Many of you have heard us talk about our friends,
Matt and Mandi Yager. Mandi traveled with Chad to China to adopt Mylee from the same orphanage as Ava. They live in the same city as we do and our kids get together to play sometimes. Many of you have also heard that they are in the process to adopt Drew, a 4-year-old little boy from China with multiple special needs.
Well, not many of you have heard this exciting news: Matt and Mandi heard about another need and are stepping out in faith to answer it. They heard about a 13-year-old boy in China who needs a family NOW, before he ages out of the system. When orphans age out of the system in China, they are no longer eligible for adoption, but are left to fend for themselves. We don't like to think about what happens to these "older orphans," but Matt and Mandi CHOSE to think about it and CHOSE to do something about it. That's right; they have decided to bring home this boy along with Drew. China is granting them permission to adopt 2 children at once and are expediting the paperwork to get this done.
The Yagers have a 13-year-old boy already who was the catalyst behind all this. He has always wanted a brother his age and even came up with ideas to get his parents on board (for example, telling them that he'd give up football camp if his parents would use the money to adopt instead). His parents used to say "No way will we adopt a boy that age! It's too scary, too risky; he'd have too many scars, too much baggage." That was before God got a hold of their hearts and revealed His plans for their family. Is it still scary? Yes. Risky? Probably. Crazy? Most definitely. Sometimes love is just like that and sometimes following God's plan sure looks that way. To the Yagers though, they do not have a choice. To them, to NOT follow God's call is the riskier and scarier road to be on. They know this is going to be hard and are not going into this decision naively. But they are choosing LOVE anyway. Amazing? For sure!
Mandi has set up a
fund-raising blog to help raise money for the boys' adoption expenses. Please go visit and see what's there. Also, if you are local, please come to the benefit dinner that we (other local Nanjing moms) are holding for the Yagers this Saturday. If you didn't get an email about the dinner, please let me know and I'll get you the details.
In Him,
Tara
It's hard to believe that I took this first picture just one month ago!
Spring is finally here, so the kids have been outside a lot.
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