We are on the Billy Graham Christmas Special

We were asked in August by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association to be part of their Christmas special that they do each year. We said yes with a big smile. From the beginning we have asked God to bring many people to Himself through this adoption and our daughter as we point to Jesus. The special has already aired in Atlanta but will air in other GA cities and all over the USA this week and month. You can check here for local listings.

They mention our story, show a small clip and point you to their web-site where there is a web-exclusive video of us.

Here is the Web-exclusive.

Today is Sophie's Birthday

We love our little Sophie so much. We rejoice in her life! God has blessed us so much in such a little bundle of awesomeness!! We will have some pictures later, snowed in or not.

She loves saying DUCK! a DUCK! even as I post this she is laughing as she says it. She is also acting like she is typing on the table.

BOOKS?

Today's blog is a question.

Please click on the comment tab under this entry and give us your advice.

What is your faviorite children's book? Maybe it is one that you remember from childhood or just being with kids. For you parents, what books have your children really loved and learned from?

Please comment.

"In Love He Predestined Us For Adoption"

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Last night in our Middle School student service we introduced Sophie to the students. Sophie just kind-of looked at all 75 of them wondering what was going on. I told the students not to clap and be loud and they were very sensitive with Sophie. The service was more of a Show and Tell service. I showed them, introduced them to Sophie and then told them about our journey to get her. Sherry and Sophie went back home after the introduction. They were glued to the projector screens as I showed them each video. I concluded with a challenge and encourgagement from Ephesians 1:3-6(quoted above)

God came and got us through Jesus!! Our journey has showed me so much more about the plans, love, power, and goodness of God.

ZZZZZZZ...there, I think I caught them all.

Sophie Mei Lewis 1.6-7.2008

Sophie slept through the night, with the exception of a 5 min. see mommy and daddy break. She is getting back on track, but as you can see in the pictures she fell asleep at dinner. How rude, just when I was trying to explain to her the difference between sanctification and propitiation. Some of our friends came over tonight and brought us some yummy dinner....thank you! We had a great visit and play time. Sophie is now beginning to crawl and I love watching her figure it out. She did a great floor crossing for us and you would think that she just won a gold medal in the Olympics by the way we all got so excited and clapped....maybe she will one day...maybe I will...maybe I would break every bone in my body. Today I went back to work and it was good. We had a pleasant staff meeting and then I spent the rest of the day catching up with Kevin and then Jerrell in some one on one time. It is great seeing young men love Jesus and desire Him. I did however miss being with Sophie and Sherry all day.

New Friends, Heaven and Jesus

Sophie Mei Lewis 1.4-6.2008

Click on the picture of Brooks and Sophie to see more pictures.

Today we made our first church visit. Sherry took Sophie by to meet the ladies in Sherry's SS class, they have been so encouraging and involved with us...thank you. Sophie was very sleepy, so was I, she decided that it would be a good idea to play all night instead of sleep. She is still on China time. As I did my normal rounds to the student SS classes Sophie went with me. It was so much fun to see her just taking in the students...and Phil Wrye...instant friends.

Today in church Don Piper, author of 90 Minutes in Heaven spoke, and will do so again in the night service tonight at 6:30. It was encouraging to see the power of prayer and the need to tell our friends about Jesus. The only thing I would add to thoughts and reality of Heaven, according to the Word, is the greatest part of all....that is where Jesus is, that is where God is. Our identity and joy is wrapped in Who we are united with, Jesus, a fruit of that union is the destination, a glorious Heaven that Don so richly experienced and shared.

Doctors Visit

Sophie Mei Lewis 1.4.2008

I was going to get Sherry to write about the visit to the doctor today, but she is knocked out on the couch. Sophie decided to play through the night and mommy and Sophie both are now sleeping like babies. Sophie checked out very well today with the doctor. Everything is great. She liked the doctor and did not like the shots. Man, that was hard seeing her take a finger prick, a skin test needle, and four shots of vaccines in the legs. What a trooper! We were going to let her eat a Big Mac for lunch but she fell asleep in the carseat about a min. away from the doctor's office. Just kidding about the Big Mac...Whoppers only. Notice that in the pictures there is Lamb Chops. This has been a little joke ever since Sherry Marechale became Sherry Lewis. Remember Lamb Chops?? One of the families actually called Sophie Lamb Chop while we were there.

