Today’s Memorial Box story is very similar to another Memorial Box story I previously posted about when we were able to take a trip to Florida.  In the year that Chris and I spent praying about where God was leading our family, we had several selfish things that we weren’t sure we wanted to give up in order to adopt.  We loved to travel, and also visiting family that lived distances away was a priority to us.  We thought that with adding another child to our family it would make it much less likely that we would be able to continue our regular traveling.  It took a lot for us to us humble ourselves to God’s bigger plans and allow Him to have total control.

Well, in the year that we were waiting for our travel to China to get Ami, God not only provided one vacation in March 2006, but a second one in July 2006!  Chris had to travel to Chicago for work and rather than flying up, his company paid the gas instead so that we could drive up as a family.  We were also all able to stay in the hotel room that his company provided, which included free breakfast each morning.  While Chris was busy during the day, I took the kids to several sights in Chicago.  It was a wonderful break in the middle of summer when we were waiting, waiting, waiting for word from China.  All told, we spent less than $200 for another week long vacation for a family of five.

Is our God good, or what?!  Despite our unwillingness to give up our selfish desires right away and follow His plans for our family, He showered us with not one, but TWO very cheap vacations in just a short amount of time.  He blesses us way beyond what we ever ask or imagine.  He knew the desires of our hearts and gave us gifts we had not requested.  Thank you, Father!

Tonight we placed a ticket stub in our Memorial Box from one of the museums we visited on that God given vacation.   Johanna said, “Our Memorial Box is getting full!  That’s a good thing!”  Yes it is Sweet Pea, yes it is.

Before I tell today’s Memorial Box Monday story, I want to share about what I alluded to at the tail of yesterday’s post.  Our youth minister at church had asked families to share some ideas or thoughts on their own personal family times.  We mentioned our Memorial Box tradition to him and he asked us to share at the next parent meeting, which was last night.  We were very excited to share as this has become a very special part of our family devotion times.

I shared a bit of the history behind the Memorial Box idea and then Michaela and I each shared one our favorite stories (the dove and the toilet paper).  We really hope some of our family friends will embrace this tradition as well.  It really is the fabric of our faith, where the rubber meets the road, where we see God alive and working.  So if any of you youth parents are reading this, try it out!  You can click on “Memorial Box Monday” on the right under categories and read the stories we have previously posted or just follow this link.  May you be encouraged by reading our stories and also be encouraged to begin recording and sharing your own family’s Standing Stones experiences.  You will be blessed!

Today’s story is one I previously posted last summer, but it was before we had started our Memorial Box tradition.  We were recently reminded of this story, More Than We Ask, and Johanna came up with a perfect Standing Stone to place in our Box, her ticket stub she had kept as a bookmark.  So here again is that story, one of God’s love, one that shows how much He wants to lavish good things upon us.

From June 15, 2009:

I have a neat story about a blessing that God sent our way.  A year ago in Johanna’s first grade at home we used the orchestra story of Peter and the Wolf as part of our music appreciation lessons.  She learned the names of the orchestra instruments and enjoyed listening to the CD.  Michaela and Benjamin also listened in and always enjoyed the story.

About a month ago I saw that the Missouri Symphony (here in town) was going to be performing Peter and the Wolf.  I immediately thought of Johanna and wanted to take advantage of this opportunity and take her on a date.  I went back and forth trying to decide because I had just purchased most of our curriculum for the next school year and was trying to watch the budget.  After several days I decided to try and forget about it and threw away the information on the concert.

Well this last Friday I got a phone call out of the blue.  It was from a lady at church that I had only recently met and briefly spoken with.  She said she had tried to think of someone at church that had kids (I guess we’re known for that!), that she had four tickets to Peter and the Wolf on Sunday, and wondered if we would like to have them!  Wow!  Despite our normally busy schedule, we did indeed have yesterday afternoon free and the tickets would make a perfect date for J, M, B, and myself.  (I did invite Elijah along as well, but he opted to stay home with Daddy and Ami).  I told her our little “history” with Peter and the Wolf and my dilemma and she was so pleased to share these tickets with us.  We were both blessed!

