Just have to say one more time,
thank you for all the love, prayers and support!
We would not have gotten this adventure off the ground without you!

Local Omaha friends and family,
please meet us at the airport when we return on 
November 10
at 9:44 pm
DL0783
(Delta, Detroit to Omaha)
We would love to see you and let you get
a peek of our Henry before we start cocooning!

And since, as Bilbo Baggins would tell us…
“…adventures are not all pony-rides in May-sunshine…”
please pray for us as you think of us!

No more pumpkins,
and only 1 more sleep
until we leave for China and this
precious boy!

We heard from our friend who is serving at the orphanage this week
and she has shared a few pictures with us!
(Henry is the little guy on the right who knows what to do with that spoon!)

Yummy!

Taste and see that the Lord is good,
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Psalm 34:8

Thank you for all of your generous contributions to our story!
We more than met our goal and will be able to realize the full
$3,000 matching grant offered to us by Lifesong for Orphans!

Today we counted the money in our family fundraising jar.
Spencer, Hanna, and Lucy did fundraisers
(even Michael sold a notecard or two!)
and many of you supported them in this.
(Becca was faithfully serving in Sicily!)
Thank you so much!
$864.15

We have had some really touching contributions from young people too.
Our niece and nephews, some beautiful sisters, and also a special young lady
who made and sold handcrafted necklaces and
gave us her donation this last Sunday.
She is so excited to help Henry come home and gave us this note.
So precious to us!

We made a little video message for Henry tonight!
Our friend will be leading a team that is serving in China at Henry’s
orphanage starting on October 24.
Hopefully she will get the chance to share this
with our little man and his Ayis!

We are busy over here at the Rothfuss house researching,
preparing to travel, and packing!

We are also nesting…
cleaning, stocking the freezer and pantry, trying to get ahead on school work,
assembling bunk beds, setting up the pack and play
in mom and dad’s room, just in case.
Preparing for our early days at home in many different ways.

We will return home from our travels and cozy up to cocoon here at home for a season.
Today while doing some reading on line, I happened upon a wonderfully encouraging and helpful blog called A Beautiful Symphony.
I found this post particularly helpful as I thought about the season
we will enter into upon coming home. The author likens this season of cocooning
to a time of respite to recover from the necessary trauma of adoption. Here is a quote that helps to see the experience from the point of view of the adoptive child…

“A great way to think about newly adopted children is as if they are a newborn. In a sense, they are just that. A newly born child into a family in another country where NOTHING is like anything they have ever known: new language, new people. new food, new home…”

She also gives some suggestions for cocooning that would be helpful to other adoptive parents or their friends and family members seeking to understand
the cocooning experience.

This is a precious season in the life of a family, but also very challenging as well.
This will be the third time we have welcomed home a newly adopted child
as the year was coming to a close and springtime’s celebration of new life
has been so, so sweet each time so far!
You can look forward to what’s to come with us!
This beautiful butterfly has grown 4 inches and gained 12 pounds since coming home two years ago!

Thank you so much for reading along, praying for us, helping us prepare to travel, participating in Tag the Bag and our other fundraisers.
We appreciate you all so much!

What’s in a Name?

We hope a blessing and words of life spoken over our new little man!
We know that his Chinese name, Chen Yang, means “Morning Sun.”
We are choosing for him the name…

Henry Clyde Chenyang Rothfuss.

Henry means “ruler or head of the home.”
Clyde is the name of a river in Scotland and
its name possibly comes from an old word for “cleansing one.”
It is also the name of Jason’s father.
So, for our little Morning Sun whose name reminds us of
the Bright and Morning Star, our Lord, Jesus…
we hope and pray that you will one day taste living water
from our source, the cleansing one,
and that He will be the head and ruler of your heart!

We are counting the days until all seven of us board that plane!!

Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
    I will bring your children from the east
    and gather you from the west.
Isaiah 43:5

We have travel dates!!!

We depart Omaha on Wednesday,
October 26 and arrive home on Thursday, November 10!

For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.
Psalm 86:10

p.s.
You can still Tag the Bag until Sunday, October 9!!

(Teaching hospitality through play.
Both Felix the Fox and Petunia celebrated 
birthdays recently with cupcakes!)

“Hospitality is the gospel hidden deeply in our souls and in the corners of our homes.  It’s not Pinterest-worthy and requires a level of mutual trust.  Take me as I am, and I’ll return the favor.  It’s the unwavering belief that when I add your mess to my own,
the place has never looked better.”
Falling Free
by Shannan Martin

I hope the author will forgive me taking the liberty of applying her words to adoption.  She meant them in a broader sense, but in our experience, these words help to explain the blessing that adding to our family via adoption has been. Our home has never looked better and we look forward to our upcoming remodel!!

p.s.
You can still Tag the Bag until Sunday!!

“This is how the kingdom of heaven comes down sometimes, in small moments where we can choose to believe he makes much of little, in ordinary pockets where what feels like waiting is actually the undercover work of our resolve being steeled for what waits for us.”
Falling Free  by Shannan Martin

It turns out we won’t have travel dates until later in the week now.
Offices in China are closed for Golden Week.

“Chinese National Day is celebrated on October 1st every year to commemorate the founding of People’s Republic of China. On that day, lots of large-scaled activities are held nationwide. Besides, the 7-day holiday from Oct. 1st to 7th is called “Golden Week”, during which more and more Chinese people go traveling around the country.”

Enjoying the small moments over here, trusting in his timing.

p.s.
The deadline for contributing to our matching grant from Lifesong for Orphans is this coming Sunday, October 9.  One more week to Tag the Bag!

We have news!
We have received our
Travel Approval
or
TA!

This is the next step on the road to China!
We will hopefully have travel dates to share with you in the next few days…
but I can tell you, we are almost there!

We also received our passports back today via FedEx…
with Chinese Visas inside!!

P.S.
We have raised 75% of our $3,000 goal at mySTORY!
Thank you so, so much to everyone who has contributed!
We have been Tagging the Bag with many wonderful and special names!
That leaves a little under $800 left to raise toward our matching grant.
We have a few days left to do this to be able to realize the
full $3,000 that Lifesong is willing to bless us with.