New World Order

Hi All,
I only have a few minutes, but I wanted to share something that I learned today, that was exciting. Our sermon today was given by Pastor Dave. He spoke on the story in the Bible about Moses and the Exodus. According to many scholars the distance between Egypt and Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey, was only a 2 and a half week journey. So the question, Why did it take them 40 years to arrive when it was only a short distance? The answer, because the Israelites did not trust God. Every time they complained to Moses instead of praying, this was a way of of showing distrust in the God that lead them by fire at night and a cloud by day. Every time they complained, that put distance between them and God. God was their compass and as the distance grew, so did their wandering.
Pastor Dave related that to our global situation today. There are many, Christians included, that feel a great deal of anxiety about the future. They are asking questions like, "Will I loose my job? What kind of future will my children have? Will there be any money left in my 401k? Will I ever be able to retire?" In our uncertain times I know that these questions cannot be answered and I understand why people are asking them. But if you are one of these, may I be so bold as to ask, "In who or what are you trusting in?"
Here is a segment of a speech given by Gordon Brown, PM of England taken from Fox News:

"Historians will look back and say this was no ordinary time, but a defining moment. An unprecedented period of global change, a time when one chapter ended and another began _ for nations, for continents, for the whole world," he said.
Brown claimed that the Group of Eight bloc of industrialized nations is no longer adequate to debate the world's problems. "The time when just a few powers could sit around the table and set the global agenda is over," Brown said.
In recent talks with China and the oil-rich Persian Gulf states, Brown has said they should be given a greater role in world institutions.
Brown said that despite current woes, the future for industrialized economies is bright. "In the next two decades the world economy will double in size," he said, claiming that current turmoil may in future be seen as the "birth pangs of a new global order."

To my brothers and sister in Christ, our God is definitely up to something. I think maybe He is making the world gloomier so that His children will shine brighter. But we cannot shine if we are running around acting just like the world. So my challenge. Get close to your Jesus. Pray like you have never prayed before. Read God's word and get to know this God who knows the end from the beginning and owns it all. Then wait for the peace that passes all understanding to rain on you like a spring rain and you will shine like a star in the universe.
I am already excited to hear how God will use your sparkle. Please email me and let me know.

And All God's People Said;
AMEN!

So much for not having much time. When I get to talking about something on my heart, the time factor goes right out the window.

Journey to Jonathan

Hi all it is me again,

Today we received our travel dates. We are for sure leaving on November 26 and arrive in Beijing on the 27th. On the 28th we plan to take a Great Wall tour, scheduled through Lotus travel. On the 29th we will have orientation and on the 30th we fly to Nanchang and receive Jonathan. From there we fly to Guangzhou for our US consulate visa appointment and then fly back on the 10th.

Please continue to pray for us.

Love to you all,

Jennifer

Dear Fellow Reader,
Today on November 5th I visited the Living Proof Ministries blog and I read this written by Beth Moore. She has placed into words what I have been feeling all day. I wish I had that gift.

A few things I'm so thankful for on this election day, regardless of the outcome:
*We live in a democracy where we have the right to a vote and a voice. We have the God-given responsibility to use both wisely and in the way that best reflects what God conveys through Scripture.
*God "works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will" and "according to the plan." Ephesians 1:11
*Not only does God work out everything in conformity with His will, He has promised to work out everything for the GOOD of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.*God sets up kings and deposes them and gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. Daniel 2:21
*We, the beautifully diverse family of God, are never - not at any time - powerless. Nor are we ever victims of a system. Believing prayer takes us through doors we'll never be invited to enter and into judges chambers we'll never grace. Take a look back at Genesis 18 once again with astonishment over the dialogue between God and His servant and friend, Abraham. Rejoice that God is ever mindful of a faithful remnant. The Judge of the Earth will always do right.
*Even if persecution should await believers in Christ or harrowing circumstances hound us, God will use hardship to bring unity and purity to a people who need it desperately. The best of circumstances do not always produce the best in the Bride of Christ.
*The living God is firmly established upon His Throne and there at His holy feet we can always find grace and mercy in our time of need.
*No matter what happens today, we are GOD'S elect. He has elected us to show His heart and to walk in His ways in the culture that surrounds us. We are called to walk in the challenging balance of grace and truth.May we be filled with Christ's Spirit today and our mouths given to praise and to believing, receiving prayer. God IS faithful and He has us firmly in His hand. We will not fear. We will not doubt. We will not hate."Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between His shoulders." Deuteronomy 33:12I
remain your servant,
Beth

