Love, love me do.
You know I love you,
I'll always be true,
So please, love me do.
Whoa, love me do.
Indeed, God is always true, and He wants our love in return. He knows you by name and thinks you are:
Sure, it’s a little odd to think the Creator Of All That Is would call you “darling;” but after you’re done with that point, you are left with the question of whether you think He is “unforgettable too.”Unforgettable, that’s what you are
Unforgettable though near or far
Like a song of love that clings to me
How the thought of you does things to me
Never before has someone been more
Unforgettable in every way
And forever more, that’s how you’ll stay
That’s why, darling, it’s incredible
That someone so unforgettable
Thinks that I am unforgettable too
That Nat King Cole oldie was our wedding song, when Rose and I had our first dance as husband and wife. Even though I’m a step-on-your-toes kinda dancer, it was a moment to be cherished.
The afternoon we committed to Dang Fu He was also a moment to be cherished, as one would expect. We were all smiles, and all tears. Kate was overjoyed from 2,777 miles away in Oregon, sharing that she was “so happy for you guys!” We would later learn more about Little Dang, and come to understand why she was especially ecstatic for our little boy.
Our family had and has a song for Little Dang – I guess you could call it our “Adoption Theme Song” – and once we were done praising the Lord outside, we came in and cranked up He Reigns by Newsboys, a Christian rock band:
It’s the song of the redeemed
Rising from the African plain
It’s the song of the forgiven
Drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Asian believers
Filled with God’s holy fire
It’s every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
Let it rise about the four winds
Caught up in the heavenly sound
Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals
To the faithful gathered underground
Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation
Some were meant to persist
Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples
None rings truer than this
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
And all the powers of darkness
Tremble at what they’ve just heard
‘Cause all the powers of darkness
Can’t drown out a single word
When all God’s children sing out
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
All God’s people singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
If you’ve never heard it, oh, how it stirs you with the sound. And which Christian can’t appreciate the line, “It’s the song of the forgiven drowning out the Amazon rain?” Asking for and receiving forgiveness is everything, for we are fallen creatures.
Well, we played that song several times that afternoon; and I play it nearly every day on the way to work. “Every day, and you don’t get sick of it?” Sure, and no! It reminds me to be grateful, both for what we have and do not have, as well as for what is yet to come.
Calls were made that day to share the news with my parents and Rose’s mom, but not before we took the children out to dinner – regardless of their age, they would be told first. We were unoriginal, and celebrated at a local Chinese restaurant.
It must have been a big deal, because any time parents with children the age of six, four, and 18 months go out, they tempt fate; the very moment you walk into the restaurant the timer starts ticking toward a meltdown. And you really don’t know when it’ll occur, so you try to order immediately, almost before the server gets to the table. It’s not the most calm of times; alas, that night we had a wonderful time, and Julia and Ben were excited to learn about their new brother! Confusion did arise, however, when Ben thought we were getting Little Dang “today;” also, Julia became disappointed when we shot down her choice of Joshua for the name of Dang Fu He. It’s a lovely name, we told her, yet it wouldn’t be chosen for her brother. It’d be another week or so before we figured that out.
Announcements were also made to friends via email. As an aside, how a family would get through the adoption process pre-email days is beyond me. We would have withered without it. Anyway, in Rose’s email she said, “We are thrilled to announce that our son, Dang Fu He, will be coming home (if everything goes well with the rest of the paperwork) by the end of this year!!!!”
The whole thing struck me since it wasn’t anticipated; in fact, I flat-out loved it, and responded to my dear wife:
It is LOVE that will keep us moving throughout life. And God has Blessed
you with the ability to love unconditionally, and your way is being taught to me
every day. When I see the line “our son, Dang Fu He, will be coming home” there is this sense of “absolutely he is our son.” Why is that? Come on really, there is no fabrication in that? No. And it’s due to Love and the Calling to Love.
Our son would be coming come; yet, we learned his journey had been a long journey.
With accepting the referral of Little Dang (by signing the Letter of Intent, or LOI) we officially then moved from the non-special needs path to the special needs, which Tiffany was in charge of; as a result, we talked to her several times that week. On one of these calls we asked why his medicals were so dated. Tiffany opened up, if not bared a bit of her heart.
It turns out this was the second time Dang Fu He had been up for adoption. Last summer (of 2006) he was in a group of special needs children that came into AGCI. And as it happens with boys, he was not being chosen by families (along with other boys). Yet, in early August a family called AGCI and committed to Dang Fu He, signing a contract and the LOI, and then moved forward. Well, to make a long (and unknown, on our part) story short, the family struggled in paperwork.
