A Heartbreaking Article

Hello all. I've been looking forward to posting some info about our work over the past 5 months getting the house ready for Salem. I've also had several thoughts I wanted to write out. All very cheery, very hopeful stuff. However, reading this heartbreaking article prompted me to post it first. Thanks to Tim Challies for the reference.

From the article:
The demand is so high that child traffickers unable to find enough willing parties have resorted to snatching youngsters off the streets - and 70,000 disappear each year.

Wang Lee started trading in people in 1985 when he was offered money for his girlfriend. After his wife died, he sold his toddler son. "There's plenty of demand everywhere," he said. "You can sell anywhere, anytime. Demand isn't the problem. The problem is supply.

"When I started you could hook eight out of ten girls, just by having sex with them. It was easy to trick them. Now I'm not selling women so much, mainly just children. If it's a pretty girl then maybe I can get £500 or £600.

"But girls who are ugly, you can't give them away. A boy - goodlooking, a few months old - £700 to £800. But a one or two-year-old boy can fetch an even higher price: £1,100 to £1,200. If the boy's cute and the buyer is rich, maybe more. It's all about negotiation."

Child trafficking is a reality in China, and as our wait has grown, I have found these stories more heartbreaking. It's not because I believe child trafficking is slowing down our adoption - that would be an incredibly self-centered response to this article. This is so much bigger than our slow-coming family. Rather, it is another glimpse of the broken families and the broken system from which our daughter will come. I cannot help but think about the predicament that Salem's birthmom will find herself in when I read about Wai Ling and her newborn at the top of the article.

I am, at the same time, grateful that Salem will be spared from this scenario. Thousands of girls are sold as instant or future wives or much worse. Pray that the Chinese government will act against this abuse. And pray that families will take the courageous (though illegal) step to leave their children to be adopted rather than marketed. I'll also ask you to pray for God to intervene, both in changing the culture that puts all hope in male heirs for the future, devaluing women and turning children into commodities and in the abolition of China's One Child policy. These are not easy problems - they are deep and interconnected. The Gospel has the answer to both of these issues, so pray for the believers in China.

Finally, pray for the lost daughters (and now, sons) of China.

A Sleepy Saturday

Hello to all:) I must say we are so blessed to have such wonderful friends who are faithful to pray and check in on us, even after taking a 10 month hiatus from our blog. You guys are great:)

Today I woke up feeling a little puny, so I am having a sleepy Saturday. The Scott's (Drew's parents) are here for a week to help with the house project. They are in the back of the house getting the walls ready for a second coat of compound while I sit here and rest. (Thanks!)

I guess I should fill you all in for those of you who don't know what is going on here at our little cedar abode. After months of sporadic contemplation on moving to add more space, we began to envision our home being the home our children know. So, we spent the next few months researching, drawing countless blueprints, and planning. In April, we demolished our garage to make way for stronger walls and a second story. We have spent our summer here, working and learning a lot (not only about building a home, but about each other:)). Many people from our church and home have come to help us during each stage of the process. Last week, we finished hanging sheet rock and now have one coat of compound on the walls. Added to the back of our house, now rests (atop our garage) an upstairs master bedroom and bathroom, and a nursery:) We are beginning to imagine little feet pitter-pattering their way down the hallway. It's so fun to go into the nursery and envision the room where our daughter will sleep and play, the corner where she will read countless books, and walls that will surround her.

In the waiting, as the Lord has faithfully led us, we have been so blessed by the many twists and turns that have been in our path. At a time when many people seem to acknowledge the long wait as a negative thing, God had poured His grace on us to recognize it as His time for perfecting of our hearts. Daily we are growing and being challenged in this race of life, and in the midst of it all, He is building our family into a stronger one. We are so grateful for the wisdom of the Lord, to lead us in the way we should go, and for seeing our need for this time in preparing us to be parents.

Please continue to pray for Salem. Pray as the Lord prompts your heart. We love you all!!!

Past The Review Room

Well, we are back with good news today:) Drew surprised me today with a hard copy of the CCAA website stating that all dossiers through July 31, 2006 have been reviewed and are now in line for referral placement!!! Needless to say, tears followed with a HUGE sigh of relief:) We were with the Nichols who adopted their daughter in May eating at SouperSalad. It was great to rejoice with Salem's future buddy:)

If you remember, our login date was July 14, 2006, and we have been waiting for over a year to hear the news we heard today. Although the process is slow, we know that God is creating our daughter and will bring her home in His perfect timing.

Thank you for hanging in there with us. We love you all and look forward to introducing you to Salem:)