Hello, My Name is Lily Grace!

Mmm Mmm. Cheerios with an Audience!

Hello Everyone, My Name is Lily Grace and I'm With My Family Now. Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts. I will see you all very soon.

Love,

Lily Grace Xing Green

Look What the Lord Has Done

Look What the Lord Has Done!

Oh my! Lily Grace is the most beautiful little girl we have ever seen. All we can say is how beautiful she is. Look for yourself!

Green, Party of Four!!!

Twas the Night Before Gotcha Day

Gotcha Day is finally here!!!!!!! We are doing well here in Nanchang. Just woke up and got showers. Planning to go to breakfast as soon as Connie gets ready. Austin already had breakfast - he woke up early since he went to bed so early.

We're a little bit nervous, but alot more excited! Hopefully, pictures will come later.

The Children Were Nestled, All Snug in their Beds....While Visions of Lily Grace Danced in their Heads!!!!!

Chapter 2: Dotting the i's and Crossing the t's

Chapter 2: Dotting the I’s and Crossing the T’s and Then Boom!

I stand corrected (see Chapter 1). We actually traveled to Lifeline Children’s Services the week of Thanksgiving and met with Dustin Britt, so that would be late November of 2005. We had met with our Pastor at Isom's Chapel UMC concerning the adoption and had done much praying and listening to God’s guidance. So we wanted to discuss this with our Pastor to see what he thought about the idea. We had a really good meeting with our Pastor and he prayed with us about the adoption. Brother Eddie has been a great influence in our lives and so naturally, we wanted him in on this from the start. Austin really looks up to Brother Eddie and that’s really important to us as parents.

December 1st is the day we had our first meeting with Anna Pearson of Lifeline. We all agreed that Anna was one of the sweetest and most sincere ladies we have ever met. We also met Lauren, the administrative assistant at Lifeline who also was very sweet and very helpful. Anyway, Anna was assigned as our case specialist and we agreed to meet with her on December 1st, only a few days after our original meeting with Dustin – we were really serious about this and wanted to get the paperwork started right away. Patience, what patience, my child is waiting for me in China and I’ve gotta do something about it!! Anna just looked at us and smiled an all-knowing smile as we asked “Can we get this done by Christmas, we’re really in a hurry?” Oh boy, were we in for a surprise! Our interview with Anna that day lasted about an hour or so. Austin, who had come with us because we wanted him to feel a part of everything that happened, waited patiently in the lobby while Anna talked to all of us, then only Connie, then only me. Afterward, Anna said “OK, when do you want to do your individual interviews?” What, you mean there’s more? OK, OK, let’s schedule them for the week we’re off between Christmas and New Year’s? Well, there went getting this done by Christmas (reality is settling in for the long haul).



So we had additional interviews after that – actually, I think Anna came to our house while Jerry was on travel and did Connie’s interview and the home evaluation part of the study. Then Jerry went to Birmingham during the week of Christmas to do his interview. Of course, Austin went along too, because if Anna was going to interview Jerry and Connie, then it just wouldn’t do for her not to interview Austin. Of course as Austin walks back with Anna for his interview, he turns and says to his frightened parents “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything bad about you!” Anyway, with Jerry’s and Austin’s completed interviews, Anna turned to us and said “OK, when do we want to schedule the last interview?” What, I thought we were finished! OK, ok, let’s do it as soon as possible, how’s the week of New Years? Good, we’ll do it then. Anna, when we said by Christmas, you did understand that we meant 2005 didn’t you?

Meanwhile, we worked on paper work, financial data, employment data, health data, census data, irs data, the gross national product, ……. Just kidding, the process was really smooth. Lifeline made sure that it was and we owe them a debt of gratitude for that (I hope at this point that’s the only debt we owe them!). They couldn’t have selected a more appropriate name for the services that they provide. And if this is beginning to sound like an advertisement for Lifeline, that’s because it is. Except it’s not a paid advertisement, it’s an earned advertisement. We would choose them again in a heartbeat (cool connection)! They are definitely extending a “life line” to many children, both in the US and abroad.

We also knew there were other paperwork items to be worked on, but were not as time critical. Things like passport applications, visas, etc. So we put these off. If you’re starting this process today, go ahead and apply for your passports as soon as Lifeline (or your adoption agency) tells you to do so. There are sometimes difficulties getting this particular step completed. It’s most likely our own fault, but still do something about this one as soon as you can. We struggled with this one a lot. After many exasperating calls to Dept of Homeland Defense, we finally got our passports. Of course, by waiting and by making mistakes along the way, we wasted lots of money paying expediting fees and such. So please take our advice on this one. Same thing with fingerprints and CIS approvals. Do it as soon as you’re given the go ahead.

