Monday, November 30, 2009

Chayah's Story

This is one amazing story! I've been meaning to share it for some time, since Chayah has come home, actually. Finally, almost 11 months later, I'm getting around to posting it!

It all started after our Sarah Lu came home. She was 2 1/2 exactly on Gotcha day. It was December 2006. When she came home, still only being 30 months old, she had a big heart for her friends still in China. She began to tell us about two children in particular all the time, every chance she got. When we would play at the park, she would talk about "Di Di", a little boy she called her little brother. And as we would all be together, she would talk about "Duo Duo", a little girl who was two years older than her from her orphanage. These children became a part of our daily lives. We printed out their pictures and put them up around the house. We all began to talk about them as much to each other as Sarah had told us about them. These two kids, half a world away, became a part of our family.

In April of 2007, we were browsing Rainbow Kids website. We stopped as we saw a tiny picture, the agency assigned name of "Jane", and "Asia" as the only other part of her description. Still, when we clicked to enlarge the tiny picture, we knew it was her. It was Duo Duo, the very same little girl that was already on our hearts! Scrolling down the website, with the same agency, we found that Sarah's "Di Di" was also on their waiting child list, only listed as "Michael". We were overjoyed that we had found their files!

However, at this time, we had only been home with Sarah for not quite four months. With another eight months until we had been home a year, and also being in the middle of a move across state, it wasn't the right time for us to adopt again. So, we waited. We kept in contact with the agency and there were several families interested in Duo Duo. Each one, though, fell through. Little "Di Di" remained without a family as well. In July 2007, we watched as their files were returned to China, without being matched with families. We were devastated and desperately wanted to do more, but each time we would consider the possibility, it just continued to be presented to us that it was not the right time.

For the next four months we continued to have their pictures around the house and pray for them and that they would find their families. We weren't sure if another adoption was in the making for our family. But in November 2007, my Mom knew that we needed to adopt again. And so began the process of contacting agencies with waiting child lists. We thought, even if we couldn't bring home one of these kids that we have been praying for, we can bring home one more. We received the passwords of several waiting child listings and several little ones caught our eye. Each time we would ask an agency about a specific child, though, that child would have just been placed with a family; they were no longer waiting. This happened five times within the span of about a week.

The last time we contacted CCAI about a little girl on their list who was born just one day before our Sarah and in the same general area as well. Could this be it? But when they wrote back, it was the same as the ones before, she had been matched with a family. In replying to CCAI's email about this little girl, my Mom just had to ask one question. The chances were extremely low, seeing as this was when all files went to individual agencies only and not a shared list. There was nothing to make us suspect this, but still, we knew that we needed to ask. She asked if there was at all a possibility that CCAI had received any files of waiting children from the Langfang SWI in Hebei province. And then asked specifically about a certain "Dang Duo Duo", a little girl we had been praying for for some time.

After sending the email, we thought the chance that they possibly could have even heard of this small orphanage in northern China was slim. But then they wrote back to us. The message wasn't long but only said, "Call me ASAP!!!!!!!!!!" followed by her direct phone number. My mom called right away. Then the lady at CCAI told us that at the moment when she had opened our previous email, asking if there was any chance of them getting a referral of a little girl named Dang Duo Duo, she had had the same little girl's file sitting out on her desk! CCAI had had Duo Duo's file. The lady at CCAI was just getting ready to send it back to China, as she had been unable to find a family for the second time. That was it; we now knew that Duo Duo was meant to be a part of our family.

We started her adoption within days and started the process to bring her home. And finally on January 24, 2009, Chayah came home.

Chayah at home

Sarah and Chayah together

**Note: The little boy that we prayed for, "Di Di" was placed with a family and came home in March 2008. He now lives less than an hour away from us.

1 comment:

Keri said...

Chayah is such a lovely girl. I am so glad God brought her home. It is so good to see two such beautiful girls in such a wonderful, loving home!

Keri