Day 3 - Maria's Big House of Hope

A year ago if you had told me that in just 365 short days I would be riding on a bus through the Henan province with my son asleep on my lap I probably would have laughed out loud.  First of all, at that point I had no son, I had no plans for a son, and I certainly did not expect to be back in China again anytime soon.  You see, one year ago, on August 17, 2010, I spent my entire day at Maria’s Big House of Hope volunteering my time to stain a deck on the roof and play with the children inside.  Coming back to China the very next year would have seemed impossible enough.  Coming back with my son, well that would have seemed completely ludicrous.  And, yet, here I am and today I did exactly that – I rode on a bus through the Henan province with my son asleep on my lap.  And you know what?  It didn’t seem ludicrous at all.

Our morning started out pretty normal, if you can consider waking up in a hotel room and eating at the buffet breakfast normal.  We needed to meet in the lobby at 8:30 a.m. to head out for Maria’s so we were up by 6:30, Skyped with our various family members on the East Coast (all of which were getting ready for bed) and then headed down to eat.  Jack is still a fan of the breakfast buffet, but he seems to be learning very quickly that he doesn’t have to scarf down as much as he can as quickly as he can which is always a good thing to know.  We have also mastered the fine points of packing a to-go stock of cereal and fruit before leaving the breakfast area so that is good too.

At 8:30 we met up with our guide and the other two families who wanted to travel the 2-hours to Maria’s with us.  Along the way we got to see a few different areas of the Henan Province.  It took us about 45 minutes to simply get out the other side of Zhengzhou so we saw a good amount of the city.  I’m not sure if it was a “highlight” or not, but I must say one of the more memorable Zhengzhou sights was watching a rat run down the sidewalk only to have a woman stomp on its head and then continue on down the road as if she had done nothing out of the ordinary.  And the only thing that made this sight even more memorable than it would have been any other day was that I had just said, “Katie, look!  There’s a rat running down the street,” at which point Katie turned around just in time to witness the poor rodent’s demise.  What a great tourist attraction I pointed out!  Ha!

Once we got out of the city the landscape of the province changed pretty quickly.  We passed several deep valleys, traveled through two long tunnels, and saw a lot of corn.  We even saw a nuclear reactor sight which is always comforting.  Once we got to the outskirts of Luoyang, though, I was surprised that I recognized one of the main intersections leading to Maria’s and pretty proud of myself for spotting the state run orphanage that stands directly in front of Maria’s while we were still a fair ways off.  In some ways it was if nothing had changed in the past year.

Once we got off the bus we were able to go right in.  As soon as we walked in the door we were met by Mikey, the Show Hope/New Hope/MBHOH liaison who happens to be a good friend.  At the same time, however, two of the nannies came over to Jack and begin talking to him.  He was not a fan of them touching him and when one of them picked him up he immediately reached for Katie who happened to be standing right next to the nanny.  Once he got into Katie’s arms he frantically looked around until he saw me (I was standing behind him at the time) and quickly reached out for me.  I knew that his returning might be unsettling for him, but I must admit I was a little surprised by how quickly and definitively he rejected any interaction with the nannies in the building.  Not to suggest in any way that he did not have a positive experience with the nannies while he was a resident at Maria’s, but he most definitely knew that he came in that front door with Mom and he was not going to be in that building with anyone except Mom.  And that is perfectly fine with me.

Well, since Jack was having a bit of a tough time feeling secure we decided to take the tour of the building with the other two families rather than simply wander around.  Katie went off to visit friends and take pictures and love on babies, but Jack wanted to stay with Mikey so the tour route seemed a good plan.  Ironically, when we stepped off the elevator on the fifth floor the first person I saw was Nick Lyndon, one of the Show Hope staff members that led my mission team last summer.  There is currently an orthopedic surgical team at Maria’s and Nick is along on the trip as official surgery photographer.  It wasn’t odd that he would be at Maria’s, I just wasn’t expecting to see him and was pleasantly surprised to find both he and his wife there on the fifth floor.