Obama is talking about change and unity. He is a man that as scripture states in Isaiah 5:20 "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darknes for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter." With that in mind, his idea of change and unity are something that we do not need. But wouldn't it be just like my God to use Obama's change to bring unity to His church.
Two things I ask of you if you are a brother or sister in Christ,
1) Be informed-keep up to date on the bills that are being proposed to the Senate and the House.
2) PRAY,PRAY,PRAY,PRAY,PRAY AND THEN PRAY SOME MORE.
To look like His church we need to start acting like the church and the only way to do that is by connecting to the vine in prayer and scripture.

Pray like you mean it,
Jennifer

WE RECEIVED OUR TA!

Journey to Jonathan



Hi All,

Tonight when we came home I checked our email once again to check for travel approval. (Travel Approval is China's way of saying that they have all of our information and that David and I are cleared to travel to China and get our little one.) Once again I clicked on the inbox and there it was is bold letters, YOUR TA HAS ARRIVED. Now we wait for Holt to schedule our appointment with the US consulate in Guangzhou and then we receive travel dates. This whole process has moved so fast that I can almost feel the wind in my hair. Most families wait two years to cover as much ground as David and I have in ten months.

Just because I am amazed at the speed of the process, I want to share with you our milestones and the date they occurred.

Jan. 8, 2008 We applied with Holt
May 21, We applied for our I-800A
May 30, We were the first family in the USA to have our I-800A approved.
June 16 We sent our dossier to Holt
June 17 We received our referral of Jonathan
June 18 We accepted the referral
June 27 Dossier sent to China
Sept.25 Holt received Letter of Confirmation from China
Sept.26 We received LOC from Holt
Sept.29 Sent LOC back to Holt
Oct. 17 Received Travel Approval

WOW What a busy year!

Well, I better sign off the kids are in bed and David and I can finally work on things without interruption.

Jennifer

Journey to Jonathan

Journey To Jonathan

Here is another update on our process. After seeking advice of others who have adopted from China and those that are just a step ahead of us, it looks as though we will be traveling sometime late November or early December. David and I can't wait. I am already planning freezer meals and activities for Amelia, Josh and Abbey while we are gone. The thought of leaving them for 12 days already makes me miss them. To help them, we are going to video tape us reading bed time stories, write love notes and leave little presents for them etc. They are also going to be given a disposable camera so that they can capture picutures of things they did while we were in China. We will put these in Jonathan's book too. Well I guess I better go. The kids are up from nap and I need to put my mom hat back on.

Jennifer

Funny Pictures

Hi All,

In my searching one day I came across these pictures. Enjoy! I think they are really funny.



Good idea for Disney!



Why David and I plan on eating a lot of rice.





This poor guy. And I thought pulling Joshua and Abigail in the trailer was hard.

Secret to a healthy marriage.

I hope that my title got your attention. I want to write more on this, but like many things in my life, the moment I start something a child is in need and I need to stop. I will write more about this, but you can start by reading Ephesians 5:33.

Write Again Soon,
Jennifer

Adoption Tracker

Hi All,
Yesterday I created a tracker at www.lilypie.com and am very excited to show it off to all of you. This will be a count down to milestones in our process and finally travel to China.

Jenny

One of those days!

