Blessed by another Son

Introducing…

Asher Douglas Straw…

Asher means blessed, we are asking God for His blessing on our new son’s life and Douglas after my brother who passed away a few years ago.

He was born July 5, 2005, weighed 4.2 lbs, and was 17.3 inches long. He is now 2 years and 2 months old, weighs 22.3 lbs, and is 32 inches tall.

He was born 6-8 weeks premature and spent only a month in the hospital before being sent to the orphanage. Strange as it may seem this was about the time that we started praying about adopting, but even then God knew he was meant to be our son and we all have been adopted by Christ...

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” Ephesians 1:4-6

We have visited Asher almost daily since we came to Astana (As-ta-na) and we have already seen a huge difference in him. At first he seem very scared, would sit on the floor, hardly smile, and say nothing. The last few days he has started to babble with us, point at things, hand us books to read, color with us, laugh, and smile as we play with him. We are sure that this is only the beginning to him opening up and becoming a typical little toddler boy.

His gross motor, fine motor, and self-help skills are almost on target for a 2 year, but it will take some time for him to catch up with his communication skills. Not only a new language, but in the orphanages most of the communication he gets daily is more of directions (such as time to eat, pick up your toys, time for bed, etc), than a two way stimulating conversation.

Our children back home can not wait to meet their new little brother and help him become part of our family. Jen and I both can already sense God’s blessing as we observe our new son's delight in a new world that is just starting to open up to him (he has been amazed with simple things like crayons, books, cars, butterflies, and birds).

Legally he will become our son 15 days after our court date and our court will get scheduled this Friday, but will most likely not be around September 17th. Unfortunately due to the long adoption process (15 day waiting period and additional paper work) we will need to leave him here for about a month after the court date. Please pray that the rest of this process will go smoothly and if its God will that the judge will wave the 15 day waiting period, which has never happen in this region. Even though we miss our children back home very much, it will be just as difficult to leave our new son behind. Hopefully by about the middle of October we will all be united as a family!

And now the many faces of Asher…



We could not be on this adventure without God and the support from our families and friends. We thank each and everyone one of you for your continued prayers and especially your comments, both of which make us feel at peace here in a foreign country.

Blessings,

Jay & Jen