Orphanage visit and family fun

Yesterday was a rainy day in Chongqing. The rain kind of echoed my sentiments as we went to see where Brooklyn has spent the last 2 1/2 years of her life. As we arrived we realized the immense size of the facility. There are over 500 children housed there. The facility also includes a hospital and a school.

Brooklyn showed us the crib that she slept in.

We got to meet her crib mate. They were obviously good friends.

 Brooklyn did well and returned to us on her own.

We saw the granite pandas

We also saw a familiar site, the swingset where one of her referral pictures was taken.

 It was sad to leave behind all of those beautiful children that we saw. We saw three children whose forever families will be coming to get them in the coming months. Others may never have a family. These children were excited just to get a hug, or to show off the project they were working on. I know I can't provide a forever family for all of them, but I'm thankful that Brooklyn now has a Mama and a Daddy to give her hugs and be proud of her work. I'm thankful that there is one less  orphan. I pray that God will lay it on the hearts of many others to provide loving homes for these innocent children who have no home.

Back at the hotel it ws time for a nap, and play time.

Today our guide will pick up Brooklyn's passport and completed paperwork and we will depart for Guangzhou for the next phase of our journey. This is a bittersweet day. We are glad to be moving on but sad to be leaving Brooklyn's birthplace.

Brooklyn will have a physical on Saturday morning in order to get her visa issued. We have an appointment at the consulate on Thursday and will receive the visa on Friday. We will then fly out of Hong Kong on Sunday because it was much less expensive than flying from Guangzhou.

 It is now 3:30 AM and Brooklyn has been awake for an hour and a half. She is trying to sort things out. She is confused and afraid. Please pray that she will continue to bond to us as she grieves the loss of the only home she has ever known and will have the peace that passes all understanding that only God can give. Also pray that all goes well with her physicals and there are no holdups.

I hope to have better internet access in Guangzhou and be able to blog sometime other than the middle of the night when I can be more comprehendable. Until then good day from Chonging, China. 

Giant Pandas and more

It is now Thursday morning here in Chongqing. We will soon be preparing for what will likely be an emotional day as we travel to see Brooklyn's orphanage.

Yesterday was a busy day. First we made a visit to the zoo.

We got to see the giant pandas

 the red pandas

and the hippopotamus

Finally a post

On Sunday afternoon we arrived in our room to find this!

Monday was a day filled with waiting. Our guide came by just before lunch to review our paperwork, and then at 1:30 we left to go to the office to meet Brooklyn!

When we arrived there was a crowd of people getting on the elevator. Our guide said, "I think that's one of the girls. is that your daughter?" We did not see her at first as she was behind others, but when he told us that it was we were finally able to get a view! Unfortunately we didn't have the camera ready to record the moment. JieJie (that's the Chinese word for big sister) almost smothered her she was so excited!
We spent the next few minutes getting some questions answered about her routine and letting her warm up to us.

 One final picture and then we were back in the car to the hotel.

 Look at the laugh that Miriam got.

And some precious moments of Miriam holding Brooklyn's hand and kissing her.

Tuesday was back to the office to seal the paperwork with our thumbprints and get theoofficial adoption certificate! She is now officially Brooklyn Miaoke Grace Rich!

We did learn how she got her Chinese name. She was named after the little girl who sang at the Olympics!


today we will go to the zoo and a tea ceremony. Please pray that Brooklyn will learn to trust me as she has Mama.


I hope to be able to post more pictures soon. it looks like the internet works best early in the morning (afternoon in America).

 For now goodbye from Chongqing, China!

Today is the day

I apologize for not having more updates. Our internet service has not been as good as we had hoped. It is Monday morning in Chongqing, China. We leave the hotel at 1:30 this afternoon (11:30 PM CST) to meet Brooklyn. I hope to be able to post pictures tonight that you can see in the morning. Please pray that the transition goes well.

Finally a Message from Mom…

What Happened in 2013???

Now that is a big question to answer!!!  Where to begin and where to end!!!  2013 began with God talking to John and I separately telling us that He was opening the door for us to begin our adoption process.  We were both a little caught off guard but were ready to get on the road since it had been over a year since He had first confirmed to us that His plan was for us to grow our family through adoption.

Early on we began getting questions from people and hearing them asked to our families… “Why adopt from China???  Why not get a baby from America?”  It is easy for us to answer… CAUSE GOD TOLD US TO!  I did not grow up singing “Jesus loves the little children.. only the children in America”  I grew up singing, “Jesus loves the little children… ALL THE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD!  Red, Brown, Yellow, Black and White THEY ARE PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT!  Jesus loves the little children of the world.”  If God had called to domestically adopt we would have but He didn’t.  He called us to International Adoption specifically China.

