The Firstbrook Five

Food and Fun

Katie has celebrated her first thanksgiving . . . . and what did she think of her veritable feast? I submit for your viewing pleasure:

Apparently, rolls, lefsa, turkey, ham & olives meet Katie's approval! :)

Aside from all the feasting Katie did, she also did this:

The faster Daddy went, the louder Katie laughed!

I must admit, we were especially thankful this Thanksgiving . . . it is good to have our girl home and happy. We are so grateful to God for making us a family of five this year!! God is good!

Children Available!!

Every quarter our adoption agency, All Gods Children  receives a list of about 20 Special Needs Children. Once they receive the list they then have about 3 months to place these children in forever families. Right now there are 8 very precious kiddos left on the list, just waiting for their forever family to find them . . .

Just today it was announced that a anonymous gift has been made, and that each of those children have a $12,000 grant available. Someone very generous has agreed to pay for the Agency Fee, International Fee, and Orphanage Donation. All that would be left for the adoptive family would be HomeStudy fees and travel/transportation costs - an estimate of around $10,000. What makes that amount doable, is that adoptive families receive a tax credit of $10,630!

Please take a look at the list of kids - it includes their pictures and some very general information about their specific special need. If nothing else, you can pray for them as you stare at their sweet little faces. Maybe you can pass the list around to others you know who will pray and who might be interested in adoption. Maybe, just maybe, you might find your child on that list, you never know!!!!

Here you go:
Waiting Children

Remember the Knitting Project?

Back when we first started the adoption process, we began what came to be known as the Knitting Project. At the time our oldest daughter, Kelsey, was 9 years old and just beginning to develop her tender heart towards older orphans. She desired to send them some kind of gift of love and her new found ability to knit translated into practically everyone we know knitting scarves to send to China. You can read about the Knitting Project here and here.

What I never told you was the incredible connection that was made to the Knitting Project while we were in China . . .

While in China we had two terrific guides - Angela and Annie. We had heard lots of wonderful things about Angela, she has worked for our agency for many years and is a wonderful in-country facilitator. We didn't know anything about Annie - but we were looking forward to getting to know both of these gals.

Just a couple of nights into our trip, one of our travel mates told us that Annie lived and worked in an orphanage in Beijing that was sponsored by our adoption agency. Ron and I quickly exchanged looks and then went on the hunt for Annie! We brought her to our room and asked her if she lived at the orphanage where we had sent our scarves. We showed her the pictures of the kids and scarves we had received, and Annie lit up . . .

In her best (and quickest) broken English, Annie pored over the pictures.  Her face lit up as she described each child . . . what they were like,  how much she loved him or her. It was such a precious time! Up until we received our referral of Katie, the group picture of the kids and the scarves had been our computer background. We opened our computer everyday and stared at the picture. We prayed for those kids. In our hearts we loved those kids. And now, here was Annie. She lived with them, worked with them, loved them and prayed with them! The connection was unbelievable and oh so sweet!

I'm afraid to admit it, but those kids haven't been prayed for as often as they used to. We now have new pictures as our background and while we often think of those kids in Beijing, we don't think of them or pray for them as much as we would like. So, I'm bringing them back up. For us. And for you. But mostly for them.

As you look at these pictures below, I've put numbers on each kid and given you the description that Annie gave us. May we look often at these pictures, and pray for those kids. We can pray that He would draw them into His eternal family. That He would give them a forever family here on earth. That He would keep them warm and safe this winter. That they would know friendship and love and joy despite their hard circumstances.

#1 is Guo Xiu Lian. Annie said she is the smartest girl - so bright and cheerful and super smart. She is to be adopted soon according to Annie, and by now may already be with her forever family!
#2 is the oldest girl in the orphanage - she is 15 years old and in the 8th Grade. She loves to play the piano.
#3 and #6 are sisters and aren't eligible for adoption because their parents are living but unable to care for them.
#4 also loves to play the piano and is a good dancer.
#5 is a Han Chinese and is in the 5th grade. This sweet girl is the first orphan Annie met and befriended at the orphanage.
#7 is Pao - he is 11 and in the 3rd grade.

#1 is a sweet little 4 year old girl who is in the process of being adopted by a family in Holland.
#2 is a little boy who Annie describes as having "head problems." Not sure if this meant he was a little delayed or what - but she said he was very sweet.
#3 is Peter. He and Pao are the same age, both healthy, and both good friends.
#4 is a little boy who was born healthy, but then at a young age suffered from a very high fever and now has some mental problems. He loves to smile and Annie says he is constantly asking her to stay and not leave on trips. She says he is very cute!

