Our China Adoption Story

This is a brief version of our adoption journey up to this point. Gene and I began praying about adopting internationally after some mission projects we were involved in during the spring of 2005. We attended an information meeting with Lifeline Children's Services in October 2005 and felt drawn to the China program. We applied with Lifeline in December of 2005 and began the process of paperwork in early 2006.

After a brief delay, we officially began our home study in April 2006. From the very beginning, we were open to the possibility of adopting a child with special needs, and as we proceeded through the long paperwork process and prayed for God to lead us to the child He had for us, we felt strongly that we should pursue China's special needs program through our agency. We met with our social worker, discussed the process, and submitted the paperwork listing the special needs we would consider in the fall of 2006. Our paperwork had to be approved by Alabama's DHR, and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS), which took several months.

In December of 2006, Lifeline called us with a potential match on the special needs list from China. We met with our social worker, and met our daughter on paper for the first time. Words can't describe the emotion, and the fierce, unwavering gut feeling of just knowing this was our child. Our future daughter's name is Wu, Bochen. She was 11 months old when we petitioned to adopt her, and she is almost 17 months old now. She is in foster care in the city of Wuhan, in the Hubei province of China. She was born with a bilateral cleft lip, which was surgically repaired at 8 months of age. She may have cleft palate, but we can't be sure because the paperwork is a little confusing. We received word that our application to adopt Bochen was approved (pending all of our paperwork being in order) in January 2007. But we were still waiting for our paperwork to clear here in the USA. We received our CIS approval in February and our paperwork was officially received by the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) in March. We hope for our official Letter of Acceptance (LOA) any day now and hope to travel very soon. When we adopt Bochen, we will change her name to Eden Hope Mason. Her nursery is all done and waiting for her. There are so many people praying for this precious little girl. I can't wait to hold her and comfort her and get to know her.

The days seem to be getting longer, but God is so faithful to sustain me as I wait. I have learned so much about Him through this adoption journey. There have been so many times that I have come to Him in tears, knowing that He was the only One who could understand the ache in my heart, because He loves this child even more than I do. God's love for Eden has been such a comfort to me through the days and months of waiting. God knows my child intimately and completely. He knows how many hairs are on her head. He knows what her laugh sounds like, even though all I have is a photo of her smile. He knows what she likes to eat, what comforts her, what she is afraid of and how to quiet her when she cries. He knows her, and he knows me.

And I know, throughout this journey, even as I've questioned Him about why it's taking so long, He has been preparing us for one another. And one day soon, Wu Bochen will receive the gift of a mommy and daddy to love her forever, and we will receive the blessing of this precious baby girl. Until that day, I rest in the truth of the God I love. He is good, wise, faithful, and mighty to save...and He is in control. His Word says in Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations."