A New Name

 Romans 16:1-2  I commend to you our sister Phoebe....... , that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you.......


On May 17th, 1998, a beautiful baby girl was born.  No one came to her birth.  There were no flowers sent, no pink packages.  The phone did not ring with voices of congratulations on the other end. No pink wreath was hung on the door.  She did not have a nursery with a closet full of pink little clothes.  There were no tears of joy shed for her that day.....only tears of sorrow.  When she was 2 days old, instead of being carried down the hall and placed in a white bassinet with pink ribbons, this little girl was carried to the gates of a health facility and laid on the ground.  There, under the cover of night, she was abandoned.  At 2 days old, she began the life of an orphan.  She became unloved, unwanted, and undesired.  For the next 13 years and eleven months she lived with other orphans in a run-down (to put it lightly), orphanage.  She was cold at times and hungry at times. She was never held for hours on end, gazing in another's eyes.  She had no one to tell her she was special or wonderful.  No one told her "good job!" No one told her she could do anything she set her mind to.  No one to give her hugs or tell her that they loved her.  No one tucked her in at night.  No one came running to her side when she woke up crying in the middle of the night from a nightmare.  No one told her she was smart or beautiful.  No one picked her up when she fell and scraped her knee.

On May 17 of 2012, this little girl would turn 14 and age out of a very broken system and remain an orphan for the rest of her life.  You see, once a child turns 14 in China, they can no longer be adopted. I can only imagine the destiny that awaited her.

But, on April 9th, 2012, just one month and 8 days before her 14th birthday,  her destiny changed.  On that day, she became my daughter! She was given a new name and a new life!  In an instant, she went from unloved, undesired and unwanted to loved and cherished and wanted.  From poverty to abundance in the blink of an eye.  She will no longer be called orphan.  Instead, she is called, " daughter, sister, grandaughter, neice, cousin, best friend!"  She is Phoebe FuBing Yarbrough.  She is smart and loveable.  She is funny and kind.  She is loud and goofy.  She is wonderful.  She is mine on loan from a gracious God that gives amazing gifts!!  Her life and her story are a beautiful reflection of the God that gave her life.  May she forever live her life in a manner that honors Him and brings Him glory!

That is my beautiful Phoebe Fu!!!  She is strong and determined.  She tries so hard at everything she attempts.  She is gaining confidence every day.

If you want to read about how we came to love her through watermelon, scroll down and read the very first post from 2012.  No one will ever be able to convince me this child was not ordained to be part of our family.  God's hand was all over her adoption!

God Bless,
Amanda

Eden

First of all, I want you to know that I am not a blogger!!  I am going to try to write at least 2-3 times a week.  I looked back and read stories from China and about cried because I had forgotten them.  I wonder how many more blessing and stories I have forgotten about my girls?  Hopefully this will help me remember all I am blessed with and document little things along the way.

I thought I should tell you a bit about my family.  I want to spotlight my littlest one today.  Eden is 5 and WONDERFUL!!  She is such a delight to be around.  She is smart and ridiculously funny!!  She probably keeps Jesus, God, and Holy Spirit in a belly roll for the most of the day.  She loves to sing and clap her hands to any song.  She will pick out the rhythm and rock out!

Here is our first posed family picture.  It is at her orphanage.  She is pointing at the door as if to say" Hey, get me out of here!"

Eden was a "waiting child" meaning she had a special need.  She had cleft lip and palate and a growth and developmental delay.  She became a Yarbrough at 17 months.  She weighed a whopping 14lbs and was 21 inches.  She was on a bottle and wanted to be fed every 4 hours (that included night time too!!!)  

The last 4 years have seen so much change.  She has had so many obstacles to overcome.  

When Eden came to us she was diagnosed with a severe sensory integration disorder.  She would not play with toys and constantly tapped.  After her 3rd birthday, her tapping turned into head slamming and hitting (punching) her head and her personallity just left.  We sought help, but no one could help her stop.  It was heart breaking to watch.  We bought her 2 safety helmets and I made some padded gloves.  Those made her very happy and kept her safe.  The helmet and gloves caused her many problems as you can imagine since she could not use her hands and her face mask impairs some of her vision, but we had to protect her.  In November of 2012, a friend of ours got us an appointment at Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt to see a psychiatrist that specialized in adopted children.  What a blessing this doctor was to our family.  She helped Eden in ways no one had been able to.  Two days after we started "Play" therapy (which I thought was a joke and almost laughed in the doctors face when she told me what we were going to do),  Eden's langage improved three fold.  She was talking, she was playing, and for the first time in my life, I experienced the sound of a child's pitter-pattering feet running down the hall to find me!!!! (She had always just sat and waited for me, she never came to find me).  Play therapy was what we needed.  This wonderful doctor taught me how to talk to and handle Eden differently and Eden responded beautifully! This summer, we found some ear peices for her safety helmet and attached them.  We were able to take her gloves off and she could not beat her ears anymore with this new addition!!!!  She started using her hands.  Now she touches everything.  She colors, does bars at gymnastics, she climbs kid climbing walls, and she feeds herself sometimes!!!  We have started pre-K homeschool and she is doing great! This little girl is nothing short of a miracle and amazing!  I have claimed and will continue to claim that God did not create Eden to beat herself in the head.  God had big plans in store for her!  If you think of Eden during your day, please say a prayer for her.  Please pray that God will continue to be glorified in her life.  Pray that He will continue to use her story to bring other childen to forever homes.  Pray that God will grant me the wisdom I need to help her.

