Grant Family Adoption

The following is a detailed description of how we have seen God’s hands at work during the past two weeks preparing to come to Taiwan and getting here. It’s in the details that leave us in awe of how much God loves and cares for us and has made ALL of this possible. Jude becoming a Grant is not of our own doing, it is all God’s doing! To God be ALL the glory, honor and praise!

Examples of God’s Loving Provision Over the Past 2 Weeks (Nov 10-24)

• On Nov 10, Jimmy and I spent the day together packing all day long. During the day, Jimmy sneezed a couple of times, and had a slight tickle in his throat, but didn’t feel bad. I asked him if he thought he should go to a Minute Clinic to get tested just to be on the safe side, and he was not concerned because he wasn’t sick. So I dropped it. Our Lifeline case worker, Emily, had emailed me that morning letting me know that she would be out of the office all weekend on a family trip and gave me her contact info incase we needed her while we were traveling. I’m VERY responsive to emails, like, I typically respond within an hour every single time through the adoption process of 3 years. Emily knows this. Well, this morning, I read her email and in my mind I thought I replied, but I never actually did (I had a lot going on in my mind that day prepping for travel). Fast forward to 3:00pm and Emily calls me to make sure I received her email (she is thorough like that, and I LOVE it!). I apologized for not replying and we were talking about how the day had gone. I just happened to mention that Jimmy had a tickle in his throat. Emily strongly encouraged me to get him to a DR because of the repercussions of testing positive in a foreign country. Thankful for God to put this call in place! I called Jimmy’s primary care provider and explained the situation that we were to be on a plane at 3am the next morning and to see if there was any way he could be seen to be sure he didn’t have the flu, strep, or COVID. They had no available appointments as they were due to close in one hour. But given the situation, his Dr made an exception and stayed late just to test Jimmy. God provided for Jimmy’s Dr to see him. It was positive.

• Our original flight plan was to go from Chattanooga, to Dallas, to Japan, to Taiwan. We didn’t know it at the time, but in Japan’s airport, they Covid test every traveler in the airport. If you test positive, you are detained in the country until you test negative. If Jimmy hadn’t gone to the Dr on Thursday evening, we would have been separated from each other in Japan and he would still be there today. God protects us from an extremely dangerous and scary situation, allowing Jimmy to quarantine at home and not in a foreign country.

• I did not quarantine away from Jimmy because I had had constant exposure to him during the day on Thursday while packing. I tested daily from Nov 10-Nov 24 and every test has been negative. God has protected me the whole time and allowed us to travel with only a week’s delay instead for 2 or more if I had tested positive.

• When we booked our original flights in early November for Nov 11-27, we weren’t planning on using an outside source to purchase tickets or get travelers insurance because of the cost. But after days of not “pulling the trigger” we felt pulled to contact Adoption Airfare to help us with our travel arrangements. They were able to book our flights with “humanitarian air travel” codes for reduced prices on tickets and made the process very smooth. They also highly encouraged us to purchase travel insurance. We didn’t initially, but after sitting on it for about 1.5 weeks, we decided to go ahead and buy it “just in case”. Well fast forward to Nov 10 when Jimmy tested positive for covid and all of our travel plans were canceled, Adoption Airfare was there to help with every detail, the travel insurance is allowing us to get 100% of our money back which wouldn’t have been possible without it because we had to cancel 8 hours before we were to board the plane. God provided people in place to guide us in making wise decisions for travel that have provided a smooth process and no money lost. 

• The Airbnb we had booked had a 48hr no refund policy. It was a beautiful apartment in the Da’an district and a short 15 minute drive to the orphanage. When I reached out to our host letting her know there would be a delay in our travels, she informed us that we were her last guests and the apartment was being sold in December so it would not be available for us to stay in whenever we rescheduled our trip. She was so gracious and understanding and legally could have kept our money. But she willinging offered to give us a full refund for our stay. We were in awe of how God used her kindness to provide for us. I began looking for a new place to stay whenever we were given the green light to travel again. I found another airbnb that was only 7 minutes from the orphanage and was in the mountains. It had all the things we would need for a toddler (toddler bed, high chair, stroller, plastic dishes, toys, books, etc) none of which the original airbnb had. I hadn’t seen this airbnb when I was originally looking for one weeks before, and I think God saved it for us to show us He’s got us in His hand and He has a plan, we just have to rest in Him and He will take care of the details. This airbnb was available and we were able to book it the day before we flew out on Nov 17. 