After meeting several members of the surgical team we moved down to the fourth floor where we ran into a couple of the nurses.  Although Jack still wasn’t going to be anywhere other than in my arms, he was willing to interact with the nurses a bit.  As we walked down each of the hallways we would take our time looking at all of the beautiful black and white photos Mikey and Mariah (the head nurse) have displayed since I was there last year.  Jack wasn’t much interested in the photos, not even of the many of himself, until we reached the end of the hall on that fourth floor.  There he spotted one of the larger pictures and as quickly as he had wound himself around me inside those front doors he sat up straight, pointed wildly and smiled for the first time since we had arrived.  The picture was of a simply gorgeous little girl known at Maria’s Big House as Carissa.  Carissa is no longer at Maria’s, but Jack certainly recognized her smiling face and was very excited to see it.  Of all the things I have witnessed on this trip, all the emotions, adrenaline, anxiety and such, I can honestly say that watching Jack respond to Carissa’s photo is the closest I have come to tears.  I so very much wish that Carissa had been there to see the pure love in his eyes when he spotted her face.

Well, it was about this point that we got officially separated from our “tour”.  After seeing Carissa’s picture Jack relaxed a bit more and was even willing to get down and play with the nurses in the hallway for a few minutes.  He still didn’t want to go into any of the children’s room, but he happily led me to the preschool room and asked to go in.  Two of his friends, Isaac and Jaelynn, joined us in there as well as a Nick, Mikey and David, another Show Hope staff member working alongside the surgical team.

After a while our guide came to hurry us back outside only to tell us to take our time on the playground.  I’m not really sure why she rushed us out of the building, but Jack was happy to have time to run and climb on the playground.  He especially enjoyed jumping on the trampoline and my chasing him around the climbing equipment.  He also had a good amount of time to interact with Mikey which I believe was probably as good for Mikey as it was for Jack.  The other two families came out to play as well as a few of the surgical team members so we had a good time enjoying the cool weather – a nice break from the hot, humidity we’ve had every other day.  Finally, our guide told us it was time to go.  She also told us she was going to take us to lunch now – at KFC.  Yum.

Well, after our gourmet lunch of chicken sandwiches and chicken nuggets, it was back on the bus to head back to Zhengzhou.  Jack slept most of the way which was good for him and also gave me a little time to reflect on the day.  I will never forget the moment Jack spotted Carissa’s picture and smiled, but I don’t think I will quickly forget the actual ride out to Maria’s either.  I doubt it will be every day that I have the chance to sit next to Jack on a bus, share my headphones (one bud in my ear/one bud in his), listening to Michael W. Smith while watching him (Jack) discover m&ms are the best part of a Sweet & Salty 100 calorie pack.  Nor will Maria’s ever be quite the same.  I didn’t get the chance to hug on any little people nor did I get the chance to even really go into any child’s room, but I did get to help Jack, hopefully, find some closure and leave Maria’s with a smile on his face on his own terms and with his hand in mine.  After waking from his nap Jack rode the rest of the way to the hotel looking quite pensive and content to simply listen to the radio and stare out the window, but once we exited the bus and returned to our hotel room his smile began to shine through again and all seemed to be set right once again.

We ended our evening with our regular order at the noodle restaurant next door – a place I affectionately call “Noodle-mania”.  I’m pretty sure they should know to start cooking the fried rice and dumplings when they see us coming, but for some reason we still have to order it and wait for it to be made.  But after filling our bellies and a quick dip in the tub it was bedtime for Jack and collapse time for Katie and I.  Overall, it was a very good day.  Long and emotional, but definitely well worth it.

Day 2 - 8/16

Well, it is 9:30 pm on Day Two of Jackdom and it has been a thoroughly productive and successful day.  Well, except for the whole sleeping thing once again.  Last night Jack did not go to sleep until almost 9 because he simply didn't seem able to turn off the need to know exactly what was going on when and where.  This evening, however, he has managed to keep himself awake until now by using age old 4-year-old techniques.  Just as the 4-year-old already living in my house (Sophie) does most nights, Jack has decided that going to sleep is actually not part of his whole going-to-bed plan.  Stay on the bed - sure.  Keep his head down - no problem.  Go to sleep?  "No thank you.  I would much rather play.  Isn't that what feet and blankets and pillows and stuffed rabbits are for?  Oh and don't forget my ability to whisper to myself in an amount of verbalness unheard by anyone else in this room before now.  (And by the way, thanks Daddy for calling us on Skype and giving me a reason to get out of bed for a few more minutes too.)"  So... here we are, 90 minutes after "lights out" and, well, let's just say Jack's lights are not out.