So one day, Connie gets a call from Lifeline and they tell her that the new “Special Needs” list is out and wondered if she’d be interested in looking at it. Boom! That was it. She looked and our little girl was there waiting. When Jerry came home from work that day, Connie announces that Lifeline has sent the Special Needs list and it has pictures. “Don’t show them to me, while I think about it.” Boom! How about this one Connie says as she holds an 8 x 10 glossy of our little girl. Wow, how can you look at a picture of a little girl and say No, let’s keep looking. The little biography that came along with the picture was funny and said that she liked music and wriggled her body when she heard music played. Being a musical family, that fit right in with us. It also said that when she talked, she moved hands a lot (much like Connie). It also said she was clever, although we’re not really sure what that meant. Connie contacted Lifeline immediately and said Please don’t let anyone else take our baby!” We did pray about it, but it was very clear to us that we had found Lily Grace. So that was it! Now we have a little girl, not just a collection of paperwork and the trail that goes with it.



Hello, my name is Lily Grace!

So God’s plan is falling right into place. We can choose to embrace it or run from it. No-brainer at this point! Where do we sign, can we skip the rest of the paperwork, when do we leave for China, who makes the travel arrangements, uh oh how much money do we need, ……So many questions and so little time to get answers.

Doing Well in Nanchang

Hello everyone. Just wanted to write to let you know we're doing very well. Everyone is in good health and great spirits. The Lord has blessed us beyond our imaginations. We will have so much to tell Lily Grace as she grows up. Tomorrow is Gotcha Day! It's so hard to believe. We were surprised by our guide, Sally, when we got here as she told us that we would pick up Lily Grace tomorrow. She says the director told her that Lily Grace sleeps well and is a good little girl! Austin is so excited that he went to bed around 6:30 pm just so tomorrow would hurry up and get here. I've got the cameras and camcorders ready for Granny and Memaw so we'll post pictures as soon as we can.

I went to the supermarket with Sally today and got some formula and rice cereal - at least that's what Sally said was in the packages! We'll see tomorrow if she likes it. They have more people working in the supermarket than there are customers, so any help you need, they provide immediately.


If you're keeping up with the weather and worried about our well being, we are fine for now. There has been an earthquake in southwest China that killed several and flooding in Nanning that killed over 500 people. We are in Nanchang, which is several hundred miles northeast of Nanning. However, we have a very good friend who is in Nanning right now. Please pray for her and her family. Her name is Leah and we don't know anything about her well being. We hope to meet up with her and her family in Guangzhou in a week.

Our weather in Nanchang is extremely hot and humid. Probably 100 to 105 and so humid that everything feels wet. Unfortunately, there is a typhoon heading toward southern Taiwan and then southeast China - right where we are! Please pray for our well being and the well being of the Chinese people in this area. I can tell that large amounts of rain would easily flood this city.

The river is right by our hotel and has several different kinds of vessels that go up and down it. Nanchang is a small city, only about 4.8 million people live here. When we told Sally that about 20,000 live in Athens, she couldn't stop laughing. Finally, she said well then you can adopt several little Chinese girls, right?

Austin wanted us to make sure everyone knows that we have a link to his blog on this site, Please visit and provide feedback to him. He really enjoys writing it and is wonderful about everything. God has really given us a special boy!

We will be posting tomorrow night after we've been able to spend some time with Lily Grace.

Till next time,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and now Lily Grace too!

A Day in Beijing Waiting for Lily Grace

Hello Everyone,

The internet seems to be functioning a little better now, so maybe the blogs will get unclogged! Today we spent the day just being tourists in Beijing. There are many things to see and do here in Beijing, but probably the thing we did most was see little Chinese girls and long to get to Nanchang to get Lily Grace! We're only a few hours away now from leaving Beijing for Nanchang and WE CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER! There are quite a few adoptive families staying in the same hotel as us, so it makes us wish the days would hurry up so we can get to Nanchang.



Austin and Yichi (Yichi was a great help in first getting to Beijing)









In the meantime, we whiled away the time by touring the Ming tombs, the Great Wall, the Jade Factory, the Crosney Factory (they make beautiful copper vases and paintings), and the Silk factory. We also had lunch at a local Chinese restaurant above the Crosney Factory - we actually did eat a few things. When they got a good luck at us, they brought out a tray of French fries! We will have many things to tell Lily Grace about her country. They are a very proud and very skilled people. For the most part, they are also very, very patient. More of them than we expected speak English, so communicating hasn't been that big of a deal. We had a wonderful tour guide today named Harry, yes I said Harry. Our driver was Mr. Lee. Mr. Lee didn't say much but was a very skilled driver - very important here in Beijing! Harry was funny and full of stories and legends about the Forbidden City, the Ming tombs, and the Great Wall.



