Tessa Joy's Gotcha Day!!!

It's hard to type out words that describe this day.

Wow. 

Even meeting up with all the other families in our group in the hotel lobby...

The Babas were anxious, pacing, checking their backpacks I'm sure for the 5th time.

Camera, check

Paperwork, check,

Gifts, check,

Snacks, check, 

Tissues!!!! Yep! Check!

The Mamas were emotional, clearly holding back tears...today is THE DAY! 

For one of our families it was their FIRST baby!!! I loved seeing how excited they were! 

Sitting on our bus, the seats were full. 

Soon there will be full LAPS! Full HEARTS!

Our ride there was harder than I thought.

Tears flooded my eyes.

I couldn't keep them back.

Nate said "oh babe, you're crying."

Yep.   Maybe if I got it all out now, I wouldn't scare Tessa Joy with my wailing! 

It was about 20 minutes of heavy emotions. Our guide talked to us all the way there, very sweet words about this day. 

Honestly, all I heard was Charlie Brown's teacher.  

We all knew that we would take pics for each other, we had cameras hung around our necks and hanging out our pockets! 

We walked up some outdoor steps up to a large government building, into a small room.

I say small because between all 12 of our families, the officials, guides, orphanage directors, and several other adopting families from other agencies, well we quickly filled every bit of that room. 

There was a very small, contained play area for the children too.

We all were wondering if any of our children might have arrived already. 

As we walked in, I heard my friend Julie say "it's him! He is here!"

We all went into action! 

My heart was fluttering.

My hand was shaking, trying to get pictures for them. 

He was scared.

They did amazing with him!

All the other families stood back and let some of our emotions spill out...it would be our turn SOON!

We were taking notes! 

I was praying for precious, broken-hearted Silas. 

I was praying for Julie, for Jonathan.  God gave them just what he needed. 

Patience. Love. 

A handful of us mamas waited right by the double glass doors to the outside. 

Cars should have NOT driven by that day if they didn't have our babies inside!!!

Too many false alarms! 

Days might have gone by... Or minutes.  

Other precious babies were rushed in.

Crying and the sounds of camera shutters going off like celebrities were walking the red carpet. 

This was a million times better than any celebrity sighting. 

THIS was something EVERYONE should witness first hand!

There is NOTHING like this!!!

One less orphan after another!!!!!

Close your eyes and see it! 

The redemptions taking place!

Because each one HAS VALUE! 

Today marks the first day of their new life of HOPE! 

I was soooo thankful for the time to stand back and soak this all in! 

True Beauty. 

But then there was this van....

Nate was by the door....

"It's her!!! She's in there! I see her!"

I rushed over and saw her precious nanny carrying our Tessa Joy.

Our daughter. 

She came from an orphanage where 3 other little ones were too.

The door was swarmed with love.

I couldn't get to her fast enough!

Then she was in my arms..

And then she saw her Baba!!!!

Her precious nanny gave her to me...

She loves Tessa Joy so much

You can see her broken heart as she knows she has to let her sweet baby girl go.
She cared for Tessa when she was a baby with a broken heart in the hospital.
She rocked, fed, changed, sang to her tirelessly while she was in her loving foster care center.
We shed tears together as she said her goodbyes.

 Tessa's attention was diverted by the play area....

But the laughter still couldn't hide the tears...

She was broken...

The healing has now begun!!!

Baba helps with the giggles...

But then we had to leave.

She cried and cried, all the way to the bus,

Most of the way to the hotel,

She was covered in sweat and tears. 

My heart overflowed with pain for her .

But...

We choose JOY.

And right now we had to help her choose JOY.

 Back at our room, she opened up to us, lots of smiles.

 She claimed right into her crib, her toys were there waiting.
She grabbed her baby and did something very familiar to her...Row, row, row your boat! She knows she needs a partner for this song, her baby fit the role.

 We knew she liked baths...and she sure did need one!
She played and played.

Let the healing begin precious one!!!!

Beijing to ZZ

More about the things we experienced in Beijing

(thanks to the random internet Wifi, this is Part 2)

The wall was not for the faint at heart. 

Loved seeing all the Forever in Love locks going up. 

