Thank you to all of our family and friends for all the prayers, love and support through our long wait for Anna’s referral. We love you and can’t wait to share this new season in our lives with you!
Ken, Sharon, Andrew and Anna
Please email us.........
For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I
asked of Him. So I have also dedicated her to the Lord; as long as she lives she is
dedicated to the Lord.
I Samuel 1: 27 - 28
The Story About Us.......
We believe that there are no coincidences in life, only a carefully orchestrated plan that God has for each and every one of us. When the Lord placed this adoption on our hearts we were living in a “season” or time of contentment. We had just recovered from a personal tragedy involving our son and felt stronger than ever emotionally and spiritually. We had long since accepted the fact that we would not be able to conceive a child together and were happily living with the fact that Drew would be our only child.
There is a time for everything,
And a season for every activity under heaven:
A time to be born and a time to die,
A time to plant and a time to uproot,
A time to kill and a time to heal,
A time to tear down and a time to build,
A time to weep and a time to laugh,
A time to mourn and a time to dance,
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
A time to embrace and a time to refrain,
A time to search and a time to give up,
A time to keep and a time to throw away,
A time to tear and a time to mend,
A time to be silent and a time to speak,
A time to love and a time to hate,
A time for war and a time for peace.
He has made everything beautiful
In its time. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8,11
Mom & Dad waiting to bring Anna home!
“It’s possible to be so committed to preserving what’s good
from the past and enjoying what’s good in the present-
that we’re blind to , or resistant to what God has for us next.”
Unknown Author
Grandma & Grandpa Harp waiting in Mississippi
Mickey & Samantha resting before the new addition to the family
“Whoever welcomes one of these children
In my name welcomes me;
And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me
But the One who sent me.” Mark 9:37
He agreed to go to an adoption seminar. After the seminar, I knew in my heart that this is what God was calling us to do but knew I had to step back and let God’s perfect will work on Ken. It wasn’t going to be my job to convince him. We put all the information away for a few months and didn’t talk about it anymore.
Anna's room, fit for a princess!
“We often get trapped in “seasons of contentment” and
do not want to leave because we are so comfortable there.
When God calls us to another season we often miss the signs because of this contentment. Therefore we miss moving
on to the next level of blessings he has for our lives.
The problem is this “contentment” we feel will eventually
lead to “discontentment” if we don’t let ourselves move on.
When this happens the opportunities that God has put before us
might have already passed us by.” Pastor Wilkes, COR
For the next two months God started sending Ken signs too numerous to tell. On December 25th, Christmas day 2004 he wrote me a heartfelt letter that stated “I cannot ignore the signs anymore, God is now speaking to me, there is a little girl waiting for us in China, it’s time to start preparing for her to come home!” Ever since we answered His call and stopped “being afraid” our lives have been nothing but blessed. People keep commenting what a “lucky” little girl Anna is going to be to have us for parents, but we feel we are the “lucky” ones!
It is time for a new season in our lives and we are embracing it with open arms. We are so thankful God has made it all possible for us.
“The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.” Psalm 126:3
We were so “content” in our current season, we almost missed the biggest blessing of our lives! Our story goes like this. . . . . In 2004 a co-worker named Cindy (I call her my “messenger from God”) started talking about wanting to adopt a baby from China. I thought that was really nice and encouraged her dream. Then things started happening. I work in a clinic type setting and patients started coming in to my office that had adopted from China. (Never before had I met anyone who had adopted from China.) Each time I would go and get Cindy and tell her to come in and talk with the patient. After several of these incidences I started getting this over-whelming feeling that I was the one God was bringing these people to share their stories with. I came home one night after another “eventful” day and shared this feeling with Ken. “Honey I think God is calling us to adopt a child from China”. This was probably one of the most unusual statements I have ever made, considering during all the years of infertility we never discussed adoption as an option. He was very happy how things were, our marriage was great, financially we were solid and we both loved our careers. Why would we want to disrupt our lives at this time? Drew would be graduating from college soon and we would be free to do what ever we wanted. He thought it would be a feeling that would eventually “pass”.
Grandma Fischer and Andrew, the new graduate!
"When a child is born, invisible red threads extend from the child's spirit and
connect to all the significant people who will be part of the child's life. As the
child grows, the threads shorten, drawing closer those people who are destined
to be together." An Ancient Chinese Belief
Ken, Sharon, & Uncle Zhou (EAC China Coordinator) at the EAC
annual zoo picnic, May 27th, 2006. Our wedding anniversary and right
after we received Anna's referral!