I know this is a silly question, because I know the answer before I ask. Have you ever had one of those days? From the moment I woke up there was something not right about the day. Let me give you a recap:
I woke up and David, who usually beats me out of bed, stayed in bed because he was not feeling well. This was my first sign.
Then, because of a special event with Mia's school today there was trasportation issues that caused me to be 15 minutes late to work.
I am a helper in Joshua's preschool and things were rough today. Joshua really struggles with objectives like letter and number recognition. Today at a table center, the main teacher was pointing at letters in the alphabet and asking Joshua to tell her what they were. As a mom I saw him getting more and more frustrated, but I had on my teacher hat and felt like I should not interfere. Finally that was over and it was time for Bible time on the rug. During this time Josh was not listening to the story and was being a little disruptive. After two warnings I had to place him in 'time out' which went over like a lead balloon. For the rest of the morning I consolled myself with the thought that David and I were going to see the movie "Fireproof" that evening-a movie that I had been looking forward to for months.
On the way home David called me on my cell and said, "You are not going to believe this, the Topeka theaters are not playing the movie." My response, "WELL THAT'S JUST GREAT!"
When I got home I called the theater to ask why. Of course the manager passed the buck and told me to contact the corporate office. I contacted the corporate office and spoke to a very kind woman who told me that they wanted to run the movie in larger metro areas. To that I said,"OK, thank you" and hung up. Then I got to thinking about what she said and thought, that doesn't sound right. I then got on the Fireproof website and looked up the theaters that it was showing in coast to coast. Then I got on the movie theater website and ran a list of all of their theaters and their locations. After all of this I compared the two. My findings were that of all the 48 theaters that this company owns, only 6 of their theaters ran the movie. Now I definetly felt blown off. So I called the office once more hoping to get the nice lady again, but I didn't. I got some guy named Dave. At first the conversation went well, but after he too was telling me reasons that did not add up I said, "I hope you don't mind, but I think that I will check the information that you are giving me." To that he hit the roof and the conversation took a direct nose dive. To make a long story longer, I never got a real answer to my question, just a lot of misinformation. After telling David all of this, he wonders if there might me some censorship going on. Tomorrow I think we will email AFA (American Family Association) and tell them about my day and get their take on it. If anyone can answer my question they probably could.
So my answer to a day like this? Go on a date with my husband to our favorite Mexican restaurant, have a margarita and forget about the day.
I know the doctor says, "An apple a day...", but sometimes a drink helps, too.

Have a Great Day
Jenny

A More Accurate Time Line

Well, David and I had a very good adoption day. We received the long awaited phone call that Holt(our agency)received our LOA today from China and that we would get it tomorrow. Just to recap, our LOA is a confirmation letter asking us if we for sure want our little Hong Jun Peng. Tomorrow we will sign the letter and send it back to Holt, who will then send it on to China. From there we wait 4-6 weeks until we receive Travel Approval from China. By China giving us travel approval, it is their way of saying, "We have everything we need from you, please come and get your little boy." After we receive TA we will wait about a week and then receive travel dates from Holt. Travel dates are issued by Holt because after TA, Holt organizes an appointment with the US Consulate for us in Guangzhou, and our travel time is based on this meeting. After we receive dates we will wait another 4-6 weeks until travel. So, to answer the question, "When do we travel to China?" We are now estimating early January.
We are expecting our Travel Approval sometime between October 24-November 7.
Soon after we will receive Travel Dates
After Travel Dates we estimate travel 4-6 weeks later.
This will put us around the Christmas Holiday. David and I are thinking that Holt will probably wait until after the holidays to assign travel.

Well I guess that's about it. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We are still a little short of funds, but our mantra in all of this has been and is, "God is able."
Have a Great Night
Jenny

Happy "Egg"quinox

Hi All,

It is Sept. 22 and the autumnal equinox. For the past five years I have been meaning to balance an egg on end just to see if I could. Today was the day. We went to Walmart to get many things, and eggs were on my list. The moment we got home we started balancing. I tried several times to balance a full dozen all at once, but just when I got to 11, a large wind would come and blow them all over. Finally I gave up. I think I got to eight which is still very cool.

Happy Autumn,
Jenny

Yours

I know that I just wrote, but I had one of those, "Oh man I have to share" kind of moments. I was cleaning the kitchen, as I wrote before, and listing to the radio. The song Yours came on by Steven Curtis Chapman. I have heard it before, but tonight it really touched me and I want to share why. Most of you probably know about the loss of his daughter last May. Since then, I have seen the family share their story on various TV shows. They present themselves as a hurting family, but also a family that finds their strength in God alone. What touches me about this song is that Steven used this as an outpouring of his heart. In the last verse the lyrics are:

I've walked the valley of death's shadow
So deep and dark that I could barely breathe
I've had to let go of more than I could bear
And questioned everything that I believe
But still even here
In this great darkness
A comfort and hope come breaking through
As I can say in life or death
God we belong to you

This reminds me of what I recently read in John 6: starting at verse 53.
Jesus was speaking to many people, and what He said was difficult for many to hear. In verse 66 it says, "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed Him." Then Jesus asked the Twelve disciples "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Then Simon Peter answered, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

Tonight as I listened to the song the two of these collided and it finally sunk in that God is our only constant in this world. That even in our darkest hour He has believers in the palm of His hand providing unexplained comfort and hope. I am reminded of the many times when life was hard that I did not put my faith in the "Great Ancient of Days" and I tried to fix it. The result, I only made it worse. And by not submitting to God, I missed out on the comfort, peace and hope that He wanted to give.