But all of this does come at the end of a very productive day, so once again we give Jack some leeway and keep this going to bed thing in the work-in-progress category for now while we celebrate the bigger successes - like our formal adoption decree.  Hurray!  But I'm getting ahead of myself so let's start at the beginning.

This morning started out in a fantastic way - opening my eyes to see Jack sound asleep on the bed next to me.  Ironically, neither Katie nor I slept very well last night, but Jack slept like a rock.  This again is a huge blessing as there are several families in our group who had tired children as well as adults when heading out this morning.  For us, we were pretty much just in the same fog we've been in since we got here so all was good.  =)

Breakfast this morning was fun as I'm pretty sure Jack saw the hotel's breakfast buffet and thought he had died and gone to heaven.  I took him to the fruit section and his little eyes just lit up.  Then we headed to the more traditional Chinese fare (for lack of better description) and he pointed faster than I could believe at one of the dishes being offered.  I'm still not sure exactly what it was but it was one of the first things he ate and he left not a drop.  He also enjoyed using his spoon, but as it was generally the size of his head it did pose a bit of an obstacle.  He was very interested in the forks on the table, but much preferred for me to use the fork and feed him that darned dragon fruit that kept slipping out of his fingers than to use the fork himself.  By dinner tonight, however, the fork was no longer to be avoided and he did quite well with one - even eating spaghetti.

After breakfast we met back up with our group and headed back to the Registration Office.  We weren't there long as we were mainly turning in the paperwork we completed yesterday afternoon and then waiting for our official Adoption Certificate.  Once we had that certificate in our hot little hands all of our adoptions were official, binding and COMPLETE!  Once again, I was amazed by Jack's comprehension of English throughout this entire endeavor, he just seems to understand everything.  He doesn't respond with words of any kind yet, but he follows directions beautifully and is making my life extremely easy.  Just as an aside - in the bus this morning Katie and I were discussing Jack's said English awareness when Katie said "We're talking about you, you know."  Jack, who up until that point had been fixated on the cars outside the window, looked up at us smiled his little "Oh, I know" smile, and then turned back to watching the traffic.  I'm telling you, it is amazing!

Well, after finishing our business at the Registration Office we headed over to the Notary Office where we completed more paperwork so that Jack can get a passport and thus begin his travels home.  This also did not take long and Jack happily passed the time by eating the entire bag of cheerios and raisin bran I had swiped from the breakfast buffet this morning.  From what I could tell, raisins and banana chips are a very good thing in his book.

From there we headed back to the hotel.  We had lunch next door at the Holiday Inn Express which made Jack happy once again as we fed him fried rice and dumplings.  Then it was back to our room for a nap.  Luckily we didn't have any of these going to sleep stalling techniques in place at that time.  Jack laid down on the bed, told me to rest next to him and within minutes he was O-U-T.  And that is where he remained for over an hour.  Yeah!

After resting time it was time to head out one more time - this time to the Lotus Center for some Chinese style shopping.  Katie and I have been looking forward to this trip for several reasons, but our main mission today was to find Jack some shoes.  The shoes he came to me in are purple jelly sandals with lovely flowers across the toes.  Beautiful shoes - if you are a four-year-old girl.  Not so cool for a Jack.  Unfortunately, the smallest shoes I brought with me turned out to be about two sizes too big for his tiny little feet so finding new shoes was a must.  But just so you know, Jack wore those shoes I brought - the ones with pirate stuff on them - all day today as he didn't think those purple sandals were very cool either.  On a very positive note, we were  able to find Jack new shoes, though it was very difficult to find ones small enough even at the Lotus Center, so he is now the proud owner of his very own light-up Mickey Mouse sandals.  Yeehaw!

The rest of our Lotus Center journey was successful too.  Jack picked out a dump truck to play with which he just smiled and smiled about.  And he also picked out a very soft stuffed rabbit - the one he is using as a must-stay-awake-accomplice this evening.  We also gathered a good amount of snackage to keep in our hotel room as well as a few items to take home.