By the late fall it became clear milestones were being missed and AGCI had to press them. This continued until finally near the turn of the year AGCI essentially stated if they didn’t have their dossier done by said date the contract would be voided.
Mind you, this is not an easy thing to do for AGCI. They love their families, and want nothing more than for them to be united with a child – nothing more, that is, except for a child to be united with their family. And being the child’s advocate first is what prevailed in Dang Fu He’s situation. The delay had become unacceptable, and in the spring Dang Fu He came back up for adoption.
Tiffany is so passionate for the special needs children, and this could be heard when Dang Fu He’s situation was shared. It pained Tiffany that the family had their contract voided; it pained her Dang Fu He was getting older and older in the orphanage, for she knew it was going to be more difficult for him to be adopted.
Sitting and listening to Tiffany tell this story I didn’t know what to make of it, or how to respond. The sorrow – for the little boy – was there, in her voice…and out of downright desperation in the moment I said at the end, “And now Tiffany you are suppose to say you are THRILLED The Seeley’s are adopting him!”
Levity aside, June 19th really was a day the Lord had made, and we should rejoice and glad in it (Ps 118: 24). Others were rejoicing as well, folks we did not know, or know of.
Friday evening on the 22nd Tiffany sent us an email with a link to a travel journal of a family who just returned from China after adopting their little boy from the same orphanage Little Dang was in. What made them intriguing is that Tiffany said they our son; in fact, she said they actually mentioned him in the journal! After dinner and the kids had fallen asleep we checked it out. Their names were Jim and Angel, and they had four children, including Mario, who God had just folded into their family. He had the same last name as our boy; and they are just a month apart in age.
The first page we looked at was not the beginning of their trip, but the one which Tiffany said Little Dang was mentioned. It was the day after Gotcha Day for the family, and they had the opportunity to visit the orphanage. While walking around Angel said her “heart was beating a thousand miles a minute because I had a feeling I was going to see my ‘other son’…Then I saw him. I saw my other son. Jim saw him too. His big brown eyes met mine and he just stared at me. I could not take my eyes off of him as I just wanted to bawl! He kept looking right at me…no one else. It was so weird. Jim said ‘He’s staring at you!’ I knew it! I waved and he just stared as to say “What about me?”
Wow, how cool was that? We learned from Tiffany that Angel had a special place in her heart for our son, so much so had been praying and advocating for him at church, hoping for a placement for him. Which would explain the excitement in an entry on the family’s last full day in China – on June 19th, the day we said ‘yes’ to Little Dang:
“We are only 4 hours away from leaving and I got the greatest news ever.
My other son was placed! A family that already has their dossier in China has taken him! They will travel this fall to get him! I can't believe it! Many tears of joy about this here. Now I can leave China with a joyful heart, not feeling like I left this little one behind. God is so good and his timing is perfect. WOW! What a gift.”
Hey, that was us she was writing about! And they wrote so much more about their beautiful journey. The more we tried to process the timing of it all, the more amazing it became (China’s BIG; there was ONE AGCI family traveling that time; and they were traveling to our son’s orphanage, which had few adoptions). Someone had actually seen our son!
Quickly, though, they were transformed from "someones" into a family – The Bellante’s – we took to from afar. It may have seemed irrational, but there was something very special about them. They had a love for The Lord. Their eyes were gentle and genuine. Their hearts appeared huge. And to put a cherry on top of it all…they lived in Pittsburgh. We reached out to them with an email on Saturday morning:
Dear Jim and Angel,
The only appropriate place to start is to say THANK YOU. We have never met, and yet our families know each other through The Love that is Jesus Christ. This past Tuesday we said “yes” to God and to Dang Fu He, the little boy who you have been praying for to find a Forever Family.
It was such a blessing when Kate from AGCI said, “Wait, I think there is a family in Heilongjiang this week, getting their little boy who is in the same orphanage as your son.” “You can’t be serious!” was Demian’s response. Sure, God made All That Is, but sometimes His little surprises are too much! What an uplifting moment for us.
And then there was sweet Tiffany, who just last night sent the link to your Journey to Mario page. Rose read the entire beautiful journey in the wee hours this morning; Demian had trouble soaking up much after reading the heartfelt entries about Dang Fu He.
For now we just want to say hello to your beautiful family, especially Mario. As you have been blessed, so has he. Being just a short five hours away in Baltimore, we pray that one day he and our son will meet again. When appropriate, we’d love to hear anything about our Dang Fu He (his given name is pending!) and gain continued inspiration and tips as Demian prepares to go over later in the year.
Please continue to pray.
Peace be with you,
The Seeley Family
Rosalie & Demian
Julia (6), Benjamin (4), Dang Fu He (2), Elizabeth (18mo)
We waited with great anticipation for their response.
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