So, my challenge to you all. I know that in life there will be storms that seem overwhelming and as the song states, makes you feel like you cannot breath, but hang on and cling to God with all you have. If you remain in Him, he promises that joy and blessing will come.

Stay Faithful,
Jenny

Adoption venting!

Allow me a moment to just vent. On August 21 or 22 I email Brian at Holt, our agency, to find out about the status of our progress. I wanted to know if there was anything that David and I need to be working on etc. I also wanted some clarification on our Letter of Confirmation, other families were making reference to LOA (Letter of Acceptance)and I wanted to know if the two were one of the same. His response to me was, "Yes it is and you should expect to receive it in two to four weeks." OK, the four week mark was 9/11 and we are still waiting. I know that waiting is part of the process, but I find it a little frustrating when someone tell you that something will happen in a certain time and it doesn't happen. David said, "He should have just said, 'You will get it when you get it.' that would have been better." I say all of this of course because I am looking into my son's eyes every time I turn on my computer and with each glance I grow more impatient. Maybe I should change my wallpaper. I will change it to something with mountains or a stream. Hey that reminds me,(total subject change)David and I saw a pretty good movie the other day. It was called Catch and Release. It was a love story that takes place in Boulder Colorado where the main characters are typical outdoor guys. The scenery is really beautiful. Watching the movie really got me wanting to start camping again and enjoying the great outdoors. Since marriage I have become more of an indoor girl, but from time to time the nature loving, fishing, camping girl wants to emerge. I see the same characteristics in Amelia and this makes me want to go all the more. So here is my trip. I haven't run this my David yet, but I am sure that he will be OK with it. We are going to buy a pop up camper and drive to Yellow Stone National Park and camp, hike and fish for a week. Now doesn't that sound like fun?
Well I guess I better close. I have a kitchen to clean,laundry to do and a cake to bake.

Here's to Dreaming,

Jenny

Home in a Jiffy to Three-Fifty

Well it is another evening at the Lotspeich household. The kids are asleep and I am sitting at the computer checking email, writing my blog and petting Winston. He was outside for a good part of the day, so I think he needs a little TLC.
Since we received Jonathan's pictures I literally cannot wait to go get him. In his pictures he looks so unhappy. So I need your help. Would you join us in praying for him. We are praying that his caregivers are kind to him and show him affection. We are also praying that God would pour out his blessing on his foster family and that God would protect him in everyway, physical, emotional etc. We always finish our Jonathan prayer with, "Father God, we know that your timing is perfect, but if our Jonathan is unhappy and mistreated in anyway, please speed up the process so we can receive him quickly." It is the unknown that just kills me. Fortunately I have three very good distractions during the day, but in the evening, when I have time to think, it bothers me more and more. Needless to say, God and I have talked extensively about our little Jonathan.

Love to you all,
Jennifer

The Littlest Lotspeich

Tonight David called me from work and said, "You will not believe what I am looking at. I am looking at up to date pictures of our son." Fortunately I was already on, so it didn't take but a couple of clicks and I was looking into those amazing brown eyes. He looks so much bigger and grown up since our last pictures that I started to cry. In looking at my 18 month old baby half a world away I thought of all of the time that I have missed with him. How desperately I wanted to catch the "red eye" and go get him so I wouldn't miss another minute. Do you think they have direct flights from Kansas City to Nanchang China?
With our pictures, Holt also included a written description of some of his favorites, met mile stones and how big he is. So without further adieu here is our Jonathan.





Sept. 4
Weight: 9kg,Height: 77.5cm
He walks very well now and can he is skilled at stepping over door sill. He
can tell toilet need and can do it himself without help. He can say
"Baba""Mama" "Gege" "Yeye" means, dad, mom, brother, granspa. Banana,
grape,watermelon and plum is his favorite, he likes playing ball and
control . He doesn't cry when he falls down and can stand up by himeself.