Doesn't that just change everything to know a little bit about those kids?! We thought we were changed when we just saw their faces last year. But now, to know about them, to hear what they like and what they are like, it just cuts into your heart. They need us. They need us to love them enough to pray for them and to care for them.

While you are busy praying, perhaps you might also pray for Annie. This young woman has left her family and is now committed to working with her country's orphans. She lives and works with those kids and is also working to become a facilitator with our agency for families coming to China for adoption. She is quiet, smart, dedicated, passionate and has a deep love for Lord. When we think back on our China experience, Annie is one of the things we are most thankful for!

Statistics and the Spirit

So I know this blog is primarily about our family life as we are now a family of five . . . adjusting to life with our little China Treasure. But a blog about our family life would not be complete if it didn't convey our hearts about what matters most to us. And over the last year and a half or so we have watched our hearts change and grow and break and stretch - all over the plight of the Fatherless.

When confronted with the staggering statistics concerning orphans worldwide, your heart cannot help but break. Let me give you just a few statistics that you can find at the powerful website Voice of the Orphan:

• 16 million children were newly orphaned in 2003.
• There are 87.6 million orphans living in Asia.
• There are 43.4 million orphans living in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• 12.4 million orphans live in Latin American & the Caribbean.
• More than 800,000 children pass through America's foster care system each year.

Those statistics are huge . . . unimaginable . . . heartbreaking.

Now consider this:

• More than one-third of all Americans have seriously considered adopting, but no more than 2% have actually adopted.

Statistics can break your heart, but only the Holy Spirit can change your heart.

Have you asked Him to break your heart? Have you asked Him what He would have your response be to the Fatherless? We know He commands us to care for the orphans & widows, but have you asked Him how He would have you do that?

Here is a great resource for you to check out:
10 Things Every Christian Can Do
Click on the brochure to see what it says . . . powerful suggestions for how you might be used by God to care for the Fatherless.

Certainly, we aren't all called to the privilege to adopt. But certainly, we are all commanded to do something. It can be hard to know what that something is . . . you might not have any ideas or places to start. That brochure is a starting point . . . the Holy Spirit will guide you and enable you.

God is good.

The Video

Here it is, The Journey to Katie Mei.

I've sat at the computer for two days, ignored laundry, drank a lot of Crystal Light, moved pictures around, picked music (with a lot of help from Ron), and enjoyed every minute of reliving our China experience.

Please know the video is long - 12 minutes long to be exact. For those who know me, you know that I am not good at paring down my own pictures. Every one is a treasured memory. Every one represents a part of our journey. Every one is a reminder of God's goodness and grace to our family - shown to us by this precious little girl, Katie Mei.

Just for a little history, the second song in the video is  "Swept Away" by Geoff Moore. I first heard this song almost 6 years ago. I remember laying on the family room floor, listening to Christian talk radio while Kelsey was at Kindergarten and Emily was taking a nap. Geoff Moore was talking about his recent adoption of his daughter from China and this song that he wrote about it. While adoption had been in my heart long before I ever heard his story or his song, when I heard that song I just knew. Somehow I knew God has whispered to my heart His promise to show me Himself through adoption. Somehow I knew that this song would someday be "my" song. And now it is. I listened to it for 16 months while we waited and prayed for Katie. And now here she is, and we have all been swept away by her and by God's amazing plan for our lives!

Enjoy the video:

God's Idea

Today is our six month anniversary of Gotcha Day.

Six months ago today we were in China. We started the day as a family of four and ended it a family of five. Sixteen long months culminated in one incredible moment . . . that has led to six months (so far) of incredible moments. We are very blessed. And very thankful.

You know, adoption is God's idea - it certainly isn't ours. I think the one big thing we have learned over the past six months is just how much adoption is at the heart of God. It is what He does. Our adoption of Katie is just a blurry mirror image of what God has done for us. Let me explain:

Half way around the world a little girl was born without a name, without a home, and essentially, without parents. She was lost and alone. It is the same for us spiritually. We are alone, lost, separated from the One who created us. A Holy God created us, and yet because of Adam's sin, we are separated from our Creator. Romans 5:12 says, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned."

