The First Days Home

Yul just has the sweetest personality. He is adjusting to our family like he never left. All his siblings are so happy to have him back. I am overwhelmed daily that God has given us the privilege of being parents to this treasure of a son! He is willing to do anything asked, and he picks up things so quickly. He is already writing his name, is working on the alphabet, and helped make brownies.

He is Home

How do you take the over brimming of joy from a heart and possibly put it in black and white print? I know others are gifted to do just that. I struggle with it. The deeper, stronger the emotions, the harder time I have expressing them with words.

Most of you are at least somewhat aware of the story of Yul's adoption. We had just brought Maddie home from Bulgaria when I saw his picture on Facebook. He was part of a summer hosting program. My heart was tugged immediately, but no. No, it wasn't possible for us to host. You don't host an orphan with a brand new child at home. That's not logical. It was probably irresponsible.  Besides, the idea of hosting and not being able to adopt? That would be heartbreaking.

Of course, you know we DID commit to host. How could we not? It was an hour before the deadline for kids to be chosen. We sat there on our bed, Adam and I, knowing we were his only option. We couldn't say no. We said yes. I gulped hard. Lord, help me. How will I care for a child for 6 weeks and send him back. We don't qualify for a Chinese adoption. What if we can't find a family for him?

The moment I saw him in person, I knew. He wrapped himself around me in a full body hug. I immediately burst into tears. I loved him at that instant. Adam felt the same. We had to pray for God to move mountains for us, because this precious little boy belonged with us. Those 6 weeks were wonderful and yet his departure date loomed. The closer it came, the harder it was. The day we said goodbye, we grieved deeply as a family. We had no idea if we would ever see him again. We prayed earnestly "Please Lord, please make a way".

We started the paper chase immediately. Our agency required us to be Homestudy approved before submitting to China for pre approval. This was a significant financial risk, not to mention the even greater emotional limbo. We pressed forward.  We couldn't even think about how we would possibly finance the adoption.

Meanwhile, there was this amazing miracle forming behind-the-scenes, which is spelled out here. This wonderful story was being knitted together, a tapestry of beautiful people that God was bringing together to do something unbelievable. The thread connecting all of them is the remarkable Elizabeth DeHority, a woman I am so honored to call my friend. My dear friend Julia Nalle connected Elizabeth and I. Elizabeth asked her dear friend Kelle Hampton for help here. The weekend of the Big Giveaway, Elizabeth's other dear friend Ann Voskamp shared on her blog. One of my fondest memories will be watching that grant fund leaping as quickly as I could hit refresh into the late hours that Saturday night, FB  messaging Ann and Elizabeth giddy with amazement!  It was truly miraculous. People responding to God's nudge. All those donations, big and small quickly added up to a huge number, one that seemed impossible, especially in the timeframe. Fully Funded.

Fully Funded. By all of YOU. Every single person that donated, no matter how big or small, YOU did it! You participated in a miracle! You are part of the beautiful picture of Yul's story, woven together with Elizabeth's story, and it was indescribable. I am still in awe. I thank each of you. Thank you. It's sounds perfectly inadequate. I hope you can somehow see in my love for my son, in the joy of his homecoming, how utterly grateful we are. There truly aren't words.

Introducing.....

Yul Francis Boroughs!

Finally, we can officially introduce our son. This very special boy has a very special name. Yul's given name is Yu Long, and Yul just seemed like the perfect new name, intertwining the old and new. Interestingly, we found out recently that "long" means "dragon" in Chinese, and since my maiden name is Dragon, that just seemed like a neat connection.

As for his middle name, Francis, that has incredibly significant meaning. Our children all have special middle names, after either a family member or other very special person. Months ago, we were discussing Yul's name and my husband had the best idea! Instead of us picking a middle name, we would ask someone special to choose. Of course, this person had to be Elizabeth DeHority!

Elizabeth discussed it with her family and they chose the name Francis. We loved it and the reasons they chose that name made us love it even more. Elizabeth lost a precious son named William Francis DeHority, and so Yul will be named in his honor. She also shared with us the Prayer of Saint Francis, which is very special to her:

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

Not only is this prayer beautiful, but if you know Elizabeth, she lives this prayer. She is one of the most inspirational, selfless, and genuinely beautiful people I have had the privilege to know. I am honored to call her friend, and I could never express my deep love and gratitude to her enough.

Take Off

This morning Adam and Caroline started their journey to bring our boy home! It's three flights over many many hours and over 8,000 miles! Keep them in prayer for safe travels.

Our first day at home waiting was a bit of a doozy, with me needing to call a dear friend to come rescue me from a medical "situation" with her nursing expertise. Thankfully the medical issue was resolved, and my sweet friend is coming back tomorrow to bring us dinner. My neighbor also blessed us by taking the four older kids to her son's birthday party (where they enjoyed brick oven pizza and birthday cake), and brought some goodies home for the rest of us. We are all anxiously counting down the hours till we get to see some "gotcha" pictures!

Sprinting

The adoption process is like this crazy long marathon. You run, you walk, somedays you crawl, and there are moments you lay there crying, thinking you won't make it.  Then you suddenly see the finish line and it's an all-out sprint! We are in sprint-mode! Copying travel-required paperwork, racing to stores for gifts and supplies, making adoption clinic appointments and finalizing travel arrangements, and we are sooo close to that amazing prize at the end of the race:  Our son!

All I can think about today is all of the amazing folks who made this possible, most especially my dear friend Elizabeth DeHority. She is truly an angel among us in the adoption community, as she tirelessly advocates for families. It was her efforts to see our adoption financed through The Big Giveaway that got us fully funded. So thank you, Elizabeth. Thank you to every single person that donated to bring our son home. I will never have the words to sufficiently express how very grateful we are.

Just Two Words

TRAVEL APPROVAL!