Thanksgiving

I used to approach Thanksgiving with great anticipation and excitement, after all I love to eat.  But two years ago, just 4 days after Thanksgiving my father died unexpectedly from a heart attack.  It is difficult to see Thanksgiving the same way ever again.  I still enjoy the ability to come together with family and spend time together, but it is just not the same.  But this year I have even a stronger burden on my heart.  I am burdened for my little girl who is in China waiting on us to come and get her.  I just wish we could fast forward to that day we get to embrace her for the first time.

I am excited to announce that we are almost done with the dossier part of the process and then we have to pay a processing fee.  The only part left will be the matching with our little girl.  We still have a large chunk of change to raise for the remainder of the process, but we are trusting God to provide.

We are still selling squares on the canvas that was mentioned in the previous blog.  Please pray and ask what you can do to help us bring “baby Asia” home.  We cannot do it alone.

 
Give thanks with a grateful heart this holiday season and tell your family you love them while you still can.

Forever Family

永久的家庭 (Mandarin)

हमेशा परिवार (Hindi)

milele familia (Swahili)

No matter which language it is in, it all revolves around the premise of FAMILY.  In our daily lives, as hectic as they are we take for granted that we have family to rely on.  Think about it, you have two kids who have events that are scheduled at the same time; we have someone in our family that can help us out.  When the holidays roll around we have family to spend them with, even if it is a crazy ordeal.  No matter what is going on, we have that place or family identity where we belong.  But there are so many who do not have that comfort, or even understand the concept of family.  Sure, they understand the concept of a caregiver but how much love can that caregiver actually display to these little ones.  The caregiver’s roll is to make sure the little ones are ok.  They may feed them and change diapers, but to pick up a crying baby and comfort them may not be an option.  I remember when Belle was just a few days old and how just by the simple touch of her mother or I would calm her down and let her know that someone was there for her.  It just breaks my heart to think of all of the babies who have to comfort themselves in their crib because the number of them is far more than that of the caregivers in the orphanage.

I am slowly trying to teach myself, with the help of a language program, some basic Mandarin. I am amazed at how each symbol or combination of symbols brings words to life and gives it deeper meaning.  For instance, the above combination of symbols is just one version of how “Forever Family” can be translated in Mandarin.  I had a foreign exchange student last year from China write it out for me and he explained this version to me, and that is why my wife and I use this one.  The combination of the last three symbols simply means “the family.” There were four other ways you could combine symbols to represent forever, but my student specifically showed me this one saying it meant “eternal or permanent.”  I was instantly hooked because although I know that adoption means that they will become part of our family in an earthly realm, the reality is that through Christ they will have the opportunity to be a part of our family for all eternity

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So, what now?  Here where we are:

• We are sending off our I-800A (homeland security/immigration) paper work this week
• We are about ¾ finished with our dossier
• We need about $2,000 to pay for our dossier processing
• We need to raise more funds for the actual adoption process as well

Here is where you have the opportunity to help us in bringing our little “baby Asia” (nickname until the real name reveal) home.

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• We are giving away a new laptop computer.  You can buy a chance to win for $20.  You can donate here on our blog, through our PayPal account, through standard mail, or in person.  We will have tickets and for those of you who are not local to us, we will write your name on the ticket for you.  We will have a drawing around the end of November to determine the winner.  If we do not have enough people purchase tickets, we will draw for a cash prize for the winner.

• We are creating a painted canvas to put in “baby Asia’s” bedroom.  We need your help to fill the canvas.  You can “paint a square” for a $10 donation.  You can either put a small message in the square or choose among the colors listed below, or both.  You also get to choose the location of the message/color.  We will regularly post pictures to Facebook and here on the blog so you can track the progress.  This will be a way to show and explain to “baby Asia” as she gets older just how many people were involved in bringing her home.

That is all for now.  Please keep us in your prayers through this process.  It is daunting and nerve racking.

The Satchers

UPDATE!!

First, I want to apologize for taking so long to update you on what has been going on with the adoption.  So, here is a big update and news you may want to be aware of.

Since the last blog our Home Study has been formally accepted by Holt and approved.  We are in the waiting stage for a match as we are in the process of completing our dossier.  We are also in the process of getting our I-800A filled out and approved.  Once both of these are completed, then we wait to see who we are matched with. 

