The Empty Chair

Our adoption journey began February 2014! And what a journey it has been. We have completed mounds and mounds of paperwork, endured physical exams and background checks, raised funds towards the expenses, and made many, many small and large decisions. This process has been very difficult at times and easy peasy at other times. But it's worth it!

We took these photos almost 2 years ago announcing our adoption in hopes to "fill the empty chair". We are so excited to announce that we are finally "filling the empty chair"!!!! We initially received a phone call January 7, 2016 from the Director of the China Program with our adoption agency. I was driving the kids home from school, so I pulled over in a random parking lot once I realized what this call was about. As the Director began telling me about the referral she thought would fit in our family, the tears began rolling down my face. We didn't know a name or had seen a photo, but we were so happy! Brad and I kept the child to ourselves for quite awhile. We didn't share the news with anyone, so we could make our own decision and pray about it. At the end of January, we made the decision to pursue this child. After some paperwork, lots of prayers and discussions, we are happy to announce that the Chinese government approved us to adopt this child on March 25, 2016!!

We are not ready to show photos to everyone, but I will tell you a little about our new addition.
God has placed a 3 year old girl into our family! We plan to give her an American first name and keep part of her Chinese name as her middle name.....Lilly Xia Miles. (The middle name is pronounced Shy).  We are very excited and a little nervous. Brad and I hope to travel to China this summer to meet our new daughter and to bring her home. God is so good and has carried us on this journey and I know he will continue to be with us once we get home. Please continue to pray for our family and our adoption journey as we still have a long way to go.