Christmas and New Years

Yesterday we drove 13 hours to Houston to celebrate Christmas with Melissa's family on her dad's side. As we drove closer to Houston the temperature reached 76 degrees which made the drive well worth while. Melissa's dad found out this summer that he has cancer so we felt it was important to spend time with that side of the family.

Santa managed to find the kids even in Texas. Santa also left a stocking for Iris at our home. I hope Iris has received the care package we sent to her. I also hope she is being loved on this the most glorious day of the year. I know that God is whispering in her ear that she is so special and her family is waiting for the day she can come home.

We returned to Kansas City on Saturday as the most of Oklahoma and Kansas had a major snow storm on Christmas. We counted 88 cars in the ditch on our way home. We were so excited to find that a neighbor shoveled our driveway for us so when we arrived after 14 1/2 hours in the car we did not have to worry about this when we got home.

It is now New Years Day and the holidays are coming to an end. We know it will be this year that we add Iris to our home. We wish we knew the date and it would be soon. Hopefully all roadblocks and delays will be removed and we can expedite the process. We have not received a response regarding our dossier and the letter from our doctor explaining the importance of getting her medical care as soon as possible.

Hopefully we will hear something soon.

Melissa and I are starting to get nervous about our finances as we are still short almost $1,000 on the adoption fees to Holt plus the travel costs. Someone from Holt indicated recently to plan on $9,000.00 for travel. Wow. Like Melissa always says, "we will figure it out".

I hope everyone's Christmas and New Year was awesome and 2010 will bring many blessings.

It Is Almost Christmas

Today we are turning our blog on so we can share our adoption with others. So far we have waited to turn it live as we want to make sure everything is set. Our adoption agency called Thursday night and told us our Dosseir would be sent to China on Friday. Hopefully this means we only have to wait for an invitation to travel.

We have been posting for a while so please read our story and join us in our adventure.

Christmas is later this week but it is hard to get into the spirit as Iris will not be with us. It seems like it can not be complete knowing one of our children is not here to enjoy the season with us. It is amasing how you can love someone so much and not have ever held them.

Hopefully Iris received the presents we sent and the video we made. Our hope is that she knows she is loved and she will soon have a family.

We received two new pictures of her this past week. She looks precious. We are very thankful we have several pictures of her.

Waiting Is The Hardest Part

It is now thirteen days before Christmas and how we wish Iris was home with us. Our dossier will be sent to China on Monday (hopefully) and the waiting continues.

This week was our final week for raising money through Hand in Hand Christian Adoption. We have been so blessed with family and friends and raised enough to cover our match plus some. I would like to let everyone know how awesome Hand in Hand Christian Adoption is. They have been so easy to work with and are very giving. I pray that God continues to bless them and the families who fund their mission.

Thanks to everyone who donated to our journey and wanting to be part of our adoption.

This week we arranged to have some Christmas presents sent to Iris. She will be getting a blanket, doll, pajamas, jeans, hair accessories, and a letter. We are also preparing a video to send to her introducing her new family to her. This will allow her to hear our voices and hopefully know that she is loved.

Today we recieved a box of books we ordered for Iris. The books are braille and also have lots of colors and textures. We will take these books with us to China so Iris will have things to do while we are on the long trip home. My wife is so much more organized and prepared than I am and I am so grateful for her!

We also purchased a book on China so we can learn more about the country, it's history, and culture.

We are so excited and can not wait to go get her!

The Door Is Not Shut

Black Friday turned out to be a GREAT day. We had a great Thanskgiving with family and friends. There were many questions about the adoption and losing our paper work in the mail. We had received many of the needed documents and sent some documents to Kansas and were going to delivery the documents to Misssouri on Monday.

On Friday afternoon we decided to go to Target to look for a new TV. As we retruned home and pulled into the driveway Melissa asked, "what's that in the mailbox?" There was a large package sticking out of the box. I immediately recognized the package and said that's it. Melissa jumped out of the car before we even pulled into the garage.

What a glorious day! It is now Sunday night and we will be sending our dossier tomorrow morning.

Our only worry now is how to pay for the adoption. We have been awarded a matching grant from Hand In Hand and have sent out about 45 letters to family and friends to try and get donations. The deadline is December 7 (one week from tomorrow). Hopefully things will pick up this last week.