As you can imagine, there are many expenses that come along with this process and we have been selling many items to help fill in the gaps of our funding.  My wife has been busy painting canvases for teachers and other people who have placed orders for them.  And we have been trying to find other creative ways to help us raise the funds needed.

So, later this week (Oct. 3) I will post additional information about some new fundraisers we are going to be doing.  One of them will be a raffle for a brand new laptop. If you are interested, come back and read how to get involved in this process.  We can also accept donations at any time, just click the donate button on the blog and you can donate by debit card to our PayPal account.  We are grateful for your continued support and prayers as this process unfolds before us.

The Satchers

It's the little things

On July 3, http://chc4thevoiceless.blogspot.com/ was called “Entitled to a family vacation?”  As I read it just a few minutes ago, my heart began to break and my eyes got misty.  As Al began to mention how there are things we take for granted that orphans probably never get to experience.  Let’s start with the basics:  a toilet, running water, soap, shampoo, TV, climate control, food and the list of material things could go on and on. 

 Lynleigh probably never attended a Tea Party at the orphanage or had cheese dip and chips.

 

What about goodnight hugs and kisses?  I cannot even stand the thought of Belle in a bed in an orphanage without my “nite-nite loves.”  How about you?  What if it was your child deprived of something so simple yet so incredible.  Then my thoughts shifted to our little girl in waiting.  Right now she could be lying in a crib, covered in filth and rocking herself to sleep.  She has never heard the words “I love you.”  She has probably never felt the warmth of a hug to calm her down.  She longs for the very thing that the orphanage workers cannot give her, but I can.  I am so ready to pick her up and tell her that I love her.  It is crazy to think that I am completely in love and have never even seen this little one yet.  My heart is already there, I am ready for reality to catch up.

A lot has happened since the last blog.  We have completed our home study on our end.  Now we wait for our social worker to finalize the paperwork so that we can move forward with this.  April and I are always in discussions about the adoption and look around and notice small bits of encouragement along the way.  A few weeks ago we were bombarded with encounters of families that had adopted Asian kids.  It was as if everywhere we went, we saw them.  I always want to go up to them and talk, but struggle with how to start the conversation.  Well, while in Jackson for our home study appointment we were having supper at P.F. Chang’s (how appropriate, I know) and a family came in that had a little Asian boy.  Well, we just could not stand it anymore and my wife went over to the table and started talking with the mother.  It was an encouraging “chance meeting” and we ended up leaving with her contact information for any questions we may have.  Out of character for April, but she really seemed to connect with this lady.

I close with this.  We are about to enter the long process of the dossier.  Please pray for us as we meticulously go through the paper work and make sure that we “cross the t’s and dot the lower case j’s.”  Also, please pray for our little girl in waiting.  And pray for Belle, every day she asks if we are going to get her today.

Don’t take the little things in life for granted!!  Thanks Al for the reminder.

You can view my new Blog post at 4thevoiceless.  Just click the link to the right.  I will update this coming weekend.  Big things ahead.

Reflections on my father's legacy

Pardon my randomness, but it is my dad's birthday and this was on my mind.

Today I was thinking about my little girls, Belle and her little sister. I was thinking ahead and about the legacy I will leave behind through them. See, today is my dad’s birthday. It has been 18 months since his death and I look at my life and the legacy he left behind. Regardless of our differences at times, my father taught me a lot about life. He was the same man in the good times and the bad times. I saw him on the mountaintop, and I saw him a broken man in the valley. And through it all, he was still my father and he took care of our family and lead us the best he could. He was not a talkative man, but when you needed advice he was there. When you needed help, he was there. When you reached a milestone, he was there. When you failed, he was there, sometimes with a word of encouragement or an “I told you so” but that was just his way. My dad was a great man. I see the legacy he left behind in me and just hope that I can be there for my daughters and wife like he was for his.

As we are going through this process, it is eye-opening and heart wrenching. As I think about the 147 million children worldwide without a family, it just rips me apart inside. I want to be a champion of adoption and adoption awareness. I want to be able to expose people to the reality of orphans. I want to leave a legacy for my children, as well as the students that come through the door of my classroom, that will cause them to consider how they can be a voice for the voiceless. I shared a video on here a few weeks ago call “Depraved Indifference” and it had to do with just that. If you did not see it, go to my archives or to YouTube and watch the video. It will open your eyes.

Please continue to pray for us as we are trekking along on this adoption journey. We are currently in the middle of our home study (financial paperwork, physicals, etc.). Continue to pray for our little girl who is waiting on us as well as her mother.

