UPDATE: Because our community in China donated so, so, so generously, we were able to decrease our USD needs by HALF! THANK YOU! Now back to the story: We met in Beijing in 2004 as exchange students studying abroad. Four years later, in 2008, we married and moved to Shanghai with two suitcases each… and that&'s about it… to start our life together as husband and wife. Flash forward to the present and as you can see from the photo, we have three biological children: Brie (6), Jojo (4) and Margie Rose (1) (and Gracie&'s face can be shown after we&'re matched!) Throughout our time in Shanghai, we&'ve had the privilege of seeing many successful adoptions from China but in the depths of our hearts we weren&'t sure if we were cut out for the journey. And then right around Thanksgiving, our lives changed forever as Ally saw a picture of our fourth daughter for the first time. Gracie had been fostered by a loving family who was heading home for the holidays and if no one took her in, she&'d be heading back to the orphanage. No way, not our baby! So right away, Ally agreed to short-term foster and then graciously let Ron know about it. :) In her heart, Ally knew we would be her forever home, but she silently prayed that God would work that same magic in Ron&'s heart. The NEXT day, Ron came home from work as the Assistant Director of Admissions at an international school here in Shanghai, and said, "So… I almost told a prospective family that I have FOUR daughters today… so when do we get her?" And the rest is history. The road ahead of us will be a long one. Gracie has a type of congenital heart disease called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Basically, everything that could be wrong with her little heart, is wrong with her little heart, but you&'d NEVER know it. She is vivacious, cheeky, brilliant, kind, and has a smile that could melt an iceberg. Her sisters are fully in love with her and as we continue to foster her and grow her trust and love of her new forever family, more and more of her beautiful, authentic self is being revealed. So why the fundraising page? In our case, we need to speed up the adoption process and remove financial barriers so that we have the opportunity to take our baby girl to the US for her final, and most complicated, open-heart surgery. The faster we raise the funds, the better chance she has of receiving this critical care. THANK YOU for considering partnering with us financially and in prayer to bring Gracie home.