Our prayers continue and we hope our daughter is being taken care of. As a family we are also trying to prepare ourselves for a daughter and sister who may be visually impaired. Each day I find myself thinking of something new that I had not thought of before.

God's Peace.

Discouraged But Not Giving Up

On November 18 we realized that I had made a huge mistake and we would be delayed in getting our little girl. Back on October 26 I sent our paper work to the Chinese Consulate. However, I sent the paper work via the US Postal Non-Service. I tracked the package going to Chicago but I did not request this for the return package I enclosed.

So last week we thought the paper work should have been back so decided to call the Chinese Consulate. They informed us they sent the package on November 4. Our hearts sank as we realised it was lost in the mail. This was four months of collecting documents and figuring out the process.

I went to the post office knowing there was nothing they could do (even though I sent the package via priority-two day service and paid extra for this). Melissa called the post office and confirmed the bad news. We also called the Chinese Consulate hoping they could help us since they had approved our paper work and also kept a copy of the information. No luck.

For several days we felt sick about this and wondered if this was God's way of "shutting the door" for us. We continued to pray about this and hope for the best.

Melissa started within a few days of re-collecting the information. We did get a little lucky and we recieved all the needed documents within a few days. As of today we are ready to send the information to the state of Kansas and Missouri.

Looking back I have no idea why I did not send the information via FedEx or UPS. I have had a knot in my stomach for 10 days now. Melissa has worked so hard on this adoption and I am truly sorry to her for this set back.

What Are We Going To Name Her

With a title like this it is obvious we have decided to adopt this little girl. We are so excited and now anxious to get her home. Our lives are now changed forever. I am working hard to finish the remodel of our basement as it needs to be done before she gets home.

Today we went to Grandma Lucille's house to hang out and eat dinner. We showed her and her guests (Betty and Martin) our latest picture we just recieved. Everyone agreed that she is beautiful. Betty and Martin both told us that they are very proud of what we are doing and this makes us feel so good. Betty and Martin are such loving people and we love getting to see them when they visit. They seem to bring a peace where ever they are.

Betty pulled Elliot into a conversation and it was awesome (I was listening without letting him know). They took turns telling each other stories and it was great to see Elliot listening so intently and then telling her something in return.

On Friday we received an email from our adoption agency regarding our request for more information on our daughters vision. The letter basically said there was no eye exam and it would not be done becasue she is too young (will not cooperate or sit still). The foster family provided some information but it as very limited. The foster family says she can only see about 60 cm (two inches) in front of her.

They also included a recent picture of her and she looks beautiful.

We are going to call the doctor tomorrow and see if she will provide us with a letter stating the importance of getting her eyes worked on as soon as poosible. The adoption agency said they would send it to China and see if we can expedite the process of getting her home. She just turned two and the 2-3 years old timeline seems to be important from what we have read. We know the odds are not good for her and we are ok with that. However, time is important with this type of condition and we are going to push as hard as we can.

We purchased a picture frame and put a photo of her in it today. Melissa also purchased her coat and plans to send it over to her for Christmas.

China has spoken-sort of

After all it is Friday the 13th. Oh well, we got an answer from China about getting an eye exam. They said.................(insert drum roll here)......... "No, she is too young to get an eye exam." However they did feel confident that the health of her eyes is good. How they know this without an eye exam is crazy. So I guess we will go into this blind (no pun intended).

We were lucky enough to get an updated picture of her. That is all I really need. Now we have to lay it at the Lords feet. He has put my heart at ease, so I am stepping out in faith that this child is meant to be part of our family. We are now a family of 5. If we could only figure out her name we would be ready.

Sweet child, you are my daughter

My sweet little girl. Every time I look at your picture I fall deeper and deeper in love with you. I definitely feel the pull of that red thread bringing us closer and closer together. The funny thing is that when we first got your pictures Joel looked at you and said, "I think she looks like me, she has my dimples." That is so like Joel to take credit for all our children.



Today I went shopping for you. I plan to send you a care package of a pink coat, dress, tights, and a stuffed hippo. You now have a Christmas stocking and your photos are framed to put on the tree. You will be here with us for Christmas in some small way.



Every night as I am putting Ansley and Elliot to bed, I think about you and wonder how your day was. I hope you are being well taken care of and loved. I wonder if you went outside and played. I wonder if someone is saying prayers with you and reading you a bedtime story. I hope you know how loved you are and always have been. You are a child of the Lord and He has loved you even before you were made. I have loved you since Oct. 25, 2009.

