Busy Weekend..

I wish I had some adoption news for you but, I don't ! We are
on week 4 of our wait for our LSC approval so I am praying
that we will get that in the next few weeks:) but our agency said it
is taking 5-12 weeks. So you all can join me in prayer that it doesn't
take 12 weeks :-)

We have had a very busy weekend. The girls school had there big fundraiser
yesterday and today we had our yearly Easter Extravaganza at church.
Here are a few pics of the day! Enjoy

Morgan and her friend Taylor

RED THREAD

I wanted to share yet another little God moment with you all,

Yesterday I heard about an old Chinese proverb:

"An invisible red thread connects those destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstances. The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break." -Ancient Chinese Proverb

Since we started the adoption process I have read A LOT of blogs of those who are adopting from China.  In doing so, I have heard people mention, "the red thread" but I never knew what they were talking about until yesterday.

As it turns out we have our own little RED THREAD with Madison!  Let me share with you...

As you all know, all of the Whitten girls have "M' names and we wanted our newest daughter to have the same.  We figure that anything we could do to help our new daughter feel like a real and true part of our family the better so we immediately started thinking of some other girl names that started with the letter "M".  Well when we got her file from our adoption agency her name was listed as - Pan Min Yue.  No big deal right?   But what I found out yesterday is that in China the surname (last name) is written at the beginning of a persons name.  So that means her first name is Min, not Pan (like we thought) which means that this little girl was born with a "M'" name after all!!  

Now I realize that some who are reading this might be thinking, "So what? Not a big deal". But to me, this is just another way my God is affirming that this is indeed "our" daughter.  It is just amazing to me when I think that before the creation of the world, God had this precious little girl in mind for our family.

As I continue this adoption process, God is continually allowing me to see glimpses of his

love and mercy.  When I am having one of those days, when maybe I think He really doesn't

care about the "small stuff"  or wondering how we can afford this, God then shows up and does something immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine!  He has beyond any doubt proved Himself faithful, over and over again, so I want to encourage you to day to trust God!  With whatever it is you might be going through or considering just trust Him in that moment and take the step of faith.  God will not fail you!

Melissa 

SO BLESSED !!

Being a pastors wife is not always easy but the past 2 weeks I have been so blessed by our church.  FishHawk Fellowship is the best church, filled with people who love the Lord and who love each other too.  I just have to share what's on my heart.

The women in our church have been the hands and feet of Jesus in so many ways.  These women have brought meals to my family as I recover from surgery.  Others have come and sat and visited with me, while others still have brought me magazines and books to read.  One friend even came on Sunday & kept the girls busy downstairs so I could stay in bed.  Another friend spent the night at our house with the girls so that David could stay with me at the hospital.  Just today one Life Group gave us money to pay a cleaning lady who they scheduled to come to our home next week.   So many others have been praying for me along the way!  In fact, I've been told that their are 50+ women who are doing a "30 day pray for your pastors wife" challenge . I feel so incredibly BLESSED by our church and the people who make up FishHawk Fellowship.

I know that it is not always the case for those in the ministry to have a church who loves & supports them and I am so very thankful for this wonderful church God has allowed us to serve as the senior pastorate . Our church has always, from the very beginning loved & supported our family...I do not take that for granted.  God has given me a great group of friends who I believe truly love me for me & not just because I'm the pastors wife, that to me is priceless. I just woke up today feeling overwhelmed by God's goodness & love for me and my family.

Thank you to all those women (& men) who have truly been Jesus to me.


Melissa

JUST BECAUSE>......

I never get tired of seeing this sweet face!!

These are the only 3 pictures we have of our precious daughter, but as they send us updates
I will be putting them up on the blog.


Melissa

INTRODUCING Madison Avery Whitten...

Hello Everyone.  We told you the updates would come and my how they are coming quickly.  Just a few moments ago we received an email from our adoption agency with our Pre-Approval letter (see below).  When we accepted the file on our little girl they said it would take 2-4 weeks for that to happen...we got it in 36 hours.

The next step is the Letter Seeking Confirmation or LSC which should take around 5-12 weeks.  Once the LSC comes back we can expect to travel to China within 3-5 months.  So, now that we have the green light to post a photo we would like to introduce you to the newest member of our family...Her Chinese name is "Pan" but to keep with the "M" theme of the rest of the Whitten girls we will call her Madison Avery!  Thanks for the continued prayers!

Isn't she precious!

Melissa

WE ACCEPTED!!!

Well, after a day or two of thinking, praying and talking as a family we accepted the referral from Great Wall Adoption and we now have a precious 3 1/2 year old little girl waiting on us in China!!  The last two days have been a wee bit stressful and exciting at the same time.  I just don't think I can put into words the emotions that take place when you have been waiting for months on a call, and when that "call" finally comes, you have 72hrs

to make your decision... a decision that will change both your life and the life of this little girl FOREVER!

Yesterday we had a "family meeting" when the girls got home from school.  We wanted to hear what the girls thought after having a day to process all that is going on.  After hearing from the girls we circled up and prayed over this decision.  Not too long after that it was decided....SHE IS OURS!  If you would have asked me a year ago if we would be adopting, I would have quickly said NO.  Adoption just wasn't on my radar but obviously God had other plans.  

Now there is another round of paperwork to fill out (which we did last night).  From here we enter into another holding pattern as we wait for all of this new paperwork to clear.  We are so grateful for everyone's prayers and support and we ask for continued prayers as we enter into this next phase.  Pray for us and this little girl.  Now that we know who the newest member of our family will be it is going to hard to wait.  Even today we are wondering how she is doing?  Is she o.k.?  How is she being treated, etc.?  Please pray for her protection, health, and for God to prepare her heart for our first meeting.  We can only imagine what that day will be like (for her and for us) and we are praying now for our hearts to be connected in a deep way.  

God has been faithful to us thus far and we have no doubt He will continue to be in the future.  We are truly learning with faith is as we trust Him though this process.  Thanks for being with us on this journey and we'll post a photo of her when we have the green light to do so.

Melissa