So… the adoption race began.  Quickly we got physicals, gathered birth certificates, marriage certificates and the other documents required and filed our LOI (Letter of Intent) by mid-February.  We were elated to receive word on March 1^st that we had PA (Pre-Approval) that we could proceed with an adoption from China.  In the next week we began our HS (Homestudy Process) that would require about 6 meetings and countless other paperwork searches.  This is where we encountered our first valley experience.  Due to delays by our social worker we were held up for 6 WEEKS!  In all honesty… it felt like 6 YEARS to us and probably longer to our precious angel waiting in China!  It was difficult for us to think of her spending her 2^nd birthday without a family but were thrilled to get to share in it by sending a cake, presents and care package to her orphanage.  We were rewarded with a few pictures of her with HAIR!!!  It didn’t take away the loss we felt but it was sure good to see her and know she was doing well.

The following months were filled with tons of applications and paperwork, fingerprinting, mailing papers here and taking papers there.  Notaries, fees, and WAITS!  Finally we were logged in on 8/26 and began the long 65 day wait for LOA (Letter of Acceptance) which appeared here in the US without us even knowing it was on its way.  A GOD THING!  We gladly signed that paperwork saying we accepted her and began the final leg of adoption paperwork and more waiting.  We were given two Christmas miracles by receiving word one week early that our (TA) Travel Approval was on it’s way only to discover our agency was closed for Christmas- but our 2^nd Christmas miracle came from two special Christmas Elves working to secure our TA’s and request our (CA) Consulate Appointments on their days off.  We were thrilled to hear the news that we would be getting our little Brooklyn on Jan.13^th!!!  Wow… what a year!

We want to thank Kelly Berry for taking Brooklyn a care package on her trip to CQ, to the Head of Lifeline for the pictures of Brooklyn he sent from a June visit to her orphanage.  To Amy Abell for the lovely pictures and video of our little angel from her visit to Brooklyn’s orphanage and such wonderful news to hear that their son Tucker and Brooklyn were best buds!  We can’t wait to see them someday and get the two together again.  Then we were blessed by pictures in October by a team from Lifeline.  So we have been able to see her grow through 2013… but it hurt terribly to see her growing without us.  God never ceases to amaze me through this journey.  One day I was so blessed to receive a Facebook message from a very special lady who had been praying for our little Brooklyn to find a family and she was so thrilled to find us.  One day I hope to meet Erin Schmidt and hug her neck for praying for our little one!  A big shoutout to Karla Thrasher and Logan Gibbons our Christmas Elves and helping make our Christmas Miracles happen! God has been so good to us!

In all the training, books I have studied, and stories I have heard it is just mind numbing to think of my precious girl just sitting in her orphanage waiting for something… but not knowing what it is she is missing or waiting for.  I think of how little she has and yet she doesn’t complain.  I think of all the loss in her young life and it breaks my heart.  I was privileged one night to have a talk with one of my nephews during 2013 and it was an eye opening experience for us both.    We realized how lucky we had been. When you start to put it down on paper it unfolds like this:  I had been blessed with two parents that had held me and I could feel their love for me.  I was smiled at, played with and cheered on when I made those monumental steps such as crawling, standing and walking.  I had parents who when I woke from a bad dream and cried out for them would come and quiet my fears.  When I fell and got hurt, they would kiss away the pain and put a bandaid on it and tell me everything would be fine.  When I was sick they took me to the doctor and got me medicine to make me well.  They didn’t mind hours of rocking, rubbing my back or holding a cold cloth to my head.  They were my parents… my caregivers and they would do all I needed to grow and develop normally. I had a warm and soft bed to sleep in and a house with heat to keep me warm.  When I was fed I would stop to catch my breath but I would still get more food.  However, that has not been the life of our little Brooklyn.  We don’t know what those first few months of her life were like.  All we can do is speculate….  We know that when she was a few months old she was taken by someone who loved her and placed where she would be found.  Probably to get the surgery she needed because they could not afford it.  Either way… she was alone.  Her life changed in a moment…and not a moment of her choosing.  There was loss there.  She was then taken to the Social Welfare Institute where she has lived since then.  She was not held lovingly for long periods of time.  She probably spent countless hours in her bed and on her back starring at the ceiling.  More than likely she didn’t even get held for feeding time.  They tell us she probably stopped crying 30-60 days after entering the orphanage because she knew her needs would not be met.  So when she was sick and needed someone to hold her there was no one.  When she awoke from a bad dream and cried out no one came.  When she got hurt no one kissed it, put a bandaid on it or told her it would be ok.  There was no mama or baba to do that.  That is LOSS!  She doesn’t have a soft bed to sleep in, most orphanages don’t even have heat in them.  If she stops to catch her breath eating they pass her over and feed someone else.  This is a tough life for a child.  So she sits waiting for something she can’t articulate because she’s not ever had it.  It is the UNKNOWN and it will soon collide with the KNOWN. (Brooklyn's UNKNOWN is her looking for something...but not knowing what it is.. not knowing what a family is  VS.  Rich Family KNOWN-  We KNOW we love her unconditionally and we KNOW we want her to be a part of our forever family!)

