Finally, Thankfully Home

By Debbie

Hudson is finally home! We flew back from Taiwan with Hudson in tow on the 10^th of August. Our little boy waited 29 months for that day to come. He was a patient little guy, but it finally caught up with him. Hudson had begun to wonder if we were ever going to come to get him and bring him home. Adoption is a lengthy and exhausting process, but the wait was worth it for all of us. Little Guy is adjusting so well to his new world. He loves school, church, family, and friends. Our precious boy is an outgoing and affectionate little guy who always wants to give hugs and kisses. We must always be braced for him as he jumps up into our arms and wraps his arms and legs around us. Our small son likes to show care for us by bringing us our drink or a warm blanket when we are settled onto the couch. Hudson loves people well and has so many friends already.

In a few days, he will turn 9 years old, and he is so incredibly excited about celebrating his birthday with a meal of hot pot and tofu pudding here at home. Of course, he is excited about opening gifts intended just for him. His wish list is 18 items long so far. Last night, he asked if there would be balloons for his birthday.

In the late afternoon on most days, we can find him playing basketball or ping pong with his older siblings. Watching baseball and football on TV has become a favorite activity of his too. We often hear him playing the piano, ukulele, or recorder, and he wants to add the harmonica to his musical abilities. His constant singing is music to our ears. Every day, he wants to play a game with one or more of us. Hudson is excelling in school and doesn’t even mind doing his homework. He is even learning a little bit of Spanish along with his English. Little Guy is excited about reading his Bible and memorizing verses. If the verses aren’t too long, he learns them in English. Most of the time though, he uses his Mandarin Bible.

If you ask Hudson what he likes to do the most, he will tell you that he likes to eat good food. He is on the thin side, but he has gained a couple pounds since coming home. Snack time is the highlight of the afternoon for him.

We are amazed by the progress he has made since he has been home, and we are blown away by how well he fits into our family. While there are many ups and downs with blending into a new family, Hudson is really doing a great job of it. He is a very brave little boy, and we are so proud of him. Every day for him is an exciting adventure. Thank you to each of you who have been involved in our adoption by reading this blog. We appreciate that you have joined us in this exciting and challenging adventure called adoption.

Thank you for helping us bring him home.

Travel Time

By Debbie

After twenty-nine long months of waiting, it is finally time to travel to Taiwan for the second of our two required adoption trips. In March, we travelled to Taiwan for the court appearance and to sign the paperwork to finalize the adoption. Now it is time for us to return to that familiar island to finally bring Little Guy home to the USA to live with his forever family.

He is super excited and has already started packing even though we won’t be flying home with him until early August. He told us in our monthly skype call last night what he wants to do while we are together in Taiwan. He likes McDonald’s and bubble tea, so there will be plenty of that. He wants to go to the zoo and the beach. The beach in July? It’s going to be hot, but who could ever turn down the opportunity to watch an excited 8-year-old enjoy the ocean for the first time?

In the meantime, we are preparing our home for the entrance of our newest addition. As I write this, Landry and Reagan are assembling a trampoline (complete with a lime green rim pad) in our back yard. A child-sized baseball and bat, basketball, and football are here ready for him to break in. A “bubble tea” plush toy is ready for his arms to hug. We still need to find a bike for him to ride during the last weeks of summer, and we still need to install the safety guard rail on the top bunk of the bed that he will be sleeping in. Of course, we are gathering a stash of fun snacks and sweets for him to munch on while he is adjusting to his new home. Who doesn’t enjoy a bit of sugar during a time of stress? All in all, we are as ready as we can be for this little bundle of energy to come in and completely reset the way we do life as a family.

So, here we go! We have just a few short weeks before we head to the other side of the world to see our son, this time without having to leave him behind. We get to bring him home with us . . . and bring him home to stay!

Time with Little Guy

By Debbie

Once a month since this past spring, always on a Tuesday evening in Colorado (Wednesday morning in Taipei), the television screen comes to life with the energy of a seven-year-old boy. Little Guy is always excited to see us and never wants to end the Skype call. We usually talk for one and a half to two hours, and he always expresses that he is ready to come to America. When we chat with him, he likes to show off all his latest accomplishments. He performs piano and ukulele songs, displays his colorful artwork, puts together puzzles, builds Lego creations, and plays games remotely with us.

Last month, we played Connect Four with Little Guy, with him calling out whichever column he wanted us to drop his disc into. He is quite the competitor. He also likes to show us that he knows some English words. Of course, we always praise him for his musical, artistic, analytical, and language skills. We are getting to know about his personality as we interact with him on our calls.

