Saturday, February 28, 2009
Hefei
We arrived in Hefei at 10:00 am, the airport is very small and there is a great amount of pollution here. First impressions of the area is that it is a very poor area of China. The orphanage where Sarah is at is about two hours from here. We will settle in our rooms and meet our guide in a few hours where she then will take us and show us where we can get water and where shopping is. The hotel where we are staying is the Holiday Inn and it is very nice, we are really enjoying the people we are traveling with and can't wait til we all have our children. In the group that have children in this province, there are 4 families including us. One other family is getting a girl who is in the same orphanage as Sarah, she is two months older then Sarah is. Another family is adopting a little girl who is 3 1/2 years old from a different orphanage and another family is getting a 2 year old boy from yet another orphanage. It will be so fun to meet back up in Guangzhou with all the families and see everyone's children.
Touring Beijing
We started our day meeting with 21 other families from our agency in the hotel lobby. We boarded 3 buses at 8:30 am and headed for Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City. Our guide's name is Michelle, she has been a guide for Great Wall Adoption Agency for 2 years. On the way to the Forbidden City, Michelle was telling us of her first experience as a tour guide. In describing the Forbidden City, she had confused the word concubine with cucumber so when telling the group about the emperor she explained that he had only one wife but many cucumbers which he loved very much. After continuing her story about the emperors cucumbers someone from the group told Michelle she thought she meant concubines and not cucumbers and so now everytime Michelle tells the story of the emperor she always thinks about cucumbers. After spending several hours and doing lots of walking, we again boarded the buses and headed to lunch and the Great Wall. For those who have not been to Tianamen Square and Forbidden City, it is a 5 mile walk from the square to the back gate of the city. Amazing that such a large complex was dedicated to one person.
We toured a Cloisonne Factory and had lunch in the back room of the factory. We were seated at tables and the servers kept bringing plate after plate of Chinese food, there was at first plates of cold ham and roast and tomatoes and then hot and sour soup(which did not taste like Asian Star :) ) and then there was a fish with the head and tail still attached, sweet and sour pork, a spicy chicken dish, a kind of spicy beef dish, two different plates of vegetables, something that looked like french fries and a few other dishes. We decided that Sam and Megan would indeed have a hard time finding something they would eat.
We again boarded the buses and headed for the Great Wall, the weather had been beautiful and clear, we arrived and began our assent up the wall, Chelsea was grateful she had the corizone shots in her knees and she was able to climb with the rest of us. Some of the group made it a few steps, some a little higher and some went a very long way up the wall. Our guide said most familes make it to the second tower and that is where Chelsea and I climbed. Todd decided to go one more tower up. It was the coming down that was harder then going up. Todd made it to the third tower and said his legs felt like jello on the way down. The Great Wall section that we went to is the Badaling section. Our guide said there were two ways to go, the difficult way and the more difficult way. We chose the more difficult way as the reward was greater. (better places for pictures)
By the end of the day we were very tired, lots of walking and very little sleep. We decided to turn in early as we had to be up by 3:00 am the next morning to get ready to leave for our flight to Hefei.
We toured a Cloisonne Factory and had lunch in the back room of the factory. We were seated at tables and the servers kept bringing plate after plate of Chinese food, there was at first plates of cold ham and roast and tomatoes and then hot and sour soup(which did not taste like Asian Star :) ) and then there was a fish with the head and tail still attached, sweet and sour pork, a spicy chicken dish, a kind of spicy beef dish, two different plates of vegetables, something that looked like french fries and a few other dishes. We decided that Sam and Megan would indeed have a hard time finding something they would eat.
We again boarded the buses and headed for the Great Wall, the weather had been beautiful and clear, we arrived and began our assent up the wall, Chelsea was grateful she had the corizone shots in her knees and she was able to climb with the rest of us. Some of the group made it a few steps, some a little higher and some went a very long way up the wall. Our guide said most familes make it to the second tower and that is where Chelsea and I climbed. Todd decided to go one more tower up. It was the coming down that was harder then going up. Todd made it to the third tower and said his legs felt like jello on the way down. The Great Wall section that we went to is the Badaling section. Our guide said there were two ways to go, the difficult way and the more difficult way. We chose the more difficult way as the reward was greater. (better places for pictures)
By the end of the day we were very tired, lots of walking and very little sleep. We decided to turn in early as we had to be up by 3:00 am the next morning to get ready to leave for our flight to Hefei.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Beijing
We made it to Beijing last night, our flight was delayed by about 2 hours so we arrived a little later than we had planned but all is well.
It is 3:15 am and we have been awake since 1:30 so we'll definately have to work on the sleep schedule. We have a full day today touring Beijing along with 21 other families from our agency, we hope to post pictures later. Hope all is well there, we send our love to you all.
It is 3:15 am and we have been awake since 1:30 so we'll definately have to work on the sleep schedule. We have a full day today touring Beijing along with 21 other families from our agency, we hope to post pictures later. Hope all is well there, we send our love to you all.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Almost There
Tomorrow we will board a plane continuing on our quest for Sarah. It has been quite a journey so far. Years of hopes and dreams and many emotions. We have prayed daily for Sarah, a child we have not yet met here but feel we have a connection to. Hard to explain how you can love someone so much when you haven't met them or been around them. We really don't know quite what to expect when we first meet Sarah, of course we hope she is healthy and doing well, that she won't be too afraid, that she will feel our love and know she has so many people looking forward to meeting her. We know all of our lives are about to change forever and its hard to imagine sometimes what God has in store for us, it is always so much more and so much better than what we ever imagine for ourselves. Please pray for our family, pray for Sarah and keep us all in your thoughts.
