Understanding God?

It has been a while since I posted anything. School is going great! I did my first "medical student" rotation today at the hospital on Saba. Totally different from my USA hospital days!!! LOL...alot more laid back...Little Ashley on the previous post, is doing well and starting to make great progress, My sister's family has now all recooperated from their FLU crisis, and sweet precious little Tian Ai, has found his forever family!!! Here is a little bit about his new family:

" My 16 year old daughter just told me that 6 months ago she dreamt we adopted a 5 year old with spina bifida and we then had 10 people in our family. Just two weeks ago we happened to request Tian's information and things have rapidly and easily fallen into place. The timing was just right as I understand his file is to be returned at the end of this next week to China, if a family had not come forward for him. There is no telling when or if his information would be sent out to another agency for advocacy.

We adopted a little 7 year old boy from China last year with spina bifida. We have three children from China (and 4 older biological children). These three children all have special needs of some sort and my husband and I feel very capable of handling Tian's medical needs. He seems like a very happy and charming little boy. I think he will be a fabulous fit into our family.

I would be happy to share our progress through this journey with you, if you
wish for me to stay in touch. Thanks for your prayers for Tian - that has made all the difference!

As some of you may or may not know, Ray and I had tried to adopt Tian. Our original plan was to start the adoption process in January 2009, but came across Tian information this January. After reviewing his file, we decided to start the adoption process. During the process, we asked our family and friends to pray over our decision. As time move forward, we realized that we had alot of things going on during the time Tian would be ready to come live with us in the United States and it would not be in his best interest to have so many transitions. Of course, we were upset and devasted. At times, we did not understand why? This was one moment in my life that God allowed me to see why. This is His answer:

Our hearts being attached to Tian started a prayer chain through our family and friends that would never have happened had we decided not to pursue his adoption. This prayer brought the family God had for Tian just in time. We believe this experience showed us where we needed to be in order to do this and that our original timeline of January 2009 is perfect timing. During our pursuit of Tian's adoption, we submitted his medical information to a Shriner's Hospital. This act became the link that connected us to his new family, which we turned around and connected his new family with the Singletons' (a family that has adopted Tian's friends from his orphanage). Tian might have never been adopted or his new family connected with his former orphanage friends adoptive families had we not try to pursue adopting him. It was an honor and privilage to have been a part of this union, although our hearts were broken...We are now at peace, knowing Tian has a bright future and a loving christian family. At times we just dont understand God, but then we are not suppose to understand just TRUST. This one time God allowed us a glimpse of what trusting in a heart wrenching situation can be all we need to see God's plan come together. We know our day will come soon when our home will be filled with children, we just have to keep trusing it will be in HIS timing not ours.

OCH is doing well! The new website is up and running. Ray did a fantastic job! We are currently pursing a grant to help us implement another vision of OCH. The vision is called "Our Creator's Home of Hope". This project would provide a 2 parent christian home model to orphans and foster children on a global scale. We feel that EVERY child needs to be part of a family. The model we envision would provide a normal setting as possible with six to eight children living in a comfortable home with a dedicated, Christian couple serving as "mom and dad." These parents would provide the consistent love, discipline, and direction that the children need. Ages would vary in each home so the younger children would have older sibilings and likewise, the older siblings can develop a caring and responsible attitude toward their younger siblings. Each family group would work together as a single family unit. OCH would provide homes, resources, and finanical support to the children and family. Our goal for OCH Home of Hope would be to offer children an opportunity to become a part of a family and have the family meet the children’s physical, spiritual, and emotional needs. We have two potential areas where we could initate our project. One site is in Romania and another one is China. Of course, we are in the VERY early stage of this project. We are going to need financial and material resources, PRAYER, and divine guidance to implement this. We want OCH to impact all aspects of orphan/adoption/foster care crisis and this program along with our grant and church educational support programs would impact many lives....

Ok, It's bedtime!!! I will post later on!!! Remember to Pray for OCH and our grant writing process (it's a little challenging)...Oh yeah, did i mention Tian will still be apart of our life as his new family will update us on his progress!!! See how good the Lord is.......Please pray for Tian family as they go through the adoption process.