TOGETHER, for Jia!

It's time to resurrect the ol' hosting blog!  As you all know, we are hosting an orphan again this Christmas, but it will be different from our hosting experience in 2012  We are going with a different agency called  Project 143, we are hosting a 7 year old boy (vs. a 15 year old girl) and we are hosting from China vs. Ukraine!  We are really excited, the funds have been raised, the domestic flights have been booked, the training is complete, and now...we wait for December 16th!

I just have to give the biggest shout out to God.  He has done GREAT things through some awesome people.  To start with, as mentioned above, the hosting fees (3K) and the plane tickets (2K) have all been covered.  We are STILL in awe, and are so grateful to the 33 people who financially made this possible. 

But, it doesn't stop there!!!  Like I have mentioned before:  Orphan care has many faces!  We were told by our hosting coordinator that professional photos are CRUCIAL.  Cut and pasted from one of her emails:
"-Get really great photos! I cannot stress this enough, I really, really can't. Photos CHANGE a child's future. A child with amazing photos will be chosen over a child with old, out of date or unflattering photos. I personally always prioritize some hosting time spent on capturing great photos. I'd almost prioritize this over dental work! An interested family isn't going to ask about cavities, but they are going to look at the child's photos."

I put out the need, and boom.  My precious friend Kim, who just happens to be a professional photographer (and adopted herself!) is on it. 

The same pediatric dentist who treated Alyona is going to treat Jia, pro bono. 

My friend Vickie, who is insanely talented and crafty is making him a Christmas stocking to match the ones our kiddos have.  She did the same for Alyona.

Kristen is knitting him a winter hat, because it's what she loves to do.

Our friends Jon and Tama are picking us up from O'Hare, putting us up for the night in their home, and then returning us to the airport the next day.  Then, they'll do it all again when we return him in January.

A generous friend owns a restaurant and said, "Bring that boy in, and dinner's on me!"

Jia speaks Mandarin.  We don't.  Along comes Emma, ready and willing to translate for us.  (phew!)

My point is this: TOGETHER, we are giving Jia hope!!! 

My "camera equipment" is my iPhone. 

I can't clean Jia's teeth or fill his cavities. 

I can't sew or knit. 

We couldn't afford $5,000 for the hosting fees and domestic travel (not to mention a Chicago hotel) 

Cooking the first couple of days he's here?  Not gonna happen.

Our Mandarin is a little rusty (haha), but we'll need to speak to our boy.

What our family DOES have is a willingness to do the paperwork, the training, the traveling, and the loving.  We can't wait to show him, for the FIRST TIME IN HIS LIFE what it looks like and feels like to be part of a family.  We are so ready to love on him with reckless abandon, knowing there will be challenges, but ready just the same. 

Do you see how this is a TEAM EFFORT??  A foot doesn't do what an ear does, and an eye doesn't do what an elbow does.  But together??  We make a body that works so perfectly together!  TOGETHER for Jia!!