Prayer Requests for Joshua

We handed out prayer cards for Joshua at his adoption ceremony. We would be so grateful if you would also join us in praying for him!

Joshua Shen Cryer
Adopted: July 21, 2008


Please pray he would know that…
~God fearfully and wonderfully made him.
~God loves him.
~God has and will take care of him.
~God has a plan for him.
~God will never leave him.
~God is faithful.
~God delights in him.
~God’s word is true.
~God is with him.

~He would one day understand and receive his eternal adoption as God’s son.
~From then on he would seek God’s heart.
~He would know that he is loved.
~He would feel normal and know he belongs.
~He would have a healthy self-esteem and identity in Christ.
~He would embrace his story and allow it to be used for God’s glory.
~He would receive healing from any brokenness caused by his abandonment.
~He would bond and attach to us, his family and would be secure about his place in our hearts.
~ God would give us wisdom as we raise Joshua.

Our Commitments to Joshua

The following are the commitments Rusty and I made to Joshua during his adoption ceremony:

Joshua Shen Cryer
Adopted into our family forever on July 21, 2008


1. Just as we were predestined by God to be adopted as His sons before the creation of the world, we believe that you were predestined by God to be adopted into our family before you were even born. And, not only did God choose you for us, we also chose you to be our son. You are not our "Plan B" for adding to our family. We did not decide to adopt you because we could not have biological children. We pursued your adoption because God's love for you compelled us.

2. Just as our adoption by God made us full heirs as sons of God, so too our adoption of you makes you a full heir in our family. There is no difference or distinction between you and any of the other children God has already given us or will give us in the future. You are our son born not of our body, but of our hearts.

3. Just as God did not expect perfection of us before our spiritual adoption, so we do not expect perfection of you. And as we rely on His grace to forgive us for our failures as His children, we commit to parent you with grace.

4. Just as God disciplines those he loves, we commit to discipline you in love, seeking wisdom from God and counsel from others as we strive to train you up in the way you should go.

5. Just as God's love for us as his children is unconditional, we commit to love you unconditionally.

6. Just as our adoption by God is final, secure and unable to be lost, our adoption of you is final and secure. Nothing you could do will ever change our commitment to you.


We love you, Joshua!!!

Shriners in Chicago

Joshua and I recently made a trip out to Chicago for an evaluation at Shriner's hospital. They specialize in caring for issues related to cleft lip and palate. We were anticipating this trip for two reasons. First, we were anxious to hear from experts what they thought Joshua would still need in the way of repair and restructure. Second, we were hoping and praying that they would accept him as one of their patients. When God led us to consider a child with this "special need," we believed that He would also provide the resources it would require. Soon after we decided to adopt Joshua we started hearing about Shriners. As a Shriner's patient, all of his medical needs... surgeries, braces, therapy is covered until he is 18 years old. Not only this, put our gas, airline tickets, taxi rides and hotels are also covered. (Rusty said, "Makes me wish I had spent a little more money at their circus!"

After seeing nine or ten different specialists, they agreed to take him on. They also do not think he will require any more surgery until he is about eight or nine. At that time they will do a bone graft to repair the missing areas of his gum ridge. He will also need braces and possibly some cosmetic teeth implants, but it's too early to know. Until then, he will require a lot of speech therapy, and probably a hearing aid in one of his ears while his speech develops.

All the waiting to see the specialists was not too fun, but their park was a hit with Joshua.

This look of sheer delight is a consistent facial expression of his. He's such a happy little guy.

He's also a dare devil and does not have a healthy respect for heights. We're working on that, but I fear a few nasty tumbles are in his future. We also think he's pretty athletic. He's not going to be the tallest in the family, but he's definitely going to be able to hold his own!

Out-patient Surgery

Joshua had a few minor procedures (well if you're asking a guy about one of the procedures, "minor" might not be the word they use) done recently at an outpatient surgery center, including having a tube placed in his ear and the hole in his other ear patched. He did great and recovered quickly!

"You're going to do what to my what?!?"

"I feel so silly in this dress!"

Joshua's Adoption Ceremony and Dedication

Some things in life are just worth making a big deal over and celebrating. September thirteenth we did our best to make a big deal about God's goodness and the amazing miracle of our adoption of Joshua. Here's a lot of pictures from the night.