But then, in what seemed like an instant, that lonely, lost, separated child without a future and hope was transferred, accepted, brought into our family. Where a moment ago she had nothing, suddenly she had everything available to her that was at our disposal. All the rights, privileges, responsibilities, inheritance, anything we had, she became a partaker of. Suddenly alone. Suddenly in family. Once without, now with. Again, it is the same for us spiritually. When we come to God with repentance, sorry for our sins and in acceptance of His forgiveness through Christ's sacrificial death on the cross, recognizing His grace and mercy to forgive and offer us a future and a hope, we are suddenly transferred into His Kingdom. Colossians 3:13-14 says "For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

Katie no longer has to live in fear. She no longer has no one to call Mother or Father. She can say "Momma" or "Dadda" and we will listen, we will act, we will love, we will discipline, we will just be with her. Praise God, it is the same for us spiritually. Romans 8:15 says "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!' "

So, as you can see - this adoption thing is God's idea. It is what he offers you and me. Adoption into our family is a good thing. Adoption into God's family is THE thing - it is life changing, future altering, sin forgiving, and so much more!

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Now, unless you think our adoption of Katie was a purely "spiritual" thing - don't kid yourself! We wanted to expand our family. We didn't want me to be pregnant again. God put the idea of adoption into our hearts and then helped it spread to our family and friends. Through those family and friends He gave us the means to bring Katie home. And now here we are - a family of five, enjoying life with this sweet, funny, spunky, sometimes crabby, but always cute, little bundle of cuteness!

American Girl Adventure

Whew! What a whirlwind of a weekend . . .

Kelsey and I left at o-dark-thirty (6:30am) on Friday morning with another mom and daughter and headed south to Los Angeles. Our destination: American Girl Place.

Kelsey and her sweet friend Emma love playing with American Girls. And since Emma and Kelsey each have a birthday within the next month, us mom's decided to combine their birthdays and take them down to celebrate together. We called the Grandma's and had them give their gift (money) early, we set up babysitters - again, by calling the Grandma's (what would we do without them?), and we made some reservations.

I cannot begin to describe how wonderful our time was together. Yes, the trip was quick, we left early Friday morning and were home by Saturday afternoon, but the time in between was jam packed with fun, great conversation, and making meaningful memories! We went on this trip hoping for Kelsey to have a super fun time. I came back realizing just how important it was to spend time alone with Kelsey for this extended period. She'll be 11 next month - the preteen years are upon us - and the more time we spend together talking, laughing, sharing and just being - the better.

And how did the little's do while we were away? Well, let's just say that Grandma Shadduck is a GREAT spoiler, and really, when she is with them, my girls just don't miss me for a second! :)

Fun was had by all

I would say it was an enjoyable evening here at the Firstbrook household last night . . .

After waiting nearly 30 minute for our Papa Murphy's pizza earlier in the day, we finally assembled around the table with some good friends and ate to our hearts content. Then, with full stomachs and hyper kids, we headed out!

Emily took the lead as Cinderella. She practially raced from house to house to fill up her bag. "More candy" was her mantra. Too bad for her that we made her pick out her 10 favorite pieces of candy today and the rest went bye-bye! Emily had a smile on her face all evening. She loves dressing up, loves being with friends, and loves candy! Quite the winning combination, don't you think?!

Kelsey looked adorable as the American Girl, Kirsten. Sometime earlier this year we had spotted a dress on EBay that matches one of the dresses Kelsey has for Kirsten. On a whim we purchased it, and boy were we glad come Halloween! Kelsey and Kirsten had matching dresses and matching hair and looked fantastic. Most neighbors assumed Kelsey had dressed up as a prairie girl, but Kelsey was delighted when one gal exclaimed, "Oh don't you look cute as an American Girl!"

Our little ladybug Katie had a super fun night! We strolled Katie from house to house and then let her walk up to each porch. She was clutching her treat bag so tightly that it was hard for anyone to actually put a piece of candy in her bag! Once we would pry her treat bag from her hands, she received lots of goodies from everyone who thought she was so adorable. After receiving a treat we would plop Katie back in the stroller and hand her back her bag. She would hold it tight to her chest, pat it and go "oooooh", as if she was in love with her bag! Katie didn't even know there was candy in there - she just knew she was having fun and everyone liked her, so all was good in her world!

The funny thing is, we don't really like Halloween that much - it really isn't our favorite holiday. Our principle has always been that we won't spend money on this holiday - the girls can dress up with something they find in our dress up box. My mom actually bought Katie's costume this year. But it's a fun night to spend with friends, running around after dark, meeting new neighbors, gathering some yummy candy. Friends, fun, family, food . . . you can't beat that, now can you?!