And finally it was time to come "home" - to new mattresses!  Yep, you read that right.  When we arrived at the hotel the staff was in the process of replacing the mattresses for our entire hallway.  Apparently it is part of some hotel-wide renovation, but we are not complaining because our beds are much softer and comfier than they were last night.  So, after a long day shopping, we got to watch the hotel staff switch out our furniture before heading to dinner at the hotel's Italian restuarant.  And now, one pizza and spaghetti dinner later, I am here blogging for you fine folks, dreaming of sleeping in my nice new soft bed, and wishing that Jack was not still awake.  But as I said, today has been a very productive and successful day so all is well.

Tomorrow we will head out at 8:30 a.m. to spend the day at Maria's Big House of Hope.  Katie and I are very excited about this and happy to be sharing the adventure with two other families.  We haven't told Jack what we are doing yet, but our guide is going to explain everything to him before we leave so he will know where we are going and that he is not staying there but only visiting.  I can't wait to see Mikey and Mariah, and I am anxious to see what they have to say about Jack.  The transformation in him in just 24 hours has been astounding.  This evening he was not only running from one end of our room to the other, but he has started to laugh when he's tickled, talk (although in a whisper to himself) and the highlight of my day was when he kissed me square on the lips completely unprompted while we were at the Registration Office this morning.

I know I said a couple days ago that I had a true peace about all of this and that it seemed like I was simply here picking up my son as if he were already part of my everyday life, but I cannot explain to you how completely natural he also seems to think all of this is.  I know there will be rough patches ahead and everything won't be roses forever, but I am reminded every few minutes just how completely impossibly easy this transition has been so far.  The simple fact that he is right now rolling around on the bed whispering to himself like any other typical four-year-old would is in and of itself proof that this is no typical adoption journey.   So, as a very wise friend of mine said to me yesterday, Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow because Jack is truly at the end of his long journey home.

Gotcha Day!

Today was the day we have been waiting for and working toward for the past year – Jack’s Gotcha Day.  Hurray!  Things have gone very smoothly and there isn’t a thing about it that could have been easier.  Well, maybe getting Jack to close his eyes and finally succumb to sleep could have gone a bitter faster, but if that is the only challenge of the day (and I find it incredibly inaccurate to even call that a challenge) than I’ve got absolutely nothing to complain about.

This morning started out at a leisurely pace here in room 320 as we did not need to meet our group until 9:30.  That allowed me to wake up, organize my suitcases a bit, double check my envelope of paperwork, work with my pictures/computer and Skype with Dan all before heading down to breakfast.  Then, after breakfast Katie and I gathered up our cameras and traveling gear and headed to the lobby to meet the group and head out for our "babies".

We arrived at the Adoption Registration Office just before ten o’clock.  On the way, our guide, Yisha, explained that each of the orphanages would bring their children between ten and eleven o’clock.  There are eight families in our group with children coming from six different orphanages and since all of the orphanages were given the same time frame for delivery there was no way to know which children would arrive first or who would arrive in which order.  Basically we would just go in, see if anyone was there yet, and simply wait for the children to arrive.

When we first got to the Registry Office there was one child already present.  This was a little girl being adopted by a family not part of our actual travel group but coming along with us today since we were all going the same place at the same time.  The second child, another little girl, arrived soon after.  The rest of the children arrived slowly with anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes in between.  Jack and another little boy from his orphanage, also named Jack ironically, were the last two children to arrive.  I recognized him right away and was surprised to see him wearing a shirt that we had mailed him months earlier.

When Jack entered the building our guide’s assistant, Rita, directed him in my direction.  Rita got down low and pointed to me telling Jack that I was “mama.”  He hesitated perhaps a split second and then walked over to me and leaned against my side and shoulder.  The woman accompanying Jack (his nanny I assume) came over as well and handed me the items Jack had brought with him – a disposable camera we had sent in one of his care packages and a few small tubes of medication for his skin.  Jack also had a photo album that we had sent him back at Christmas time in his possession, but he was clutching this in his hand and wasn’t about to let it go.  I was happy to see the photo album was quite worn and had obviously been looked at many times.  In addition, once the nanny finished explaining the medication details to me Jack began to look through the album with us, stopping to look at each page.  As much as this simply melted my heart, I think my favorite part of those early moments was hearing him say the word “mama” himself while leaning against me as if he knew exactly who I was.

