LID and Introductions

We are officially LID (our dossier paperwork has officially been logged in with China, and we are now just waiting for our Letter of Approval)!  This stage in the adoption process is all about waiting.  We have completed all of our paperwork, paper chasing, training, etc. We have done everything that we can do, as fast as we could do it, to get to Rose.  It’s completely out of our hands now, and we must trust that God will move the next stage of the process along in His perfect timing.  We are told that it can take two months or more to receive the LOA (letter of approval).  In our human hearts, with our limited perspective, we are desperately hoping that the CCCWA will move our file quickly.  But we know that God sees so much more than we do, and with His limitless site, He will accomplish His purposes in His timing. 

While we wait, we would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves to those of you who do not know us, and catch up with those of you who do.  Because once we leave for China, these blog posts will be all about Rosey!!  So here goes…

Up first—David and Ashley

Some of you know us as Matt Hadsell and Ashley Eaton.  David’s full name is David Matthew Hadsell, but he grew up going by Matt to most of his family and friends.  When we got married, we were both still in college (crazy, we know!!) and he was still going by Matt.  But once we graduated from college, and entered the real world, much confusion arose as he entered the workforce going by a name that did not match the name on all legal documents. (He worked in the mortgage and banking industry, where there was an unending flow of legal documents for him to sign.)    So, over the years he has transitioned to his legal name, and primarily goes by David.  All of that is to say, he’s still the same guy.  If you knew him as Matt, he will happily answer to Matt.  If you know him as David, he happily answers to David. 😊

We have been married for almost 16 years, and have five children.  For the first seven years of our marriage, we lived in Austin, where we had our first two children, Jadon and Addison.  In 2009 we moved from Austin to Brenham, to live on the farm with Ashley’s family.  For the first couple of years after we moved, we farmed full time and learned all that we could about sustainable living.  It was during those early years on the farm that our eyes were opened to the world of special needs adoption.  While adoption had always been on our hearts, we came to the understanding that God was calling us specifically to special needs children.  After our first two kids were born, we were told by doctors that Ashley would likely never be able to have more children.  Though difficult words to receive, we already knew that we had been lead to adopt, and were waiting for God to lead us in the right direction.  We prayed over many children that were listed on adoption advocacy sites, like Reece’s Rainbow, but we were never given the green light to move forward with their adoptions.  In April of 2012, as we were starting a new business and diving deep into the world of home schooling, we got a call about a little boy with Cerebral Palsy, who had been adopted from Ukraine with his older sister, and was now in need of immediate respite care.  His first adoptive family no longer felt they could parent him, and were seeking immediate dissolution of his adoption.  That very next day, we picked up Alex.  Though we initially thought it was just for respite care, it quickly became clear to all of us that he was meant for our family, and within three months we officially adopted him as our third child.  We will share more of Alex’s adoption story when we do his introduction, as well as more about what life has been like in the six years he has been in our family.

Less than a year after adopting Alex—and walking through some of the hardest times in our relationship, some of the most desperate struggles financially, and a very difficult transition with Alex—God spoke to us of a daughter, and her name was to be Rose.  Shortly thereafter we found out that we were pregnant, quite by surprise, and somewhat miraculously given Ashley’s medical history.  Though we had no idea how we would manage our rapidly growing family, we were overjoyed to be expecting another little one.  Of course, we thought for sure that this baby was the daughter God had shown us.  We were so sure that we immediately called her our little rosebud, bought little pink shoes with roses on them, and were busy gathering little girl nursery items.  It was quite a shock when we went for our gender reveal ultrasound, and the doctor said that we were unequivocally having a boy!  It took a little time for the shock to wear off, and for us to shift our focus to welcoming our sweet Noah.  But what an incredible blessing he has been!  More on Noah’s story during his intro.

Shortly after Noah was born, we had to close the doors of our fledgling business, and David started working for Mill Creek Custom Homes.  Though we were absolutely devastated at the time, we have been immeasurably blessed by his job at Mill Creek.  It came in the most God-ordained way, has taught both of us more than we ever imagined, and has allowed David to do something that he truly loves.  It is so true, that when God closes one door, we must praise Him in the hallway, trusting that He will open an even better door. 

When Noah was only eight months old, we found out that we were once again expecting, and were completely and totally taken by surprise.  (No, we don’t know how this happens, of course! 😊)  After recovering from the shock, picking our jaws up off the floor, and accepting the reality that our life was about to get CRAZY, we of course began wondering if this little one would be Rose.  We planned a balloon gender reveal, thinking that when the box opened, pink balloons would for sure pop out.  After seeing lots of blue balloons spring out of the box, we welcomed our little Luke in December of 2014.  He has rocked our world from day one, and we are excited to tell you more about him during his intro.  

  

We went from being a family of four to a family of seven in two and a half years.  It’s been an amazing and crazy and beautiful and exhausting and thrilling and wild ride!!  But we wouldn’t trade a single second of it for anything.  We have learned that in a large family, no one is ever lonely; there is always someone to listen or talk to; there is always someone to play with; there are so many people who love and care about you; we make a great team; grocery bills are HUGE; we don’t go anywhere without making ripples; not a day goes by without laughter and silliness; gray hairs grow quickly, and hairlines recede even quicker; kids are LOUD, quiet is rare, and joy grows in great abundance!

Ashley home schools four of our five children.  She home schooled Alex for the first year that he was with us, but quickly realized that he would thrive much more in a typical school setting, benefiting from language immersion and various therapies.  He started school in Brenham in second grade, and is now preparing to enter seventh grade!  He has made great strides in his language capacities, has learned to read and write, and is doing incredibly well in his life skills class.

While God has definitely called us to both adoption and training up His children in His ways, we have also been called to another kind of ministry.  We are in the process of developing an equine therapy program here at the farm, where kids, parents, families, couples, and individuals can come and experience relationship with horses.  We have been shown how the relationship between horses and humans directly mirrors the relationship between man and God.  By learning about horsemanship, and building relationships with horses, our brains and hearts are physically and spiritually enabled to form deeper relationships with our loved ones, and with God.  It can open the door to healing from past trauma and relational wounds, allowing us to connect with others in a healthier way.  In addition, the physically therapeutic effects of horsemanship are profound for both physically and mentally disabled individuals—improving core strength and balance, cross-body neurological connections, opening verbal pathways in the brain, etc.  We are in the very infant stages of developing this program, and have been shown that we must move one step at time with great patience.  In the meantime, our family is blessed to have our horses here on the farm, with us being the first clients of our Heart’s Haven Equine Ministry!

So that is what we have been up to in recent years.  Our hearts and hands have been full with our growing family, our work, and our horses (seriously, who knew kids and horses were so high maintenance?! 😊)

Up next in our introductions/updates will be our firstborn, Jadon.

With much love,
The Hadsell Family