Hannah and Hudson were dressed in their Chinese outfits we brought back for them. They were our greeters for the evening and passed out prayer cards for Joshua. We had over ninety people come to celebrate with us.

Here's a friend of ours leading us in a few songs of worship. He's really not as mean as he looks! He and his wife have also recently adopted so it was special to have him lead part of our ceremony.







After worshipping, we showed the video montage of our trip to get Joshua. (It's the one I posted a few posts ago.)


Our friend and pastor, Jim shared a few words about God's adoption of us.



For Rusty and I, the most significant part of the whole ceremony was making our commitments to Joshua. Knowing that it is common for adopted children to sometimes struggle with their place in the family, we wanted to make verbal, written and public commitments to him. Since he more than likely won't remember what we said that night, we've printed them out and will frame them.


Hudson really liked the hat that went with his outfit!!

Hannah is such a sweet sister!

Here we are dedicating Joshua, giving our little miracle back to the Lord. He's God's and we are most blessed and amazed that we get to be his parents!

To end the ceremony, everyone gathered around our family and prayed over us. What a gift!

Next it was time to party!!! Joshua's second birthday was just three days away, so this was his birthday celebration as well as reception. Here's about 150 cupcakes with fortune cookies on top!

My friend Amy and I had a lot of fun with the decorating!!!

We made luminaries out of Chinese "to go" boxes.

We served crab rangoon, egg rolls, punch and "fortune cupcakes."

Grandpa and Grandma (my parents) came up from New Mexico to celebrate with us.

Our little sign in table had a framed picture with mat for people to sign as well as two scrapbook sized papers for people to write notes.

Here's my Mom, the proud new Grandma!

Could God have made him any more adorable?

Here's precious Piper. She's the treasure that our friend who lead the worship just adopted. She's pretty irresistible!!

Man we are so blessed!!! Just look at those three miracles!

GOTCHA two months ago!!!

I just happened to notice the date today and realized that we've had Joshua for two months now!!!
I'm astounded by the way that our hearts have fallen so deeply in love with him. I knew I would and could love him, but I didn't know it would happen so quickly and go so deeply. Flesh, blood and genetics really mean nothing to a mom!!
Joshua is a pretty amazing little guy. We think he's one sharp fortune cookie! It appears that he is comprehending almost all that we say to him. He's not saying very much (except Mama and bye bye.... which when you get down to it what else do you really need to say in this life?) He has learned about six signs. This week he started his speech therapy. His therapist will be coming to our home once a week.
Rusty was gone on business for about four days. He called on his way home tonight and I asked Hud if he wanted to talk to Daddy. Joshua heard me say this and ran over to me. He started grunting loudly, pointing to the phone and doing the sign for please. I asked him if he wanted to talk to Daddy too, and he shook his head yes and grinned really big. When he got on the phone, he grunted a few things, listened to Rusty then said, "Bye Bye."
We think he is going to grow up and be a dentist some day. He brushes his teeth about 6 times a day.
He's also a little climber. I have to be careful about what I put on my kitchen table.
Last weekend we had his adoption ceremony and birthday celebration. It was really special and so much fun! I will post pictures as soon as I get them.
Hud and Han have been adjusting really well, and seem to have settled into our new norm. I have them on a daily schedule now that has given them some predictability to their day and some security that they will still get their needs met (like reading and play time with me). Han is my rule lover, schedule follower. She's always wanting to know what is next on the schedule. The other day she said, "Mom, when I am old enough to get my license Hud and I can just drive over to Chuckie Cheese's during our "free play time" on the schedule." (She informed me that Chuckie Cheese's is where a kid can be a kid. I asked her where a mom can be a mom and she said at small group!)
Life is settling down for me too! I'm not feeling like I'm going insane by 3pm. I'm still trying to learn how to juggle it all, while living a dependent life on the Father. That's a really tight rope to walk! (Sounding like a circus, huh!)
Rusty and I celebrate our tenth anniversary this week. Please pray that we can carve out some quality time together to celebrate. Our anticipated trip to some place tropical for a second honeymoon turned out to be an amazing adventure to China this summer! Not so romantic, but incredible, life-changing and we're keeping our little souvenir forever!!

Dear Birthmother,

My sweet baby boy turns two tomorrow. He's your baby boy too. I thought about you today. What will tomorrow be like for you? Will you think about the son you gave birth to just 24 months ago? Will you wonder where he is? Will you cry?

