circa 1968

Walking down a short side street, we found a small door that opened to 3 chairs. 

A traditional barber shop had been open there since 1968. 

Of course the boys needed haircuts. Very nice people. 

Hilarious moment. 

legos.

 We have some time on our hands...

so we found a street market in Wan Chai that sells knock-off Legos. 

Christmas in Chongqing

home away from home

Hong Kong --- see you soon.

                                                     

                                                  I love to travel with these people! 

Christmas in America

balloons.

Sunday afternoon, friends and family gathered at our church to honor the life of Noah Watchman Dean. We celebrated the hope we have in Christ and prayed for orphans worldwide. We released red balloons with prayers attached in Noah's memory. It was absolutely beautiful. 


We are so moved by the amount of support and love we have been shown. Thank you, thank you, thank you. For those who were unable to attend, here is some of the letter I read during the service:


Dear Noah, 

This has been the hardest week of my life. Losing you has caused indescribable grief in my heart. You never met me, but I have loved you from the moment I could call you mine. I still do. 


I remember the first night your pictures arrived. I was overwhelmed, humbled, and sure I wanted to be your father. I wasn't sure how I could care for your special needs, but I was certain I wanted to, and determined in my heart to do everything I possibly could, to love you well in this world -- just like my other sons. 

Facing the reality of your death has been heartbreaking. It still is. I miss you. I miss the memories we would have made, and in a better world, we should have made. In a perfect world, you would never have been abandoned. Forsaking you at birth would never happen. We do not live in a perfect world, but we are loved by a perfect Father who gave his son that those who believe, have LIFE in him. 


You are a precious, priceless person to me and I would have given everything I have to bring you home. Yet, this was not our Father's will. Instead, you would pass from this life to eternity... 


Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling (Psalm 68:5). We trust you are in the Father's arms. Whole. Healed. Happy. Forever. 

Your life was not in vain.
Many people will see Jesus because of you.
They will hear about what you already know as reality.
They will believe in faith, what you now see as forever with God.

There are millions of precious people in the world, just like you. 
147 millions orphans worldwide. 
This is not right. 
Not acceptable.


The pain of losing you put us on our knees, put tears in our eyes, and opened our hands and hearts all the more to the God we know, trust, and love.


After praying about this and trying to reconcile losing you, your mom and I believe the best way to honor your life... to continue placing honor and worth on your life... is to welcome another child in your memory and in the name of Jesus. 


So we are doing that...* 


If there are trampolines in heaven, be prepared.You have three brothers that will tackle and hug you as soon as they see you. They love to wrestle. I do too.


Love, 
Dad


* We have started the paperwork on a special little girl. More on her story when the time is appropriate and things are final. Anna Grace will have a sister! We can't wait to meet them both!!!!!!!!! 

When I awake, I am still with You.

For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. 

I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;Your works are wonderful. 

I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with You. 

Psalm 139:13-18

Noah Watchman Dean

Dear Friends and Family,

With nine days left to go pick up this sweet little angel, we received a devastating call this afternoon. Our son, Noah Watchman Dean went to be with Jesus. We never got to hold our son, never got to cuddle, or squeeze his sweet cheeks. But he was totally part of our family. He was our 4th son. It was official, we signed the papers. We were his Mom and Dad.  He was Josh's "little squishy". The boys couldn't wait to wrestle with him. Luke was waiting to play "men" (little figures) with him. He has clothes, a highchair, a bed, a plane ticket, a bouncy seat, formula ready to go, and a family that was counting down the days to finally embrace our little fellow.

Whenever I look at his picture, more than anything I wanted to rescue him from that plastic mattress. So cold, and ugly. To think he has spent the last 15 months of his life there makes me cringe. I wanted to kiss the scar on his forehead because I know that no one ever did. I wanted to caress his little deformed ear like it was perfectly made in his mother's womb. I wanted to be his Mommy. Thankfully even though I will never be able to hold my son I will always be able to call him my son. I have the papers to prove it.

Yesterday on our Jesse Tree, the ornament we opened was of Noah's Ark. We looked at it with great anticipation thinking about our trip to get our Noah. Todays ornament was a Ram, symbolizing the story of Abraham and Isaac and that God would provide. Today we are trusting him for his provision. When I told Josh this he said, "Momma, I can't give Noah up." That's how we all feel right now. For my birthday Matt bought me a Christmas ornament that said "Everlasting Father" to commemorate our special Christmas this year. Little did I know that it will always remind me of who is holding our little one.