Ok, so let me get this straight.  I can not speak cellphone, but speaking Chinese or English is ok? Oh good!! The lost in translation signs never get old

A really good one is one we passed a couple times in town and I could never get my phone or camera out in time.  It was above a storefront. It reads "God Help the Streaking"

If you could hear the sounds, it's huffing, heavy breathing, moaning and best of all, cheers from strangers "you can do it" 

It was packed with people young and old from all over the world. 

So when 4 people from Ohio are at a famous location, one MUST do O-H-I-O. 

Ok...check that off my list.  Going back down might have been just a difficult! 

We left the Great Wall and stopped for lunch. It was at a cloisonné factory. What amazing work!!

Each later of painted on enamel on to the brass bots, vases, plates. 

You have paint over it,them fire it at least 6-7 times. 

Still a cute little vase was 5% off and still over $100! Yikes!

We take over where ever we go! Huge group! We ate lunch there, soooo yummy!!

This guy was nuts! This is all part of the local acrobats team, really with thus extra trip. 

She's balancing umbrellas on her feet!

This guy would roll and still have the girls balanced.  Really crazy!!!

All on One bicycle!!!

The cage of death!! By the end there were 8 motor motor cycles!!!!

Just plain crazy!! 

Such a beautiful performance! I'm so glad we went! 

Well on to ZZ (Tessa's birth city).

It's huge!!! The hotel is beautiful.  

Tomorrow is HER day!!!!

Can't wait to share pics of us with her!!!!😍

We Are HERE!!!!!!!

Pinch us!!!

Still can't believe we are HERE!!!!

I'm just going to dive right into the culture, cuz that's pretty much what we have to do. 

And we are loving every minute of it!

We have a very large group of families, 

Maybe 8 couples plus 4 families (they brought their children)

We very much draw attention everywhere we go!

One family has been stopped countless times for pictures with them. It's so funny! 

Yesterday we toured The Forbidden City and T.Square. 

Lots. Of. Walking. 

Pretty hot weather this day as well.

 And just when you thought THIS was the most important building...you are soon told, THIS next building is THE most important building.

Pretty sure, THIS was the most important building, but maybe not.

Split pants.  Have you seen/heard of them? Babies here are traditionally not diaper wearers. So split pants are handy when it's time to go, they are held over the ground to pee...anywhere.

Look closely, this little one is being held over mama's lap, pants pulled down.  Notice the puddle below. Don't step in puddles in Ch.

Day 2 in Beijing:

Great Wall!!!

His Perfect Provision. His Perfect Time.

Sometimes I feel like this all isn't even real.

I don't know how to explain that.

Like we will be traveling in WEEKS!

AHHHH!!

Maybe it's the extreme exhaustion.

The prep for our Adopt Art Fundraiser Sale was NUTS!!

Each day would bring a craft donation showing up in the mail,

to another texted picture from my very talented sister, Dad or Mom of their newest creation.

My mom helped out sooooo much!!

Somehow with a serious team effort this all came together!

Partnering with the Thompson family, this event was truly AMAZING!

even the kids had their own table of creations

Rainbow loom bracelets made while you wait!

My nephew Elijah has been making Para Cord Bracelets to order!

His donations have been such a blessing to my heart!

Can you read their note?  It says "Tips For Tess"

Cracking me up these two!

They sure are excited about their new sister!!

 

 Can you believe all this?

And that's not all of it!!!

Wish I could have fit all of it into one pic!

And the people who came....

wished I could have hugged each and every one of you!

You all are part of Tessa Joy's story!!!

What a blessing to us!

LOVE BIG

Our friends are going to be matched with their precious one SOON!

We are so excited to see WHO God has planned for them!

Here is our "after" pic

At this point I was running on pure adrenaline.

AND I turned 40 that day!

Sure did feel like it!! 

 

At the end of the day, we counted up the $ that came in...

we all took a guess.

we ALL WERE WRONG!

WAY WRONG!

The total amount that was given was...OVER $4,000!!!!!

Yep there were tears.

There were audible "Praise God!"

Both families blown away!!

 

We separated the $ each family was due.

 

Here's where this gets CRAZY...

 

Our family is at the point of our adoption process where we have our single largest fee so far due.

It's called an Orphanage "fee" (gift)

Even though Tessa Joy is not at her orphanage (she's in a foster home)

this gift will go towards other children and their needs as they wait for their forever family.

