♥ His Hands Taiwan

Love these ladies!

Love this ministry!

Love the nannies!

Love the babies!

Love the mommies!

Love the Lord for his leading!

Please click here and learn more about His Hands Taiwan! Pray for them, love them, bless them! Be a partner in what God is doing.

I am jumping a little ahead. This photo was taken at our last meal with Holly and Trena. All I can say is I didn't want it to end. We were just starting to scratch the surface of getting to know them and their beautiful families. We will never forget them. We ♥ them.

United at Last!

The end of our adoption story was a roller coaster. On Memorial Day weekend we received an email from His Hands Taiwan. They had called the clerk who had been assigned to our case to check on the status of our adoption. They did not receive good news. The clerk informed them that the home-study which had been completed on Maren's mother back on March 17 was invalid. The clerk said it would have to be "re-done". In addition to this Holly and Trena were having trouble locating Maren's mom. She thought she was finished with her responsibilities. Her phone number had changed and all of the phone numbers that they had for her were not working. In addition to that we learned that Maren was from Ping Dong county. Ping Dong has many social challenges. There is a lot of abuse there. It is difficult to rush anything through the social services office. It looked as though our adoption would not be completed for at least a few more months at that point.

God gave us a miracle! You can read that story if you click here and scroll down to June 2.

I share this background because the height of our joy came after a very dark low. Meeting Maren in June was a miracle that we will treasure forever!

We met Maren at the House of Hope. We wanted to come into her familiar surroundings, see what her environment was like, and ease into our hello. It was an amazing moment. It was just like I dreamed it would be. I imagined the moment over and over before it actually arrived. I envisioned that she would be happy and playing and I would sit down beside her with my camera in hand and soak her in. I was so happy to be there and to touch her.

Meeting Meg

One of Our Happiest Mornings On Earth

Alex and I love new places! We were excited from the beginning of this adoption that we would be traveling to Asia for the first time. When we were talking and praying about adopting and we learned about Taiwan Alex said, "Taiwan, yes, Taiwan, I like it. It seems right." It did not disappoint. It was right.

I woke up with a deep joy in my heart on June 19th. It was surreal. I did my best to soak in all the sights, smells, sounds, emotions. I am smiling just thinking about it.

The Novetel was the name of our hotel. The breakfast buffet was truly international. There were meats, cheeses, breads, croissants, Japanese noodles, English breakfast beans, Congee (an Asian rice porridge), eggs, bacon, juice, coffee. You name it. They had it.

People were very friendly and were interested in us. We were congratulated several times as we shared our reason for travel. It was delightful in every way.

After breakfast we packed up our things to catch the 8:00 a.m. shuttle to the High Speed Rail. We got to the lobby at 8:00 and asked the front desk where we should catch the shuttle. As we were talking the shuttle drove away. For a brief moment my heart sank. I thought our whole day might have just changed.

But.......

My knight in shining armor, Alex, hailed a taxi and we were on our way on schedule smiling from ear to ear.

We made it to the train station. Purchasing the tickets was easy. We were set.

By car I believe it would've taken us 6 hours to get from Taipei (in the north) to Kaohsiung City (in the South). But, the high speed train would get us there in about an hour and a half. Amazing!

The train was very clean and smooth.

We enjoyed the trek immensely. The landscape was interesting and beautiful.

We didn't really feel nervous. We were just excited!

We arrived at the Kaohsiung Train station at 10:06 a.m. Holly and Trena were waiting on us!

We loaded up our suitcases and were off to meet Meg!

The Night Before Maren

We arrived in Taiwan on Friday night June 18. We moved through customs with ease and hopped a shuttle to our hotel. What a night! What a feeling!

I had been nervous about flying to Taiwan but it was an amazing trip. After arriving in the country and being so close to our baby girl I was over the moon with excitement and very relieved that the wait really was almost over.

Alex and I watched the U.S. vs. Slovenia game in our hotel room. We were grateful for the time to unwind, enjoy some soccer, and settle in.

A Tribute to Maren's Aunties

It is clear to us that Maren received great care at the House of Hope and she was LOVED! It was very clean and small (meaning a great ratio) and most of all the babies are happy. They make good eye contact and have no trouble snuggling in to all the best places. All of these wonderful things didn't just happen. They are because of the hard work, selflessness, and love of some very special ladies.

Maren was a "high maintenance" newborn. I think she had cholic. She cried often. And, this girl has got lungs! Wow! Her aunties said they could hear her cry outside if she really got going. And, after only a week with her, I'm a believer. She is easy going most of the time but she does have a temper and she lets you know when she needs something.

Three cheers to Mary Joy, Glenda, Xiao Mei, and Jenna for giving Meg a wonderful beginning. She is adjusting well. And, we know you had a HUGE part in this. Thank you so much for sleepless nights, unconditional love, and persevering in your job. I know it must be very painful to give yourself to these babies and then let them go to the other side of the world. We will make sure Maren knows who you are as she grows! We love you and pray that God will bless you 1000x! We are praying for you. Thank you for loving and letting go. May the Lord be your strength always.

On Our Way!

Psalm 121

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—

where does my help come from?

2 My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip—

he who watches over you will not slumber;

4 indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD watches over you—

the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

6 the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—

he will watch over your life;

8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.

The Lord answered prayer! Thank you so much for praying for us and sharing this journey. We are back home now. God granted us safe travel to Taiwan and we are so thankful.

We left Holdrege, Nebraska on Wednesday night. We traveled to Omaha and stayed in a hotel near the airport so that we could leave early on Thursday morning. It was a beautiful day to travel. The flights to Denver and L.A. were smooth and seemed short knowing that a 14 hourish flight was coming.

The Lord gave us a special gift in a layover in L.A. A close friend, Rebecca, met us at the airport and took us to a local Starbucks. We enjoyed walking and talking. And, she sent us off with a blessing and a few gifts. It really was the Lord smiling on our trip and reassuring me that He was with me on the trip. He provided peace all along the way.

EVA Air carried us to Taiwan. Our 777 was comfortable and the crew was wonderful. They even gave us slippers for the journey. About hour 10 of the flight we wished we were there but really the flight went as well as it could have gone.