Ours Hearts Grow Stronger

We continue to wonder what the future holds for our family. We pray and think about our little girl from China. We wonder if she can see. Melissa and I have spent the last several days talking about what it would be like to bring a child into our family who is visually impaired. The tough part is deciding if we are making the best decision for her and us.

I spent this weekend at Alpha Weekend in Topeka and it was a great opportunity for me to clear my mind and focus on God. Our group was very spiritual and it was awesome to know the Holy Spirit was with us. I shared our situation with multiple people and received prayer from many.

I had the opportunity to meet Jim who is a retired Lutheran Pastor. Jim was part of the prayer team for the weekend. Jim and I spoke during a few hour break on Saturday afternoon. Jim adopted three kids in the 70s from other countries and it was great to hear his stories. I shared our story and he was a great comforter. He said several things that have stuck in my mind for the past 24 hours. He assured me God would not put something on our family that we could not handle.

So far Melissa and I have been asking that God would speak to us and let us know if this is the child for us. He is leading us to adopt a child who may blind? Are we not listening to him? Is he giving us direction but we are doing to much thinking in our heads?

Jim suggest that we change our approach. Maybe we should decide we are moving forward with this child and ask God to "shut the door if it is not the right thing for us or for her".

Earlier in the week Melissa received an email from a person who has adopted two blind children and has other children with good vision. The email was awesome. She told us how normal their life was! This was very encouraging.

Ansley and Elliot continue to pray for their new little sister. Hearing them pray for their sister is one of the most precious things I have witnessed in my life. Their prayers include healing for her eyes along with things like: safety, food, love, and asking that she has friends to play with until we bring her home because she will need friends to help her play until we can get her eyes fixed. They are both so ready to love and help their little sister.

I think Melissa and I are both starting to feel like we are going to adopt this little girl regardless of any medical exam. We both feel like if we prepare and expect the worst case scenario then we will not be disappointed. Melissa has schedule a meeting with a local school for the blind. We both feel this will be a good learning experience and may help us to better understand visual impairments.

Our family is very supportive and has also fallen in love with our little girl. We all continue to pray for healing. Melissa and I continue to pray for guidance and peace.

The Waiting Begins

We received an email from the adoption agency and they confirmed they recieved our commitment letter and request for additional information. They told us a response from China for the list of requests we have (mainly a thorough examination from an eye doctor) could take one week to two months.

We continue to keep positive thoughts about our possible daughter and we pray daily for healing. We also pray for China to allow her to see a doctor and the examination will go well.

This week we have encouraged our children to pray for their sister. It is awesome to hear a 4 and 7 year old pray for something so special.

We also greatly appreciate the prayers from friends and family.

Our Journey To Date

Hello, we are the Chambers and this is our story to date. My name is Joel Chambers and my wonderful wife is Melissa. We have been married for 16 years and have two beautiful biological children: Ansley (7) and Elliot (4). A few years ago Melissa started hinting (and then really hinting) to have another child. I had been content with two and very happy for the blessings of Ansley and Elliot. Things seemed perfect as they were and I had finally convinced Melissa that we were done with having kids. So we bought a dog, Clementine Fire Dog. Ansley decided on the first name and Elliot chose the second name: Fire Dog.

One of my concerns was the financial side of life. We were comfortable and needed to replace our savings account that was recently reduced as we remodeled a bathroom and paid of our new van (Dave Ramsey would be happy that we paid off the van or as Dave calls it, "stupid tax"). To add to the financial side of things we also send our daughter (and next year our son) to Whitefield Academy which is a small private classical-Christian school. So basically my thinking was how in the world would we be able to send three kids to Whitefield? And this school is very important to our family. Melissa always tells me, "we will figure out how to pay for it".

Melissa then employed a tactic that she knew would work on me: the kids started asking for a brother or sister. I still fought it. But then I noticed God softening my heart. Finally I realized I was thinking more about it more and more. Then one day in May a co-worker told me his story of how they were adopting a child from China. I went home and told Melissa we needed to adopt a child!

Melissa immediately started the process at full speed. She devoted everything to expediting the mountain of paper work and we quickly were on our way. I still try not to think about the cost as I know we will "figure it out".