Mela-Whatin?

Sophie Mei Lewis 1.3.2008

Yesterday we needed to get out of the house to get our "melatonin straitened out" so we we could know that we were in the USA and not China. Sounded smart but...we are all still pretty mixed up with our sleeping schedules. I took the week off so I really don't mind, I actually like helping Sophie to get back to sleep. Pray that God would give us good rest and a more "normal" schedule.

This morning we will be having our first doctor's visit in the USA. Sophie has been thinking about being a doctor or taste taster, I think she is training more in tasting everything, I will keep you posted about her career choices.

Please pray for my mom and dad (Pat and Jerry Lewis). My dad has Shingles and it may last a few weeks or more. Mom was coming down to visit again, they saw us at the airport, but we all listened to Sophie's doctor and put that on pause. It hurt my heart for my mom, dad and even my sister's family, her family was "exposed" to it too. My sister used the words "God is Sovereign" about three times on the phone with me. I think it was to comfort all of us. Pray that my dad would recover fast and not be in to much pain. Pray that God would help them to wait just a little longer.

Sovereign. In the time of the puritans, this was a name that was frequently used in referring to God. Not just "God you are Sovereign", but it was used as a name. What aspects of God do I ascribe to God when I am talking with Him? In our culture today it would be more of the names like...Giver, Provider, Helper, Sustainer...these are all right and good and we can never seek to diminish these names of God, but what about the names...Wisdom, Judge, Justifier, Sovereign, Leader, King, Sanctifier, Propitiator, Knowledge, Life, Love, Long Sufferer,....and on and on. It is good to be reminded that I don't know much about he greater plans of God...I think my head would explode about second 2. He is Wise and Good. He is Sovereign and in that Kingship works with ultimate authority causing "all things to work together for the good, for those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose".

It is good to have a place to think out my faith and even have others be encouraged, be encouragers, or even criticisers....don't know of any but hey....you know we do it.

When Love Takes You In, EVERYTHING Changes

Here is a video that was posted on godtube by someone. The song is by Steven Curtis Chapman.

"Everything changes" is one of the lines of the song and it is so true, not just for Sophie, but for us, our family, and friends. My family now has new DNA, literally and metaphorically. Sherry and I are no longer the same family that we were just a month ago, yes much is the same, but that much is now touched and involved by a new member of us. Much of adoption is often focused on how the child's life is changed, and that is sooo true and good. But, having Sophie in our lives has been such a blessing and privilege. She is teaching us in new ways about the love, peace, discipline, persistence, hope, faithfulness, glory, and the sovereignty of God. There are pictures that God paints in His word about being a father and caregiver, but there is a breakdown between me and God. He does it perfectly and relies on no one. I do it imperfectly and realize more than ever how much I am dependant on God, family, and friends. I can give, love, encourage and do many things like God, but not completely like Him. That is the beauty of God in me as the Holy Spirit accompanied by His Word...He longs to love Sophie through me and with me. What a relief, what a burden bearer He is, what hope that gives me. I really do exhale when I think about His desire for Sophie...It is so much larger than mine...I CANNOT fathom that. So I breath and I welcome the changes He has made in my life for the magnification of His nature. He longs for me to trust in Him. So a part of my self dependence has been exposed and crushed, maybe a painful change, but a good one. Pride in me will constantly need a chisel and hammer in the hands of Jesus. Always needing to see the "I have been crucified with Christ" aspect of the faith leads to freedom, obedience and joy.

Pray that we would all get back to a good sleeping schedule. Sophie decided to play thourgh the night. Her clock will soon change.

He has brought Sophie into my family for many reasons but today I am thankful for His purpose in changing me and helping me to rely upon Him and the body of Christ.

