Distractions

So what do you do when your travel is delayed, you're trusting God to fight your battles and you're being as patient as possible?

Pretty up the gift bags that are a required part of the adoption trip. The gifts are for the guides, drivers, officials, orphanage director and nannies. We're taking things like postcards from Texas, pecan candies, lotions, post it notes, bookmarks and for the men - Texas flag koozies! We will make little gift bags up of these goodies once in China. By the way, when you're trying to find something made in the USA to take to China - it's pretty funny when everything you pick up is from China. 

What else do you do when you're waiting? How about see the movie Frozen...twice!! My kids loved this movie so much the first time, we went again. And for everyone that knows me, knows I never go to the movies let alone twice to the same movie. Last time I saw so many  movies, I was waiting for Brett to be born.  It's a very similar kind of waiting this adoption thing. 

Then there's retail therapy. Proven to be an expensive way to spend the time, but also know to produce stress relaxant hormones in any waiting mother. Plus, Emme needed some on sale dresses! Thank you day after Thanksgiving sales and Black Friday.  She will be well dressed once she finally gets home! 

Praying for her every moment of the day and trusting in His plan. 

~Lisa

Finding the Gift

Two weeks ago our Travel Approval arrived.  Last Friday I should have been on a plane to bring our daughter home to us.  Those were my plans... my plans. God is always trying to teach me this and goodness I should have learned it by now.  MY plans, they mean nothing.  HIS plans, they mean everything.

We have to wait some more.  But I'm just now seeing the gift.  See, I could cry and stomp my feet in true childlike fashion (ok...maybe I kind of did a little...) and ask all the whys in the world and beg God to change this thing we are in the midst of.  I have, because I'm human.  And my mama's heart, it's breaking not being able to get to my girl.  My arms ache and my heart weeps, but my soul is good.  It's good because I can cry and beg and ask those whys, and He listens.  God listens to our troubles and knows in the good fatherly way he has, that all will be okay because he has a plan.  Sometimes we don't know what he is doing and question those plans, and that's where we decide to trust or not.  I'm trusting.  Trusting in His perfect plan for our daughter and trusting Him to hold her tight, fight any battles and protect her.  I'll do this when we eventually get to bring her home too as I do with all my children.  So this gift, the gift of waiting, being thankful in the time we have been given, is a present to us this Christmas.

I'm seeing the gift as a time to slow down - before we were all go, go, go, getting ready for our trip to China.  I'm seeing the gift of time to just relish in our family before adding another member and we transition from a family of 8 to one of 9.  I'm seeing the gift of Christmas.  This Christmas we are turning things around a little by putting all our focus on Christ.  There will still be presents and goodies, but there will be more of Him here in our home.  The kids know that Santa is a fun story, and we giggle through the many Christmas books of baking cookies and filling the sleigh.  But most importantly, they know who Christmas is really about - Jesus - and that he came for us and will come again one day.  In these days of waiting (again), we are treasuring the time we have to prepare for Christ's coming and learning (always learning) to trust in His plans for our lives.  What a gift we've all been given!

I haven't shared these pictures here yet, but they are also my gift right now.  We waited so long to see a new picture of our little girl (6 months) and I look at them daily, wondering when our first meeting will be and what it will be like.   It's looking like it won't be until after the first of the year - January.  Just writing that makes me take a breath.  This is the hard part.  The waiting.  She waits and we wait.  Yet we have hope in the New Year and new beginnings.  So much hope for what is to come.

Sweet Emme Rose, we just can't wait to meet you.  It's hard to understand why we have to wait some more, but we know this time is a gift for you to heal and for us to prepare.  Wo ai ni - I love you little one.

 

Little bit, is truly little - a petite little 21 month old girl with a very strong will to live.  She had her first heart surgeries in August and October in China.  She was released back to the orphanage in November and now we wait for the doctors there to give us clearance to travel.  Let's all pray it comes very soon! 

Seeing gift in the wait and hope in our future.