Meet Winston

Hi All,
Have I got a story for you! A week ago today there was a little cat under our trampoline. For most of that day the kids played with it outside. And throughout that day I tried to give the cat many opportunities to go home. Around 2:00 the kids came in for nap and an hour and a half later there it was, on our back porch. Then around 5:00 we went to the store to get a few things, giving the cat another chance to go home. An hour and a half later we get home and there it was. The little one looked so hungry that I finally broke down and fed it. So now we have an addition to our family, but that is not the funny part. For two days we thought that the kitten was a she. We named it Mittens and even went out and bought a rhinestone collar because as everyone knows, every girl needs some BLING. This was Friday. On Sunday we got home from church and David goes to change clothes. Soon after, he comes out of the bedroom with a smile and says, "Are you ready for this, Mittens is a boy." When David went into the bedroom the cat was spread out in all of his glory. I guess it was hard to miss. My question is, "How did we miss that?" So now his name is Winston after Winston Churchill and he is a proud owner of a black leather collar with silver studs. (We are trying to make up for the girl collar.)
As you will see from the pictures his two favorite activities are climbing trees and napping.

Have a great day,
Jennifer

Winston has 6 toes on his front feet and five on his back.

I Hate Hondas-by "Super Man"

We're the unfortunate owners of a gently used, but well maintained 2003 Honda Odyssey. It's your typical family vehicle. (Crumbs in the seats, stains on the floor mats.) But by and large, it's basically in good shape. I'm sort of fanatical about vehicle maintenance. That being said, this particular vehicle has been challenging since we bought it. The cruise control has malfunctioned, doors have refused to close, it's refused to start twice. The last of those episodes was a Saturday afternoon on Wanamaker, necessitating a tow from AAA and a bill from the local dealership for $200. The latest adventure may prove quite a bit more costly. About 6 months ago our transmission decided it didn't want to always shift from 2nd to 3rd gear. This was mostly a rare occurrence, but still concerned me. After a call to the dealership, I was told that unless the check engine light was on they would have to duplicate the problem to diagnose it. Fine, we'll keep driving it. Many months passed when finally while Jenny was driving it the light came on. Hallelujah! Maybe we can get this thing fixed, or so I thought. The post mortem says that we need a new transmission for the bargain price of $4,100! Needless to say, I had quite an animated conversation with my service advisor. When I informed him that the vehicle doesn't have many miles on it and that the transmission's been serviced twice he was unmoved, but offered to contact Honda for us to see if they'll help out. So what does this mean for us? Keep driving it! I think Honda makes better motorcycles than cars.

Abby's Third Birthday

Here are pictures of Abigail's 3rd Birthday

on June 22nd

at
Sonic.

Abigail in her cool shades!

Eating with Daddy, Josh and Mia.

Nana, Papa, Mam and Pa in their party glasses. Ha Ha

Amelia shows off her princess rings.

Cousin Caleb is ready for the sand.

Joshua the "PUP" Lotspeich.

Cup cakes are the best part.

Mommy and her Home Girls.

Things in life that bug me

There are many things in my life that I do not particularly enjoy. For example: poopy diapers, fighting children, laundry day (that is everyday by the way) and election years. If you are very familiar with me you know that I am very passionate. Now that I think about it, if I have a feeling about anything at all it is all or nothing. I am sure that I would exhaust David if he wasn't exactly the same way. So let's get back to my list. Election years; this brings out a different side to people that you didn't know was there. What do they say? Don't discuss religion or politics. I really need to follow that advice. Why I dislike election years so much is I see very intelligent people exercise intellectual laziness about the candidates they choose. Lately I have been trying to educate myself about the candidates. One way that I am doing this is by asking various people in my life why they are supporting the people they are. A question I ask is why is so and so qualified for the job? Some have given exact answers, where as others have responded with what they don't like about the other guy or that they are republican/democrat and that is the way I vote. I would like to send a challenge out to all who read this, spend some time really educating yourself about the candidates you support. Find out how they vote on things and where their heart really is. You will have to go back a few years in their career. In election years everyone seems to speak out of both sides of their mouths. And may I add to my brothers and sisters in Christ, don't waver on Biblical truth. If in your research you find that a candidate supports something that is against God's truth, don't vote for them. In all things be obedient to your God. We are called to a higher standard.

How great is our freedom

We had a fantastic sermon today in church. One of our pastors, Pastor Dave, spoke about freedom. He made an excellent point in saying that for us to truly appreciate our freedom we need to know the depth of our potential bondage. His main focus was about our freedom in Christ and used Paul's words in Romans 7:24 to illustrate the magnitude of sin. In Romans 7 Paul writes about the inner turmoil that takes place with his sinful nature. He writes, "Why do I do the things that I do not want to do, but yet do not do the things I know that I should." In verse 24 he writes, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?"

