Part 1: China

If you are just joining me in my How God Brought Us to Luke series, and thinking: Part ???? Please go to this page and start at the top. Trust me...it will all make more sense when you start there!

Really it all began before I was even born. You see, I believe God when He says in the Bible that He knew me before He formed me. That He knew every one of my days before even one of them came to be. That He has planned and ordained in advance of me doing them...good works for me to walk out.

So, He's always known.

He's always known, since before I was born that I would be Luke's mama.


He began revealing this plan to me more recently!!!

Even before we traveled to China to get Lily, Kevin & I sensed that we would be returning again. Returning to redeem another child of ours. But our thoughts were quite focused, appropriately on Lily.

Midway through our trip in China, the nudge that we would be adopting again returned. Twice other adoptive moms looked at me and said, "You're going to adopt again, aren't you?"

Guess it was written all over my face.

Then during Lily's medical check-up the Lord spoke to my heart.

While we were waiting for her turn to be examined and I was walking and rocking Lily all the while singing the modern version of "Great is Your Faithfulness" in her ear, when the Lord spoke several things to me, one of which was, "Mandy, you know you can't go back from here, don't you? I just want you to know."

Hmm. What do you mean, Lord?

To be honest, I don't know that I even know the half of what that word from the Lord means for me...but He has revealed some of it (as you've read in the last several posts!). I do know He stirred in me to be watching and waiting for His meaning.

That medical appointment was a pivotal moment in our adoption trip. It was the first time we had seen so many orphans-no-more with their forever families.


Seeing the hope represented in that scene is inexplicable. The pain of knowing how many more were left behind still rips at my gut and crushes my heart. It is a scene and a day I don't know I will ever forget.

By the time we boarded a plane for home, we knew. We knew we had another child in China.

In Him,