Prayers are Powerful

The last few days in Guangzhou have been wonderful.  I just love my family so much and cannot express how blessed I feel right now.  Tom has been an amazing dad, and Em and Nick have been the best big brother and sister a girl could ask for.  Yes Miss Neff, Nick has rocked his big brother job!  

Quick synopsis:  (I am holding a sleeping princess as I type, so please forgive any grammatical errors, or mis-spelled words.) Wednesday we went to the police station...to do paperwork, we were not in trouble!  Hellen, our guide, has an incredible knack of knowing where to go, when to go, how to get there, and just what to say because we have been first everywhere we go and are finished in no time.  Thursday was Chloe's medical exam.  We were ushered into 4 different rooms and then Chloe had her TB test…they had trouble getting her blood-- like mother, like daughter.  Yesterday was a free day so Hellen suggested we go to the Safari park in Guangzhou…she was right again.  It was not busy and it was incredible.  Today we had a slow start to our day, enjoyed the magnificent breakfast bar that we have been able to feast on each day, and then went for a walk in a park near our hotel.  It was beyond beautiful.  We will meet up with the other 3 families tonight.  They arrived last night late and had to go for their children's medical exams today.  It will be wonderful to see their children.  Tomorrow we will be spending the day with the other families, and Monday we have our last appointment.  Tuesday we receive her passport and head to Hong Kong.  Christmas morning we board our plane for home, Chloe's home; she already has her forever family!

The following pictures are from the Safari Park.  We boarded a train that took us through the first part of the park.  We then walked the remainder of the park.  The animals were so active and we saw so much, but more importantly we had a wonderful bonding time as a family.  Chloe gave us many smiles and was observing everything.  

 

We have no idea what this animal is because the tour was in Chinese, but pretty cool and unique huh?

Grandma Pat this photo is for you!!!

My beauties!!

It's hard to see but Nick is helping Chloe touch a decorative snowflake hanging from the tree.  She thought this was funny!

Watching the elephant show with mama (Chinese for mommy)!

Props to "baba" (Chinese for daddy) for taking this great photo!

Thank you to everyone for your prayers.  We can feel God's hands surrounding us and watching over our time.  It is amazing to watch Chloe bond with us more each day.  Your prayers ARE powerful!!!

He Gives and Takes Away

Yesterday and today have been beautiful, powerful, overwhelming, scary, amazing days. As we boarded our flight from Beijing to Guangzhou I decided I would listen to my music to try and avoid getting motion sick. Distraction always helps right? The song Blessed Be His Name played. I hadn't heard this song for quite awhile. The line in the song that really hit me was, "He gives and takes away." That is what the last days have been. Chloe has been taken away from all the smells, sights, securities, foods, and people she has ever know, and given to us.  Some may say how lucky she is to have the four of us watching her every move; actually I say we are the lucky ones because we have been saved, adopted into a forever family, and have this enormous opportunity to love another person and give her a home and family. More importantly we pray we lead her to her heavenly father where she will ALWAYS find security.

Today's the Day~

After our flight we found our guide Hellen.  She hurried us into a taxi, we rushed to the hotel to drop off our luggage and she gave us 15 minutes to grab Chloe's things, our documents, and other supplies for our "Gotcha Day".  Needless to say it looked as if our luggage exploded inside our room.  

After crying Chloe settled down and we shared a snack and book while Tom signed papers.  She traveled by bus 8 hours with her nanny   She had a very long day before meeting us at 3:00 p.m.  

I look better here than when I gave birth to Em and Nick.  If you would have seen me on the plane ride to China, you wouldn't have thought that though.  

 This is the second day of paper work for Chloe.  She is official our daughter now.  We went through a notary appointment and had an interview.  I guess we are acceptable parents~shew.

I am so proud of Em and Nick.  They have been amazing during the entire trip.  God has been so good to me. 

I believe that Emily summed our day up in such profound, succinct words…"Mom, being on the Great Wall was incredible, but this (the room where 10 children were meeting their forever families) was even more amazing." We witnessed something so much bigger than we can express.  No one had dry eyes nor will ever be the same again!  

Power Packed Days in Beijing

Busy days full of experiencing Chinese culture, learning about its history, and seeing first hand the beauty of this land has "helped" us adjust to the 13 hour time difference.  We arrived after supper on Friday night, slept until three and then all woke up hungry. We ate, laughed a bit, and then feel back asleep. Saturday morning we meet up with three other families who are adopting. They were here a day earlier than us because they are meeting their children a day earlier than we meet Chloe. It was great to spend the day with them.  We will meet them again in Guangzhou, China where all adoptions are finalized.  Here are a few pictures from our two days.

