Ren's Ultrasound

When I was pregnant with each of the boys, one of my favorite things was the very first ultrasounds.  I was just lying on that table, staring at the screen.  So excited. So afraid.  I always held my breath just waiting to hear the most precious sound in the world.  After moments of terrible anticipation, there it was.  The beating of their little hearts.  At that stage in the pregnancies, it was always too early to tell if they were boys or girls.  But none of that matter.  At those moments, those first beats of their hearts, I knew one thing.  I had forever lost mine.  From the second I knew of each one of my children, they have stolen my heart.

For the last few years, if you had taken an "ultrasound of my heart", you would have seen a picture of China.  I knew on the other side of the world, there was a little heart already beating, that was just waiting for her mommy to hear it.  When we first received the phone call in January that we had been matched with our daughter, they told us her name, age, location, and special need.  We did not see a picture of her.  Our social worker asked us if we wanted her.  My sweet husband said, "All we can say is Yes"!  And again, I knew my heart was not my own.  And very soon it will be forever joined to my sweet baby girl, Ren.

Good News From A Distant Land

Proverbs 25:25 - Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a distant land.

The news we have received from the distant land of China truly has refreshed our souls.  So much so that I even scrubbed my kitchen floors today!  Unbelievable!  I can hardly believe that I get to type the following words!  The Griffin's are China bound!  We have confirmed our flights.  We leave Sunday, August 22 from Atlanta.  We return Saturday, September 11.  The stay is a little longer than we had anticipated, but we know that this will be precious time with our baby.  It is very likely that it will be the only time in her life that she will have all of our attention to herself.  She has two very demanding big brothers waiting for her!

Why China?

People often ask us, "Why are you adopting from China?  Aren't their plenty of children here that need to be adopted?"  I think both are very valid questions.  Let me answer the second question, first.  There is a desperate need for children to be adopted in the US.  In fact, I am about to get my first niece through domestic adoption.  I have cousins that have and are again adopting domestically.  I in no way think international adoption is superior or really any different from domestic adoption.

So, again, "Why China?"  I think of the song, "Jesus loves the little children, All the children of the world, Whether red or yellow, black and white, They are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world."  God's love knows no race, no geographic boundaries.  We asked the Lord to guide us in our adoption.  And He did; straight to China.  So, the only answer I have for the "why China" question, is because my daughter is there!

How did we get here?

-Our Road To Ren.....I can't believe it has been almost five years since Tyson and I set out on this road to adopt our daughter; our sweet Ren.  We often get asked why we're adopting.  So, I thought I would share how it all began.
-November is National Adoption Month.  Who knew?  Well, in November 2005, I was listening to Stephen Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman share their adoption stories on Moody Radio.  They have three biological children and adopted three daughters from China.  My eyes were opened to the great number of orphans around the world., but  more than that, my heart was pierced with the realization that God had called His church to do something about it.  The Bible says in James 1:27, "Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world."  It was at that point that I knew God was calling me to do something.
-Bethany Christian Services was mentioned by the Chapman's, so I immediately started doing research through their website.  I shared my heart with Tyson.  Considering that we had just celebrated Ty's first birthday, Tyson wasn't too sure this was something for us to do right then.
-After much prayer, (and maybe a little nagging), we scheduled a meeting with Bethany in January 2006.  In March 2006, we were invited to be guests at Bethany's annual banquet. The speakers that night were a couple who had dealt with infertility.   They said they wanted a family so they NEEDED to adopt.  They  gave a charge to the audience that said a lot of people don't need to adopt, but they can choose to adopt. It was that night that "sealed the deal" for us. We left not only knowing that we should adopt, but Tyson said, "We're adopting from China!"
-So why are we adopting?  All of that to say, as my husband says, "Why not?'  The Lord has so seared our hearts with the desire to adopt; how could we not?