Dealing with the unexpected...

The unknown can be a very scary deal!  We are now on day 13 of our China Trip and we get on a plane in less than two days to head home.  We cannot wait to get back! We miss our kids, we miss our friends, and we are so ready for this part of the process to be completed... and we are almost there. But yesterday we had something happen that was very unexpected and unsettling.  We had the opportunity to go to the Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou which is the biggest zoo/safari park in Asia.  We didn't go the last time so this time we thought, we are here, might as well do it!  So we went with 9 other adopting families and saw some incredible animals (they have over 200 white tigers which is almost half of the white tiger population in the world, along with Pandas with triplets, Koala Bears, and a lot of other animals).  Like I said, it was incredible, but halfway through our time at the zoo our guide walks over to us and says, "we need to head back to the medical clinic before 4pm, something showed up so we have to do a further test".  We then planned to leave by taxi at 2pm to make it to the clinic on-time.  The rest of the time at the zoo was full of "what-if's"... what if it confirms she is sick, and how does this affect us leaving in 3 days? (Dan's visa expires the 19th so he has to leave).  Can this delay us days, weeks, months...? Man she is ours, we have adopted her in China and as soon as we land in the US she will be recognized as ours by the United States.  We love this kid, could something worse happen?  Could we lose her?  We arrived at the medical clinic around 2:30 and they took us right in to the X-ray room... let us just say that Kaili wasn't very excited about getting the x-ray and she let everyone know about it.  A few minutes later our guide came over and said, "I just spoke to Doctor, he says the x-rays are clear...she has no problem".  We just sat there in silence with tears streaming down our faces thanking God that she was okay.

Today we went to the consulate for our Visa appointment.  That went smooth and the guy who interviewed us was from a little place in Florida called, "Mandarin" (where I grew up).  Crazy who you can run into in the middle of China... He grew up off Scott Mill Road and graduated from Stanton in 1993.  We left the US Embassy and went back to a meeting area to wait for our bus trip back to the hotel.  While there we talked with some other parents who were adopting and listened as they talked about what God had done to move and enable them to adopt...it was very encouraging.  As we were about to leave a Chinese national walked up to Michelle and Myself, and said, "Hello, are you taking her home?"  We said, "Yes"!  And then he asked, "Do you believe in Jesus Christ?" Almost taken back we responded, " Yes, we believe in Jesus Christ."  He looked relieved and said, "Good, that is very good."  So I asked him, "Do you believe in Jesus Christ."  And with a huge smile he said, "O yes, I believe in Jesus Christ...I went to college in the U.S. of A. and at college someone told me about Jesus and I became a believer in Jesus."  We talked about him going to church which he did, and how we served on staff at a church and worked with young people.  Our bus pulled up at that point and we had to leave.  His name was Lei (pronounced Lay).  I had a Chinese National share his faith with me in a place where that is illegal.... I am still stunned by that encounter.  Because we had just come from the US Consulate building we did not have any phone or camera because I would have loved to have gotten a picture with him.  It was pretty amazing to say the least.

It's now Tuesday night in Guangzhou, and it's been a great day for Kaili.  She has really begun to blossom over the past 24-48 hours.  She is still a little shy, but now I am getting high fives, and she is beginning to make some sounds which is pretty awesome.  Even when we are out and about she is laughing with us and really seems to be attaching well.  She is an amazing little girl and we are so blessed.  Tomorrow afternoon we take a train to Hong Kong and the next morning we get on a plane to head to the United States of America.  We can't wait to be home.

Heaven on earth

When we got out of the van, we were escorted down an alley towards the Civil Affairs office.  Clothes lines hung from the rooftops, and adjacent doors led into dark staircases. It seemed like we were in a movie. We went into the building and were waiting for an elevator in a bare, sterile foyer.  Next to us stood two other Westerners looking exactly as we felt, apprehensive and excited. We all headed up to the 8th floor... it was really happening; this was where we would meet our little girl. The doors opened and we entered a room that was expansive and clean.... and all around us commotion began to unfold as they began to bring out the children in pairs.  Our sweet girl was in the first set. She toddled toward us... very timid and shy, and we immediately fell in love with her. We coaxed her slowly into our arms and just held her as she looked around wide eyed and bewildered.  As we looked around the room with her, we saw something that very few people are ever privileged to see.  In this room, 22 kids from around Guangzhou were being greeted for the first time by their parents.  Some where screaming, some were quiet, some were laughing, and some were smiling.  There were kids that looked different, teenagers that were at the cusp of being too old for adoption, kids with major deformities, kids with minor ones, but all of them were children who needed a home... and at this very moment they were being loved by their family for the very first time. And these weren't just American families coming in to love these kids... there were families from Spain, England, Norway, Sweden, and other countries as well.