All of the many times that I have read this verse I honestly had no idea what body of death meant. After conducting some research on this term this is what pastor Dave concluded. At the time that Paul was writing many different empires had very creative ways of execution. All of them are gory in nature and I won't gross you out by mentioning them, but one way was called Body of Death. (Let me warn you about this next part. It is a little stomach turning.) I forget who used this form of execution, but this is how it went. If a person was sentenced to death, they would take a very long rope and a corpse and place the corpse directly in front of the condemned so that they were face to face. They would then wrap the rope around the two many times so that it was tight. The condemned would be forced to live this way 24/7. After many weeks the condemned would finally die. It was a horrible, painful and gruesome way to die.

So let's go back to Paul's writing, "Who will rescue me from this body of death?" Paul was in such turmoil about his fleshly nature -sin nature- that he compared it to the body of death. In meditating on this for awhile I think he was right on the mark. Sin is the corpse that will enslave, and without the freedom of Christ, be the cause of our spiritual death. But then , and this is my favorite part, Paul writes in 25, "Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our LORD." Just writing this makes me cry. Can I get an AMEN!

Although I didn't know it at the time, I was suffocating from the weight of living for myself and allowing my desires rule over me. God saw me in my pit and when I finally called out to Him, he rescued me. He cut the ropes that bound me to my death sentence so that I could be free. If Christ has set you free you are free indeed.

Kids in the corn

Here are Amelia, Joshua and Abigail standing in the corn field behind Mammy's and Pa's house. Ever since I was eight until my early 20's this has been my view outside the back door.People keep talking about developing that area someday, but I hope they don't. At least while my mom and dad live there. Not every kid gets to walk in a field of corn.

Hi All

Here is a picture of Amelia and her new bike. She has named it Flicka after the horse on the movie of the same name. By the way that is a really great movie.

Amelia is in love with horses and asks us at least once a week if we can get one. I won't tell her this, but I have thought about it. With gas prices, riding a horse drawn buggy might not be a bad idea. The Amish do it.

My Super Man

This is my Super Man!

I call him my Super Man because there are not to many things that he can't do. Like the real Super Man who had a weakness, David has one too and that is cooking. He loves to eat it, but he is not to skilled at making it. When Daddy cooks I will hear the kids cheer and say, "Yea! Pizza!" I guess that that is another way we are a good match.


In this picture David is teaching Amelia how to fly.
I think he needs a little more practice.


Hug your man today.

Jenny

Time Line

Hi All,

After sharing our exciting news I have had a couple of people ask, "So when do you go pick him up?" I thought that I would write today and include a time line. This is going to be a little rough because I am not sure that I understand it fully myself, but here it goes.

Now that we have accepted a referral these are the next steps.

First: We need to make an addendum to our dossier. We have been cleared by our government to adopt a child with special needs of the age of 0-12 months. Jonathan is now 16 months and so David and I with the help of our social worker will work with the immigration office to make that change.

Second: Our dossier will be sent to China. Then after the CCAA (China) receives all of our paperwork our dossier will wait an undetermined amount of time before being transferred into the "match" department. Match means that we have been matched with a child.

Third:The CCAA will then issue a Letter of Seeking Confirmation from Adopter to us via Holt. This letter basically asks, "Are you sure you want the little man?" Holt will mail this letter to us via Fed. Express. We will then sign it and return it to Holt and then they forwarded to China.

Fourth: The CCAA usually issues travel approvals 2-5 weeks after receipt of the confirmation letter. After Holt receives our travel approval they will schedule our appointment at the US Consulate (I think in China.) and notify us of our travel dates.

Fifth: I am a little foggy on this part, but I think that this is when we buy tickets, pack and prepare to meet our little Jonathan. The time between that we receive our travel dates until we actually travel I am not sure, but again I think that we will be leaving around Novemberish.

Oh I almost forgot. During this time we need to raise funding. With everything going on I keep forgetting that part.

Have a great night.
Jenny

We Have A Son!

