New Family – New Home // Soaking It Up Like A Sponge

It has been 3-weeks since we arrived home and what a time it has been.  Mei Ling is fitting right in with this crazy family.  She is a true joy and destined for greatness in the Kingdom of God.

She loves to make faces at us and has developed her own system of cracking us up individually.  She plays us like a fiddle!  She just winks at me and I automatically reach for my wallet –

She is learning to sleep in her room …that sounds crazy to learn that but we refuse to bring her to our bed and therefore we walk around alot or sit on the couch until she quiets back down.  With a 16 and 15 year old in the house we had forgotten what it was like to care for a baby.  It’s a good kind of tired though.

In three weeks Mei Ling has gone from not using her legs at all to sitting in a walker using her legs to manuver around a play table.  She did not use her arms to push up while on her stomach but now she is doing even that a little.  She love to have her diaper off and uses this as a time to roll across the living room floor thinking she can get away.

This week she has learned to pick up Cheerios and actually hold on to them until she reaches her mouth.  It is awesome to see her progress.  I continuelly think about the exestince she must have had in a crib staring at the ceiling most of the day.  Her hair is coming in on the sides and back of her head.  With the four of us there to care for her I don’t think her feet have hit the floor too often.

More to come later about her future surgeries.

Back Home and Loving It

We are home!  The long, three-year wait seems like a dream.  You know how it is, you wait for something special to take place and the next thing you know it is over and done and you are back to life as you know it.

 

Well, life as we know it has changed.  We are learning to think about spit-up and change of clothes options or do we have enough to feed her – just in case.  The only thing about a new-born vs. an international adoption is that you don’t have to deal with you and the baby having jet-lag at the same time.

 

Last night Jay was sleeping on the couch and struggling with jet-lag.  I woke him up and was walking him by the arm down the hall.  When we got to his room I said, “Jay, I’ll see you in the morning.”  He slowly turned his head and looked at me with that 1,000 yard stare and said, “What do you mean by that?”  I just told him to get in bed which he promptly did in his clothes – for the second night in a row.

 

Life is good at 4 am and really, really bad at 4 pm.  You can only imagine what it is like for a baby.  She is adjusting but very slowly.  Pray for the graveyard shift. J

Follow Up To A Time of Prayer

I know numerous days have passed since I asked for your prayers on behalf of the adopted children.  The last day in China and the travel day back to the U.S. have been a blur and a time of jet-lag and diaper changes.  Sorry for the delay.

 

Our time of prayer for the children was in a garden setting in the hotel courtyard and attended by all but two of the adults.  Several of the children were sick and one family had left the hotel but for the most part it was a wonderful time together.  The children were patient and the parents and extended families were appreciative for the opportunity to have a prayer of blessing over their families.

 

A previous conversation with a friend enlightened me on the issue of abandonment. We, in our humanness, understand the concept of conception in a very physical way.  As followers of Christ we lean toward a belief of conception as taking place at the moment a husband and wife fertilize the egg as designed by the Father.  My friend stated that during a time of prayer the Father reminded him that according to scripture He knew before the beginning of time.  Our conception took place in the spirit from the beginning of time.  The physical is just the inhabiting of the shell we use here on earth. This thought is the underpinning for combating the lie that these children had been abandoned.  If we were conceived by the Father before the beginning of time for this very day then the enemy has no foundation for accusing us or these children of abandonment.

 

We opened the time of prayer by singing Amazing Grace and then I shared this conception thought with the group of newly adoptive parents to encourage them for this day and the days to come.  Each child was touched and blessed, prayed over for physical and spiritual health, surrounded by the mothers and fathers establishing an umbrella of spiritual and physical protection according to the Word of God.  Peace settled on the families and especially the children as we moved from family to family.  One baby went from agitated to asleep.

 

Thank you so much for joining us for this time of prayer.  As with all time like you never really know what the outcome is but of this one thing I am sure.  These children were dedicated to the Father and a spiritual foundation to refute the lie of the enemy concerning abandonment.  I believe because of your partnership with us these families will be able to pass along this understanding to their families and friends across the United States and beyond.

 

Thanks again.

25-Hours On Three Different Flights

During our travels around the world over the past decade we have experienced the joys of flying with families with little children.  Before we departed for China I contemplated taking a pack of Number 2 pencils – sharpened to fine point – to ram in my eye in the event the crying became unbearable.  Once I realized we were being covered by a legion of prayer for this child I decided I did not have to settle for a day of travel in turmoil.  I asked for family and friends to pray specifically for our travel and for peace.

 

Our longest flight was 11 hours from Tokyo to Atlanta on Delta Airlines.  After a seating mix up (the four of us in row 55 and Mei Ling in row 40 !?  You should of seen the staff’s face when I asked who was going to care for our 10 month old……) and being the last passengers to board the plane we were greeted by the staff with THAT look.  You could tell the flight staff had encountered screaming children all the way across the ocean.  But the peace of God was present in the rear of the plane and Mei Ling was model passenger.  So much so that one-by-one the flight attendants began to make faces and noises at Mei Ling and asking me how they could help.  They helped us make up her formula, extra drinks for us and a place in the galley to stretch our legs while walking with the baby.  The only time Mei Ling made a sound was when she was hungry or needed a diaper change.  The staff commented to Gina that they had never seen a baby travel so well.  I attribute this to your prayers lifted up on our behalf.

 

Kudos go out to the Delta staff on our flight.

Join Us For Prayer For The Children

For several days now…..no really for several months now I just didn’t exactly know what I was dealing with… I have been thinking about a time of prayer here in China.  For the past several days it has grown in clarity (I think) concerning the kids and families in our group.

Tomorrow morning we will be taking a group photo in the lobby of our hotel.  On the bus today, while receiving our schedule from our guide, I was lead to announce to the group that a time of prayer would be held for the families and their new children.  Instantly, many showed signs of agreement and I hope all will join us.