Hurry up and wait...

Monday April 9, we attended our informational/intake home study meeting in Jackson. It was a little overwhelming to sit down with our Social Worker and discuss what all will be accomplished during this process as well as the cost involved. It was what we expected, but due to new regulations implemented by China, the post home-placements have almost doubled. And this of course adds to the total bill. We would like to thank everyone who purchased some flip-flops, we are grateful for your kindness and support.

Enough about funds…

April and I have been excited over the past few weeks. We have decided on and purchased the bedding for “baby Asia” and we have also decided on a name. NO! I am not revealing that just yet. We will reveal that as the time draws closer. April and I have decided to start a prayer journal for both Belle and “baby Asia” to record our thoughts and specific prayers for them through this process. I think it will be a neat experience for both of them to receive these journals later in life to look back on our hearts during this process. I think it will be very special to “baby Asia” to see that we were praying for her and longing for her even before she was born or a part of our family. I want her to truly understand that we are choosing her as our own.

Belle continues to try and process the concept about having a little sister. Her BFF Aubrey just got a little sister, so we relate it to that. Her little mind thinks that she is getting Aubrey as her little sister. She is excited about a little sister, at least right now.
There really is not much to report currently, so I will update as things start moving again.

PROGRESS REPORT:

Home study has begun.

Prayer request:
Pray for Baby Asia, we do not know her yet but pray for God to prepare us and her as we look to give her a forever family.

Paperwork process.

Belle and us as we grow as a family through this process.

Pray for our friends the Beesons as they are waiting to be matched. They are adopting from Uganda.

Pray for the Belks. They are also in process of adopting from China.

Thanks for reading,

Myke and April

Taking a step of YES!

A lot has happened since our last blog, so here we go.

It always amazes me that when you take a step of yes, how God will confirm that step.  When April and I began this journey we knew that it would be an act of faith.  We did not, however, realize how it would be a faith building experience (this is only the second month of the process).  So, here is what happened.  As we got our home study application I filled it out quickly in hopes of a fast turnaround.  One thing I overlooked in the application was the need for birth certificates on both of us.  Neither one of us have a copy of our birth certificates so we contacted our parents in hopes they had a copy.  I decided to go ahead and order a few copies of our birth certificates that night; it was around 11:30 pm on Wednesday (3-14).  The next day we both received a pdf version of our birth certificates that I printed off in hopes of getting in the mail by Friday at the latest.

Well, we also needed individual pictures to include in our application.  On Friday we took the pictures and I went to Walmart to quick print them.  All four quick print machines were broken, and I did not want to wait an hour so I went to Walgreens.  The only option they had was one hour, and they were backed up because their machine was acting up.  I went ahead and let them print my pictures and just resigned to the fact that my application would not get in the mail until Saturday.  As I arrived back home, a little bummed out, there was a knock on my door.  I went to the door and it was UPS.  I stood there a little speechless, and looked at April and said, “No way!”  She said, “What?”  I said, “There is no way that this is our official copies of our birth certificates.”  But, as I opened it, I realized that these were in fact our official birth certificates.  Now, the reason I was surprised is because I had ordered them just the other night with the estimated turnaround time of 7-10 business days.  I was overwhelmed and excited that we could send off our home study application with official copies of our birth certificates and now there would not be the chance of any delays.

Needless to say, we are excited about moving forward in the process.  We are even more excited because one of our co-workers and friends are going through this process as well.  In fact, we are actually going to Jackson together because our home study process begins at the same time.  They are also adopting from China.  It is neat to have someone at work who understands what we are going through as we are going through it.

As you know, we are engaged in many fundraisers to help offset the cost of international adoption.  As the home study is approaching, there are going to be some costs involved.  The next blog will consist of our fundraisers that we currently have going on.  We are selling T-shirts from adoptionbug.com, and Flip Flops.  I will post information about the Flip Flops and T-shirts in a couple of days.

PROGRESS REPORT:

All our paperwork for application has been approved by Holt and has been moved to the China division of the agency.  We have made contact with the home study agency in Jackson, MS.  We will begin the home study process on Monday, April 9.  Needless to say we are excited and nervous as we move into the home study.

Prayer request:

Pray for Baby Asia, we do not know her yet but pray for God to prepare us and her as we look to give her a forever family.

Paperwork process.

Belle and us as we grow as a family through this process.