So yesterday afternoon the four of us enjoyed free ice-cream on the rooftop of the theatre (special event because of the family nature of the program), a wonderful performance of Peter and the Wolf by the orchestra and ballet that acted out the story, and other musical pieces.  We all thoroughly enjoyed the kid-friendly performance.  I know this is just a small thing, but in my eyes it’s a beautiful example of how much our God cares for us.  He wants to bless us with small surprises, especially when we’re least expecting it.  He knows the desires of our hearts and gives us more than we ask, even when we don’t ask.  Thank you Father and thank you to the thoughtful and generous couple in our church family!

The kids at the theatre last summer:

Johanna with a silly grin holding our Standing Stone:

It’s been a while since I posted a MBM story.  If you are unfamiliar with Memorial Box Monday, please check out the categories on the right and see my original MBM post.  Thanks to my bloggy friend Linny for her encouragement to finally get going on our Wolfe family Memorial Box.

In August of 2006 we had just received our referral for Ami and were so overjoyed.  Mom and Dad were in the States at that time and were actually at my Grandma’s house.  As soon as we had pictures of our new daughter I emailed them to Mom, Dad, and Grandma.  I love this picture that Dad took of Grandma “meeting” her newest granddaughter via the laptop.

Just days later as I sat in the pediatrician’s office waiting to discuss the medical paperwork of our new treasure I received a call from my mom that Grandma had passed away in the night.  Oh, how bittersweet!  Immeasurable joy (the referral of Ami) mixed with such sorrow (losing Grandma), that has happened more than once in my life.

Michaela and I had just been out to California in December to celebrate Grandma’s 100th birthday and it was such a special occasion.  It was so very neat to celebrate and honor her life in her presence.  Oh how I wanted to be with my family again to be a part of Grandma’s memorial service.  BUT we were getting ready to travel to China and were still short the $$ needed for our travel expenses.  We weren’t spending any extra money at that time.

BUT God.  I poured my heart out to Him and He answered my prayer in a big way.  As I was searching for low airfares an agent asked if I had any frequent flyer miles.  I knew I was a member of at least one program, but didn’t think I had hardly any miles at all.  After the agent checked she said I had enough miles to fly free to CA!!  Oh, what a God thing!  Only He could make that happen and once again assure us that He is in the midst of it all.  Once again He assured us that in our stepping out in faith on this adoption journey, He would provide all our needs.

I brought this beautiful doily home from Grandma’s house after that God-provided trip.  It was one of her handmade works of art and last night we placed it in our Memorial Box.  I love that it’s a Standing Stone to remind me of God’s care and provision, but I also love that it is a reminder of the solid Standing Stone that Grandma was in our family’s heritage.  She was such a Godly lady and someone I aspire to be like.

On another note, yet very much related, I thought it was more than appropriate to remember my grandmother last night as we had also received word that a wonderful Christian lady and friend had gone to be with Jesus.  She was a fellow China adoptive mom that struggled with cancer over the last year.  She leaves behind a husband and two children ages 13 and 11, both adopted from China.  They  are part of our local adoptive families group, are active Christians,  and also homeschooled up until illness made it impossible to do so.  You may remember me blogging about a service project that our Wolfe families did last Thanksgiving for this family.  We will be attending services this week and would appreciate your prayers for this dear family as they celebrate Kathy’s life and her homecoming, yet grieve such a personal loss.  We are so thankful for our friendship and bond with this family and are all the more thankful for the Hope we have of a future together.

Most of you who know us are very aware that Elijah’s adoption story is no small miracle.  It’s hard to know how to even wrap up his story in the proverbial nutshell.  If you are unfamiliar with the miracles that brought our latest treasure home and are up for some reading, I would encourage you to go back in the archives to the middle of August 2008.  That’s not when our story started, but that’s when I backtracked and started blogging about it.

In June of 2007 we began sponsoring Elijah through the Philip Hayden Foundation.  God planted a seed in our hearts early on and we knew without a shadow of a doubt that Elijah was to be our son.  What happened between that point and January 8, 2009 when we were united in person with him could be represented by one “standing stone” after another.  Our key verses throughout that time were from Isaiah 45:2-3.  “I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.  I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.”  We witnessed leveled mountains, broken down gates, and cut through bars of iron.  Our God was mighty and it was an incredible period for our family to live through.