Successful Bathtime

Sophie Mei 01.01.08

Thank you so much for all of the suggestions on bathtime. Yesterday was our first successful bathtime with no tears. Sophie's cousin, Isabelle, gave her a bathtime Cabbage Patch doll named Quinton. We started off by sitting Sophie on the edge of the sink, fully dressed, while I gave Quinton a bath. She slowly started playing in the water with her feet. I filled the other side of the sink with warm, soapy water and let her put her feet in there. It was a good thing I wasn't on a time schedule. I took off layers of clothing little at a time and finally slid her in. She whimpered for 1/2 a second but then resumed playing in the water. I thought this was such good progress that I didn't wash her hair. Then, today she had so much banana wiped through her hair I decided I would take the plunge. But as you can see she was all smiles with a sudsy mohawk. The tears and screams came when I tried to rinse her hair. She doesn't want even one drop of water to touch her face or eyes. I know this will get better with time. The time of day was better too. I'm going to continue giving baths in the daytime for now and we'll move to nighttime later. Thanks so much for your suggestions. This blog thing is way too cool. Don't be surprised if I post many questions for you.

The other pictures were from the Rocker girls coming to visit. Mary Elle has been dying to see Sophie. Everytime I have seen Mary Elle for the last two years (on atleast a monthly basis) we have the same short conversation the second she sees me, "Where is Baby Sophie?", "She's in China.", "Why?", "Because that's where she lives right now?" "Why?" "Because that's where she was born.". "Why?" "Because that's where God wanted her to be born." "Well, go get her." "I will.", "Go get her now." ..... That conversation always made me smile. Mary Elle was also adopted and her intense interest in my bringing Sophie home was beautiful to me. It meant something more deeply to her than the other kids her age in our family. I know that was from the Lord. When I say intense, I mean intense. The day we got our referral picture on the computer she and her mom came over and I thought she was going to run over her mom to get through our door. She ran through the door yelling, "Where is she? Where is Baby Sophie?" She was a little disappointed when she found out it was just a picture. She did the same thing when she walked in the door today, "Where is Baby Sophie?" She came around the corner, saw Sophie and let out the biggest, "Awwwwwww." She started asking her, "Did you come from China?" Sophie proceeded to tell her all about our flight home. :-) I was unable to get that initial meeting on video. I'm not as quick as Marc is.

I'm not sure if many people are still reading our blog now that we're home but its pretty therapeutic for us. Right now its 12:15 am and Marc and Sophie are asleep. I'm hoping both will sleep through the night.

Airport Greeting...Wow!!! (Pictures)

Sophie Mei Lewis 12.28.2007 ATL. Greeting

Seeing our family at the end of the tunnel from the plane to the terminal and bringing to them the newest member of the Lewis family was priceless, getting out to the baggage claim area and seeing so many friends and family was so encouraging, thrilling, unbelievable and filling. All of your prayers, posts, e-mails, facebook wallings, messages, words, silence, and involvement over these weeks has been unmistakeably AWESOME. We are indeed created for community. Well, Sophie was awakened by the new year fire crackers and is still awake. Mommy is sleepy so I get to have Sophie and couch time as she falls back to sleep. Happy New Year!

Trip Home and Homecoming

Sophie Mei Lewis 12.28-30.2007

click on the picture to view more pictures.

We will have some pictures soon of the welcome party at the airport.

Getting Back on Time

We will have some pictures up later today from the last day of travel and the past two days. We are trying to get back to Georgia time and it seems like Sherry and Sophie are doing pretty good. I am not doing so well at it. I think today is the day that I will turn it around and get back on schedule. We are loving being at home and spending time with family. Sherry's family has been over and we are now, as I blog, at mom and dad Marechale's house having Christmas. My side of the family will be coming down on the 2nd and Sophie can't wait!!

We do appreciate your patience with us and allowing us to have family and adjustment time. Sophie is doing so good and will probably "go public" soon.

Please pray for her bath time. She doesn't seem to like water much and crys. When we get her out she is fine and smiles. Any suggestions on how to help her with bath time? Just click on the comment tab below and let us know. For now we are just thinking that she will soon love it. We love you and look forward to fellowshipping with you soon!

Georgia, it is like an old sweet song...