Little Guy realizes that his biological sister and brothers live in our home, and he is excited to come to America to be with them. Of course, we as a family are looking forward to the day that we can share life with him. That is the way it should be! That is the way it will be! Soon!

Most of the paperwork necessary to complete his adoption is completed, and now we just need to raise the final funds needed to bring him home. Right now, we are in the middle of a fundraiser to do just that… raise the funds to bring our son home! Will you join us? You can click on the following link to learn more about the fundraiser and how to donate through Both Hands Foundation, or you can click the donate button below to contribute through Lifesong For Orphans. Either way, 100 percent of your donation goes toward our adoption of Little Guy. Thank you for your interest in our adoption!

Will you help us bring him home?

Thoughts on an (Adoptive) Father’s Day

By Bob

When my wife and I married some years ago, adoption of children was the furthest thing from my mind. I had figured that by this time in our lives, we would be empty nesters . . . and then it happened.  Debbie came downstairs to me one day, back in 2013, and she said, “I found some children . . . .” By April of 2015, God brought four siblings into our lives, expanding our family and nearly doubling its size. What a blessing this has been to me!  Adjustments for all of us have included overcoming language barriers, building trust, learning appropriate dependency on family, navigating new family dynamics, and integrating into a whole family.

WOW!!

Here we are, seven years later, with the oldest back in Taiwan and three still here with us. They are all growing into fine young adults! What a joy to be an adoptive dad. . . teaching, facilitating growth, fostering confidence, and engaging each of them uniquely! My kids are people of character, encouraged to make a difference in others’ lives. Each of them has made a difference in my life as well. Each have learned to engage with the world and with a new culture in their own way, learning English and balancing two cultures – no small feat!

Now we have an opportunity to bring home a younger sibling from Taiwan in 2022!  This young boy is just seven years old.  As you may already know, we are actively working to bring him into our family and give him the opportunity to have a forever family in our household!

I look forward to teaching and connecting with him in many new ways. I am excited to add another hiking, biking, camping, and fishing buddy to the clan! As my dad once taught me, I will be able to again teach another child about working on cars, working with tools, painting, playing games, and building character. Will you journey along with our family?

My perspective of adoption goes something like this: It requires willingness to assume responsibility and acceptance of an individual whose worldview is different from mine, engaging this child in such a way that he can attach, explore, and grow to be a person of character. I also look forward to sharing with him the knowledge of Christ.    

At this time, we have received an estimate that he will join our family sometime this fall. We have had the chance to meet with him via video calls and to introduce our family to him. We are actively praying and raising funds to cover all the expenses as the goal line quickly approaches.

Would you join us in bringing him home?

Home for the Holiday

By Landry

Happy belated Chinese New Year! Chinese New Year (also known as “Spring Festival”) is one of the biggest celebrations in the Asian culture, and it is also celebrated around the world. The festival is the sign for the beginning of spring, and it is also the start of a new year according to the Chinese lunar calendar. When Chinese New Year is approaching, many people will start to clean their homes. By cleaning their houses, they are hoping to get rid of bad luck from the previous year and get ready to receive good fortune in the year ahead. I remember every year when the Chinese New Year rolled around, at the orphanage, we had a big contest to see who had the cleanest area in the orphanage. The winner would receive a big prize at the end!

The New Year is also a big family reunion occasion. At Thanksgiving and Christmas in America, people will travel hours to be with their families during those seasons. Chinese New Year is the same. People will take time off from work in order to spend time with their families during this holiday. Since Chinese people takes their careers very seriously, they don’t really take time off to spend with their families that often, so this might be the only time during the year that they feel comfortable taking time off from work.

Because Chinese New Year is a big family reunion occasion, it was hard for me every year during that time. Many children at the orphanage would go home to be with their families for the holiday. I was always one of the children who stayed behind, until one day, when we moved to a new orphanage, everything changed.

When we moved into that new orphanage and Chinese New Year rolled around, my siblings and I went to a caretaker’s home and spent time with them. Year after year at their home, we ate, played, and shopped together like every other family, but deep down in my heart, I knew that it wasn’t the same as being with my birth family. One day, my siblings and I were adopted into a family who live in America.

In America, we continued to celebrate Chinese New Year. Each year, we have hot pot along with many other Chinese food dishes. This Chinese New Year, we had a two-day celebration. The first day, we had family friends over who themselves have adopted from Asia. We made a lot of Chinese dishes and decorated the house so that we could experience what it feels like in Taiwan. For the second day, we kept with the tradition of eating hot pot together. Celebrating Chinese New Year in America is not a big 15-day celebration like it is in Taiwan and other places. But the whole purpose of Chinese New Year is to be with your family and others to play, laugh, and just share life together.