Our Memorial Box is filled with “standing stones” that show God’s faithfulness and hand in our lives, based on Joshua 4.  Now we have a literal standing stone to place in our box.  You see, Elijah and his new cousin Zane are both from Fujian province.  Their home province is know for soapstone.  We purchased some on our trip last year, but Elijah’s aunt and uncle also purchased this special standing stone carved from soapstone for our family on their trip just last fall.  We felt it was a perfect representation for Elijah’s adoption story.  We also wrapped it in twisted “iron” to represent the broken down gates and bars of iron that were cut through that brought Elijah into our family.  We thank Him for this indescribable gift, our promised son, and for the journey that He took us through to receive that gift!

Today’s Memorial Box “G” is representative of a family that has become very dear to us.  Their Goodness, Gifts, and Generosity to our family has blessed us in many ways.  This family has always been very kind and encouraging to us, but when we were in the process of adopting Elijah they told us that they wanted to bless us with monthly financial gifts.  We were very humbled and we were also in awe again of our heavenly Father at His ways of providing for our adoption when we were obedient to His calling.  For Christmas we received a huge set of fun cookie cutters from them and we thought that this “G” from the set would be a perfect standing stone in our box to remind us of God’s faithfulness to us.  We ask that God bless this family and Give them many Great returns for their Generosity to us.  Thank you Guys, you are Grand in our eyes!!  We love you.

If you aren’t familiar with our Memorial Box, check out my original post about it here.  Or on the sidebar click on “Memorial Box” under the categories to read our MBM posts.

As most of you know our family had the opportunity to take a vacation this summer to Ohio and on up through Canada then back home.  Our main reason for the trip was to participate in the Philip Hayden Foundation reunion that Salem Church of God was hosting.  You can ready about it here, here, and here.  This loving part of the body of Christ more than covered the cost of Elijah’s heart surgery that took place in China shortly after he arrived at PHF.  I thought it would be appropriate to copy here what we shared with ther congregation last June:i

June 21, 2009 – Salem Church of God

It is a blessing and an honor for our family to be here today.  It was just over two years ago that as a family we chose to sponsor a special young boy, half a world away, that was in need of much healing.  At that time we were unaware of you and you were unaware of us.  But through His guiding hand and the obedience of each of us to His calling, we are now all together in one place.

On June 20, 2007 Elijah underwent  major yet very successful heart surgery.  Just two months after that God began to work on our hearts and plant in us the desire to be more than a sponsorship family for Elijah, but to be his permanent family.  I began to scour the Internet trying to make connections with anyone and everyone connected to the Philip Hayden Foundation.  I received an email from a lady who’s congregation had raised funds for Elijah’s heart surgery and who said that they continually prayed for Elijah and a family for him.  That lady was Heather Bench.  I distinctly remember feeling an instantaneous and overwhelming debt of gratitude towards this congregation.  You had taken care of our son in a time of his great need, when we were unable to do so.  I wondered how we would ever be able to thank you, and imagined that one day we would to travel to Ohio to thank you in person.

Now fast forward to this last January when our family traveled to a very special place in Tianjin, Shepherd’s Field, to meet our son.  In our one and half years of pursuing Elijah we saw God move many mountains to make this adoption possible.  We were continually amazed at His faithfulness in working to give Elijah a family.   Without a doubt it was part in thanks to the prayers of faithful ones like you who shared in God’s calling to care for orphans and the least of these.  On January 8 of this year our desire to have Elijah as a part of our family became a reality.  Our hearts were very full.  We continue to be blessed as we witness great transformation taking place in Elijah’s life.

It is with humble and grateful hearts that we are here to express our thanks to this congregation, to the children of VBS 2007, and to the leadership of the orphan outreach ministry team.  Your love, prayers, and practical outreach to cover the cost of Elijah’s heart surgery have transformed his life both physically and spiritually.  May you be blessed and encouraged by seeing the fruit of your efforts here today.  May you continue to do His work faithfully and earnestly to make a real difference in the lives of children in need.

Elijah stood with Chris and I as we shared with the congregation.  After Chris was done speaking, Elijah said, “Thank you for helping my heart.”  I don’t think there was a dry eye in the audience!  Thank you again Salem.  You are forever a part of our family and tonight we will place a Salem card in our Memorial Box as a standing stone to remind us of your impact on Elijah and the rest of our family.  God is good.