This fee is due NOW.

Not next month.

NOW.

It is $5,700!!! (gulp)

I can't write a check for that (just being transparent here)

 

Now, let me share with you that a couple weeks ago, Nate shocked me with some news.

It's been many years since we have received a Fed. Tax Refund.

BUT, this past year I wasn't working for half of it!

And that bumped us down into a lower bracket...

which lead to this....

So going into the Art Fundraiser Sale

I was already blown away by this check coming to us.

Thank you Lord!!

 

Was I still worried about the $ that was due NOW?

uh...yup.

Was Nate worried?

NOPE.

He's got this thing with understanding and putting in to practice "be anxious for nothing, but in prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" ~ Philippians 4:6

He is such an example to me what this looks like lived out.

He just doesn't worry.

 

Soooo...today...

I collected the cash and checks from the fundraiser sale.

I headed to the bank.

I have to tell you how much I love my bank, love the ladies that work there.

one of the managers is so kind and she knows our story.

So she had me sit at her desk while I filled out my deposit slip.

She handed me her calculator and I asked her to pull up my account.

We also accepted credit card payments at our sale via the Square.

She showed me that deposit that came in from the Square.

Then we added the cash & checks.

Here are those two deposits.

I added one more thing in (remember that tax refund?)

Then with the tears starting to flow...

I told her that I was sorry for crying at her desk

She's so sweet...I think I saw tears in her eyes...she handed me the tissue box...told me it's ok to cry.

Because I told her we needed $5,700 NOW for our orphanage fee.

Then I turned her calculator around so she could see the total...

$5,895.30

Usually there aren't tears like this at the bank.

Are you seeing this???

That's right.

HE DID THIS!!!!!!!!

His PERFECT PROVISION!

His PERFECT TIMING!!!

Every. Single. Time.

WHY?

Because HE LOVES THE ORPHAN!

 

~Amber

http://adopttogether.org/therohrers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



My. Head. Is. Spinning.

This evening I opened up an email from our agency...

it was the first email from our "Travel Specialist"

what???? TRAVEL???

yep...kinda freaking out here people!

We don't know our exact dates yet,

but we will travel in 9-13 weeks.

MY. HEAD. IS. SPINNING.

the things that I "think" need to happen between now and then...

Only the Lord can help me get through this time.

And then I see HER FACE...

and it keeps getting more and more real that she's OUR DAUGHTER

Our Tessa Joy

But the reality is we have costs ahead of us...

Here's a few to give you an idea...

Visa fee $260

In country travel, accommodations & food $4,800

Her passport, adoption registration, photo, medical exam, $1,100

Her orphanage fee $5,700

I'm not going to add that all up.

It makes my stomach hurt.

And then there's Nate...

If he EVER worries...EVER...

I've never picked up on it.

He knows that the Lord has got this.

and he tells me not to worry.

We DO want you to JOIN US IN OUR JOURNEY to bring our TESSA JOY HOME!

There are a few ways you can stay connected to our journey...

We've got TONS of T-SHIRTS!!!!

(front)

(back)

Em is modeling our "Adopt ~ James 1:27" blue V-neck shirt (with the help of Tessa Joy)

The shirts are super soft and come in S,M,LXL

~$20~

Here's one of Tessa Joy's earlier pics...goofy girl!

Em is wearing our "They Are Waiting ~ Psalms 68:6" shirt

It's a black crew neck, soft style, comes in S,M,LXL

~$20~ 

(back)

Our friend Dave designed these two shirts just for our fam. How cool is that!

We think he likes us.

We LOVE and appreciate his work on these!

We know he and his family sure do LOVE Tessa Joy and our little Baby A.

PLEASE consider purchasing one of these shirts.

Not because I don't want to make curtains out of the ones I have left.

But I would love to see HIS message SHOWN!

It's HIS WORD on your back!

But what if someone asks you... "oh wow, are YOU ADOPTING?"

oh crap.  now what?

It's ok.  You can say no to that question.

You aren't saying no to me.

Just rehearse your answer...

"see I've got these friends I kinda know. And they are bringing home their daughter from...well we kinda think she's cute, and we kinda like this family...so I bought this shirt from them"

SEE!!!! HOW EASY WAS THAT!!

