We are just 3 weeks away from heading to China to get our little Gracie! I just can’t believe it! We will soon meet our daughter for the first time and finally get to hold her and love on her.
A lot has happened this week! We received our final Travel Approval on Monday and our international travel was booked. We leave in mid March from Atlanta airport to Detroit then on to Shanghai. We will return home from Guangzhou to Beijing to Detroit to Chattanooga airport! whew
I feel like the real craziness is about to set it. After spending HOURS working on the flights, I realized how LONG this trip is and how REALLY long our travel will take. 7 airport stops, 4 hotels, 15 nights in hotels, train rides, crazy van rides in China, countless hours arriving early to wait for all this travel, and don’t forget a possible screaming toddler in tow. I mean, I get impatient waiting in a 3 person-deep line at Wal-Mart. Oh my.
A lot has happened this week! We received our final Travel Approval on Monday and our international travel was booked. We leave in mid March from Atlanta airport to Detroit then on to Shanghai. We will return home from Guangzhou to Beijing to Detroit to Chattanooga airport! whew
I feel like the real craziness is about to set it. After spending HOURS working on the flights, I realized how LONG this trip is and how REALLY long our travel will take. 7 airport stops, 4 hotels, 15 nights in hotels, train rides, crazy van rides in China, countless hours arriving early to wait for all this travel, and don’t forget a possible screaming toddler in tow. I mean, I get impatient waiting in a 3 person-deep line at Wal-Mart. Oh my.
But then I see this picture of a sweet and playful smile and remember who has been waiting longer. We will just consider this travel part of "labor pains."
Without an epidural.
This too shall pass.
A cool thing that also happened this week is I met a family in a China adoption Facebook group who adopted a little girl just a year ago whose hands are affected by Amniotic Banding and she also has a band around her leg that is almost identical to Gracie’s! The mother talked with me on the phone for about an hour and said her daughter received surgery to release the band in Huntsville, Alabama, and she is doing awesome! We were able to schedule an appointment with this doctor in mid April for a consultation about Gracie’s leg. We will be following this family’s journey to have their little girl’s hands operated on at Vanderbilt in April as well…as that might be a possibility for a surgeon for Gracie too. The Lord has placed so many different people in our path as we have been praying about specific things. Finding a doctor for Gracie has been on my mind and heart, wondering where and how this is all going to work out. The Lord has gone before us in all of this. As we have said from the beginning, if the Lord allows, we will take the next step and follow His leading.
On another topic, we have an important follow up appointment for Jonathan next Wednesday, March 2nd. We will travel to Vanderbilt for an MRI to check his Hydrocephalus and Chiari Malformation. Praise the Lord, he has had no issues or symptoms with this but he will need MRI’s over the next several years to make sure all is still going well. Please pray for Jonathan’s upcoming MRI as it will be 3 hours long and he will have to be sedated. He must also be healthy for this test so prayer for a healthy household is greatly appreciated!
There is still so much to do as we prepare to travel to the other side of the world. It has been remarkable to see God’s handprint on this journey. I’m not saying I’ve seen Him at work just because it has been a fast process. There have been difficult things along this adoption journey as well. Some things that are still hard…and they may remain that way. But I know this is the Lord’s will for our family and He has been so sweet to give me reminders of that along the way. I am in awe of how He shows off. Shows off His great love, power and grace. So when I do get discouraged or upset about the “difficult” things, I can look back and see how HIS hand is all over this and how HIS ways are better than my ways and how He loves us, even in the difficult. And I am so thankful.
"I lift my eyes to the hills- where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." (Psalm 121:1-2)
Without an epidural.
This too shall pass.
A cool thing that also happened this week is I met a family in a China adoption Facebook group who adopted a little girl just a year ago whose hands are affected by Amniotic Banding and she also has a band around her leg that is almost identical to Gracie’s! The mother talked with me on the phone for about an hour and said her daughter received surgery to release the band in Huntsville, Alabama, and she is doing awesome! We were able to schedule an appointment with this doctor in mid April for a consultation about Gracie’s leg. We will be following this family’s journey to have their little girl’s hands operated on at Vanderbilt in April as well…as that might be a possibility for a surgeon for Gracie too. The Lord has placed so many different people in our path as we have been praying about specific things. Finding a doctor for Gracie has been on my mind and heart, wondering where and how this is all going to work out. The Lord has gone before us in all of this. As we have said from the beginning, if the Lord allows, we will take the next step and follow His leading.
On another topic, we have an important follow up appointment for Jonathan next Wednesday, March 2nd. We will travel to Vanderbilt for an MRI to check his Hydrocephalus and Chiari Malformation. Praise the Lord, he has had no issues or symptoms with this but he will need MRI’s over the next several years to make sure all is still going well. Please pray for Jonathan’s upcoming MRI as it will be 3 hours long and he will have to be sedated. He must also be healthy for this test so prayer for a healthy household is greatly appreciated!
There is still so much to do as we prepare to travel to the other side of the world. It has been remarkable to see God’s handprint on this journey. I’m not saying I’ve seen Him at work just because it has been a fast process. There have been difficult things along this adoption journey as well. Some things that are still hard…and they may remain that way. But I know this is the Lord’s will for our family and He has been so sweet to give me reminders of that along the way. I am in awe of how He shows off. Shows off His great love, power and grace. So when I do get discouraged or upset about the “difficult” things, I can look back and see how HIS hand is all over this and how HIS ways are better than my ways and how He loves us, even in the difficult. And I am so thankful.
"I lift my eyes to the hills- where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." (Psalm 121:1-2)