Well, after playing on the floor a bit with a small car and motorcycle that I had brought with me – oh, and getting started on his Tootsie Pop – I decided it was probably best to move out of the middle of the doorway so we headed over to a bench on the far side of the room.  There I introduced Jack to my Mary Poppins like backpack as I continued to produce fun things to do/play with – one item being Stanley who was an immediate hit.  We stayed there on the bench for quite a while until it was my turn to sign the required guardianship papers and then have our first family photo taken.   After this Jack had the opportunity to play a bit in the “toy area” of the room which he seemed to enjoy quite a bit so I let him stay there until it was time to go.

Once all of the families had their paperwork signed and family photos taken it was time to head back to the bus.  I was a little surprised at how willing Jack was to leave the building with us, but when I asked him if he wanted to ride on a bus I was able to get a thumbs up so I took that as a good sign.  From there it was back to the hotel where we quickly filled up an empty tummy with some peanut butter, crackers, and pretzels, and then Skyped with Dan.  I tried to get him to nap and he willingly laid down on the bed, but there was no way he was going to go to sleep.  I took a few minutes to lay down with him and he was willing enough to rest his head and remain quiet but he certainly was not willing to relax enough to let himself fall asleep.

Around two thirty we finally decided it was time to catch a quick bite to eat before I headed upstairs to fill out more paperwork.  This time it was the bulk of the adoption paperwork which we will submit tomorrow when we return to the Registration Office.  One of the fun parts of this was letting Jack sign the papers as well by stamping his entire hand print in red ink.  What kid wouldn’t enjoy that?  And that about sums up our day.   

We spent the remaining few hours just hanging out in our room where Jack watched gymnastics on tv, colored – sort of, took a bath, smiled a lot when putting on his new puppy pajamas, and snuggled on my lap while I uploaded a ton of pictures to facebook.  Like I said, things have gone very smoothly.  It wasn’t until almost 9 o’clock that he finally allowed his eyes to close and his body to go to sleep, but that is okay too.  Katie and I both suspect that some of the resistance to sleep was simply a concern that he would wake up in the morning and all of this would be gone.  What a wonderful feeling to know that come sunrise Jack will find himself right where he was tonight.  =)

All in all, I couldn’t be more pleased with how things went today.  I am completely amazed at how much English Jack understands and how responsive he has been to both Katie and I.  He doesn’t want to go anywhere unless I am holding his hand, which I consider a great victory already.  And, like I said, his comprehension of English is astounding.  While we were at the Registration Office I told him that we needed to go across the room to have our picture taken and before I knew it he had taken my hand and was pulling me over to the picture spot.  When we got there another family was already taking their picture so we had to wait, but as soon as Yisha said the words, “Who’s next?” Jack was pulling me along again heading for our turn.  It was very funny, and quite amazing.  I’ve had the same experience with several body parts as he obviously knows the words for hands, teeth and even tongue.   He can answer appropriately when I ask if he is hungry or thirsty, needs more, or even needs to the use the restroom.  I expected that he might know simple things like colors, as I know he directly worked on these things at Maria’s, but it has been far easier to communicate with him even here on the first day than I ever imagined.

We are truly blessed by the wonderful care Jack has been provided up to this point.  And although I am very grateful for the care he has received over the last eight months at the state run orphanage, I truly believe it is because of the fantastic care he was provided by New Hope in Beijing as well as at Maria’s Big House of Hope that our first day of transition has gone as smoothly as it has.  We will forever be in their debt and we will never be able to say thank you enough for preparing our son for a life of love in our family.

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for Me.’"   Matthew 25:34-40

12 Hours to Jack

I know that I need to blog and that there are many of you on the other side of world waiting to read the next installment of “How the Puppy Travels”, but to be honest with you I am really tired and just want to go to bed.  Please don’t take that personally, and I promise at some point I will turn the computer back over to Stanley so he can fill you in on the Jade Market, Great Wall and Flying Acrobats show, but for now I am just going to quickly jot a few thoughts for posterity here on the night before Gotcha Day – or Gotchafication as we have come to affectionately refer to it in room 320 of the Crowne Hotel.