We will probably not receive any information about his death, we will not receive a death certificate, or know what will happen to his little body. All of this so hard to take in, so unsettling. Mainly, because his life was of great value to us. He is our son. Matt and I have talked,  that when we first heard of his special needs we were a bit overwhelmed and didn't know how we could handle them all. But as the days went by we were filled with peace that no matter how he came to us, he was ours and that we would do whatever we needed to do. Today, we would give anything, pay anything to have this baby in our home for just a second. You see, the worth of something depends on how much one is willing to pay. Caleb this afternoon said "I wish I could die, so that Noah could live." He was a valuable part of our family. Matt is without words, grieving and broken over this loss.  

We know, and we take great hope in our Everlasting Father. He has healed Noah's ear. He is hearing perfectly the sounds of heaven.  He is no longer hungry or malnourished. His little lip and palate are perfect. He is fully alive with the Father. He will never be cold again. He will never be alone, never be forsaken, never hurt alone again.

Thank you for praying for us. Pray for our family as we grieve. Pray for us as we leave next week to get Anna Grace. It's like having twins. We are excited and grieving at the same time. It feels like we are on a roller coaster.

We have friends that have endured this same loss, only from Ethiopia as they were preparing travel to pick up their son Brighton. They have been a great source of comfort to us. Tonight the dad said, "It makes me smile to think of a little Chinese boy named Noah and a little Ethiopian boy named Brighton running around heaven playing with each other."

The Lord has a special place in his heart for little ones like these -  

For all the Dean family,    

April  

 

 

 

DEAN PARTY OF 7 - ADOPTION UPDATE!

For many of you who have followed our journey, you know that we took our first steps in 2005 with the desire to adopt. Our paperwork has been in China since April 17, 2007 (LID) and we've been waiting. Over the years, our hearts have continued to open, not only to the life of one child, but the plight of more than 147 million orphans worldwide.

During the past year, China has created a special program allowing qualified families to adopt a child (healthy or waiting with medical needs) and a special focus child (with medical needs) at the same time.


So, we have made some adjustments in our adoption plan --- and we wanted to share the update. Instead of adopting a daughter from China, we are choosing to adopt a son AND a daughter from China.

We couldn't be more excited. Josh, Caleb, and Luke are thrilled to be big brothers. April and I are both "pregnant" with joy and anticipation that God is growing our family again. We believe the miracle of adoption is one of the clearest pictures of God's love for us and we are humbled by the blessing of being able to welcome more children into our family. We are trying to wrap our minds around the idea of Dean Party of 7: We'll have an 8 yr old, 6 yr old, 3 yr old, 2 yr old, and 1 yr old. (SMILE)

There is room in our hearts and room around our dinner table. There are two empty seats in our car. There are clothes waiting to be worn. Shoes waiting to be passed down. Toys sitting in baskets ready for more little hands. Two more hearts will hear of God's love and redemption offer through Jesus. 

There are no words to adequately describe what it feels like to hear the phone ring after more than 5 years of waiting. What seemed impossible and indefinitely delayed, is now here. Real. 

On September 29, around 11:45pm the phone rings! We have a referral. A beautiful little face from SW China lands in our inbox. Instant joy, love, longing and connection. She is 2.5 years old and was abandoned a week after birth. Due to policy, we are unable to provide more information at this time, other than our long awaited Anna Grace now has a face, a history, and more importantly, she has a family. 

On Monday October 31, around 12:15am the phone rings again! We have another referral. A handsome face from N China lands in our inbox. He is 15 months old and abandoned two days after birth.  Our hearts are open wide to welcome little Noah Watchman to our family. In faith, we are moving forward to pursue him. Again, due to policy, we are unable to release more information at this time. We are in the process of requesting / approval on this child's behalf. 


It is nothing short of amazing. 

So, we are doing everything we can in the days and weeks ahead to bring these two children into our family as soon as possible. Both children have special medical needs and will need surgery soon.

Around our house, there is an unprecedented sense of joy and anticipation. We are thrilled, overwhelmed, and ready to go. A lot has to happen between now and when we travel back to China. Anything can change, but we expect travel clearance in early January 2012! 


Many of you have been on this journey with us from the beginning and are still asking how you can help. That too, is a picture of the church -- being the Church -- and we are so thankful for each of you who have prayed for us. 


To the Grace Campus community, we love you. We were a part of something so special during those years in Auburn and in Hong Kong. I can still remember back to the night in 2006 at AUMC when we announced we were adopting little "Anna Grace" --- wow. Who knew all these years later, that God in his wisdom would have us wait, change our hearts, and in His sovereignty -- bless us with the gift of another son. 


More updates to follow.