I wanted to include two poems here that have been dear to my heart as we have waited and waited and waited.
The Orphan's Prayer
I am waiting...somewhere far...far...away on the other side of the world.
I may not know who you are or what you look like,
But somehow deep in my heart I know you are there.
That one day you will come and find me.
It's a long journey, and it takes a lot of time...
I wish it could be easier.
But I know that the ones who come for me will not count the cost.
They will only see the joy of finding me.
For now I abide in the fields of the fatherless.
Day by day wondering why I was born here and not somewhere else?
Asking... why my life couldn't have been different?
It's lonely...
Even though I am surrounded by hundreds of other children,
I know that something is missing...
I know in my heart I need a place to call home.
My arms long to be wrapped in a father's embrace...
I long to be saved by a mother's love...
Even as I lie alone in the darkness each night somehow I feel assured,
That no matter how lost I appear I am not alone.
Holy hands guard my steps; sacred fingers wipe my tears, touching my lonely heart.
The one who made me,
The God that knew me before I was born,
Hears me every time I call.
He whispers His promises in my ear.
I listen with hope to His voice.
But what I worry about most is that no one wants to look for me.
The fields are vast and there are so many scattered all over the earth.
I wonder how one little child, so lost, can be found?
Yet He calms my heart and assures me that He will find you.
That He will make sure that you hear His voice clearly.
He has promised me that He will make a way through the fields,
That He will personally cut a path and lead you right to my orphange door.
My prayer is...
When He speaks....
Please don't forget to listen...
When He calls don't be too afraid to go
For I am waiting...somewhere, far...far...away
On the other side of the world
To come home.
Kisses In the Wind
We hold you in our heart & touch you in our dreams.
You are here each day with us, at least that's how it seems.
We know you wonder where we are...and wha'ts taking us so long.
But remember child we love you so and God will keep you strong.
Now go outside and feel the breeze and let it touch your skin...
Because tonight, just as always, we'll be blowing you kisses in the wind.
May God hold you in his hand until we can be with you.
We promise you darling we are doing all that we can do.
Very soon you'll have a family for real, not just pretend.
But for tonight, just as always we blow you kisses in the wind.
May God wrap you in His arms and hold you tight, and let the angels bring the
kisses that we send to you each night.
We're coming Sarah and we're Almost There!
I wanted to include two poems here that have been dear to my heart as we have waited and waited and waited.
The Orphan's Prayer
I am waiting...somewhere far...far...away on the other side of the world.
I may not know who you are or what you look like,
But somehow deep in my heart I know you are there.
That one day you will come and find me.
It's a long journey, and it takes a lot of time...
I wish it could be easier.
But I know that the ones who come for me will not count the cost.
They will only see the joy of finding me.
For now I abide in the fields of the fatherless.
Day by day wondering why I was born here and not somewhere else?
Asking... why my life couldn't have been different?
It's lonely...
Even though I am surrounded by hundreds of other children,
I know that something is missing...
I know in my heart I need a place to call home.
My arms long to be wrapped in a father's embrace...
I long to be saved by a mother's love...
Even as I lie alone in the darkness each night somehow I feel assured,
That no matter how lost I appear I am not alone.
Holy hands guard my steps; sacred fingers wipe my tears, touching my lonely heart.
The one who made me,
The God that knew me before I was born,
Hears me every time I call.
He whispers His promises in my ear.
I listen with hope to His voice.
But what I worry about most is that no one wants to look for me.
The fields are vast and there are so many scattered all over the earth.
I wonder how one little child, so lost, can be found?
Yet He calms my heart and assures me that He will find you.
That He will make sure that you hear His voice clearly.
He has promised me that He will make a way through the fields,
That He will personally cut a path and lead you right to my orphange door.
My prayer is...
When He speaks....
Please don't forget to listen...
When He calls don't be too afraid to go
For I am waiting...somewhere, far...far...away
On the other side of the world
To come home.
Kisses In the Wind
We hold you in our heart & touch you in our dreams.
You are here each day with us, at least that's how it seems.
We know you wonder where we are...and wha'ts taking us so long.
But remember child we love you so and God will keep you strong.
Now go outside and feel the breeze and let it touch your skin...
Because tonight, just as always, we'll be blowing you kisses in the wind.
May God hold you in his hand until we can be with you.
We promise you darling we are doing all that we can do.
Very soon you'll have a family for real, not just pretend.
But for tonight, just as always we blow you kisses in the wind.
May God wrap you in His arms and hold you tight, and let the angels bring the
kisses that we send to you each night.
We're coming Sarah and we're Almost There!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Tender Mercies
Yesterday Todd and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary and it was a great day, not only in celebrating our marriage, but we also received information on when we would go to China and when we would get Sarah. We thought it was really cool to get this information on our anniversary but that was not all. We will be meeting Sarah for the first time on March 2, my birthday. Life suddenly got really busy and it is like a sudden whirlwind around here. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Neighborhood Shower
Jan. 31 our neighbors got together and had a shower for Sarah. It was so much fun and I so appreciated all the wonderful gifts we received. It is such a blessing to have such good friends and neighbors and so much fun to share the excitement with my daughters Chelsea, Sam and Megan.
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