I thank my Jesus in advance for the miracle and healing He will continue to provide for her!

Here are a few pics of her, some in her helmet and gloves.  You can only imagine the comments and stares we get when we go out!  Sometimes it is down right funny!!!  

Hope you enjoyed a snip-it of my little bit!  Next time you get to meet her big sister, which, she is ablsolutey CRAZY about!

God bless!

Amanda

  

Ok.  It has been over a year since my last post.  Let me say that a lot has happened.  It has been a hard, wonderful, confusing, beautiful, heartbreaking, heart warming, blessed year.  I cannot say enough about my wonderful family.  I have the most amazing husband.  We will celebrate 15 years of marriage the end of this month.  I thank my God for blessing me with him.  Phoebe turned 15 in May, just one month after we celebrated our one year "Gotcha Day"!  What a difference a year and love make in a kid (and a momma).  Eden turned 5 in April and we will celebrate our 4 year "Gotcha Day" in September with her!!!

Last November, Brandon showed me a picture of a little girl from Phoebe's orphanage. (If you remember, that is how Phoebe's adoption began!) Anyway..... I believe I said, " You are crazy!, Quit looking at those pictures!" Things with the Yarbrough children were not going as planned. Momma could not handle one more thing.  God has a beautiful way of waiting for us to stop depending on ourselves and steps in and lets us fall in His strong arms.  That is just what He did.

About two months later, we found ourselves heading to Children's Hospital in Nashville every week for 4 months for Eden to see a Psychiatrist, and Phoebe started 6th grade in public school.  Over those 4 months I began to see amazing changes in both girls.  This summer has resulted in an unbreakable bond between my girls.  A year ago they would not have anything to do with each other, now you cannot keep them apart!!!! They are truly sisters!

You may be wondering why I am posting after being "gone" for so long.  Remember the picture of the little girl that Brandon showed me last Novemeber???  Well, I finally looked at her in June.  What I saw melted my heart.  She looks so much like my Phoebe Fu (Praise God!! She already has a wonderful family chasing after her!!!).  God used that little girl to soften my heart and help me remember that I am not called to be comfortable, and sit on my comfy couch, with my comfy slippers and warm cup of coffee.  I am called to be courageous!!  I am called to love the unloved.  I am called to travel around the world to love with no guarantee of being loved back.  I am called to children that God knew in their mother's womb but wove in every fiber of my being.  I am called to be an Adoptive Mom!!!!

I want to share the following with you with reserve.  I have been struggling with something this go-a-round.  God is showing me that my fear in sharing is pride and He must peal me like an onion.  I am struggling with the fear of funding this adoption.  Had we stayed in the healthy program 5 years ago, we would just now be getting Eden.  God's plan is perfect and instead of getting our first child, we are going after our 3rd and possibly our 4th , in just 5 years!!!  With that said.....Adoption is expensive and hard.  This time we as a family must ask for help.  I know God said "Go".  I know since He said "Go", He will provide.  He knows the exact amount we need.  Eden's adoption was about $28,000 and Phoebe's was about $38,000.  We are estimating the expenses of  this one to be in the 40s.  We need help.
WHEW!!!  There, I said it.  Yes it was as hard as I thought it would be.  I worry about what people will say. But then, I have to be more concerned with what my Lord will say if I don't listen to Him.  I am beginning to believe that He is calling people to help us.  If we don't ask, they have no idea what God is talking about.  Or maybe, if we don't ask for help, we are robbing someone of the joy of being part of a God story of an orphan getting a forever home.

We started the paper chase about a month ago and we are almost finished!!!!  We cannot wait to see who God has in store to be part of our family.

We need the funding, but we also need your prayers.  Adoption is "Beauty for Ashes" and it is hard.  It is a "road less traveled" and a place where you are not understood, and often alone.  BUT!!!!!! I believe with all my heart that ADOPTION is a reflection of God and His unconditional, indescribable, crazy, amazing love and grace!!!!!!  If you are His child, you too are ADOPTED!!!

If you would like to help us, you can donate through our adoption agency's web site at the following link.  In the NOTES section, be sure to type "Eternal Family Program"  and "Brandon and Amanda Yarbrough".  Thank you for your support.  My God bless you and your family!

                                                 CLICK ON LINK TO DONATE
                                           https://www.awaa.org/forms/payment.aspx
                 
                                                           

We thank God in advance for what He will do.  May He forever be glorified through our family.