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Saturday, April 9, 2011

INTRODUCING....

Rosalyn Hannah

We are thrilled to bring you the latest news:
our family is adopting again, and we are even more thrilled that we will be adding another daughter to our growing family. Kendell is beside herself with glee over having a sister, she simply can't wait to travel to China to bring her home.


Rosalyn is living in the Guizhou province, in a conservative Christian foster home. She is learning English, she is homeschooled, she has made a profession of faith already, and we can't wait to see what more God has in store for her.
It was truly His hand that brought this all about, as we had no intentions of going this route, but through His carefully orchestrated events of the past month, we are very sure that this is His will for Rose, and for us.
We began to wonder about adding an older girl to our family, and raised some questions about how well a child living in a Chinese orphanage would adapt to our pretty conservtive lifestyle. There were many definite issues raised, and they were mostly things we had already considered-the extreme cultural change, their love for technology and tv and video games, their view of American families coming from Hollywood, and we sure don't measure up to a typical American family via Hollywood.
We were getting a bit discouraged, and all of a sudden, we received an email from a mom who had just returned from China, who knew the PERFECT girl for us. In fact, they have known her for 5 years. And to say she is a perfect fit for us is an understatement.

Rose is 13, and will age-out of the adoption process by her 14th birthday early next year.
We do not want that to happen. We are doing all we can to push through the very monumental mountain of paperwork in record time, so that we can bring her home well ahead of her 14th birthday. She is 11 months older than Nicholas, and will be 14 months older than Kendell. Both children are fine with that. Nick says, "I will still be the oldest boy!" and Kendell is only concerned with having a sister-age matters not one bit to her. A forever sister, a forever friend, a forever bond that she will have with Rose, that will last into eternity!!

We know not everyone will agree with us, not everyone will see eye-to-eye with us, and not everyone will even LIKE our decision.
BUT, we ask you to keep it to yourself, ok? This is our family, this is our prayerful decision. We have done many things in the past few years that many other families have not been asked to do, and we are being obedient to our Lord and Savior. It does not have to make perfect sense to everyone, as long as we are at peace with the decision, and we KNOW this is God's will for our family.
"I am a rose of sharon, a lily of the valley" Song of Solomon 2:1
This is the verse printed on Rose's prayer card, and it is also the verse God used in the past 10 days to reconfirm in my heart that she is meant to be ours.
We ask for prayer during this time for peace in her heart, and in ours, for strength to cheerfully get all the paperwork done, for speed for the process, and for God to knit our hearts together in love and joy before we even travel to bring Rose home!!
We know most of you reading this are thrilled for us, and Rose, and we are so happy to have you along on our journey.
May God's Blessings abound
In Christ's Love
Chuck, Chris and family

19 comments:

Proud Mama and Papa said...

She's beautiful!! I can only imagine how excited Kendall is to have a sister and I am sure the boys are also thrilled to have another sibling.

Congrats to you all - what an exciting time!! :)

Heather

Angie said...

Congratulations!

What a beautiful story!
God is so Good!!

Our prayers are with you that God will be with you through all that you must go through on your journey to Rosalyn.

Blessings,
Angie

Debberoo said...

Oh wow! Many, many congratulations!!

Such exciting news and truly you seem a lovely fit for each other. The transition can be hard for an older child but so much about Rosalyn's new family will be familiar to her I'm sure this will help tremendously.

And a sister at last for Kendall :)

I'm so happy and excited for you all and thrilled that you will be visiting China which you know holds a special place in our hearts, we loved our time there so much and I am sure you will to.

Again, many, many congrats such wonderful news!

Tami and Bobby Sisemore Family said...

WOW! YOu are living my dream :) I am so feeling led to adopt a couple girls ages 10 to 12 from China! BUT we dont qualify :( What a HUGE blessing she is being cared for by Christians AND already being homeschooled! What an amazing thing! I am so thrilled for you and can't wait to follow the journey! If God allows us to someday adopt older girls from Taiwan (or a miracle from China) then I can learn from you about how it all works and also bringing them into the homeschool :)

God bless yall and Congrats :)
Tami
PRAYING 4 A MIRACLE 4 Jeremiah

Beautifully Veiled said...

I am so excited for your family and for Rose. God is so good to set this all up and confirm to you that it is truly Him! Congratulations!
Linda in GA

Amy said...

Chris,

Wow, this is amazing news!! I am thrilled for your family - she does seem like the perfect fit for you, and I'm so happy that Kendell will have a sister close to her age. Will be praying for you as you run the marathon to bring her home!

Amy

Rydley said...

Chris! How exciting! She sounds like a completely perfect fit for your family! And I'm thrilled that Kendell will have a sister as well!!! I hope for a fast process!

Annie said...

Oh Chris! I am so happy for you all!! Yes! She seems as though she will fit perfectly into your family. Almost as if she was being prepared just for you all!
You are right, not everyone will agree with your decision, but you are obedient and God has a plan for your lives to thrive! He would never set us up for failure. Congratulations!

The Family K. said...

Wonderful!! I have great respect for your decisions to go against the flow when you are convicted it's right. Here's to a quick journey!

kendell said...

can't wait!
-kendell-

Diane McMahon said...

Congratulations! I am so happy for all of you. What a precious gift of adoption for her! I hope you can get all of the paperwork done quickly. I know it is a lot!

Diane

Sharon and Michael said...

So happy for your family and for Rosalyn. She's gorgeous. how fortunate where she is in Ch*na.

Robin said...

Congratulations Chris and family. What a wonderful addition to a wonderful family.

Shana said...

WOW! This is very exciting news! Rose seems like a perfect fit to your family. BTW, love the name Rose, it is also Haley's middle name. Looking forward to more updates. I don't know how you do it:)

Jaime T. said...

Chris, I am so happy for you and your family!! Please let us know if we can help you in any way.

AnotherPreciousJewel said...

I love to see how God is working in and through your lives. She seems a perfect fit for your family. Congratulations! I will be praying that the process gets completed in time!

Anonymous said...

Sounds good to me! Hope all works out for you all. I'll be praying! Donna

Sandra & Steve said...

So excited for you! Such an exciting time, hope all goes well and you have a quick process to bring your new daughter home. She is absolutely beautiful!

K said...

I'm so happy for your family and your soon-to-be daughter! She already looks like she belongs to you. I have come to realize that God has very special blessings in store for those of us who choose to adopt on this path. There is nothing else that can account for the miracles I seen on blog after blog and have now experienced for myself in the last month as I've gotten to know my daughter.