I have many questions about who you are, but I mostly have compassion. I wonder if you carried our son with anticipation and excitement, feeling him move and kick, counting the days until you could deliver him. Was your labor hard? Did it break your heart to have your firstborn finally in your arms only to realize that the extent of his facial deformity was beyond your ability to give him the help he needed because you were poor? Did it tear your heart out to relinquish him?

Or maybe he wasn't your firstborn. Maybe you knew all along that you would not be able to raise the child you were carrying, but you chose to give him birth instead of end his life.

I'll never know the answers to these questions, but I want you to know that I'm grateful that you gave life to Joshua. He is an amazing little guy, so affectionate, loving, active and smart. I hope somehow you know that he is loved deeply by his family. I pray that somehow you will someday know the One who created you, that you will find life through his Son and that one day in heaven you will see Joshua again.

Joshua's Adoption Video

Dad's got another huntin' buddy!!!

Bet some of you were wondering how long it would take Rusty to get his new son in some camo! And, while some of you might cringe at this, others will be glad to know that PaPaw's already bought this little hunter his own rifle! Don't worry cringers, Hud got one a few days after he was born and hasn't shot it yet.

What is WITH these people!!!???

Can't a brother just get a bubble bath?

(This is a rare pic of all the FOCUS staff babies. All the dads are off staff retreating. The moms decided to combine the chaos for our "un-retreat"!)

Keepin' it real....

I don't want to paint the picture that all is roses around here. The kids are all having their own adjustment issues. Hannah is more fussy, Hudson is a bit antagonistic and Joshua is quite needy. I'm not getting a lot of sleep at night, and Rusty starts a very difficult class on Tuesday. Bible study group members have been put on the back burner, and thank you notes need to be written. Not to mention that I haven't opened my mail for a long time. I had a few quite moments, so I checked the blog of a friend who traveled with us to get her daughter. She lamented about school starting, and how things were such a mess at home... how the business of life was difficult. Here was my comment....

Boy how I can relate!! Even though I didn't send anyone off to school today (no one is old enough) I kind of secretly wished I could. The house was a mess, laundry is piled up and this tends to stress me out. By the time Rusty came home, I wasn't the patient Mom that I want to be. As he walked in the door I yelled, "The house is a MESS!!!" To which he replied in a cheery, who cares, it doesn't matter tone of voice, "GREAT!!" I immediately countered in my don't ruin my pity party with your good attitude tone, "NO, it's not GREAT!"
Last night when the kids were finally all asleep, Isaiah 58 was refreshing for me...if I break the yokes of wickedness and release those in captivity, if I spend myself on behalf of the hungry, homeless poor... the Lord will strengthen my frame. I will be like a well watered garden, called repairer of broken walls. Joshua is requiring a lot of my time energy and attention right now. It wasn't long ago that he was the hungry, homeless poor under the yoke. He's no longer an orphan, but he has broken walls that need to be repaired!! Praise the Lord that he has promised to strengthen my frame and make this dirt clod of a Mom a well watered garden!

GOTCHA a month ago!!

It's been a month since we got our sweet boy!! He's just an amazing little guy, bursting with personality, kisses and smiles!

This month hasn't been without its challenges, but overall we're all adjusting well.

I'm quite busy as a mom with three kids, and would love to tell you more about what's going on,

but I honestly don't have the time. Just wanted to make note of and celebrate our first month anniversary..... enjoy the pics!

A little trip to the park on a Sunday afternoon.

I like to climb the slides!

Helping Dad mow the grass in my sling!

I love to swing on our new tree swing!!

They already let me fall off this thing once.

My brother, sister and new friend Emma.

Mom and I got on the swing together today and sister said, "Mom, if you hear some loud cracks that means it's time for you to get off!"

I met my Grandma and Grandpa when I flew home. Last weekend I got to meet my PaPaw and Grandma Doris. They're really great! They gave me everything I wanted!

I'm proud to be an American, even if I've been adopted by red necks!

I've also gained two pounds since I got home! I don't sleep so great yet. And, I'm on my second round of antibiotics for my ears. I plan to get a tube put in one of them soon (the other one doesn't need one because it has a huge hole). I'm also learning that throwing myself on the floor, screaming and kicking doesn't get me much around here.

Don't forget to come celebrate my adoption and second birthday with me on September 13th!!