• The orphanage told us that when Jimmy produced a negative test, then we could plan new travel arrangements. So he tested every day…Friday-positive, Saturday-positive, Sunday-positive even though he no longer had any symptoms, Monday-positive, Tuesday-positive, Wednesday-positive…we read online where you can test positive for up to 3 months after having Covid even if you are no longer contagious, we couldn’t bear the thought of this happening. So we started to think of alternatives for how to get Jude home. We made a 2 page “ideas to get Jimmy to Taiwan” to pass on to the orphanage to see if they would be willing to change their original requirement of a negative test. When Jimmy received clearance from his Dr to travel on Nov 18, we prayed and prayed that God would allow us to leave on the 18th, so that there wouldn’t be one day longer for Jude to be in an orphanage. On Nov 16, Emily had a plan to propose a potential itinerary to the Orphanage for us to travel on the 18th with a Dr clearance note. Emily stated that we MUST get a direct flight from the US to Taiwan (no layovers in other countries since Jimmy was still testing positive, but was no longer contagious). This meant we needed to have our flights chosen (but not paid for) to let them know when we could fly into Taiwan. When I called Adoption Airfare to see what our options were, they explained that there was only 1 flight available from Chattanooga to Taiwan (all layovers in the US) for Nov 18…and there were only 2 tickets left on those flights! We had a decision to make….buy the last two tickets then and hope the orphanage agreed to our proposed plan, or wait and hope the tickets were still available the next day when we would hear back from the orphanage (remember there’s a 13 hr time difference from Chatt to Taiwan, so any correspondence with the Orphanage always took a day to receive a reply). We ended up buying the tickets and hoping for good news in the morning. God kept my heart at peace, I was heartbroken, but not anxious. I spent hours in the boy’s room painting and reflecting on God’s provision during this time. The next morning (Thur Nov 17) Emily called and said the orphanage changed their original requirement for a negative test and would accept the Dr clearance for Jimmy and we could travel on the 18th! We already had our plane tickets, we were already packed, we were ready! God worked out every detail to allow us to go as soon as possible to get Jude, He is faithful.

• When we left for the airport, we had 5 bags, 3 to check and 2 to carry on. Because of the long layover in Chicago, United informed us that we would have to pick up all our checked bags in O’Hare and go through security again the next morning because it was an overnight layover. So we pivoted in the Chatt airport terminal and booked a hotel room at a hotel that is literally connected to the chicago airport through an underground tunnel! We got all our bags and headed to the hotel when we touched down in Chicago. We were able to rest and recharge after a very eventful past 48 hours and even order a Chicago deep dish pizza to our room for dinner (if you know us, you know Chicago is one of our favorite cities, Go Cubbies!) The next morning we got up early to cross the street to go to the new terminal and go through security again. I hadn’t planned on being outside in Chicago, so I was wearing my only shoes I packed, my chaco sandals, and a light sweater crossing the street in 10 degree weather with snow and ice all around! I looked like a fish out of water! But we made it into the airport, and were able to get through security and checking our bags in under an hour. And all of our flights left on time and arrived early to San Fran! And from San Fran, we arrived early in Taiwan by an hour! It was amazing. The flights were LONG, cramped, and not an empty seat to be found. I was able to share our adoption story with a kind elderly Taiwanees lady who I sat by on the flight. She was so kind and eager to hear about Jude and I was eager to tell her of how we are adopting because God first adopted us into His family. After we landed in Taiwan, we found that one of our bags didn’t make it. It was the only bag that only had toys and Jude’s stroller in it, nothing we needed to have for another week. All of our other bags had our essentials in them, so if a bag was going to be delayed, this was the bag we would have chosen! Thankfully the United personnel spoke English and were able to help us file a missing baggage claim in under 20 minutes. We were able to hop on a taxi which took us directly to our AirBNB. Even in the mundane details of luggage and deep dish pizzas, God was working and blessing us!

