Hello Everyone-

First few days in China. sightseeing and anxiously awaiting our "Gotcha Day".

Our first "tubby". Gracie loves bath time!

After "tubby time" Gracie and Dad watch a few cartoons. The little kid and the big kid!

We had a busy day getting paperwork signed and getting one step closer to making her legally ours. I love rocking her and having her fall asleep in my arms. What and angel!!!!

Getting ready for our first sight seeing day! She had a great time and is such a  character!

Her daddy decided to introduce her to McDonald's..Her first fast food!  She LOVES french fries!!!!

We are so glad to share with you the newest pics of our precious baby girl, Gracie Lou Weeks. We are home and loving every minute of being with her and bonding with her. She is a love, an absolute joy and we are so crazy about her.......It is funny, many have asked if the love I have for her is the same as it is with my boys. While I have an incredible crazy love for my boys, I have the same love and and then some for her. Its a love in knowing that I have been so amazingly blessed by the Lord because of our obedience in doing what He called us to do five years ago. It is hard to explain how deep my love for this precious little girl is. We thought that we were simply being obedient to God's plan years ago and our obedience has produced a even greater blessing for us. So many thought we were crazy because our boys were almost grown and we were hitting our 40's. There were times we thought we had lost our minds as well. However, we were certain that God had told us to do this so we had to be obedient. Now we see that He wanted to blessed us in a way that we would have never fathom. WOW! what a journey it has been and we can't wait to see how God uses this precious life to glorify Him. We will have the video completed soon so you can see our adoption journey and the "gotcha day". That is the day we actually met Gracie for the first time. From the minute we met, she has taken to us and loved us as much as we love her. It was like she was always with us. She loves music like Drew, she is smart like Dustin, she's a "ham" like her mommy, and a deep thinker like her daddy.....If you haven't met her yet, I can't wait for you to.. You will fall in love with her as we have and your life will be changed because you will see the love of the Lord all over her little face. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us as we have walked through this journey. We love you and appreciate your prayers and your friendship.
Enjoy the pics. Video coming soon!

Love ya!
Ginger

China Here We Come!

I can't believe this week has finally arrived! God is amazing and perfect in His timing! We leave on Thursday to begin our journey in getting sweet Gracie..... We will arrive in Bejing, China on Friday March 25th, do some sight seeing Saturday and Sunday, then Monday March 28th is our "Gotcha Day"......This is the day we meet Gracie for the first time!!! Wow! I can't believe it is finally here.  We will blog each day so you will know where we are, what is going on with us and so you can see our beautiful daughter.... Please keep us in your prayers as we meet her and bond with her. This is often a very traumatic and difficult adjustment for children coming from the orphanage as they leave all they have known. We know God is preparing her little heart even now to quickly bond with us and feel the incredible love we already have for her......We are so thankful for your prayers, the sweet cards we have received this week and for your friendship. We are so blessed to have so many sweet friends and family who have been an incredible source of encouragement as we walk through this new season of our lives. Love ya'll and can't wait to introduce you to Gracie Lou Weeks! See you soon!

Blessings,
Ginger

Travel Time for China Just around the corner!

Sweet friends and family-

I am beyond excited to tell you that we are cleared and approved for adoption in China! We receive the last approval item yesterday and are now waiting for our exact travel date. From what we were told of our agency yesterday, it looks like our departure date will be March 3rd. I cant believe we are actually so close to bringing this precious baby girl home where she will be loved beyond what she could ever fathom and see how much God loves her. As I was processing the incredible news yesterday, I could not move past how much God loves us so..... He saved us with His amazing and indescribable love. This little girl is going to know the love of two parents and brothers who love her, but more than that, she will know the depth of her Heavenly Father's love......
I have been studying Colossians 3 this week and was moved to uncontrollable tears this morning as I thought about how much God loves us. Do we really fathom how deep the love is that He has for us? I don't think we do. If we did, it would cause us to be on our faces more and give praise constantly for the understanding of what we have been saved from..... WOW!!!! Our churches would be full, our hands would be lifted in pure uncontainable praise and genuine worship. We wouldn't have to say we are Christians, it would be evident and it would be contagious. The world would be so hungry to have the love that we have been so wonderfully blessed with........I cant wait to teach this precious little gift called "Gracie" about this love that is far greater than the love we have for her. I am humbled and grateful for the calling and assignment God has entrusted us with......
Thank you all for your past and continued prayers as we make final arrangements for travel and finally bring her home....We are confident that God is at work to provide the last portions we need to go and are so appreciative to all of you who have blessed us with your precious gifts........ God is AMAZING!  He is all we ever will need and greater than we will fully understand....Love ya'll and am grateful for you.