I know it was hard for me during those times back in Taiwan, but now I am in America with a family who loves me. I can only imagine what my little brother is feeling like right now with no real family to spend Chinese New Year with. This Chinese New Year, I hope you can see the blessings that God has given to you and your family!

Will you help us bring “Little Guy” home?

The Long Road Home

By Reagan

When I first found out I was going to be adopted, I got excited about going to a different country. Thinking back now, one of the hardest things about being adopted is that when you live with a new family, it is hard to learn to trust that your parents love you. That’s because when you live in an orphanage, the people working there usually ether spoil you or are no-nonsense and stick to the rules. People want to know someone cares about them, but in each of these cases, you do not feel cared about. I now know that my parents love me, and they will always be there for me.

Most of the time, when getting adopted, you have to deal with some of the thing that happened to you before you got adopted. They are usually very bad things that happened to you, and it can be very hard to deal with those things and even harder to learn to trust people. When I met my new family, I found out they were Christians. I did not know very much about Christianity until they told me what it was all about. When I became a Christian, I forgave the people who hurt me in Taiwan because Christianity is a religion of forgiveness. I pray that Little Guy will come to know about Jesus and learn how to forgive like I did.

Being a Christian doesn’t fix everything. And becoming part of a family takes time. When you are older and become part of a new family and a new culture, it will change your life. In my family, my life changed when I became a Christian. When I became a Christian, I learned that Jesus also had to get used to a new place like I did, When Jesus came down to earth, He had to learn about things like I did and that helps me to know that he knows what I am going through.

I am still learning about God and His love for me. Will you help us bring Little Guy home so he can experience the love of God?

Family Bonding

By Reagan

You might think that bonding as a family or making family memories is easy to do or somewhat easy to do. But it’s not easy when you first join a new family that you have only met once before. So while my parents were visiting with us before the adoption process was completed, we did a lot of family-bonding activities; this helped my siblings and me learn more about the family and what they liked to do.

More than once, we went to different night markets in the Taipei area. The night markets in Taiwan are fun places to explore. They have a lot of unique foods and even fun games that you can play. I really enjoy night market food stands. The foods we ate were delicious and also very cheap. There are also drinks that you can buy. My favorite drink is bubble tea, and one of my favorite foods is Taiwan-style steak. We played shrimp-fishing at a stall with a shrimp tank, which is like fishing except that the line is much shorter and breaks very easily. It is hard work but extremely rewarding to catch one. Even though I was the youngest, I caught the most; I caught three!

Another time, we went to the Taipei Zoo, where we saw pandas, Taiwan black bears, and a lot of other animals. The Taiwan black bear is native only to Taiwan. While we were at the zoo, my sister-to-be, my mom-to-be, and I got lost and wandered into the part of the zoo where the birds were kept. When we finally meet Little Guy and go to the zoo, I hope we don’t get lost like before! I hope we can see more animals next time we go to the zoo in Taipei.

We also went to many different places that I have forgotten by now. When we go to Taiwan to get little Guy, I hope he will enjoy the time we spend together as a family before we come home to the U.S., because family memories are important. When little Guy comes to live with us, I hope he will build strong family memories here in the U.S. When he becomes an adult, I hope he will look back at the times our family spent together and remember them as if they happened yesterday.

Will you help us bring him home?

           

           

An Unexpected Journey (Part 2)

By Landry

One day I heard that a family was trying to adopt us. This family was from America, a place I learned in school that dreams come true if we work hard. When I heard about the opportunity, I did not take it too seriously. I thought to myself “who in the world would want to take four of us in?” I just went on with my life. Every time when the topic came up, I dismissed it very fast by answering “I don’t know” or “I don’t care” so that there would be nothing to talk about.

Many weeks passed, and I learned that we would be going to meet with this family face-to-face on a Skype call. I don’t really remember anything from that first call except that I was ready to finish Skyping so that I could go play some basketball. One Skype call after another, I was still thinking to myself that I was just wasting my time. Then I learned that this family would be coming to Taiwan to meet us. That is the day that I knew that it was real and that I needed to take it seriously. As weeks and months passed, I couldn’t wait to meet this family. This would be the first time I would meet with American people in real life. That day finally came.

