Let us remember...

We were recipients of a Shaohannah's Hope grant for Sarah's adoption. Without their help, Sarah Lu's adoption would not have been possible. What they do through adoption grants is truly a miracle and allows millions of families, like us, to experience the miracle of adoption. We are so thankful for Shaohannah's Hope- without them Sarah Lu could not have come home!

In memory of Maria, please consider giving to Shaohannah's Hope through
Maria's Miracle Fund.

Just days after Steve held our Sarah after his concert, we learned that he returned home... We are deeply saddened to just learn the tragic news tonight that:
"Steven Curtis Chapman’s youngest child died Wednesday afternoon after being struck by a car driven by her teenage brother in the driveway of the family’s Williamson County home. Maria, one of the Christian singer’s six children, was taken by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt Hospital, which confirmed the death, according to Laura McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol" (http://www.tennessean.com).
Our whole family grieves with the Chapman family in this time of severe loss, and our deepest prayers are lifting you up to the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ. We call for the Christian community of faithful believers to pray and fast for the Chapman family...

After coming home from Sarah and DiDi's reunion, we had a message on the answering machine from Shaohannah's Hope. Steven Curtis Chapman was having a concert in our area and they wanted to know if we would be interested in volunteering for Show Hope again (like we did in September, see HERE). Of course we wanted to and so the next day we were off to be Show Hope volunteers! We had a great time and at the end of the concert, we had raised almost $7,000!!! Some of it was awarded to a family there who had 11 children and was in the process of adopting their 12th! It was an amazing night and just awesome to see people be affected by SCC's Change for Orphans and through adoption!

Change for Orphans

The Show Hope booth

After intermission, we had tons of change to count!

Sarah wanted to help count the change too!

Mom and Dad

After the concert when people were on their way out, Sarah stood on top of the table holding the little Show Hope bucket!
It was adorable and many people came up afterwards just to put more in Sarah's little bucket, which, in just a few minutes had over $300 in it!

After the concert, Sarah and Lilly!
Lilly is also three years old and was adopted as well. Sarah and Lilly became friends right away and had such a fun time running around and playing together! They were so sweet together!
Sarah with Chris from Shaohannah's Hope, skipping off to see "Steve". One really cool thing is that one of Chris's little sister's names is "Kaia"- the same name as our Chayah! Both pronounced the same, just spelled differently. She was adopted from China too and is also 5 1/2 (the same age as our Chayah)!

"Hi! What's your name?"

"Sierra?"

"You didn't remember my name?!"
"I promise I'll remember your name next time, Sarah!"

"How old are you? Hmmm..."

"You're only 3?! Wow!! You're SO smart!!!"

Steven Curtis Chapman and Sarah Lu

Buddies :)

Sarah with David Trask, Steve's road manger
She made freinds with him quickly and even had a little "adventure" with him before the concert started. When we first got there, he came to let us in. The first thing Sarah did was run right up to him, pull on his arm, and say "Excuse me! Where's Steve?" He told her that Steve was upstairs doing an interview. And Sarah replied, "But, why?" She kept talking to him and the two of them became friends. He promised her that he would make sure that she got to see Steve! A little while later Sarah and I were walking around with our Show Hope bucket, collecting change before the concert started and David Trask came over and asked Sarah if she would like to go see Steve. Of course, she did, and so she jumped right into his arms to go off on a Steve-finding adventure. The two of them went to Steve's bus and waited for Steve to come out, but he was in there for a while, so they came back in to the Show Hope booth where we were and he promised to make sure that Sarah would meet Steve before the evening was over, after making sure that she would still be awake after the concert, which of course was a yes! So after the concert was over, we all went back to see Steve. Sarah was super excited and the two of them became friends very fast!

Below is a video of Sarah enjoying the concert

First meeting reunion of Adam Di Di and Sarah Lu!

Best of Friends Reunited

Sarah, Adam's big brother Neil, and Adam

Sarah feeding her "baby" Di Di, just like she said she would.

Sarah was amazed to actually have her Di Di again





So sweet!



On the slide with apple juice!

Sarah tickles Adam

Slide!

Holding hands

Me showing Adam a picture of himself that I took

Sarah and Neil

The mommy's and their babies

Adam Di Di and Sarah



Thursday was a truly amazing day. It has been so long since we first started hearing of "Di Di" in China. It was longer still before we had a face to put to the name. When Sarah came home in December 2006 she talked about all of her friends in China who needed mommy's and daddy's. One day in particular, not long after returning home, Sarah jumped into Daddy's arms and said, "Daddy, Di Di is crying for you!" With this and more we slowly learned about a little boy who Sarah called Di Di, meaning Little Brother. Sarah stayed dedicated to her Di Di and the cause for finding him a family. Di Di, now Adam, was adopted by a family who lives just 45 minutes away from us!! Thursday was the amazing day of Sarah and Adam's reunion. It was unlike what I could have imagined. Adam is the sweetest, cutest, most precious little boy of all time. I am absolutely in love with him! He is such a sweetheart and it is easy to see how much he adores his mommy! And did I mention how cute he is? Wow!! He is one handsome, good-looking little boy! And he is so smiley! I think he smiled the whole time-such a sweetheart! The reunion between the two of them was just perfect! Sarah was thrilled to finally see her Di Di again!! It blew me away to see the two of them together again... it is a miracle! Before we left Sarah insisted on wearing a dress. We tried, unsuccessfully, to convince her that perhaps a dress was not the best choice to play in, but she really wanted to wear it! She also had to wear her hair down and long, so that her Di Di could see it! Sarah had been talking for a while about what she was going to do with "baby Di Di" and one of the first things on her list was to feed him. And she kept this true too when she fed him french fries! Truly, seeing Sarah reunited with her best friend is just amazing! I know we will all be seeing each other much more! It is through God's grace for this miracle of Sarah and Adam's reunion!!