Psalm 68:4-5  "Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him-his name is the LORD. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling."

Our Why

People ask all the time why are we adopting?  Why China not America (as if there is a difference of a child)!  How much does it cost?  How long do you have to wait?  Oh I couldn't take a child into my home!  Oh I am too old!  (LOL, as I am approaching 50 I have to laugh at that one).  The how, why, what, where, keeps people stuck and instead of doing, they block that dream and settle!  Settle for LESS than they are meant to be!!!  When you know you just KNOW!  We are doing this because we are compelled to (Aka God). There are many orphans in this world who need a mom and dad.  And God is in the business of giving them families, if we will only just LISTEN!

We are doing this because we can (in Christ's strength, not ours)!

Yes, there are many other things we can do that would be much easier on us. We could spend more time and money on ourselves and still feel empty. We can do short term mission trips with the intent of easing our conscience and longing for something greater. We could keep gong to church on Sunday mornings convinced that when Jesus told us to take up our cross and follow him, he meant sitting in a pew at church.

But life is not about arriving at death safely. Life is about giving it all. It is about saying thanks to our God who gave us all by giving everything we can for the good of his kingdom.  It is about furthering God's kingdom and being HIS hands and feet!

We will find room for our soon-to-be daughter in our lives. We will find room for her in our home.
We have already found room for her in our hearts and love her so much already it hurts!!
We choose this for ourselves because we CHOOSE LOVE, and we are going to let God fill in the rest.

AND!!!!!  If we don’t do this, then who?

Just do it!  Step out in whatever you are called to do and let God.... let God..... nothings better!!

(Note: Some of the words were borrowed from a friends blog because I loved the way he said it!)

Romans 8:37.... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Nancy

Sing to the LORD! Give Praises to the LORD! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.” Jeremiah 20:13

An open letter to my daughter, Ari -

June 11, 2012

Dear Ari:

How can you have such an effect on me? We've never met.

I can tell you that, emotionally, I have to distance myself from the distance between us. Otherwise, it overwhelms me. To know my baby is in China hurts me physically.

I can barely talk to people about you and your sister (heck, I can barely talk about your brothers still) without getting so emotional that I can't speak.

I have bonded to you through the few little precious pictures we have. And the few precious words we have that describe who you are and what you do during the day. You should see your mom and I poring over and analyzing every word on every report about you. We did the same thing for your sister. It must be pretty funny to watch!

In my mind I try to fill in the blanks of those reports and letters and wonder, "What is Ari doing right now? Is she playing, or helping around the kitchen? Is she sitting at the dinner table? Is her foster mom trying to describe what will be happening to her in less than two months? Does she know what a month is? Does she realize her family-to-come will be forever?" Uh oh. It's getting hard for me to see what I'm typing... Silly daddy. ...tears and such. You will learn that Gugino fathers are very emotional. Your Grandpa Gugino was like that and his dad before him. I will tell you plenty about those guys and other family members from New York. Yes, like you, I was born far away from California.
I will continue to pray that God will bring a peace to you now and when we meet and for the rest of your life regarding the transition into our family. I pray for a peace that only He can bring. I pray that you would have a peace so substantial that it would confound others from the outside, to bring glory to only Him and not to us.

Well, as we gather paperwork, check items off our all of your Mommy's lists and prepare to meet you, we are filled with anticipation. Your sister is SO excited to have you in the family. You will make great sisters. I just know it! You're brothers are excited too. We all can't hardly wait until Gotcha Day!

I love you Ari! I can't wait to make you giggle! It's what I do best!

Love Daddy.

From Anna

Dear Ari,
I can't wait until I see your cute little chubby cheeks and I love you so much!
I can't wait to have my little baby sister because she is going to be really good like you are.
I can't wait to play games with you!  You're going to learn so much, I can't wait until you meet me.

Love, your big sister Anna!!!