Introducing ..... Andrew Nathanael!

Children are a gift from the Lord;

they are a reward from him.  Psalm 127:3 (NLT)

Near the end of April, Lois and I started looking through Lifeline's list of waiting children; open to however God might lead.  At the very top of the list was the above picture of this precious little boy - Lois and I were both drawn to him so we called Lifeline and put a hold on his file so we could find out more about him and start praying.  We read through his file and consulted with several medical professionals including a visiting physician in my research group at Emory - who is only here for a few months from China!  She was a tremendous help in reading through his Chinese medical reports and interpreting them for us (God is good!).  After the consults, and spending time in prayer, we really felt at peace in moving forward with adopting this little boy.  So, on Friday afternoon, May 6th, we submitted a LOI (that's adoptionese for Letter of Intent) to the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs.  Miraculously, they responded 3 days later with our PA (Pre-Approval) to adopt him!

And so, without further ado, we would like to introduce you to Andrew Nathanael Cooke!  At this point, our agency has requested that we not reveal his Chinese name or location until after we receive our LOA (Letter of Acceptance - probably sometime this Fall).  So, the most we can tell you is that he is 3 months younger than Hannah and he lives in one of the provinces that Lois lived in while she was in China.

The picture above is the first picture we saw of Andrew, here are a few more:

As you may have noticed, like Hannah, Andrew has a cleft lip that was repaired in China (and it looks like they did an excellent job).  Unlike Hannah, Andrew also has a cleft palate, which means he will need surgery at some point after coming home.

The information we have on him says that he is energetic, likes outdoor activities and likes playing with toys.  His favorite toy is a car.  He gets along well with others, but is a little timid. One update, made when he was 11 months old, said, "He is an outcome, restless boy, fond of music and watching TV, very lovely." We think that means that he is outgoing, energetic, and lovable :>)  We also have two recent videos of him, and he appears to be all boy: running, jumping, playing, rolling in the grass.  We also saw a gentler side of him as he played with a baby and his caretaker.

Because he will be older when we bring him home, he may have a harder time adjusting to his new life; so, we would ask that you begin to pray now for his adjustment when he comes home. When will that be? We are hoping to travel in December, but our agency doesn't want us to be disappointed if we don't get to travel until the beginning of the year. Of course, we would like to travel sooner than later, but we know that all of the details are in God's hands. He knew Andrew when He knit him. He was with him when he was born and has been with him every day of his life. He will be with him until we go to get him and everyday after we bring him home.

As I (Lois) went to mail our care package to him last Saturday, the song, "While I'm Waiting" came on the radio. Here we are waiting again, but we know that we are waiting on God and His timing which is always perfect. I don't know John Waller personally, but I would like to thank him for writing that song. It has encouraged us many times.

Here are some things that we are praying while we wait. We would be honored to have you join us in praying for our son if God leads you.

• Andrew’s safety and provision while we wait for travel.
• Patience while we wait to travel.
• Blessings for him, his caretakers, and the other children.
• His adjustment when we finally are able to go and get him.
• Our adjustment as a family.
• Hannah’s adjustment to no longer being an only child.
• Wisdom concerning the details of travel since we are planning to take Hannah with us.

Thanks for following along as we take this amazing journey to our son!