• Our AirBNB upon arrival was breathtaking! The walls are floor to ceiling windows and in the dark of night all the lights were on making it a shining oasis after a very long 28 hours of no sleep. Our host’s daughter, Holly, met us at the door and explained that her 4 yr old daughter had left toys in the house to share with Jude and was excited to meet a new friend. Holly had lived in California for years and recently moved back to Taiwan in 2019. She spoke English so well and understood our needs. She had stocked the fridge with food and drinks which we were so thankful for because we hadn’t eaten in 12 hours. We were able to get settled into the house and go to sleep. God worked all the delays out for good and provided an even better place for Jude to come into our family. God is such a good good Father!

It has been a while since we have updated our adoption blog, and to be as transparent as possible, the long delay was because it is very hard to process where we are and put it into words, it hurts to think about it too deeply. BUT, pain is a part of this story, and it is worth sharing. 

In the summer of 2022, we were told that we were in the home stretch of our journey to bringing Jude home, that we should expect to bring him home in July or August of 2022! Well, it is currently Sept 2022, and we were told last week that we are in the exact same step in the process that we were at the beginning of summer. We had our Civil Court Appointment scheduled for July 5, and we were hoping to hear a ruling on that in July. Fast Forward to September, and we are still waiting on the ruling from that court hearing. 

I know that doesn’t seem like much. But when I think about how long we have waited, starting this process in Dec 2019, that is 33 months we have been waiting. We were told (pre-COVID) that we should expect to have our son home in 12-18 months. We are at month 33. And knowing that we have more months to wait, is just plain hard. It is encouraging too, knowing that we could only be 1-2 months away from having Jude home. But it is scary to hope. Each time we have had a step forward, it has felt like we go 3 steps backwards. It is testing our faith and perseverance in this waiting game.

We know that God has called us to adopt. We know that Jude is an intricate part of our family whom God chose, and we long for the day he is with us. We know the timing is all in God’s perfect hands and He has a plan that is perfect for Jude and us. When our plans don’t line up with God’s plans, we’ve had the almost constant conversation of “not my will, but your will be done” in our “timeline.” 

So, we will continue to wait while earnestly making our petitions to God asking Him to please allow us to bring Jude home as quickly as possible. That our paperwork will miraculously be pushed through in unheard of speed, and we will get to shout from the rooftops of God’s goodness in providing. But if not, if we are destined to wait, if Jude is destined to wait, please pray that we will still shout from the rooftops that God is good all the time and that he will be our source of strength as we cling to Him for our hope and peace as we wait on His perfect timing. 

He has already provided amazingly through every step of this process and we know this waiting is a provision as well, it is just a hard thing to wake everyday and our son be on the other side of the world when we so desperately want him to be in our arms. 

Thank you for continuing to pray. Please join us in asking God for his perfect timing in bringing Jude home and for giving us peace in however long that timing may be. My hope is that we will get to go in September or October 2022. But not my will, His will be done.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Phil. 4:6-7

It has been 22 months since we entered into the adoption process. 

It has been 16 months since we were matched with Joseph. 

It has been 3 months since we were told that Joseph was no longer ours. And that God had other plans for our family and our son. 

We changed programs in July 2021 from China to Taiwan. We are still working with Lifeline Children’s Services, and they have been ever so helpful in walking alongside us. 

Since July 2021, we have redone our home study to make it Taiwan specific, filed our immigration paperwork with the US government, and we have been working tirelessly to try and match with a sweet little guy who we fell in love with the first time we laid eyes on his photo. He is 2 years old, and an absolute doll.

Our initial matching meeting was scheduled Oct 1, 2021 and we were told last week that the social workers in Taiwan feel that our family is a good match for him! They have submitted an adoption plan to the Taiwan Government to approve us to be an official match for him. This is scheduled to happen around mid-November. 

