My little brother

Psalms 34:18- The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Sometimes things happen in life that we don’t understand. It seems like everything is going the way you want things to go and nothing possibly could go wrong. You here tragic stories that have happened to others but you think, that could never happen to me. I’m not sure why God allows tragic things to happen, or why he chooses the people he does to have them happen to, but I do know one thing, HE is in control and HE is the ultimate planner. Gods timing is always perfect, although we as humans aren’t always able to comprehend the things God does or the things He allows to happen, it is so comforting to know that we are His children and that He has far better plans for us than we can ever imagine. The last week has been a blur for us. Who knew one phone call could cause such pain, and confusion. Why God? Why us? And then I stop and I remember the verse I’ve learned growing up, Jeremiah 29:11- For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord….. And then I think why not us? Although we can’t wrap our minds around the fact that this is all part of Gods plan and this is what He has desired to happen, we feel peace knowing that He is with is and He is going to do things far greater than we could ever imagine. The Lord has blessed my family with a guardian angel, Campbell. Although we were never able to embrace him in our arms and tell him how much we loved him, I know that God has, and that is something far greater than he could ever receive here on earth. I never met my little brother, but I love him. Selfishly, I wish he was here to come home to me, to meet all my friends, to make me laugh, to annoy me, to bring around to show off his precious dimples, to be able to dress him like a little stud, to teach him to be like me (: but I know for a fact, that the place our Campbell is now is so much better than I could ever imagine. Painlessly, he runs around, being able to embrace his Father.  My little brother is happier than anyone here on earth could ever bare to imagine. Although I was never able to meet him, I am SO grateful that God has allowed be to be Campbell’s big sister. I can’t wait till the day when I get to meet him in heaven and tell him how much I love him, and there we can live careless and worry-free together in the presence of the Lord and all of His angels, there is no greater place imaginable. But until then, know that you are loved and missed, sweet boy. Rest in Peace my little brother, I’ll see you soon.

I just finished my painting of Campbell in art class (:

-Lynsey

his name.....

His chinese name is Li Zhi Cheng....I am not sure what he is called in China but I hope to find out soon....Campbell's (Cam's) first name is after Mike's mom's side of the family....Nonnie's parents were both in the field of medicine...her father was a pediatrician and her mother was a nurse...from what I understand they were philanthropic with their skills...helping those in need...the Campbell family is a midwestern farming family...James and Lynsey visited the Campbell farm when they were little and have fond memories of that trip...because of all the above we felt the name Campbell was appropriate for our little guy....His middle name is Wilson...Wilson is my 92 year old granny's maiden name...we pray he will have longevity and a zest for life like she does....Wilson is also my dad's middle name....I pray he will have wisdom and strength like my dad....we may also include one of his Chinese names but will wait on that decision after we find out more about him....his last Chinese name is actually Jillian's Chinese middle name...Li...so perhaps Li, not sure....we wanted his names to have meaning, significance and to be special...like him...

Introducing Campbell....

Here he is...our fourth child to be...Lord willing we will bring him home late summer...Mike and I started the adoption process in July in preparation for an adoption "if we felt called" to a certain child...at this point it was mainly "mechanics"...going through to motions to "maybe" adopt...we had our home study completed and at that point we would "wait"...working for an adoption agency I see many children on a daily basis that need homes...they are all special, wonderful and uniquely created...so many of these children were "possiblities" but we wanted it to "just happen" and to feel "right"....God led...sometimes it is hard to discern....God led or self led??  how will we know?....especially when there are so many faces, so many children, so much need...we could be convinced any of these children were "ours".......we actually explored several children but for one reason or another it didn't flow ...it didn't "just happen".....we "thought" we wanted a younger child, a boy, between the ages of 2-4....our agency (Lifeline Children's Services) recently received a list of older, harder to place children to advocate for and to try to find homes for...really, I didn't think of "our child" being on this list because the children were all older than 4....there was one boy on the list that I saw that I thought "looked interesting"....I looked at his file and found that we had a short video of him...the video was different from the picture...he was "real" not just  a photo...he was walking...smiling shyly...he had adorable dimples...after watching the video there were questions to the orphanage...phone calls to a doctor...and then....it "just happened"....even though he was 6...even though he has a severe heart condition....even though...even though....he had a look that was familiar for some reason....for those that knew James when he was this age and have seen a picture of Cam say he looks like an Asian James...ha....maybe that is why we were attracted to him...I'm not sure...but now in China in a stack of papers and files our name is attached to his and his name is attached to ours...kind of surreal as there is a child out there that is to be a part of our family.... he has already formed interests, likes, dislikes, fears, talents and we don't KNOW him...but, we feel confident he is ours...and we are thankful that looking back there was not really any effort on our part....or worry...or anxiety...or doubt...it just kind of happened...isn't that how God works?...somehow in the midst of our human-ness He takes over and things just happen....