As we met with the family, I was scared and shy, but over the next couple of days, we all had fun together. We went to the Taipei Zoo, to a night market, to the Taipei 101 building, and to some parks. These days were fun, but we had some important things we had to do, one of which was to go to the courthouse. In the courtroom, many things were talked about, and when it was time for me to answer the question of whether I wanted to be adopted by this family, I didn’t hesitate to say “Yes.” This one word “Yes” would turn my world upside down. The next time we would see the family, we would be ready to go halfway around the world.

It would be another six months or so before we would go to America. During that time, the whole idea of going to the United States didn’t feel real. I never told anyone that I would be going to America soon. I was just doing everyday stuff like homework and playing basketball. I knew that soon it would be time for me to leave my home country and go to a new one. It was hard for me to leave my home country, everything I knew, my friends, and those people who cared for me. But I knew deep down in my heart that this was one of the best decisions I would ever make in my life. When it was time for us to get on the plane for the 16-hour trip to America, I wondered if I would ever see my home country and people again. The whole trip was long. We stopped at the San Francisco International Airport and caught another flight to Denver, and then we drove home. I was so tired that day that my brain did not realize that I was in America. The next day I finally realized where I was, and everything was so new to me.

Four years earlier when I moved out of the first orphanage into a new one, everything was new. But this time, I was in a new country with a new language and a new way of living. It was hard to live in a family environment, since I had never known what a family was like. I struggled to understand English, family, and the culture around me. During this time, I had a question that I kept asking myself: “Why is this family wanting to adopt the four of us?” The answer was not what I had expected.

 One day, my siblings and I were watching a movie about the life of Jesus, and I didn’t understand anything about it. I had seen people who love Jesus and put Jesus first in everything they do, in Taiwan and in America. They always showed me love and care and were there when I needed it. I determined to understand more about this Jesus. As I read the Bible, I understood the love of Christ. Even though He did not do anything wrong, He chose to die for us on the cross so that we can have everlasting life with Him. The next time we watched the movie, I put my faith in Him. I knew that this was the same God who answered my prayer many years earlier during that dark, cold night back in Taiwan when I had called out for help and God had answered.

Now I had the answer to my question: because of this family’s love for God, they were willing to listen to what He had for them, which in this case was to adopt us. In the process, we all had the chance to experience the same love of God that He had shown to them. As I read and meditate on God’s words in the Bible, I have more understanding that Jesus is the only way to faith, hope, and forgiveness. It is also through Jesus that my life has been changed.

Some people might wonder if the journey my siblings and I took is worth it or not. I will absolutely say “Yes.” This journey has been hard, but it has been worth it. As I think about my life, I realize that I was a hopeless child who had no future. If I had never been adopted to America, I can only imagine what my life would have looked like. Now, I have security in my family and in God that drives me to live every single day to the fullest and gives me hope for the future. This journey of adoption has changed my life more than I could ever have imagined.

Will you help us bring Little Guy home too?

All Things New

By Debbie

Christmas…it’s the most wonderful time of the year! Or is it?

The first Christmas after our adopted children came home, we were blessed to be showered with a “Secret Santa” drop-off. Gifts for the children covered the front porch when we opened the door that cold night in December. We were overwhelmed by the generosity of those who contributed gifts that year. We watched, basking in the joy of that first Christmas together, as our newest additions opened gift after gift. As we watched, we witnessed expressionless faces awkwardly fumbling with the wrappings that had concealed toys, games, books, and clothing. We were puzzled by the children’s lack of excitement. It was some time later when we learned that holidays can trigger emotional pain in an adopted child’s heart. Holidays are a time when families connect, and with an adopted child, memories of birth parents and abandonment can resurface. With time, healing comes, and yet the reality of their earliest years endures.

When our biological children were young, my husband and I would organize “pajama raids”. We would get the children ready for bed and then get them nestled into their warm beds. After they were settled in but not yet asleep, their daddy would get the car warmed up, and then he and I would grab some pots and lids, clang them together, and announce a pajama raid. The children would excitedly climb out of their beds and jump into the car to go driving around with us to look at Christmas lights.

The first Christmas that our adopted children were home, we arranged for a pajama raid. As we banged with spoons on our improvised pot drums, the children became startled and confused. We did drive around that night and look at Christmas lights, but the experience for them did not match up to the positive memories that our older biological children had experienced in their younger years. We had to make a change; we quit the clanging and replaced it with a calm, verbal announcement after the children had dressed in their pajamas but before they settled into their beds.

Just last night, when we went on a not-so-unexpected pajama raid, Shawnee remarked that she hadn’t liked the loud sounds of the pots being banged that first Christmas six years ago. We have permanently adjusted this tradition to offer a sense of stability to our children. I miss banging on the pots, but I cherish my children’s security so much more.

