Our Family

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other…wings.
~Hodding Carter

We are Jason and Amanda - otherwise known as Mommy and Daddy. We have been married for 9 wonderful years. Living in Illinois, we have been blessed with three great children Nathan, Emily and Ryan. We love to spend time together as a family and everyone has their own special things they enjoy to do. Jason loves boating, skiing and is a huge Chicago Bears sports fan. Amanda is an occupational therapist who enjoys working with children. She loves music, baking and gardening with the kids. Nathan Michael is 9 years old. He is our baseball and football guy. Like his daddy, Nate never misses a Bears game and is often found sportin’ Bears gear. Emily Christine is 7 years old and full of joy. She loves swimming, drawing, fashion and all types of animals. She fills our family will her sweet giggles and love. Ryan Christopher is 5 years old. He is our fish and spends most of his days playing in some form of water. He loves to swim, knee board, and snuggle with mommy. Ryan is a great lover of nature and its inhabitants. Just ask his frog buddies, “wormy friends”, and the occasional baby snake that make their way to my front door step. Living across the street from a river we spend many days swimming, fishing, boating and just enjoying our peaceful piece of paradise.

Why Adoption?If you are wondering why we are taking this path for our life and family, let me share this with you. After having 3 beautiful children and enduring 2 premature deliveries (one with a very scary NICU stay) doctors told us the chances of carrying another baby full term were not good. A little heartbroken, we surrendered to the idea that our family was complete. Little did we know God had a different plan.

Jason and I had talked about adoption back before we had any biological children. We thought it was a beautiful way for a family to grow by offering a forever home to a child. The adoption subject would come up again in our marriage on and off but we never really pursued it much. In August of 2009, while taking a drive the topic of adoption came up again. We surrendered to the fact that given our circumstances an adoption may never be a way for us to grow our family. Again a little heartbroken we thought our family was complete. That evening I prayed one final prayer for the Lord to bring me a child and decided to let the topic rest.

Two weeks later a dear friend of mine (Lia’s Godmother) came in to my office with the picture of an orphan and asked me if I knew anyone with a heart for adoption?

The tug at my heart was very real now and I could no longer deny it. I called Jason to meet me for lunch so we could talk. We began reviewing our options for adoption again. We both felt we should get some more information and weigh our options. That very special night as we started researching adoption again we met our new daughter for the first time. I can't explain the emotion that came over me when I first saw her picture. I just knew she was my daughter. My heart had never been pulled to a child like this before. I showed her picture to Jason and he already knew exactly which child I was smitten with. “Look at those cheeks,” He said “She looks just like our kids when they were little.” Again in tears I asked Jason to think about it and pray for guidance.

The next day we spoke with the kids about adopting Wang Le Tong. After we saw their excitement we had the confirmation we needed this was our daughter. Jason and I were not sure how it would unfold but knew we had to try. On Jason's birthday we decided to call the adoption agency and Lia LeTong began her journey home. We are thrilled to welcome Lia into our family and feel as if she’s already been a part of our family for the last 17 months. This whole journey has been about following God’s plan to grow our family and not our own. We have to admit we were often fearful that our family and friends would wonder why we were doing such an unusual thing. We took time to look at the positives and negatives of adoption. As we prayed and sought God’s wisdom, it confirmed over and over again he was leading us to bring Lia home.

Many people in our community came together at a giant benefit to help bring Lia home. We were amazed how many of those around us were willing to help mountains move so Lia could join our family. We will be forever humbled and blessed by the kindnesses of family, friends, and strangers who stood in the gap to bring our little girl home.