found

So this week has been like no other, in too many ways to count. We've learned some hard things with respect to families we love who are facing difficult circumstances, some are walking through fire, others are stepping into the unknown but are trusting in our great God to give them the answers. We all must continue to live with the consequences of the decisions we make, whether good or bad. And so often, we are convicted of our own sinfulness and other times, we hurt because of the sinfulness of people we love.

Personally, it's just  been an exhausting couple of weeks.

With that said, yet again, life has proven to be a distraction of sorts. I am always one or two thoughts away from our little prince. But because so much is going on in the day to day of my life right now, I am able to concentrate my energy in other places. Still, my prayers everyday are for his health, safety and quick journey home.

I blogged about this briefly the other day, but for journaling purposes...Last Tuesday {the 24th}, I decided to follow up on a lead I had gotten from a blog that I follow about families whose children have come from Henan. The organization for whom this blog is written does an amazing work and partners with people around the US to meet various needs there orphanages in Henan. I had emailed them a couple of weeks ago in hopes of connecting with someone who may know of a work being done in the little prince's city of Pingdingshan. I learned that many families are able to sponsor their own children for $40/month if they are in foster care! I couldn't believe it! The thought of being able to do this was so exciting to me. You are given periodic updates about the child you sponsor {hopefully your own!} and you know firsthand that you are making a difference right now in their lives and in the lives of those who care for him/her. I never heard back but decided instead to comment on the actual blog just in case.

I had a response within the hour! And this kind woman pointed me to the organization who actually handles the sponsorships. She also said that she knew they had donated some incubators to the little prince's city before. After going to that link, I found the picture from my previous post about our LID. The one from last Christmas where he was rockin' the pink coat!?! So I emailed that organization directly. Since I had found a picture of the little prince on their site, I knew that there must have been a work in progress there at some point. I was hopeful that this person would have some info for me.

On Wednesday, I had a reply. The lady who helps to organize the sponsorships emailed me back. She was very kind and told me that there were sponsorships there last year and that is why the picture with him was on the area of the website that included all Henan orphanages. But she mentioned that his foster facility is no longer being sponsored. They have no need of it right now. Well, yay for that. It's good to know they're being taken care of.

I had told her in my email that I didn't know the name of the foster facility or the name of the woman who ran it...only that she was a nurse and a believer in the Lord Jesus. As it turns out, this contact knew exactly who she was! And not only did she email me to confirm who she was, she sent me her name written in Chinese.

Do you know what this means?

Hel-ler.

Enter Google Tr@nslate. 


I copied and pasted her name right into Google and within seconds, had a website that featured her name. It was for another organization...this one, it seems, now supports the foster facility where he is. It is based in Ohio. I sent them an email asking about the foster facility and they responded with a link to a website in China.

And that's when it happened.

I found the little prince.

It is a blog {of sorts} that features his foster facility. Holy cats! I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that I was seeing him...37 new pictures in total. Some from when he was days old and others from the very day I was searching, April 25th.

Be still my heart.

And I couldn't fathom some of the things I was reading. Simply amazing.

This is getting too long with details...so I'll finish it up tomorrow! But sufficed to say, the Lord is good and has done incredible things in our little prince's life. Prepare to be blown away. :)