What we have learned through the pain of our adopted children has brought many changes into our lives. It can be a very good thing to, out of necessity, adapt to new ways. Pain produces growth, and the new places we find ourselves in bring smiles to our hearts and faces as we realize that the new ways many times are bigger and better. We never would have known these new ways without the pain of the past. God redeems our pasts and brings healing, newness, and joy when we are willing to let go of what we had before.

As we anticipate the homecoming of Little Guy, we have more understanding of the needs that he may have. We are ready to set aside our expectations of how things should be and replace them with something new.

This Christmas, can you look at the old with new eyes? Are you willing to let go of what needs to be let go of so you can embrace a bigger and better way?

We know that we will need to release some things that we love so that Little Guy can experience peace in his heart. We don’t know what those things will be, but we know that laying them aside will bring about the best for him and for our family.

Will you help us bring him home? 

An Unexpected Journey (Part 1)

By Landry

It’s been six years since my siblings and I came to America. I have accomplished many things that I never thought I could. I went from not being able to speak any English to writing this blog post, from thinking I would not be able to accomplish much in my education to graduating from high school. This list can go on and on, but all these accomplishments would never have happened if I had never had the chance to be adopted to my American family. This is my story and the journey my siblings and I had to take in order for us to come to America; my story can be my soon-to-be-adopted little brother’s story as well.

When I was six years old, I went to a big orphanage in Taiwan. This orphanage was so big that if you didn’t know where you were, at first you could get lost really quickly. The house I was living in had at least twenty kids, and each bedroom had about four people in it. I lived there for about two years, from the ages of six to eight. It was there that I met one of my brothers and my sister. During the time I lived in the orphanage, I was busy every day. Whether I was doing schoolwork on the weekdays or going somewhere on the weekends, my life was full of doing. Over the course of these years, I always had people around me, so I never felt lonely. Until one day it finally hit me.  For two years around certain holidays in Taiwan, I always had to stay behind at the orphanage while other children left to visit with their families or relatives, and I started to feel unwanted. It was during this time of unwantedness that I was preparing to move to a new orphanage in a new city, and my siblings and I were in the process of being united with another brother.

As the big silver van arrived from the new orphanage, I said goodbye to those who I had grown close to over those two years. It was hard for me to leave those people, but I knew that this hardship could turn into something good. As I started walking to the van, I saw a little boy who was waiting for us in the van, and I knew that this was my younger brother, I started thinking about the life that was in front of us. After an hour of driving, we stopped at the apartment where I was going to live with all my siblings.

 At the time, I did not think much about what I felt, but I knew that this was something I would have to adjust to. Although we were living in the apartment under the orphanage’s care, I still had good relationships with the other kids and the caretakers. I could go talk with the adults when something bad happened, an opportunity that I didn’t have in the first orphanage. These four years were some of the happiest times in my life because I had people around me who cared for me. But these years were also the hardest time in my life because I had a lot of struggles during this time as well.

Everything was new to me: from big city to little city, from big school to little school, and from people I knew to people I didn’t know. I felt like I was an outsider who did not know anything about this new town. As the new school year started, going into third grade was a new challenge. Each teacher expected each student to study hard and get good grades. During the first month of school, I did not want anybody to bother me. I had an attitude of “I’ll do my stuff, and you do your stuff; you don’t bother me, and I won’t bother you.”

As time went on, I saw many of my classmates going around helping other students who were struggling in school. These classmates inspired me to do the same: to go around helping other students. From that day forward, I started to help my classmates and to build good relationships with my classmates and their families. Time passed quickly; I had been in this new town for two happy years. But one day, something changed. I learned that my siblings and I would be moving into the orphanage itself. Since we were living in an apartment just like many typical Taiwanese families do, I felt like I was living in a family environment. After I moved into the orphanage, I didn’t have a family environment anymore, so I kept remembering that I was an orphan. This made me feel unwanted once again.  As I started a new grade at school, I quickly made some new friends and soon became the most beloved student in my class. I played basketball with my classmates often so that I could hide my struggles by forgetting the things around me. I tried to look good on the outside, but really deep down in my heart, I was hurting.

Many months passed, and I was so tired of living the life I was living. I remember one day that I just could not handle this “faking fine” stuff any longer. I cried out for help, hoping that someone would hear me. At the time, I did not know who I was crying out to, but God heard me.

(To be continued…)

Will you help us bring Little Guy home?