Jerry, Connie, and Austin at the Great Wall





We are all just about over the jetlag from the trip over, but still tired. Haven't eaten that much, mostly breakfast. After breakfast tomorrow, we will leave for airport and Nanchang. It's getting closer and closer now.



An expert in chopsticks (ha ha) teaches how to use the utinsels!
Where's the ketchup?






Please keep praying for us,
With Much Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace

Wild Adventure in Beijing

Hello Everyone,

Sorry for the delays in posting. The internet is not working well at all, and the pictures will have to be posted lated as well as Chapter 2. Our first full day in Beijing was a very excititing day. We started off with breakfast and YES.....the Green family ate RICE! This is very big. Then we headed to Forbidden City that seemed like we were the only Amercians there and we suddenly became movie stars after that event (they we will not forget), we went to Tian'anmen Square. We have enjoyed all our sites. On our way back, we tried to get several cabs to get us back to the hotel and everyone kept passing us up. At one time we were movie stars and then another time we were nobody. We finally got one cab to pick us up, and we almost made it to our hotel and theh the cab driver got pulled over by the China Officer (could it be that we had 5 people instead of four). So we got out of the cab and my eyes were brigthen with the words McDonalds. The best meal yet. Tonight we went to the Acrobat Show that was unbelievable. Even though there were a couple of times that I kept falling asleep (still not use to the time). We came back to the hotel and had icecream that was so good. There were several beautiful babies around us and I kept thinking in just a few days that I will be a Mom to a beautiful little girl. God has blessed our entire family so much and we are so thankful for Him each day. We promised....pictuers will be coming.
Today, we are off to the Great Wall.

Love Jerry, Connie, Austin, Memaw, Granny and soon Lily Grace.

God Sent an Angel to Help Us

Hello from China! We are finally here. What an adventure. We spent nearly 24 hours total to get here. Not much sleep. We did sleep about 7 hours last night. Connie, Jerry, and Austin all three ate rice for breakfast this morning! The Chinese people have proven to be the most friendly we have ever met. If you ask for something, they fall all over themselves to meet your needs. They are so nice, it's almost embarassing.

Now, the reason for the title of this post. It's too long of a story to get it all in right now, but suffice it to say that God sent an Angel to help us here in Beijing. A young lady on the plane from Detroit on her way home from college began talking to Granny and when she found out we were adopting a little girl, she made it her personal mission to see that we got thru customs, claimed our baggage, got our money exchanged, and got out of the airport (a very, large and very impressive airport). And then Yichi recruited her mother and father to help us get to our hotel (Wangfujing Grand Hotel). What an adventure that was! It took three taxi cabs and almost an hour and a half, but we finally made it. We just found out this morning that Yichi and her family lived over an hour and a half further away, yet they were so incredibly helpful to us (even to the point of making sure the taxi fares were fair). Yichi and her family dropped us off at the hotel around 11:00 local time and wished us well. They gave us their home telephone and cell phone numbers and asked us to call if we needed anything. More about this later.

Gotcha day has been changed to Monday (24 July) morning.

We will send pictures and Chapter 2 later. Thanks for following our journey.

Please keep all of us in your prayers this week and next!
Love Jerry, Connie, Austin, MeMaw, Granny, and Lily Grace

Chapter 1: How it All Began (and How God Showed Us Some Really Cool Things)

Hello, we’re the Greens and our story begins in August 1984. There are three of us, soon to be four. Thus, the title “Green, Party of Four.” Connie and I were married on August 25th, 1984, in Athens, AL. After several years of blessed marriage, the Lord sent the most awesome child into our lives. Matthew “Austin” Green was born on November 15th, 1993. Now, God is expanding our family again. This time through the miracle of adoption. On July 18th, 2006, we anticipate traveling to Jiangxi Province, China, to bring “Lily Grace” home to be with her forever family, forever. This is how it all came to happen. Please pray for our family, that we will be safe as we travel to China and back.

At the time Austin was born, we didn’t fully appreciate the blessing the Lord had given us, but we have come to know that Austin is one of the most awesome soldiers in the Lord’s army. It was Austin who led us, as a family, back to our brothers and sisters in Christ and, amazingly, even now teaches us some incredible lessons about the beauty of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Austin has taught classes on “Revelation” to his peers and friends and just this week, lead several younger children on a Vacation Bible School journey to get to know Jesus. He loves the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and all his mind. It’s funny, he and I play a little game where I’ll ask him “Who’s the best Daddy in the world?” Of course, he always answers God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. If I’m lucky, he’ll drop me in somewhere after that.