Blessings,
Ginger

      

 

God is perfect in His timing.

Hi everyone!
I hope you are enjoying a blessed week and gearing up for a wonderful Christmas. I wish I were writing you from a hotel in China and showing you many precious pictures of sweet Gracie. However, in the perfection of Gods timing, this is not the case. Though we are sad not to have her here for Christmas, we are certain that Gods timing and wisdom is perfect and will wait and trust Him for our travel dates. We are hopeful that we will travel mid to end of January so please continue to pray for us as we remain patient in waiting on the time that we will travel. Thank you again to so many who have blessed us in ways we would have never expected. It is so incredible to see how God has worked out so many details and we know He is faithful to complete what He has begun.... The preciousness of friends and kindness of total strangers has touched our hearts. Gracie is already one blessed little girl by the love of so many that she's not yet met...
God is good and great and perfect! We can't wait to share the blessing of her arrival with you all.
Love ya!
Ginger

Gracie at the Orphanage in her stroller

Outside facilities at Social Welfare Orphanage in Po yang Providence

New Pictures have arrived! Gracie is growing and now at 17 lbs..... We are getting closer to travel time and so excited that we will see her soon. The last several weeks have been so amazing and God has moved in ways that we could not think of or fathom. When we received our referral, we were more than $17k shy of what was needed to complete the process. God has prompted hearts of people that we never expected and so many have blessed us by their generous, giving hearts. We have so many stories of ways we have been blessed during this process. We have literally been down to the week we needed Gods provision to get documents mailed and gone to the mailbox to find exactly what was needed. From friends coming up to us at church (one family particularly that is in the adoption process as well and blessed us with a portion of their fundraiser proceeds, what an incredibly selfless gesture) to receiving a knock at our door to have a precious friend bring us an envelope that provided for the next set of fees. It is so precious to see Gods moving and hand in providing every detail and portion of what we have needed. I was at a work function one Saturday night in Dallas where a sweet, dear friend handed me a check for $1000 and said "I have been meaning to give this to you to help with Gracie". She had no idea how God used her to provide right at the time we needed the funds to apply for our immigration papers and send for Gracie's Visa..... Though we are still about $5k away from our final financial need, we are certain and confident that God has it worked out already. We are so excited and can't wait to see what He does to show His mightiness and sovereignty.  I have loved telling the stories of His love and provision for Gracie to those who do not know Him. They can't help but be amazed and in wonder of the faith I have in my Father. God is great, He is mighty and He is faithful. He loves Gracie so much and desires for her to be raised in an environment that will teach her about Him. We cannot wait for the blessed opportunity and honor in doing just that. Thank you sweet friends for your continued prayers, for the many who have helped us financially and for your continued encouragement. We are so thankful for you and pray God's incredible blessing on you. We love ya'll! 
The Weeks

I Samuel 1:27

"For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him."

Praise the Lord!!!! Our sweet baby girl is finally on her way! We are so excited and blessed to announce that we will be traveling at the end of December to bring Gracie Lou Weeks home. We received the referral Wednesday afternoon and her precious pictures yesterday. Gracie is very tiny for her age (about 15 lbs now) so we are eager to get home and "fatten" her up with some North Texas Home Cookin' (or at least some gourmet baby food!) Thank you so much to everyone who has walked with us through this and faithfully prayed for Gracie's arrival. Please continue to pray as we trust the Lord for the remaining finances needed to complete our journey. We have some large financial obstacles this week that only God can provide. However, we are trusting Him and know He is faithful to complete what He has begun. You all are such a blessing and we can't wait to share in our joy of bringing her home. Have a blessed weekend! Love you! The Weeks Family
Robert, Ginger, Drew, Dustin and Gracie

Gracie Update

I cant believe the day is almost here! We are literally days away from getting our referral and traveling to pick up our precious daughter! In talking to our case worker with America World Adoption today, she anticipates we will receive the referral tomorrow or early next week. China had a holiday this week (Wed.-Fri.) so they are not certain when they will arrive this week or next. We are reminded that Gods timing is always perfect and HE knows what is best. Thanks to everyone who has been so faithful to pray for us during this time. Please continue to pray for His provision financially as we prepare to travel. Can I just say................Yippppppppeeeeeeee! God is good!
Blessings,
Ginger