Pray for our friends the Beesons as they are waiting to be matched.  They are adopting from Uganda.

Pray for the Belks.  They are the family I was referring to earlier who is also adopting from China.

Thanks for reading,

Myke and April

That's my Hudson!!

What does that mean?  Below you will find a video of Eric Ludy called Depraved Indifference.  Please watch it and listen to the powerful message it contains.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWHJ6-YhSYQ

As April and I were sitting in a meeting Thursday (2-23) night about the adoption process at CHC, this video was played to end the night.  All I can say is WOW!  The gut-wrenching thought of my 3 year old daughter sitting on the side of the road with nowhere to go, no food, and no one taking care of her kills me inside.  What would I do to protect her?  Anything I possibly could!!  That is now how I feel about adoption.  Some child is sitting there, unable to understand what is happening and they are being overlooked by society.  I want to be that person that cradles them and lets them know that it will be ok.  I want to be the one who shows them what it means to be loved and cared for.  Going through this process it has become evident that the orphans are often times overlooked by all of us.  We all think that someone else will take care of them.  But, we cannot sit back and let the voiceless remain silent.  We have to do our part.

Psalm 10:14 MSG says (emphasis mine);

But you know all about it-the contempt, the abuse. I dare to believe that the luckless will get lucky someday in you. You won't let them down: orphans won't be orphans forever.

Now, not everyone is called to adopt.  But I do believe that we, Christians, have a duty to reach out to the orphans and do whatever we can with the resources we have and help.  What does that look like?  Well, it is different for each one of you.  You have to decide what you can do to help the helpless.  At CHC we are about to kick-off an orphan ministry and we need people to step in and see what it is they can do to help with this tremendous need.

PROGRESS REPORT:

April and I are excited to announce that we have submitted our application for adoption to Holt International.  We are awaiting word from them about moving to the next step.  We are also about to schedule our home study.  I guess you can say that we are “paper pregnant!”

Prayer request:

Pray for Baby Asia, we do not know her yet but pray for God to prepare us and her as we look to give her a forever family.

Pray for the process, paperwork is tedious and time consuming so pray that I cross all my “t’s” and dot my lowercase “j’s”

Pray for the cost (financial).  Fundraisers will help offset this some.

Pray for Belle.  She seems excited about a baby sister, but she is 3 and doesn’t fully understand.

Thanks for reading,

Myke and April

And so it begins....

As we discussed the concept of adoption a little over a year ago, we were privileged enough to witness firsthand the adoption of Lynleigh Ren by the Pillstroms.  It is a blessing beyond words to see Lynleigh assimilate to her family.  It is also neat to see that the Pillstroms are now complete as a family.

I knew in my heart that I wanted another child, but I also was not willing to take the risk of biologically trying to father another child.  I am blessed to have Arabella and to see that her NF currently is not severe.  I do have some trepidation as to what the future may hold for her, but I have dealt with it my whole life and can help her through whatever may come.  Back to the original point, I have been looking at various websites that assist in the international adoption process as well as those that assist in domestic adoptions.  I have friends who have experience in both types of adoptions.

Since the death of my father (November 2010), shortly after starting this blog, the “adoption talk” had been put on hold.  But, just a few days ago the adoption bug bit me once again!!  April and I, and Belle, have talked and we have decided that it is now time.  We are officially beginning the process of an international adoption!!!  We are looking to narrow our choice down to which agency we will be going through, and which country we would like to adopt from.  We are excited about this process and we ask that you pray for us during this time.  We have a lot of questions that we would like answered and we need to hear a word from the Lord.

• ·     Pray for our child that has already been born or is about to be born  

• ·         Pray for our finances, God will provide

• ·         Pray for our guidance, that we use the right agency and select the right country

• ·         Pray for our potential agency that we will use

• ·         Pray for our paperwork stress and anxiety

• ·         Pray for us and Belle as we try and prepare our hearts and home to welcome in a new little girl

I ask that you participate with us in this process.  We would not be where we are today without you guys in our life.  If you are reading this, I am talking about you.  If you cared enough to read this, you obviously care for us.  Even if you are not spiritual or someone who prays, keep us in mind as we move this direction.  I will be posting some fundraiser information soon about some T-shirts that you can purchase online.  Everything is handled through their site and they will ship you the shirt you choose and we will receive a commission for each sale.

Thank you for joining with us in this!  April and I will keep you posted on the process and we love each and every one of you.