The nice thing is that I really don’t have much to say.  I know that there are many of you out there who are very excited for the events of tomorrow  - the most of important which will occur before you are likely to go to bed tonight (10 am-ish here in China/10 pm-ish on the East Coast) - and I am excited too, but mostly I am just at peace.  There are a few couples in our travel group who will become first time parents tomorrow and will justifiably get very little sleep tonight, but I plan to sleep very well (and soon) as at this point everything just seems natural and normal.   As I tried to explain to Katie earlier it is almost as if I am going to go pick him up tomorrow as I would any of my other children from anywhere they have been.  Not that this isn’t a big deal, it is a HUGE deal, but it just seems so normal in some way.  Like my child is simply waiting for me to pick him up and take him home because that is where he belongs and where he should be.  Perhaps that doesn’t make total sense and perhaps I am not explaining things well, but again I am at peace.   

Do I know what is going to happen tomorrow?  Do I know how Jack will react or respond to me?  Will he cry?  Will he scream?  Will he come willingly?  Or will he cower in fear?  Honestly, I have no idea.  Any of those things could happen and any of a thousand other things are possible too.  But I’m not worried about any of that.  I’m not nervous, not anxious, not worried about the little things.  I know that it will all be good and everything will turn out fine.  With me is where Jack is supposed to be.  This is what we have to do to get him here and to get him home to his father and sisters.   At this point nothing else matters, and there is no doubt in my mind that this has all been God’s divine plan.

So, perhaps this is what Paul was speaking of when he wrote of the peace that passes all understanding.  Whether tired or wide awake I don’t think I could ever truly explain just how I feel at this moment no matter how long I typed or how hard I tried.  But that is just how it is.  How will everything play out tomorrow morning?  I have no idea.  I know that Katie and I will be in the hotel lobby at 9:30 am with the necessary paperwork and monetary funds to visit the Registration Office, receive Jack from the orphanage director, complete the first few steps of the final paperwork and fees journey and then return to our hotel room with Jack between us.  Beyond that, I will let God take the lead and simply play things by ear.  Jack is my son after all and as long as I behave as his mom neither one of us can lose.  God did not bring us this far to abandon us now.

"For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."  Jeremiah 29:11

“Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:1

Introducing... Stanley

Once upon a time there was a little brown dog who wanted to go to China.  Okay, that isn’t true.  Well, as far as I know he didn’t want to go to China, but that could be because he is a stuffed dog and therefore cannot really voice his opinion one way or another, but to his good fortune a short blond haired little girl named Sophie made plans for him herself and he is now half way around the world playing tourist in Beijing.  Who is this little brown dog you may ask?  Well, after leaving the States with no name Katie and I have affectionately decided to call him Stanley (in honor of Flat Stanley) and decided that Stanley needs his own personal photo journal of our China Adventure.  So… meet Stanley.

Hi!  My name is Stanley, and I am currently visiting the bustling city of Beijing, China, on my way to Zhengzhou to make a new friend - Jack.  This trip has been a lot of fun so far, but I am very tired after two very full days of sight-seeing with my traveling companions Deborah and Katie.  Not to mention the very little sleep I got the night before all this touring began.  I really must talk to someone about our accommodations as the Trader’s Hotel is very nice, but for some reason I keep having to sleep in a backpack.  Hm.  But enough about that, let me tell you about Beijing.

On Friday we started out with a nice western buffet breakfast here at the hotel.  Okay, so they didn’t let me eat from the buffet, I am a dog after all, but it was a good start to the day for Deborah and Katie.  After breakfast though our whole group got together and headed out to downtown Beijing.  First stop – Tiananmen Square.  This was very interesting, but also very crowded.  There was a very long line of people waiting (our guide said for 2-3 hours, but it looked much longer than that) to spend one minute each in front of Chairman Mao’s black crystal coffin.  We did not choose to join the line of mausoleum visitors, but we did have some time to look around and laugh at the Chinese tourists asking to take pictures of the American children in our group.

After spending some time at Tiananmen Square, our next stop was The Forbidden City which is right across the street.  This also was extremely crowded and we really didn’t see very much of it.  Our guide walked us from one end to the other (which made me dog-tired), but the crowds made it difficult to really stop and see anything in particular.  Still, it was fun to roar at the stone lions and drink from the giant cisterns.  