We are home! It has been over 33 hours of traveling and we are just now trying to eat, get cleaned up and attempt sleeping. Thank you for all your prayers. Sophie did so good!!!! She only really cried a couple of times and those were all explainable.

1. We tried to prepare the bottle in front of her on the plane.
2. Hour 28 after landing in ATL as we taxied on the runway she cried for about 30seconds.
3. Riding in her first car seat. She had a fit after she realized(I think) that she was in a car seat and then was good to go.

Wow, what a greeting Sophie had at the airport!!! Thanks to all who came and welcomed her home. Salem Students are some of the best students in the world.

We will keep you posted on how things are. Please continue to pray for Sophie and all the girls that now have a family and a home. Pray for the orphans of the world.

Good Night China

Sophie Mei Lewis 12.27.2007

Tonight is our last night in China, Lord willing. We will be leaving in the AM to begin our travels back to Georgia. We will arrive in ATL around 9:00PM Friday night. We are so ready to be home. China has been great. Our time her has been and will be one of the greatest times of our lives. But, it's time to go home, so I rejoice. My girls are ready to be home. Pray for us as we travel. Pray that Sophie would have a great time and sleep well. Pray that we would take care of each other and be full of His strength. Pray for all the families and babies as we travel. We love you and will post once we get home Friday night to let you know all is well.

Oh yeah, Sophie and Zoie (the little baby she pushed over yesterday) have made up. They held hands in the lobby of the hotel today. Sophie has had a great day filled with food, naps, walks, visas and laughs.

See you soon.

Ready to Come Home

Sophie Mei Lewis 12.26.2007

We have two more nights in China(counting tonight) and we are ready to get home. I think Sophie is ready too. When I think about all the changes she has been through it breaks my heart and helps me to be patient when she is obstinate and fussy. Just think about it, she was placed on the steps of a government building the day after she was born, spent a week in the orphanage, spent 10+ months in a foster home in a village, was put in the arms of two crazy in love white people (us) and then has stayed in two different hotels, eating in too many places, shopping, walking, pooping etc. Needless to say she has been through a lot. We are ready to get home and begin some normalcy in family and function. Today she pushed over another baby (see pictures), cried at the top of her lungs as she got her bath...that top gets higher every few days, chose to fuss over dinner and fought going to sleep. We pushed her past her limits today as we were out too long. I don't like to see my baby cry...Sophie too. haha, no Sherry is doing great. Really though, we have been showing you all the cute and fun pictures, but as you know none of us are good, no not even one. Sophie knows how to cry to get what she wants and for now that's what we give her. I am so thankful for my mom and dad and those of you who helped to shape me as I was a baby, child, teen, and then a man. Please pray for the next few days as we wrap things up here and get home. And please, keep praying for us as we begin to adjust to one another back home. Man, she is so precious. You are going to just love talking with her. She loves her mommy and I am pretty sure she loves me too. I believe she knows we are hers. That reminds me of the song "I am my beloveds and He is mine". We are made for relationships, for love, for belonging. Christ made a way for us and drew us into the family of God. That process was full of heart and mind change, of identity change. It was a time of trust, a time to let go our our will and grasp onto His. For some it was less painful. Well, Sophie is going through much change. Please pray that God would supernaturally help Sophie to see that we want the best for her, that she would trust us and relax and begin to know that we are here to stay, that we will never abandon her or leave her(outside of death itself).

Love your children today, your friends today, your family today, your siblings, your people, your enemies....love people...it's more powerful than we know.

Christmas Day in China (Video)

click on the area above twice to view the video. We hope you have had a great Christmas day. We did.

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.

Psalm 50:2

God has indeed done this for His great fame and our undeserved good through Jesus. Thank You Jesus for coming and giving us life in You.

Merry Christmas From China (pictures)

Sophie Mei Lewis Christmas Day in China

Merry Christmas everyone. We are missing you today, but are at peace. We started out our Christmas day going to a tea house for some...well...tea. It was pretty neat seeing how they get the tea ready. It is an art. There is a picture I have on here of a very expensive tea pot, check it out and let me know if you want one or two.