On January 13^th we will meet our Brooklyn for the first time.  Please pray for all of us as we go through this wonderful yet stressful and life changing time.  Please pray for attachment, bonding, health, and safety.  We will be coming home on January 26, 2014.  364 days after God told us she was our daughter.  It has been a long and busy journey… but it is amazing to see all that God has shown us. 

84 pieces left

We appreciate all that have helped us with fundraisers, donations, prayers and just love.  We couldn’t have gotten through this year without you.  We have one last favor to ask.  We had hoped to have Brooklyn’s puzzle done by this point, but as you can see by the picture at the right, we find ourselves still not completed.  Could you help us get her puzzle finished before she gets home?  We just have 84 pieces left that need sponsors. Can your name go on the back of some of the pieces shown below. All this money goes to pay adoption expenses.  It is going to cost us about $35,000 to complete the adoption.   We ask that you give a donation of $10.00 per piece.  We will write your name on the back of each piece and then frame it in a double sided frame for her to see all that helped bring her home to a forever family.  Can you help us finish this last mile?  Can you help us make a difference in this little girls’ life?  You can either do it through the Paypal button here on the site or mail it snail mail to us at:

Brooklyn’s Adoption Fund

John and Deb Rich

780 Sweetwater Circle

Old Hickory, TN  37138

Are you one or more of these 84 pieces?

When I look back at 2013 there have been many hills and valleys.  There have been many tests that I have passed and many I have failed. There have been dark days and many days filled with an abundance of sunshine.  God never promised me rainbows but He has promised to be with me and never leave me…. And He hasn’t!  I have been so blessed by this journey.  I am honored to have been chosen to GO… to Adopt… to Make One Less Orphan!  Could God be calling you in 2014 to go and adopt?  It doesn’t have to be China… it could be in America, Ethiopia, or anywhere.  The real questions are… Have you asked and are you willing?  I pray that you will search in yourself and follow God’s leading.  There are millions of children just like our Brooklyn who just need someone to love them!  Could you be the answer to their prayers? 

Blessings to you and yours in 2014!!!  Happy New Year!!!

  Deborah Lowrie Rich

News, Pictures, and Puzzles

It's been a while since my last update on the blog, and there's quite a bit of news. First, we got our final approval from China to adopt Brooklyn on October 30. On November 19 we received approval from USCIS. Our information is now being forwarded to the National Visa Center, who will then forward it to the U.S. Consulate in China. The Consulate will take two weeks to assure that all of the paperwork is ready. Once China has been notified that the consulate is ready they can issue a Travel Authorization (TA) and we can start planning our trip! We're hoping to meet Brooklyn on or before January 13!

Our agency sent a team to Brooklyn's orphanage last month and they sent us some pictures! It looks like she was having a good time.

\

Can you resist this sweet face?

I can't wait to see that smile in person!

With that said we've still got puzzle pieces that we need to get sponsored. We're making progress, but we need your help to get it finished. Can you sponsor a puzzle piece for each member of your family?  Perhaps you would like to sponsor a piece in honor of a loved one. For each piece we'll write your name, or the name of your choice, on the back of the piece. Once completed we'll put the puzzle in a double sided frame so that Brooklyn will forever be able to see the names of the many people who cared enough to help bring her home.  Would it be possible to finish the puzzle by Thanksgiving so that we can get it hung in her room waiting for her? We can do it!

A Message from China!

Early this morning Deb's telephone rang. We didn't know what it was but got very excited when we realized that the call was from a family who was in China visiting Brooklyn's orphanage. We missed the call, but not the pictures that she sent. Doesn't this smile say it all?

She's taking her friend Tucker for a ride.

And taking herself for a ride.

Here she is with Tucker's Mom, Amy Abell. Thanks Amy for these precious photos!

After we got these pictures Miriam heard Deb in the kitchen this morning at 6:15 (which she doesn't do often) fixing my lunch for work. She said, "Hey M O M!! What are you doing up so early?" Deb told her she got a call from China a little after 5 a.m.! She sat up and said... "We got our LOA?" Deb said NO! Next best thing. Amy Abell sent us pictures of Brooklyn! She sat up even more... "CAN I SEE MY SISTER???" It was sweet to watch her little face as she saw her sister again.

We look forward to the the day when we can see this smile in person. Please pray that our LOA comes soon!