I am believing for miracles to take place in the lives of these families!  I would love to have you join us in this time of seeking God’s face to move on behalf of those in our group.

To join us, you can pray in Chattanooga (or elsewhere) Monday night @ 9:30pm, EST. 

Thanks for joining us on this adventure.

Chinese News – Man On The Street Interview

Today, we were in an area of the city where many adoptive families stay mainly because the U.S. Consulate formerly had an office there.  The government office has subsequently moved but it is still a hub for families and shopping.  While standing on the corner people-watching a Chinese newscrew approached asking if we would be willing to talk about the world-wide financial crisis.  I felt this would be a good thing to do and agreed to speak to the issue at hand.

The female reporter asked what I thought about the financial crisis and how it has effected us.  She asked if I had hope we would make it through to better times.  She wanted to know how our family dealt with the uncertainty. 

In answering her question I gave a thumbnail sketch of what could have been the causes of the problem in the U.S.  For all of you who know me you are probably belly laughing right now understanding my feeble mind when it comes to economics.  I spouted the party line and blamed it on the Carter Administration, skipping Bush One and attaching it to the Clinton Administration for good measure.

When it came to the HOPE question this is where I took seriously the opportunity and expressed to the reporter the fact many people place their hopes in things financial or material but as for me and my family we place our hope in God and his unwavering goodness.  The reporter’s eyes widened  and she smiled.  I am not sure if it was the typical Asian response to an awkward situation or if it was genuine surprise at my answer.  Before ending the man on the street interview I gave her a big toothy smile and exclaimed again that in spite of what I see in the world’s economy I place my full trust in God and his ability to care for us – always.  This generated another wide smile from the reporter and an English “Thank you”.

It won’t be on CNN or Foxnews but our hope is it will spark an interest in those watching.

More Photos of the Clan

Mei Ling at Chinese Museum

Mei Ling - I love my Mommy

Gina and Mei Ling - I love my new family this much!

McNelly's in Nanjing Metropark Hotel

Chinese Museum Garden

Venturing Out for Supper

We had the evening off to ourselves and decided to have dinner by ourselves out in the city.  Previously in the afternoon, Jeffrey and I walked about ½ mile around our hotel looking to see what was around us.  We walked farther and farther away from our hotel but eventually ended up walking in a circle back to our front door.  In the process, we saw Chinese people going about their daily lives, eating lunch, buying fruit at the local fruit stand, hanging out laundry.

 

Jeff kept asking if we needed to go back to where we had started but I found this was a great opportunity to point things out to him as a way of training him to safely explore your surroundings, gather information and then use it.  During our walk we found a local restaurant that had fish tanks with every kind of fish you can imagine – some we had never seen before.  They had buckets of water with eel, water snakes, and wiggly-things that did not look eatable.  There were live snakes in cages, pigeon in others and an alligator in a pond surrounded by eating tables.  Its brother could be found cut up on ice and ready for selection.

 

I prepped the family for our evening adventure out and off we went to explore this new restaurant.  We encountered a place where no one spoke English and therefore the charades began.  Side note:  A charades class should be a part of every missions course or for anyone going abroad.   We clucked like chickens and pointed at dead carcasses hanging in the window.  Eventually, the head waiter shows up with a cheat sheet in his pocket with only the meats listed with English and Chinese words.

 

We ordered a chicken dish and a pork dish – WOW!  They were awesome.  One came in a Pampered Chef-like pot that was super hot and the other came with Snow Peas and bowls of rice.  It was a little  thing but the boys learned to explore without fear and walked out of the restaurant feeling as though they had conquered something.

 

We later found out we had ordered chicken and pork in one of the best seafood houses in the city.  After sharing our exploits with the other families in our group (and with the endorsement of our local guide) it looks like we will be returning to the Meijing Seafood House again before we leave.  This time we will order FISH!

 

Tomorrow…..more photos after we return from walking in the park and visiting a Chinese museum.

Welcome to Guangzhou, China

We are now in Guangzhou, China which is located in the very south of the nation close to the coast and Hong Kong.  So, our journey has taken us from the north in Beijing where we experienced coooooold weather then halfway down the country to Nanjing where the weather was still a little cold but nice and now in the south were the temperature is in the low 70’and overcast and getting ready to rain.

 

We rallied back with the rest of the families (twelve total) who had been spread out around the nation picking up their kids and taking care of the preliminary documents.  It is interesting to see the children who, some, had more difficult special needs than they were told.  It is a difficult time for some but the children will have a loving family who will care for them in ways they would never experience had they stayed here.  The Lord is still in control and will help all who are here to rescue the children.

 

 We will be here until the 31^st where we will depart at 10:30 am on our 26 hours journey back around the world.  Just a few more meetings, and official signing of documents with the U.S. Consulate to obtain Mei Ling’s visa to travel with us to the U.S.  We are praying for her to be able to make the 4 hour / 12.5 hour / 45 minute flights between Guangzhou to Tokyo / Tokyo to Atlanta / Atlanta to Chattanooga.  Pray with us (Chattanooga-time) at 10 pm on the 30^th.

Mei Ling Gets A Physical

Today was Mei Ling’s day to get a physical.  I say physical because that is what we were told but when it came right down to it they put her through three stations and called it all good.

 

She saw the ENT doctor who looked in her ears, nose and throat – that is why ENT is appropriate.  Three minutes and she was done.  Station Two was temperature, height and weight.  Station three was for the doctor to look at her general appearance, abdomen, and a listen to her lungs.  All three stations took about ten-minutes total.  Apparently this is a requirement for anyone wishing to apply for a U.S. visa.

 

This is one more step in the process of being able to bring our princess home.