When's Lily Grace Gonna Get Here?

Even with the wonderful son that the Lord gave us, we always knew that He had more planned for us. We just didn’t know the details. We have always had a desire to share ourselves and our blessings with other children. We taught children’s church and Sunday School to Austin’s friends as he grew up. But still, the Lord kept telling us (mostly Connie) that there was something else, something more for us. As the Lord began to share His plan with Connie, I was immersing myself into the activities that Austin pursued, including soccer, then baseball, then basketball. While I was coaching Austin’s sports teams, the Lord was developing a plan and sharing it with Connie. And at the same time, Austin was always asking Mom and Dad for a brother or sister to play with.

Probably one of the most important events in our lives occurred as Austin was about to enter the first grade. He really wanted to play basketball, but the local league did not allow first graders to play. He was devastated, but just a few days later, came home from school with an application for Upward Basketball at Isom’s Chapel UMC in Athens, AL. God’s timing is simply Awesome! (By now, you’ve figured out that Awesome is one of my favorite words). Upward Basketball is a Christian-based league that teaches children and their parents about the love of Jesus Christ, while the kids learn to play the game. It even has Cheerleading! Austin has been a part of the Upward Basketball program ever since that first day he brought home the application. At the end of our first Upward season, Austin gave his life to Jesus and has never looked back! Furthermore, I became a coach and eventually co-director of the league, while Connie focused her efforts on the concession stand and cheerleaders. Brother Eddie Gooch was my assistant coach during that magical first season and was serving the Lord as Pastor at Tanner United Methodist Church. He has since become Pastor at Isom’s Chapel and is one of the best friends and role models a father could want for his son. Through the Upward Basketball and Cheerleading program at Isom’s Chapel UMC, Connie and I came to know and love many, many children.

It was during this time that God’s plan for our lives began to really blossom. Connie began sharing bits and pieces of the plan with me. The plan, she explained was that we would adopt a little girl. What? I was not sure that God’s plan included this for us, so I know Connie must have thought initially that I opposed the idea. And so she waited (on God’s time). As the years passed, it became apparent to me that God really did have something in mind for us and that it had to do with a little girl. Connie would have one or two of her “little cheerleaders” stay over and God would show both me and Austin how awesome (there’s that word again) and sweet they were. Austin felt very important because the little cheerleaders would look up to him and it was apparent to me then that Austin was being trained by the Lord to be a big brother – I just didn’t know how.

We know from Romans 8:28 that all things work for the good of those who believe in Him, even though it might not be apparent how that can be true. I always wanted more children in a biological way, but Connie would say “Let’s wait.” To make a long story short, the Lord finally decided that it was time to share His plan with me. In the summer and fall of 2005, He showed me many ways that parents can be parents. Not just to their biological children, but to all of His children. The children of Upward were more of a blessing than I can even begin to describe. And during this time, it was usually the little girls who would grab my heart and run with it. One little girl would spend every Upward Saturday hanging out with me and calling me all different names just for fun (she knew what my name was) because I once mistakenly called her by the wrong name.

It was also during this time that God began to show us as a family what it would be like to have “girls” around as part of the family. Austin needed a baby sitter during the summer and it just so happened that Kristin needed some summer work. And her little sister, Kaitlyn, needed something to do. Kaitlyn is a year older than Austin, but they are so much alike that if you didn’t know better, you’d think that they were brother and sister. Anyway, Kristin kept Austin all summer and Kaitlyn would come over and play with Austin. They essentially became members of our family and Connie would refer to them as “her girls,” sometimes taking them to get their nails done and to have a pedicure – hey, what about me and Austin! Kaitlyn would eventually spend every weekend with our family during Upward season, helping Connie in the kitchen and helping Austin with halftime devotions during games. It was really cool to have her around. Even though their biological parents claim them on their income taxes, we tell them that they are ours!

Our Little Girls

Connie was really sharing this plan with me at this point and had even taken me and Austin to an Adoption Fair in Florence (about an hour and a half drive) to “just check into the idea.” She had begun telling me that we were to adopt a little girl from China. We met Dustin Britt from Lifeline Children’s Services and also Drew and Lori Jamieson who were organizers of the Adoption Fair and members of the church hosting the fair. Drew and Lori’s little girl followed Austin around that day and it amused both him and his parents. These were some really nice people and I think right then and there, Connie was ready to signup. I, however, being the “let’s don’t rush into this” type, said let’s think about it. And so Connie waited (on God’s time). Just to let her know that I supported the idea, I surprised Connie with a book for her birthday in October. The book was called “The Miracle of Adoption” and had several adoption stories in it. Connie was overjoyed to receive it and hardly noticed any other birthday presents. All aboard, the train is now leaving the station!