(however I just might be secretly praying that YOU might be next...just so ya know)

It's a soft shirt.  Wear it to bed.  Paint in it.  up-cycle it and turn it into a pillow.

What size do ya need??

You know how to contact us....we will hook you up!!!

ok so here's another way.....

BIG 'OL EBAY SALE!!!!

the proceeds of the sale of Everything that I have listed on Ebay,

is going towards those big numbers up there

TONS of stuff listed!!!

Just take a look here 

AND.... THIS.....

Our crazy fam is joining with the Thompson family for this HUGE LOCAL EVENT

This is NOT your grandma's Arts & Crafts Sale

Mark your schedule...SATURDAY, APRIL 5th

Like our FB page here and keep connected to this event.

We have had sooooo many items already committed to being donated!

I can't wait to see this come together!

ALL TO HELP BRING OUR LITTLE ONES HOME TO THEIR FOREVER FAMILIES!!!!

SO there ya have it!

It's WHY my head is spinning!

(oh and then there's homeschool, and foster care renewal classes and paperwork, and dr.visits, and therapy, and my fam eats meals at least 3 times a day, and we like to wear clean-ish clothes, and this whole adoption thing has absurd amounts of paperwork, and sometimes I just wanna sit and listen to my kids and watch them love on Baby A)

Life is good.

It's more than good.

HE is writing HIS story.

We are humbled to be used of Him.

We are honored to see Him move and work.

And I couldn't do any of this with out Jesus.

If you are interested in making a tax deductible donation towards our adoption fund,

you can do so through AdoptTogether.

You can take a look at our page https://www.adopttogether.org/therohrers

Donations can be anonymous if you prefer.

BUT HERE'S THE REAL SCOOP.

We need your commitment to pray for our family.

The enemy HATES what we are doing.

We are on the winning side and our God fights for the orphan!

But there will be pain.  There is going to be more brokenness before the healing.

Please pray for Tessa Joy!



~ Amber

http://adopttogether.org/therohrers





He knew what He was getting into

I won't be going into much detail about last Wednesday.

But it will be a day I will never forget.

Our little foster peanut had a visit with her grandma and birth mother.

They haven't seen her since her birth.

There's not a part of my brain that understands that. 

But what I do know is that we live in a broken world.

What I also know is when we spoke up for the orphan,

We knew it would not be simple. 

When we chose to stand up for the fatherless,

There would be pain. 

But He set the example.

He saw our brokenness and how ugly we were covered in our sin,

And He still chose to love us.

He saw how we would fail Him,

And He still pursued us.

I sat knee to knee with a broken momma that day for two hours.

Every part of ME wanted to go the other way. 

But I committed to Him as I walked down that hall,

That this meeting was NOT about me.

He had to take over every part of my selfish nature and take over.

I could not have done this with out Him!

But who am I?

Am I better than her?

Am I worth more than her?

Did He do more for me than He did for her?

Her pain was real.

He knew her pain.

He is right there, waiting for her to let Him in. 

He gave His Son's life for HER!

He knew what He was getting in to. 

His pursuit of our adoption was painful. 

But He knew what He was getting in to.

1 John 4:9-10

"God showed us how much He us by sending His one and only son

into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him.

This is real love ~ not that we loved God,

but that He loved us and sent His son as a sacrifice to take away our sins."

I recently was encouraged by this song.

As a adopting and fostering momma,

I'm seeing what we are getting into,

and we are doing it because of everything He did for us!

Check out this song, read these lyrics....think of HIM and His crazy love for you!

I Knew What  I Was Getting Into ~ Misty Edwards

I knew what I was getting into when I called you

I knew what I was getting into whenI said  your name,

but I said it just the same

I knew what I was getting into and I still want you

I knew what I was getting into and I still chose you

I knew what I was getting into and I still want you

And I am not shocked by your weakness

And I am not shocked even by your sin

And I am not shocked by your brokenness

I knew what I was getting into and I still want you

I knew what I was getting into and I still like you

I knew what I was getting into and I still chose you 

Cause only I can see the end from the beginning

And only I can see where this is going

And I see in you the seeds of love

And I see in you strength when all you see is your failure 

and all you feel is ashamed

I can see deeper than that

I know you better than that

I knew what I was getting into when I called you 

I knew what I was getting into and I still like you 

I knew what I was getting into and I still chose you

You are only at the beginning

You've only just begun and I know where you are going

And all you can see in the moment is that you are hurting

And all you see in the moment is that you are aching

I knew what I was getting into when I called you

I knew what I was getting into and I still want you

Just don't give up

And don't give in

If you don't quit, you win. You win.