First stop Tiananmen Square…it was cold but not as cold as Chicago when we left home!

No smog and clear skies were a blessing.

Right beside Tiananmen Square is the Forbidden City…stop number two.

                                         

 Pinch me!  I can hardly believe we are standing on the Great Wall of China!

 Looking down the wall….the guys went a great deal further up the wall than Em and I.  The steps are tall and steep and very uneven.

Summer, our guide in Beijing,  surprised us and ran out to buy a Chinese birthday cake for Nick while we ate a delicious duck dinner.  It was a very special 17th birthday for him.

 Day 2 started at the Bird's Nest site of the 2008 Olympics.

Stop two!  The Emperor's Summer Palace is immense!  It would take hours to walk around the entire property.    This is the property that the emperors used as their summer property when they were not living in the Forbidden City. 

This is a picture from the ground in front of the main building at the Summer Palace.

Now a picture from the top of the building looking down over the property.  All I have to say is I am glad I do not need to walk those steps every day!

These last few days have helped us adjust to life in China.  Now it is time to travel to our daughter.  I have thought of the Christmas story lately and how Mary traveled on a donkey right before giving birth to Jesus .  Wow~   I am on my own journey as a mother and cannot image giving birth to the Savior…in a stable..in a strange place…after traveling.  I know how many questions I have about tomorrow.  I can only image the questions that Mary had about her baby boy.

I guess we just trust…trust and obey.

"How much is a life worth?  Ask Jesus!"

Today's the Day

Today’s the Day…this term, and inspiration for my blog title, was coined by a 2^nd grader.  Not any 2^nd grader though, he is the wonderful young boy my husband mentors at the school where I teach.  Tom eats lunch with this boy, who I will call Ben, on Fridays.  When he was in 2nd grade, Ben looked forward to Tom coming so much that he would come to my room and tell me how many days until mentor day.   On Monday I would hear, “4 more days”.  On Tuesday, “3 more days”.  On Wednesday he announced, “2 more days”.  Of course on Thursday he proclaimed, “1 more day”.  Then Friday arrived and the day that we waited for had come, “Today’s the Day!”  I would hug him and say how excited Tom was to eat lunch with him.  Usually we would check the menu and see what scrumptious low sodium, 3 oz protein, meal would be provided in the cafeteria.  Ben would almost always tell Tom how much he enjoyed the lunch, even declaring his love for lima beans (pretty special kid).

Even if we don’t all love lima beans (I for one cannot get excited about lima beans) we can find joy in the small things in our lives and be grateful for what we have been given.  That gift may be friends, laughter, love, a home, a family, or even....lima beans.  

Today, as I start my blog, remember I am not well versed in blogging and rarely write for others (I even avoid posting on Facebook).  Yet there are those times when you feel that it is time to stretch out and try something new.  So many people have blessed us on our journey to adopt and I have been changed forever.  This has been a road of faith thus far and I am more than positive that it will continue to be a road paved with the fingerprints of God.  Each step of the process has been eye opening.  I have learned more about domestic and international adoption, experienced the paperwork process (I now understand why they call it the great paper chase), spent time with a dear friend in the Chinese Consulate getting paperwork processed, and waited many a day for THE phone call; THE phone call sharing news of a child half way around the world that needed a forever family. When the phone call did come I was totally unprepared for the overwhelming feelings I would experience.  You name it, I probably felt it. Soon after seeing her picture, we were sent 8 videos of our daughter.  8 is a huge number of videos to receive.  After several more steps we are nearing our time to go and meet, touch, hug, smile with, comfort, love, and bring Chloe home.  Much like Ben, we have been counting down the days and the time is drawing near. I will try to update via this blog while we travel. We would love for you to come on this journey with us.

Pray that God prepares her heart, as life will change drastically for her.  Pray, also, that God prepares us so we can care for her!

Today’s the day…what are you going to do with today?  I have spent many a day thinking about what will happen tomorrow, what I need to do tomorrow, or thinking about the possibility of a problem that may arise tomorrow.  Yet, today’s the day.  Today’s the day we waited on yesterday, and tomorrow isn’t today yet.  Let’s live today!