Hi All,

Well yes it is true we have a beautiful 16 month old son named Hong Jun Peng. His name means Red Truthful Drum beats. I looked that up today. His American name will be Jonathan Junpeng Lotspeich. We are so in love with him already. Today at lunch the kids were not eating their rice because Mom put something "weird" in it. I told the kids, "Did you know that Hong Jun Peng eats rice all of the time?" Joshua thought for a second and then said "Hong Jun Peng, oh yea, that's my brother." Needless to say he is an amazing surprise. Just last Friday we received our dossier back from the Chinese Consulate after being authenticated. On Monday we sent our dossier to Holt, our adoption agency. From there we were expecting the "normal" routine of Holt sending our dossier to China and then receiving a Log In Date from China. From there we would wait what we thought would be a least a few months before receiving a referral of a child.

This is what actually happened.

We sent in our dossier to Holt on Monday. On Tuesday I went to my Concerned Women For America meeting. Near the close of our meeting David called me on my cell. This was unusual because David never calls unless something happened. Now I am thinking, "Brace yourself, one of the kids got hurt." David says, "Are you sitting down? You better sit down for this." He sounded excited so I wasn't too alarmed. Then he said, "I just got off the phone with Beth Smith from Holt and she says that they have a little boy for us." From there the rest of the day was filled with waiting for the email referral and speaking to doctors about his condition. His left foot is a club foot. After MUCH prayer, we decided to proceed with little Hong and see what the LORD does. Well you know the end result and we could not be more joyful.

With all of the additional paperwork that still needs to be done we estimate that we will travel to China around Novemberish maybe a little later or the way things are going, a little sooner. Well thats about it. Please keep us in your prayers. There are still many, many things that need to be done before China.

Jennifer

P.S. The other day I was having a low mommy day. I was losing my patience with the kids and really having a low tollerance day and thought, "Why did God call me to be a mommy to another little one, I have a hard time with my three." At that moment He spoke to my heart and said, "I do not call the equiped, I equip the called." (Your thought for the day)

Hey Everybody,
Well it is a Sunday evening at 10:00 and I have some time to sit and write. One perk of David being on a back shift I guess. Last week was a pretty big week for us in our adoption process. A week ago last Wednesday we sent in our dossier to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago to have all of our many documents authenticated. Our dossier has taken us some where around five months to work on and in it is everything from all of our certificates, birth etc, to medical information, federal background checks, fingerprints, and government certificates that took months to acquire. Needless to say putting it in the mail was a little nerve racking. Finally on Saturday we received it back with the official Chinese authenticated seal on every document. I was relieved. Now Monday morning bright and early I will be mailing it once again to the Holt office in Oregon. From there they will spend the next week or two looking it over to make sure everything is perfect and then they will send it to Beijing. After this we wait for a referral of a child and raise funding.
On a personal note, there have been many times in this process where I feel like a person walking around in a dark cave and scared of the unknown. It is at that point that my Jesus reminds me that He is my guide and He knows where we are going. There is nothing like the comfort and peace that only God can give. Let me close with a scripture because it has sustained me for the past few weeks. Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace that transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus.

Sleep Well

New bike for Amelia

Today was a very exciting day. We went to Mam and Pa's house to mow the grass (they are on a cruise) and from there went to Capp's Bike Shop to pick up David's and my bicycles. They were in desperate need of a tune up. For the last month we have been needing to get Amelia a new bike. She is growing so fast. So we have been praying about it asking God to help us meet our need at the price we can afford. He is so faithful. While we were at Capps we once again looked at the used bikes and there it was, a purple and yellow 24 inch girls bike. It needed a little TLC, but after we bought it Capps tuned it up and Daddy detailed it out. Now it looks like new and Amelia LOVES it. She is so fast now that it is hard to keep up with her. Amelia always names her bikes. Because she is so fast David and I suggested that she name it Danica after Danica Patrick the female race car driver. Well that's about it. We have VBS tonight and I have to make supper. A picture of Amelia and her new bike will appear soon.

Hey I just created a blog!!!!!

Hi Family.

It is June 9th and I am thrilled that I just created a blog.

I am going to try to add a picture. We will see how is goes.

Yea I did it!

Here is a picture of us at the Omaha Zoo. Daddy needed a little help pushing the stroller up the hill. Abbey is taking a nap. The night before was our first taste of a hotel room. Needless to say we were all a little tired. Lucky girl.

Well, I guess that is about it. Have a great day and don't let gas prices get you down. Think of it as opportunity faith building.