Everything is in my hands

It's going to be alright

And you don't have to pretend to be something or someone you are not 

Cause I know you better than that, even better than that

Listen my Beloved...

I knew what I was getting into...  

You can listen to this beautiful song here

THE Call !!!!!

Sometimes calls are expected.

Often calls are unexpected.

It can be scary when calls are intimidating...

 When they lead you to something bigger than you ever thought you could do...

that is a VERY GOOD CALL.

 

Is it all about answering the call at just the right time?

Maybe a bit.

Although, I think we miss out on something amazing if we push the call away until later,

when it's more convenient.

Sometimes we are really quite sure the call is for someone else, surely not me.

 

I know you've heard it...

"we've been called to adopt"

"we've been called to foster"

 

It's funny.

I don't know that is what we "heard".

A call.  THE call.

 

I know for me, it was a 'desire of my heart'.

To adopt.

And because my heart is sold out to Jesus my Lord,

I hung on to the verse,

Psalms 37:4 "Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart's desires."

 

I will be honest, that verse was hard to hold on to when before God gave us healthy children, He allowed for us to go through loss. That sure wasn't my desire.

 

But I clung to Him, still trusted Him, trusted His plan for our family, no matter what it looked like, no matter what His timing might be.

 

Back to that call.

For me, it was a given.  I knew that one day, in His perfect time, we would adopt.

The need was and is SO GREAT! 

We will open our hearts and home to whomever He had planned.

 

BUT...

Our home, our marriage does not have me at the head of it.

Nate had a slower journey.

But when the time was right, and when He broke his heart, He did it BIG TIME!!!

 

SO we knew we needed to foster locally.

And you can read below how He brought into our home our little peanut.

We are so in love with her!!!

 

You probably already know that over a year ago, He made it clear to Nate

that there is a little girl

on the other side of the world

WAITING.

She was waiting for her forever family to answer that call.

She was waiting for her forever family to NOT WAIT any longer.

They needed to hurry up.

 

A year ago, we didn't know that our miracle girl was still recovering from her recent

heart surgery.

But she has a unseen heart that still needs to be healed.

He asked us to be a part of that healing.

 

We knew of her over a year ago!!!! 

We prayed for her and the little one that we call her BFF, that we sponsor.

We were broken!

I have pictures from over a year ago saved on my phone!

At times it was hard to tell the two of them apart!

We prayed for their forever families.

We prayed for our daughter....whoever she was.

 

We prayed that she might know love.

We prayed that she would learn to bond.

We prayed that her medical needs would be cared for.

 

We prayed for our Tessa Joy!!!

Only HE KNEW WHO SHE WAS!

 

It was clear to us many months ago that both girls were not ready (by paper) to be adopted.

It took some time.

But I came to a place to let go.

Honestly, what we REALLY WANT, is for them to KNOW JESUS!

It's eternity that we want to spend with them!!!

 

We waited.

and

waited.

 

The call that we were now waiting for was gonna be THE CALL.

The call where they say

 "it's time! It's your time! Your daughter is ready! Do you want to see who she is?!"

 

I caught myself dreaming about it.

Sometimes I would call Nate and he would say

"Did they call?  Are you calling to tell me this is it?!"

 

Nope.

Months and months

I've done that before.

Feels a lot like the months and months and months and months

of infertility.

 

On January 8th

I wanted to make a "checking in" call to our agency

Not that it makes things go any faster.

It is what it is.

Electronically when our special needs list that we submitted AND our wanted age AND girl

comes up matched, it's the next family chronologically that will get the call.

THAT IS HOW IT WORKS.

This is REALLY IMPORTANT!!!

Read that again if you need to.

Its in a computer data base.  Electronic. ( I will go back to this in a minute)

 

That morning, the call I made to see how it was going, well it didn't go so well 

(from my perspective at that moment)

I was told 2-3 more months is very possible.

It's just the way it's going right now.

