home, where they would come to know Jesus as their Savior, and where they could be blessed, as we have, in this great and free country. 
     It wasn't until a year ago, that I (Toni) felt my heart open to the idea.  I am glad for Brian's patience and prayer in this area.  We are confident this is God's will because of all the doors He has opened that we thought were securely shut; as well as some things that have occurred that we know are too remote and fantastic to be coincidences. We are not "rescuers" or "do-gooders". We just  hope to be used by God to be a family to one who is "family-less"; and to show others that ordinary people with daily struggles, flaws and sin, can be used by God, in His great grace, to accomplish His will - one life at a time.
   We are extremely thankful to all our family and friends that have been so supportive of this decision and for their Godly counsel and prayer.  Thank you for sharing this journey with us. 

     Father to the fatherless, defender of widows — this is God, whose dwelling is holy.  God places the lonely in families.  Psalms 68:5-6