Early in the process Melissa found a little boy on the Internet that was waiting on a family to find him. He had special needs but they seemed minor. We started to get excited and asked for more information on this child we started calling, "Charlie". Once we received his information we found out his condition was very serious. We both felt guilty in deciding not to pursue him. But one thing we had decided early on was that we would not take a child with needs that would take away from our other children and we needed to remember this when thinking about Charlie. It is several months later and we still think about Charlie as he remains on the waiting list.

We selected Holt International and the home study was soon in process. Joann was our social worker and she was great. Finally it was time for our Parenting Class and there were four couples in the class. One of the couples actually go to our church and we did not know them. We are excited to know we will be going through the process with them. They are also adopting from China and look forward to getting to know them more.

The home study was completed in August and we were ready for a referral. The end of October rolls around and we had nothing! Our patience was evaporating quickly. We would call Holt and it seemed to us that nothing was happening and we could get no answers. We continued to pray for patience and that God would find the right child for our family.

Throughout this process, Ansley and Elliot, would ask a lot of questions of when their brother or sister was coming. When we went for finger prints at Homeland Security we had told Elliot we had to go get finger prints for the adoption and Elliot asked if we would be bringing home the baby. This is a great example of how excited they are for their sibling.

Finally we started calling Holt and trying to get answers for how long it was going to be. Still nothing. Throughout the process Melissa had started networking on the Internet with other families who had adopted or were in the process. Many other were indicating they were getting referrals and looking at all the children on the "list" that China publishes each month.

On Wednesday, October 21, someone emailed Melissa and indicated there was a little girl, under 2 years old with cataracts and pigtails on the list. She called me and we agreed to find out more. So we called Holt and told them we found a child on the list. We think they were surprised we had access to the list as they do not provide the list. The Holt person said they would investigate and get back to us. She did not call us back that day so we called back on Thursday with a little more information about this child. We were told she had been locked that morning.

The frustration continued but we also continued to pray and ask for patience. We prepared our selves mentally that the next list would be out in November. Saturday night we traveled to a Halloween party at a relatives farm. As we were leaving some cousins, Tim and Brandy, were arriving. They had known of our adoption situation, as they are in my Alpha group at Christ Church, so they asked if we had heard anything from the October list. I told them we did not get a match and we would probably not hear anything until the November list comes out.

Sunday morning comes and we headed to Church. After church I mowed the lawn and picked up leaves before watching the pitiful Kansas City Chiefs game. Around 2:00pm the phone rings. The TV indicates who is calling and it said Holt International. Melissa answered the phone and I knew immediately it was good news.

The Holt person indicated they typically do not work on Sundays but she came in to catch up on paper work and noticed the little girl with cataracts and pigtails was back on the list. She told us we had until 2:00pm Monday to lock her in. She asked if we wanted pictures of her when she emailed the child's information. Of course we want pictures. She is beautiful and we immediately started loving her.

It is Sunday and how are we going to find a doctor to discuss the limited information we have? Now what?

I tried calling a next door neighbor I had growing up as he was the local eye doctor. I had not seen him in many years but I did not care. We need answers. He did not answer. My father recommend calling his eye doctor at home. So we did and she was very helpful. We went to the mall as they always have eye glass stores and asked if any doctors were there. We lucked out and got to speak to one. He was cautious in his comments but gave us a positive feeling and also provided us with some pediatric doctors to call.

We then went to my mothers and shared our great news with our family. My sister and her kids and their boyfriends and girlfriends were there. My brother and his son Alex were there. My ex-brother in law was there. We all shared in the excitement.

There was no sleep Sunday night. First thing Monday morning Melissa started calling more doctors and specialists. We were getting positive input and continued to feel like this was a good match. There was one more doctor we had left a message for and she had not called back.

Melissa and I had talked numerous times throughout the morning and decided we would lock her in if this last doctor confirmed what we had been hearing all morning.

She called. She is a pediatric opthamologist (spelling?) who does a lot of humanitarian work. She is very familiar with these types of situations. We greatly appreciate her honesty and feedback even though it did not support what we thought. She indicated we need more information on this child before making a decision. If not we need to be prepared for a child that may be blind.

Melissa and I feel like God has placed this little girl in our path for a reason. We have asked Holt for her to be examined and provide the information. So now we wait to even find out if she can be seen by a doctor. If so, we pray for good feedback (that she can see).

We continue to be positive and feel like she can see and we will soon be heading to China to get her. If the news comes back that she is blind I am not sure what we are going to do. We have asked everyone to pray for her and we will continue praying until we know more.