When we heard that the social workers had chosen our family for him, we felt relief, joy, excitement, and just overwhelmed with gratitude to God for hearing our prayers. But it didn’t take long for other emotions to come to the surface. Fear, worry, anxiety, pain, grief. All of the emotions from 3 months ago came rushing back knowing that we are walking into a situation that could possibly have the same ending as it did for Joseph. Is this likely? No. But the fear is there because the pain is still very real. 

We are trusting God and His soverignty in matching our family with the child He has chosen. We are praying that it is this little guy! But we are learning to lay our worries down at Jesus’ feet and when we pick them back up, we have to lay them down again. It is a daily battle, and one that we can grow weary of fighting. But God is good, He is faithful, and He will guide us through all of the ups and downs. 

As we continue to wait and hope in the news that we will hear in November, please join us in praying for this little guy, for our children, for our hearts, and that as this process continues to unfold, that we will trust God and not keep looking back at what happened in the past and the hurt, but will look expectantly to the future and what God has in store for our family. 

Adoption is in and of itself a painful thing. Something is lost in order for something to be gained. Children who are without their birth family have lost so much and the emotions that come with that loss are so hard to even begin to process. We knew coming into this process that it was going to have many highs and many lows. When you think of our adoption into God’s family, it cost Him the most, His one and only son. Something precious was lost in order that something beautiful could be gained. 

We have expereinced loss this week. We received a call from our adoption agency that our son, Joseph, who we were matched with in June 2020 had been adopted by another family in his country. I have cried more in the past week than I think I have cried in my entire life. In my heart, he was our son, we chose him, we named him, we love him. We are grieving as we have been processing this news and clinging to Christ and his promises. 

It is like God has been preparing my heart for this news for months. After working so hard and waiting so much the past 18 months, it seemed like we were up against insurmountable odds. In studying the Psalms, I was challenged to voice one of my greatest fears and to decide if it were to actually happen, would I still be able to praise the Lord? Well, my fear was “if Joseph never gets to come home, I will still praise the Lord.” 

Knowing that Joseph isn’t in OUR home hurts deeply. But friends, it is so reassuring that he is, right now as I type this, already with his forever family. He has been chosen again, he doesn’t have to wait anymore. He is being loved right now by his new Mom and Dad. He is attaching to them and knowing this, helps ease our hurt. 

God truly is good and even in this hurt, He is showing us mercy and grace. He has given us space and time to process. He is healing our hearts every day. He has closed a door and already opening another one. With this news, we have decided to continue to pursue international adoption, but no longer from China. We are actively in the process of switching programs to adopt a little boy from Taiwan. Their adoption process is very different from China’s and they have continued to have adoptions happen even during COVID. So the seemingly never ending “wait” for things to open up just did for us as we have been able to switch programs. 

In the midst of learning of Joseph’s new family, we also reached our financial goal for adopting. Knowing money wouldn’t be an issue, even with some fees having to be paid again because of changing programs, we have enough to do it because God has provided a way. 

We know that God has made our family the perfect family for a special little boy in Taiwan. As we wait and heal, we do so with great hope. All of these changes have been an emotional rollercoaster for us, but none of it was a surprise to God. He has had every single little detail worked out since the beginning of time. We are hopeful and eager to see God’s hands continue to work to unite our family. 

Psalm 27:13-14 says “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” 

We will continue to wait and hold on with hope to His promises. Please join us in continuing to pray for Joseph and his new family. That he will attach to them quickly and that he will come to a saving faith in Christ in his home country. Please pray for our family as we heal and take next steps in our journey to bring our son and our children’s brother home. 

To be wanted, cherished, loved, chosen…it’s something we all want. We all have this deep desire. We have the fulfillment of this need in Christ. He loves us, wants us, cherishes us, and chose us to be His children. And we have the amazing opportunity to show this same commitment and love to our son, Joseph. 

Will you help us bring him home? Lifesong has given us a matching grant of $5000! When you give through this site, your gift is doubled. 

We are adding everyone’s name to our family tree to show Joseph who helped bring him home. We would love for you to join us in our journey through praying and financially supporting us as we are committing to love, cherish, and choosing Joseph to be our son!