ALOT OF BOYS (could that be your son waiting?)

But it is just going to depend what files we get in, it changes everyday sometimes.

 

2-3 MORE MONTHS.

I just wanted to know who our daughter was!!!

2-3 MORE MONTHS???!!!

 

I called a couple friends who had asked if I had any update.

Both friends were so encouraging.

BOTH friends challenged me, THAT DAY, to ASK GOD FOR BIG THINGS!!!

THE DAY BEFORE a friend posted on FB...

"When you believe BIG - He answers BIG"

(well that was timely)

That same friend posted this day Proverbs 3:5&6....TRUST HIM!!

then a couple hours later.. she posted "God is AWESOMELY faithful! Stay faithful and

watch your dreams come true!"

Well that sounds a whole lot like  Psalms 37:4....Hmmmm.

 

This was all happening.

THAT DAY.

One of my sweet friends challenged me

BIG TIME

Just about an hour after I had called our agency...

that I got the stinky news or more waiting...

she said to me...

"Have you asked about AnnaRose recently? ASK!!!"

 

I heard this answer once already.

I knew that is was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

oooooooooooooooooo

UNLIKELY

that they would know anything about her.

 

So for me to contact them right back

and

ask....

well it was kinda nuts for me to do that.

 

BUT...

the peace that over took my heart

I can't really explain

At the time

I thought it was just a numb feeling

to get me ready for the "we know nothing"

 

So I sent a one line email.

I knew it was a shot in the dark.

But I had to check on that closed door.

Was it REALLY closed?

 

After I hit send, that peace was still there...this was real peace that it's so out of my hands.

Ha!!

It always has been!!!  Out of my hands, and COMPLETELY IN HIS!!!

 

That's what this CALL DOES!

It empties out your heart and lets him totally take over!!!

 

So my day went on...

Homeschool...

Laundry...

Loving on our 5.

Thinking quietly about our 6th.

 

About 4:00 ish

Just 5 hours after I talked with our agency...

I got a call from them.

Hmmm....

I'm sure it's about my crazy email.

I was ready to apologize for asking.

But her words quickly trumped mine.

"Amber, I know we JUST talked this morning...and I know I told you 2-3 more months..."

Um yea...I remember that part clearly

 

"do you have a minute to talk?"

Yep.  Again I was about to apologize...

"well I'm just going to say it, Amber you have a file that has been matched to you!"

HUH?????

"this is a little girl who will soon turn 2, and her special needs match what you have on your list, and YOU AND NATE WERE THE NEXT IN LINE!"

 

What???  Ok, at this point I didn't really know what to say!

I just spoke to her hours earlier and it was looking like

2-3 more MONTHS!!!!

We seem to have skipped months,

we seemed to have skipped weeks,

we seemed to have skipped days.

WE WENT STRAIGHT TO HOURS.

well alright then!

 

THIS WAS THE CALL!!!!

 

How funny, it's not at all like I thought it would be (the part where you see their number come up and year heart skips a beat)

 

But this was IT!!

 

Then she said...

"Amber....are you sitting down?"

I am now!!!

"you know that email you sent me this morning"

Oh yea...that crazy email

"well you are not going to believe this....and I'm still shocked... but guess who's file you have been matched with?"

 

(ok, remember that electronic part I mentioned above?  That database matching via queries, well THAT is how we were matched!!!!!)

 

"Amber this file is AnnaRose's!"

 

Words were gone.

There were only tears.

 

I know that our agency uses a computer to match up their incoming files of children ready with the families in their system.

 

But it wasn't a COMPUTER SYSTEM that matched our daughter to us that day.

IT WAS CLEARLY AND UNDENEYABLY

THE HAND OF GOD
THAT DID THE MATCHING.

 

And you know what?

HE DOES ALL THE MATCHING.

WITH EACH CHILD
EACH FAMILY.

That I know!

 

So moments later

we received THE email

it made it real

There she was

 

We are still all in awe.

It's still hard to understand this is real.

She is our daughter!!

And HE KNEW all along!!!!!

He chose us for her.

He chose her for us.

 

And all we really want...still... is for her to come to know Him.

 

Thank you for joining us in our journey to bring Tessa Joy home.

We are so honored to have join us in praying her home!

 

~Amber

http://adopttogether.org/therohrers