~Lisa

Frozen

It's super cold right now in Texas, as our first real cold front of the season has blown in making the kids run to the hot chocolate and pull out their winter gear.  But that's not why this post is titled "frozen".  I haven't written in such a very long time... the words...they just have been frozen.  I've felt paralyzed to write as we waited to hear news about our little girl in China.  What could I say that would encourage others or tell them about our journey... That's what August through November has felt like for me.  I think I'm ready to share now so let's catch up.

Adoption:

We're in the home stretch and all the paperwork, the prayers and preparation are coming to be fulfilled.  She is coming home - soon.  The official invite, our Travel Approval, is coming soon. Then our agency will help us book our Consulate Appointment and then we book our travel arrangements from our home to her province.  Our agency takes care of all the in-country flights, hotels and guides for us.  

Up until this point, our lives have been filled with concern and trying to trust in God's will and hand in all of this.  Since September, we've wondered how Emme was doing and since September, no one could give us any answers.  We received little tidbits though - two times we received little two line updates.  Another family were the ones to let us know she had been taken to the hospital when they visited the orphanage to adopt their little girl back in September.  Such a surprise that was! We had assumed she would remain there until we brought her home and then have her surgery.  But my prayers all along were for God to hold her tight and take care of her heart.  He did.  

Once in October our news was that she had surgery and was on breathing support - a ventilator.  Nothing else... Goodness that was so hard to hear, but knowing what I know now about heart surgery, I knew most heart patients come out on breathing support but many go off of it quickly.  So we assumed her surgery must have been recent.  Then recently, this month, our news was that she had a second surgery in October and was released from ICU early this month.  A little better news, but nothing to tell us HOW she was doing or WHAT surgeries she had.  Our agency called to tell us we shouldn't plan to travel very soon since she would need to be released back to the orphanage before we could bring her home.  

That was just a frustrating time for us and we really struggled with it.  The lack of information took it's toll.  Loving a child half way around the world yet knowing her little complicated heart underwent surgery just left me feeling empty.  Selfish reasons took over and the "whys" set in.  Why wasn't she with us when she had surgery? Why did they take her without asking us? Why wasn't the paperwork moving faster? Why can't we find out anything about her?  Thus the frozen feeling.  But we were ok. Because overall we knew who was in control of the situation and that everything would happen in His timing.

So now we're up to date and it's the end of November.  Thanksgiving is just around the corner and all the little pieces are falling into place. Many paperwork milestones have been met (see our timeline link above) and Emme is out of the hospital, back at the orphanage and recovering well from the pictures we recently received.  She's rocking' her Daddy's no-fuss hairstyle. (They shaved her head while she was in the hospital).  No worries - we'll be bringing many cute head bands! Since when we were waiting for some type of news... I was shopping! haha   She's so beautiful.  She has the biggest brown eyes and the tiniest little fingers.  She's standing on her own and sitting on her own.  This is so huge for someone who has been hospitalized for 3 months.  We just can't wait to pour love into her and welcome her into our family.  Soon baby girl...soon. 

Family:

While we've been doing paperwork and waiting - lots of waiting - life has been going on as usually.  Allie celebrated her 9th birthday with getting her ears pierced.  Fun!

Grace and Jessica celebrated their 14th birthday! I don't know why but I love this picture of the two of them.  Maybe it's all the personality it shows, because they tend to be pretty shy at this age - I'm sure that will change!

The fair came to town and my girls baked up a storm.  Two won grand prizes for their cake decorating!

Now as we prepare to give thanks for all that we've been given, we look back on all our blessings of this year.  Our Thankful Tree is up and how fun it is to look back on the reasons we were thankful last year and the year before.  This year, I'm thankful for everything.  The good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly.  There's been plenty of ugly and spiritual warfare type things happening all throughout this year.  But that just means we are doing what God has asked of us and we are stepping out in obedience.  The beautiful is waiting and it's so exciting to know we are almost there!  

Happy Thanksgiving & Many Blessings,

Lisa