I still tear up when I think about it.  When I think about the 60 year old grandparents adopting the three teenage boys who were about to age out of the orphanage or when I think about the 12 year old orphan in the wheelchair that now had a family or when I think about the lives that are being changed not just in this world but for some in the next. It was a beautiful sight. We are grateful we got to be apart of it.

Today (Day 4 with her) has been good. She has been a little more emotional and very clingy. So please pray for peace in the midst of a lot of "newness". It is fun seeing a little glimpse of her personality emerge. We feel so blessed.
Kaili is what we would term painfully shy.  She has squeaked out maybe 5-6 words and they are so soft and timid.  She is very content to stay in our arms the whole time.  She has rarely smiled, but now when we pick her up she does a huge crooked smile that just melts your heart.

Almost there...in six hours... she's ours

(Day 3 in China)- A perspective from Dan:
I am suddenly awakened by the ringing of the phone... I look over at the clock and it reads 9:47.  Everything in me panics. You see this was the day we were supposed to head to Kaili's province.   But, we were supposed to be downstairs at 9:00am bags packed checked out of our room headed to the airport to catch our flight from Beijing to Guangzhou.  I start yelling at Michelle, hurry get up, get packed, we aren't going to make it.  She looks at me confused, staring at me like I have gone insane (this wasn't the first time I had seen that face).  I realized something isn't right, and then she says to me, "Ummm, it's 9:47pm."  Man, here I think we are going to be late getting to our little girl, and then at that moment relief flooded my soul.  This jet lag is killing me!  Needless to say, we slept off and on the rest of the night and made our Air China flight with plenty of time.
Now it is Day 4 (Monday morning in China, Sunday night at home).  We are approximately 6 hours away from getting our little girl.  Now lets break this down a little bit... we started this process on August 15, 2014, that was 480 days ago, which was 11,514 hours ago, and now we are down to the final six.  Breaking it down percentage wise, we are down to the final .052% of this waiting thing we have had to do.  So many questions are flooding in.  What if she cries the whole time (like the next 10 days)?  What if she is scared, and hasn't been cared for well?  What is this going to be like this time?  When we get on the plane is she going to kick the guy next to us?  Are people going to stare at her and talk mean to her because she is different?(I'm feeling protective already!) As I think about all these things you know the only thing that matters is that God has called us to do this... even if/when it is hard... and it will be hard.  But even though we started this process 11,514 hours ago... God started the process at the beginning of time.  He is bigger than any fear, any challenge, and any situation we will face.  And when I remember that God has been planning for this meeting from the beginning, my fears fade away.  I can't wait to meet her.  She should be in our arms around 1:30am your time tonight.  So if you happen to be up or wake up around then, join us in praising God for He deserves all praise.
Michelle's perspective:
To give my man credit.....For every panic moment Dan has had, he's had five other moments that have been sure and steady. I would have wilted months ago if it were not for him. This morning as we were lying awake at wee hours in the morning, I said, "Are we were crazy for doing this?" His response? "We'd be crazy not to!"  So true. We have had a great time with our friends, the Turners, (John Turner adds humor to every situation) touring the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. We have had good guides, yummy food (well sort of) AND finally we meet our little one soon. Excited and scared. Thanks for your prayers.

Finally... headed to China

In 10 hours, our plane takes off for China.  We can't believe this day is here.  Mixed emotions fill our hearts as we leave our kids here (in great hands with grandparents) and go to bring our little Kaili home.  We can't wait to see her and hold her.

Since China blocks a lot of the regular websites that we use to communicate I have a dear friend who will be giving updates from my Facebook page and possibly this blog... our emails should work over there and we have a lot of down time as we are waiting for appointments and what-not so please feel free to email us and check in (either samson880@bellsouth.net or pastordan@bellsouth.net).

Thank you to so many of you who have expressed encouragement about our adoption over the past 15 months.  Many of you have been so gracious and committed to pray for us (and her) and that means so much.  Also thank you for those who sacrificed in order to partner with us in this endeavor. We are grateful.

God is so good and through all parts of our lives may He be given all honor, glory, and praise...

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

-Galatians 4:4-7

God bless you all,

Dan & Michelle

Finally...our travel date

After a year of paperwork, planning and prayer, the time has finally come! We are so excited to announce that our travel dates are set. We will be travelling to China on Dec. 4th and will return on Dec. 18th! The tickets are bought, we apply for visas next week, and we are preparing!!  My mother and father will travel from Alabama to stay with our kids while we are gone. They are way better at parenting the I am, so we leave them in great hands (Although we may have to detox them when we get home. Grandmother is a bit liberal with the sugary snacks). We are grateful they are willing to help us out for such a long period of time. For those who know them, they are wonderful people.