We made it back to the Hotel in time for some formula and a nap. I (Marc) went out for a walk today as the girls napped. It was great weather and I didn't take the camera, sorry. I probably would have just taken pictures of cars and bikes and fish heads anyways, that's what I was feeling. I like how they drive in Asia, offensive driving. They drive like running backs...know where they are going and do everything not to get hit. We drive in the states so worried about where everyone else is going and not going. They just get there...pretty exciting.

In the later afternoon we went over the hotel next to us for some Christmas pictures in Sophie's Christmas dress. She looks so beautiful.

After the pictures we went to dinner with a bunch of folks and had an Arabia Nights Christmas. Some of the folks were reminded of the movie A Christmas Story when they went out for dinner at the Chinese restaurant for duck. It was actually very good.

Sherry is wearing her mother daughter pendant that I gave them today or whatever you call it and Sophie played with the box hers came in. She will wear it when she is older...not the box. It has two parts one in English and the other in Chinese. I trust that it says "mother daughter" and not something like "eat more chicken". I that would be kind of cool, but not really, if you think about it...that we be pretty stupid.

We had a good read through Luke's account of the Christmas story. Sophie was so into the first few sentences and then she was out like a light. I love the story of my Savior! My redeemer. The one who made it possible for me to be adopted into God's family.

Merry Christmas!
Marc, Sherry, and Sophie Mei

A video should be up in a couple of hours.

Winter Wonderland, Dancing and a Fish Head????

We love ya'll. Have a very Merry Christmas Eve.

Click on the picture to view some pictures and videos.

Sophie Mei Lewis 12.23-24.2007

Our first day out in Guangzhou

Sophie Mei Lewis 12.23.2007

Well, right now I'm (Sherry) in Starbucks. When I left Sophie was playing with Marc, winding down for bedtime. They have had some good one on one time today. After our outing to the museum and park, we came back to the hotel, had lunch and then I had two hours worth of paperwork to do. One parent from each family had to meet with the director and his wife to do paperwork, Marc volunteered me. It was so funny to see all of the women in that meeting. It was mostly the moms who prepared the paperwork through the process, evidence of the passion of a women pursuing her child. After that gruelling process, we got ready for dinner and ate with most of the families at the Japanese restaurant. Tomorrow morning all of the babies will have a physical exam as part of the application for an American visa. After that we will go shopping together as a group. Then, the next day is Christmas!!!! We have a free day to celebrate however we want. Marc is trying to put together some sort of small Christmas service for everyone.

In case any of you wondered, Marc is an incredible Daddy. I'm not sure if we've ever told eachother we loved eachother so many times in such a short period of time. I think there is a very good possibility she could turn out to be a Daddy's girl. He is such a natural at loving, thinking for, and taking care of her. And, of course, he can make her laugh at the drop of a hat. Speaking of laughing, if you'll notice Marc is playing hackey sack with some people in the pictures. He just walked up to these older people (very impressed with the 50+ year old ladies playing)and asked if he could play with them, they were thrilled. We are both really enjoying our time here in China, we're ready to be home to introduce little Sophie Mei to everyone but this time has been so special and refreshing. Sophie is doing really well too. The very first night we had her she was a little shy and would even jerk her head away from us when we tried to talk to her. But as you can see from the pictures and video she is quite affectionate and personable. She is eating better and better. She is probably the smallest baby in our group. She was 11 months old last week but she isn't even thinking about crawling yet. We're working on that right now. In her referral it was noted that she was "obstinate". Some people told us that they will put the same thing in everyone's referral so we didn't think a whole lot about this description. We've since learned that she is, indeed, obstinate at times. She knows how to scream when she doesn't like something or if you're not moving quickly enough. She's learning to give kisses though, and that makes up for any screaming that's done. Kisses for Mommy and Daddy make everything better.

Well, for those of you who know me, its way past my bedtime, 10:08 pm, and my eyes are beginning to cross. I am hoping that staying up this late will help me sleep past 4:30 am tomorrow. We will be sure to send you Christmas pictures. Everyone have a wonderful Christmas eve tomoorrow.

Love you,
Sherry