Once outside the Forbidden City we found ourselves on the most perilous part of our trip so far as we attempted to cross a busy intersection there in downtown Beijing.  This may not seem like much of a feat, but since we arrived at the rendezvous point before our bus arrived and were for some reason not waiting on the sidewalk it was definitely not the “safe” choice.  We all survived, however, and soon headed out for lunch at a Tourist Buffet located across the street from what I’m fairly certain was the Beijing version of the Old Abandoned Old Abandoned Amusement Park (yes, I meant to say Old Abandoned twice).  Some people thought the restaurant was so-so, some thought it was not-so-good and other simply didn’t like it, but I thought the food was delectable.  Of course, I eat dog food so I may not be the best judge.  Oh well.

From lunch we headed to another section of Beijing to see the more historical housing style.  We took a Hutong Tour which involved riding in a rickshaw, dodging in and out of traffic, and basically putting our lives in the hands of the very determined rickshaw driver whom I’m fairly certain was named whatever Speed Racer is in Chinese.  We had a lovely time visiting a retired middle school physics teacher who graciously showed our group her 200 year-old home - for a small fee that CCAI provided for her, I’m sure.  I did not really appreciate the three cats she had in her house, but the cricket in a cage was pretty cool.  And the garden area looked like a great place to catch a nap.  After spending some time visiting and allowing the other members of our group to ask all the real estate questions they desired we headed back to our rickshaw and I pretty much just covered my eyes with my ears for the return trip as our driver was willing to go so far as reach out and grab other rickshaws so we could pass them more quickly.  Katie did offer to give me a much safer ride at the end, but it was time to go so we never got the chance.  Oh well, maybe next time.

Finally, it was time to return to the hotel.  Katie and Deborah had plans to eat dinner with the Show Hope youth team passing through Beijing this weekend on their way home so our first mission was to make contact and determine a meet-up plan.  As it turned out, the Show Hope team had been late in their arrival to Beijing so they were still at the Pearl Market.  This was good as it gave us a chance to freshen up and rest a bit.  About 7:15, however, we headed out once again this time taking a ride in a cab and hoping that the hotel accurately wrote down our destination on the card they gave us.  Luckily, all was well and we were soon among friends.  Well, among Katie and Deborah’s friends, I personally had never heard of these people before but they were all very nice and the food smelled really yummy.  I have to admit though that I did choose to stay in my backpack for safety reasons as I was a bit frightened by the live seafood in the front of the restaurant and wasn’t particularly comfortable with how some of the hungry clientele was looking at me.  It probably would have been safe to come out, but after my long day I wasn’t taking any chances.

Well, that about sums up Friday.  After dinner we headed back to the hotel and just plain crashed, much like I’m going to do now.  I know you all want to hear about my adventures at the Jade Factory and on the Great Wall, but I’m pretty sure they will make much more sense if I can rest a bit before jumping into them.  So, for now, I’m going to go climb into my backpack and snuggle down for the night.  I will be sure to catch you up tomorrow, though. Good night!

Getting There

Step One - Leaving Baltimore

This morning went fairly smoothly all things considered.  I had told the girls last night that they could come to the airport to drop me off if they wanted to, but it was their choice to come or not.  I did explain that we were not going to have any tantrums, drama or crying scenes in the car on the way so I asked them to consider that when making their decision.  Jolene immediately said, “And that is why I am not going to go,” but when I woke her up this morning she jumped out of bed to get ready for the ride.  Sophie was actually downstairs eating breakfast (with my parents) before I was so there was no question there.  Well, one question, would she come in from playing in the backyard in time to go?  And yes, I’m talking about 6:45 this morning – sorry neighbors.  We had to wake Ellie up so she could come along, but I knew she would “I go,” as soon as the car was mentioned.  She was just happy to get to go in her pajamas.  And then there was Becca.  Becca is the one having the hardest time with me going away so I wasn’t sure which way she would fall.  When she first came downstairs she just wanted to stand next to me and snuggle, and she told me she didn’t want to go to the airport.  That was fine, I know she is really sad already missing Daddy and now knowing she’ll miss me.  When I started taking my suitcases out to the car though she suddenly changed her mind and decided she wanted to come.  So… at 7 o’clock all seven of us (the girls, my parents and I) piled into the car with my BIG suitcase, little suitcase and bursting at the seams backpack and headed off to find Delta at the Baltimore-Washington airport.