On a personal note, we had the privilege of getting away together as a family last week through funds that were provided so our family could go on a special vacation. We enjoyed five days just hanging out together; we figured it would be the last time to travel together for awhile.  I thoroughly enjoyed not having to do any laundry or cooking. It was truly relaxing and refreshing and we are so grateful for the time away.


While we are in China, we will try to keep you updated as the trip progresses. Our "gotcha day" is the 8th and her birthday is the 11th. We are glad we get to be there with her for that special day. We will leave from Hong Kong after we get her visa on the 17th.


(From Dan...)On a side note, we are also excited that we will be traveling with some good friends of ours, John and Joybeth, who just so happen to have the same travel dates and "gotcha" day as we do.  March of last year I found myself along with our little Meili sitting across from these two at lunch explaining how the adoption process had gone for us in 2010 as they were beginning the journey with lots of questions.  Little did I know at that time that only a few months later we would be jumping on the same journey all over again.  I have known John and Joybeth since they were dating back in the Mandarin Baptist Youth Group in 1992 I believe... Its been awesome to see them step out in faith in this new adventure and we truly are thrilled to be walking this new road together.

Our Kaili 2014

Again can I say thanks to all who have prayed, inquired, given and encouraged us in this journey. We are forever grateful!

Our Meili in 2010

Blessings,
Michelle

Our little girl....

In his book Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, C. S. Lewis uses a beautiful metaphor to explain how believers should respond to the blessings and pleasures of life. He wrote that in those moments we should allow our minds to "run back up the sunbeam to the sun." In essence he was saying that just as we recognize the sun as the source causing a sunbeam's warmth and light, so should we remember that every good and perfect thing is from God.  If only I could always revel in the PROVIDER more than the provision! (I admit that often times I enjoy the pleasures of life without acknowledging God nearly enough. As Lewis phrases it, I "ignore the smell of Deity that hangs about".)


 With that said, many of you know about our recent Letter of Approval from China. As we received the phone call this week, I let Lewis' metaphor take root. My mind couldn't help but run up the sunbeam to the sun, and I found myself in awe of God. A God who loves. A God who provides. A God who saves. A God who sees. The "smell of Deity" was intense. I was so grateful for the gift of this approval. This blessing that gives us permission to proceed.  Now I marvel that since September, God has provided $18,000 in funding, either from many of you, our fund-raising endeavors, or our grants. He has blessed us with a little 21 month old girl who is beautiful. He has given us children who think their little sister is cute, even though she has an obvious physical deformity (cleft lip and palate). He even provided needed bunk beds to accommodate our growing family. The "sun" has been awfully bright this week. I hope I continue to see it!


This week my prayer is that, as you are blessed, your mind will run back up the sunbeam to the sun. Whether it is a good meal, a beautiful sunset, a giggle, a warm hug, a paycheck, or even a comfy bed...enjoy the provision and thank the Provider.


We hope to travel in Nov. or Dec. Praying to be home before Christmas.  THANK YOU for the gifts, the inquiries and the prayers.

Dearest "Framily"... got some big news!!!

Just a quick note here to tell our "Framily" some big news.

First... thank you so much for giving and praying with us on our $3,000 matching grant from LifeSong.  We are humbled by the fact that we are already 100% matched.  We understand the sacrifice so many have made.  We can't wait to bring this little girl home.  We have also been awarded a substantial grant from ShowHope (Stephen Curtis Chapman's Adoption Agency) which we really didn't expect to get.  So with our savings, the homeschool coop lunch, the garage sale, the gifts from you, the matching grant, and other grants...we are quite possibly fully funded (we are awaiting some final word on some fees that have increased this year).  FYI, we will be doing some T-shirts in the next couple of weeks with custom Jason Sobol artwork...

Second... This past week we had our adoption agency request that we consider being matched with another referral, not knowing if the little one (who was a pre-referral...not officially released) we had was going to be released in the next couple of months.  So to make a long story short, and through some interesting things that really seemed to be the Lord's work, we were given a referral of a 20 month old with a Cleft Lip and Palate.  Last week we sent our letter of Intent to adopt this beautiful little lady.  We are now waiting for our Letter of Acceptance from China.  Our agency says that time to travel usually falls between 6-8 months from now.  We are praying that it is sooner.  We are ready to bring her home.

Thank you so much for walking with us on this journey and please keep praying.  I was hanging out with my little Meili for most of the day (Michelle is with Katelyn at kids camp), and I can tell you without a doubt... I truly don't deserve all the blessings that God has given me.  Living a dream!