Today’s standing stone represents a pivotal time in the life of our family.  In July 1996 Chris and I became parents upon the birth of our Michaela Brooke.  We knew without a doubt that God’s best plan was for me to stay at home and care for her and any subsequent children.  In the months leading up to her birth we buckled down on our finances, worked to pay off debt, and made adjustments to get used to living on just Chris’ income.

I quit my job a week before the big arrival.  It’s not that we had all the kinks worked out in our finances or knew exactly how we would get by month to month, but we did know that we were following God’s best and that he would provide.  Over that first  year of being on just one income our faith grew by leaps and bounds.  You see, God provided just as we needed a bit at a time.  Each month something different would come up that got us through.  For a short period I was able to do a bit of work for my old office from home.  For a bit I did some work for Chris’ company from home.  A surprise hefty bonus came in.  A surprise tax refund came in.  And on, and on.  We knew we had made the right choice all along, but we were amazed and excited each time Jehovah Jireh showed His hand.

By the end of that first year of my staying at home with Michaela, Chris had received a big promotion at work and started earning a much higher salary.  In fact, that salary was very close to what the two of us combined had been earning just a year before when I quit my job to become a stay-at-home mom.  It would have been a whole lot easier if God has just provided that promotion and raise a year earlier, but we would not have had the faith stretching and exciting year that we did.  He knew what was best and when we followed His best we were blessed!

Tonight we will add this cute standing stone, representative of Michaela’s arrival and the story behind God’s provision.

I hope that my sharing our Memorial Box stories have inspired some of you to start your own Memorial Box.  If you are new to this, you can read my original MBM post to see what it’s all about.  I just love how our box is filling up with standing stones and will rejoice when we have to add another box!

Here is our story for tonight.  With family and friends living long distances away and our love of travel we often are gone for 3-4 weeks on our vacation trips.  In 2004 we planned a 3.5 week long road trip out to the Northwest, down the Pacific Coast and back through the middle of the country.  Normally we just ask our neighbors to water plants and feed the cats for us, but on this particular occasion we felt it was important to find house sitters.  We asked around and through some friends we heard of a family that could help meet our need.  They had just sold their house and had purchased an RV and planned to travel around the country for a while before settling down again.  They needed a place to stay for three weeks.  Yes, the same three weeks we were going to be gone!  No money was necessary to pay them as we were also doing them a favor.  That in and of itself is a God thing, but there is more.

On only day two into our trip our house sitters called with the news that water was coming in our basement.  This wasn’t just a trickle either, it was from a crack in the main water pipe that brought water into the house.  If we had not had people staying in the house we can only imagine the terrible damage that would have awaited us when we returned home.  Because of God’s provision, we had minimal damage.  Our house sitters were able to get a temporary fix on things until we returned home and could take care of things properly.

This particular vacation was the only time we have ever had a house sitter.  We definitely saw God’s hand working to minimize the damage to our home and are grateful for His nudging to get house sitters.  Another neat aspect of this story is that this happened during the year that Chris and I spent praying for God’s guidance within our family and were asking Him if adoption was the direction in which He wanted us to head.  Our house sitters had four grown children and had adopted a fifth child in later years.  Their adopted son was with them to experience our little “flood”.  In getting to know them before they stayed in our house, we definitely had our heartstrings pulled closer to adoption.  He is good!

So in our Memorial Box tonight we placed a PVC pipe similar to the pipe that was repaired going into our house.

Today’s Memorial Box post is in honor of a very special guest who arrived just today. She flew out to visit for a week and we have fun things planned. All of us have been looking forward to her visit. It is a birthday gift from her awesome husband, David, but I feel like it’s a huge gift to me, too. I previously posted about my friend, Amy, when I flew out to Oregon last May to visit her and her family. Here is what I wrote then:

Amy and I first met at college in southern CA, but didn’t know each other that well. She was just “Jon’s little sister” to me. Then fifteen years later God led us together again in His incredible timing. Our dossier for Ami’s adoption was sent to China by our agency in a package with the dossiers of five other families. Yes, one of those dossiers belonged Amy’s family! How cool is that?! After a flurry of emails we realized that we knew each other (identities first concealed by our married names). We traveled together to meet our first China babies and have become dear friends. Since that time we have each returned to adopt another child.