“Check this out,” said the Lord. Connie and I don’t always make it to church on Wednesday nights because we sometimes don’t get finished with work in time, but there was this one particular Wednesday that Connie called me at work and said we have to go to church tonight. I said OK, I’ll try to leave work on time and you get Austin ready. We didn’t know it yet, but God had sent a special messenger to church for us that night. We had a guest speaker, a Blackhawk helicopter pilot on leave from his service in Iraq (in case you didn’t know it, these are some of the coolest people on earth!). He spoke and had this incredible message about what was happening in Iraq. Yet, the most incredible thing that was happening that night was that his wife and daughter, a little girl adopted from China, were sitting in front of us and Connie and the little girl were becoming the best of friends. “Mary Beth” spent quality time with Connie after the service – so much quality time that I began to worry whether or not Connie was going to return her to her parents! We were in the middle of Upward Basketball and Cheerleading signups, so we signed up Mary Beth’s big brothers, William and Ryan, to play. Connie was excited that she’d get to see Mary Beth all during Upward season – I was worried that she’d do something crazy like try to take her home with her! We became good friends with the Bill and Lori McCoy and they have been very supportive and helpful in our journey. Lori even had Connie babysit Mary Beth all day one Saturday!

Mary Beth and Her Fans

As if that weren’t enough, God was still working on me! As I mentioned, we were having Upward Basketball and Cheerleading signups the very next day and something else amazing happened. My day at work was very frustrating that day and I was late getting to church, which frustrated me even further. Not only that, but everyone else who was helping with signups was late as well. In fact, when I pulled into the parking lot at church, there was only one car there. As I was rushing into the church to get things setup, the driver of the lone car asked if she could signup her daughter for basketball. I said yes ma’am, just bring her in and I’ll get to her as soon as I get setup. Then the little girl came running out of the car and she was the most beautiful little Chinese girl you could imagine. Not only that, but she had a big sister, also from China and equally as beautiful! Immediately, my day had turned from frustrating to unbelievable. Julia was full of energy and I had none, having expended it mostly at work that day, but I did my best to keep up with her and complete the evaluation. I even recruited her sister, Amanda, to help with the evaluation since no one else had arrived yet. After we had completed the evaluation, the coolest thing happened. Julia and Amanda’s mom said that Amanda would like to play to if we had a team she could play on. So we signed her up and just like that we had two more beautiful, little Chinese girls to spend time with during the Upward season.

“Not convinced yet?” Asked the Lord. OK. One of the families in our church got notice one day that they would eventually have to move to Illinois. The problem was that they had children in school here in Athens. A boy in high school and two girls (twins) in college. Their plan (God’s plan?) was to have the girls stay here in Alabama, while Joseph would move with them to Illinois and finish school there. An arrangement was made with another family in the church for the girls to live in an apartment above their garage. Only problem - it might not be ready when the family needed to move (God’s plan?), so the father asked me one night at church if the girls could live with us until it was ready. I was caught off guard, because Connie and I hadn’t discussed this at all, but I knew that the only possible answer was “Absolutely!” As it turned out, the apartment wasn’t ready on time (as predicted by the father, as planned by the Father!) and the girls ended up moving in. We were blessed to have Amanda and Emily to live with us from October 2005 to January 2006 and during this time we came to love them as if they were our own (God’s plan?). We even got to celebrate Christmas with them before they traveled to visit their family. Eventually, the apartment was ready and they moved out. But even today, they come over and have dinner with us and visit us frequently. We tell them that they are our girls and no matter what ever happens, we’re here for them as a mother and father would be. And just like that, God had taught us that you can love an adopted child as much as you can a biological child if you just trust Him and rely on Him. To this day, Austin calls Amanda and Emily his big sisters and they treat him like a little brother.

Wow Emily, We Got Stockings!

Of course, by this time, I was fully convinced that God’s plan for our family was to adopt a little girl from China. OK, it took me awhile to realize what God was planning and I’m not always quick on the uptake, but I finally got it! So on December 1st, 2005. Connie, Austin, and I traveled to Birmingham, AL and met with Dustin Britt at Lifeline and signed up for the Adoption journey! All aboard….