Isn’t that a neat story? To me it’s more than just a story. It’s an example of God’s faithfulness to me in big and small things. I wasn’t seeking a new friend. I wasn’t out to meet “new” people when we started our adoption pursuit of Ami. I wasn’t expecting a deep friendship, BUT God. He loves me and wants the best for me. He blessed me when I didn’t even ask. He just did it. He gave me the gift of an iron sharpening friend. Thank you Father!

So in our Memorial Box tonight we placed a Milk Dud box (the Duds are gone!), as this is Amy’s favorite candy. What a sweet (ha!) reminder of God’s blessing of friendship.

Check out this beautiful, beautiful quilt that Amy made and brought to Chris and me. Can you believe it? It’s simply beautiful, a gift from the heart. Thanks Amy!

In honor of Ami’s recent Gotcha Day anniversary, I’d like to post our Memorial Box story of Ami’s adoption.  It is so hard to summarize such a significant event by telling one short story, but I’ll try to keep this story in as small of a “nutshell” as possible.

In early 2004 we had three biological children and we were feeling quite comfortable with the size of our family and the busyness that it entailed.  But somewhere back in the far reaches of our hearts and minds we were not 100% sure that this was it.  So together Chris and I began praying and seeking God’s will for our family.  We began to have thoughts of foster care, domestic adoption, and international adoption.  It left us both with a feeling of vulnerability to ask God, “Do you want us to foster children?  Do you want us to adopt?”  It was such a humble feeling, yet strangely comforting to be so open and moldable before Him.  We had so many fears about everything from money and how it would change our current lifestyle to how it would affect our children.  Yet as we prayed God began to soften our fears as we gave our control over to Him.  It’s laughable to me now to look back at our various fears.  Oh how He has stretched and strengthened our faith!

After a year of praying and continuing to seek God’s will for our family we heard from Chris’ brother and sister-in-law that they had felt led to pursue an adoption of a baby in China.  Over the past year we had shared together our consideration of adoption, but neither of us had felt confident in that decision at the time.  As they shared their excitement with us about their decision, Chris and I felt totally convicted that this was our calling as well.  It was instant, like a light bulb had gone on for both of us.  This was what we had been praying about for a year, this was God’s direction for us, this was his calling!

We were so excited that God had brought both of our families to this point at the same time.  Yet we so did not want to “steal the show” from Eric and Kate.  This was to be their first child and we didn’t want to take anything away from their big news, yet we knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was from God.  They were so very gracious, though, and were very excited along with us.

We independently settled on China, a baby girl, and the same agency.  That was just the beginning of seeing God along our journeys.  We pursued our paperwork without pressuring each other, yet we also prayed all along that God would see fit to allow us the privilege of traveling together to receive our girls.

Our wait to be matched with a child was a very tough one for this mama as the months stretched into over a year, but during that year we knew God was at work.  A year and a half after we began the adoption process we received the most wonderful call from our agency.  We had been matched with a 6.5 month old beautiful baby girl.  She was so much younger than we had anticipated, but oh how happy we were.  She was living in a rural orphanage in southern China waiting for a forever family.

Another very exciting phone call was received on that same day announcing that our 6 month old niece was matched with Eric and Kate!  The girls were only one week apart in age and were in the SAME orphanage!  But God.  He had answered our prayers above and beyond what we had expected or imagined.

Here is Ami waiting for her Daddy and Mommy to come.

We traveled to China together two months later and we received the gift of another child in our family along with a very special niece.  I have said many times that I cannot imagine having missed this “surprise pregnancy”.  These were not our plans.  But God.  He knew how much of a blessing little Long Li Dan would be to our family.  He knew as He knit her together in her China mommy’s womb.  He knew.

During our long, long wait to receive our Ami Jo-Li, Chris wore a simple red thread bracelet that he had made.  It was simply a reminder of what was to come, something to physically grasp while we waited to physically hold our China doll.

This photo was taken during our stay in Guangzhou.  It was so sweet that Ami discovered this bracelet on her daddy’s wrist.

So all that to say (!) tonight we will place this simple bracelet in our Memorial Box as a simple reminder, as a standing stone, to the amazing adoption journey that lead us to Ami.  Thank you Father for this most unexpected and excellent gift!