And, now, here I am.  Sitting on the floor a stone’s throw away from gate C-14 waiting for my delayed flight to board.  Katie is also sitting at an airport gate waiting for the same.  Well, not for a delayed flight, but you know what I mean.  Her flight will most likely take off before mine at this rate, but that is okay.  We will soon be in Atlanta together ready to take on the world – or at least a really long international flight to the other side of it.  And this might be a good time to interject how thankful I am that my loving husband added texting to my phone when he shut his off before leaving the country.  I’ve never been much of a texter, but it sure is making this waiting time go faster to sit here and send silly messages back and forth with Katie rather than stare at all the other bored waiting-to-board people.  Not to mention I felt so much better breaking into my chocolate stash at 8:25 in the morning after asking Katie if it was too early to start and getting the thumbs up.  Someone warn Seattle, I’m going to need a refill before I board that 12 hour flight. 

Step Two - Vent When Necessary

Would it be wrong of me to punch the flight attendant in the nose on the way off the plane?  You know, the one that decided she needed to make snide comments about me, the very excited-anxious-to-get-going-no-you-may-not-check-my-carry-on-filled-with-adoption-agency/itinerary-paperwork-suitcase-all-the-way-through-to-Beijing passenger?  I mean, really?  It is not my fault that your airline seated me in boarding zone 4 so three-quarters of the plane boarded before me.  Nor is it my fault that your airline boarding gate attendant felt he needed to check my visa for a third time thus making me board amidst the last ten bodies of the final boarding zone.  And it is not my fault that my carry-on now had no overhead bin space left for it.  And it certainly is not my fault that the boarding gate attendant’s only two solutions to my dilemma were to 1 – check my homeless carry-on all the way through to Beijing with no option of actually getting it back in an hour when I land in Atlanta, or 2 – take the next flight. 

Now, I will admit, it probably is my fault that I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning last night and thus tiredly did not respond well to the previous two options and thus appeared on the verge of tears while being adamant about my adoption paperwork staying in the cabin of this plan on this flight, but can you really blame me?  Did you really need to make patronizing comments about my having a conniption fit?  I just don’t understand why it was so easy for the other flight attendant present to listen to my plea and make space for my bag in the empty closet two steps away. 

So, I ask again.  Would it be wrong of me to punch the fight attendant in the nose on my way out?  Well, yes.  Yes it would.  So, of course, I would never do such a thing.  Instead I will give you a smile and speak most politely to you when you offer me a beverage and enjoy the shocked look on your face when you realize I am not a raving lunatic after all and perhaps I was not the only one responding to the carry-on situation a bit outside the necessary parameters of calm, rational public interaction.  And besides, what’s a little snideness on your part among the rest of my day?  For as my good friend Felicity stated recently, who cares?  I’m on my way to get Jack!

Step Three - Arriving in Beijing!

Good morning, USA!  It is right now 8:45 at my Maryland home and I am sure my children are already up and tiring my parents out.  We, however, are still traveling, but getting very close to our destination.  An hour out of Beijing!  Hurray! 

So far everything has gone smoothly so unless we are attacked by flying porcupines or something in the next 50 minutes of airtime I’m pretty sure we will arrive at PEK in good shape.  I met up with Katie in Atlanta and we’ve been laughing a good deal ever since.  If you have never visited the Atlanta airport you are most definitely missing out as we were privy to such exciting things as a flying ear of corn, ballroom dresses, an elephant foot table and a few voodoo dolls.  Our favorite quote from that part of our trip, however, must be the woman shouting from the train, “Did anyone lose a raccoon?”  I’m telling you, if you have never been there, you are missing out.

Well, from Atlanta we headed off to Seattle.  This flight also went smoothly and about halfway through we met another family from our same travel group – thanks to my Show Hope t-shirt.  I had told Katie in Atlanta that it is fairly entertaining to watch people as they read my shirt as it sports the SH tree logo superimposed with the word “adopted” in large white letters.  It is just fun to watch faces go from quizzical to interested to understanding as they read the front of the shirt and then process the James 1:27 scripture printed on the back.  I have never been one to “advertise” things via my clothing, but this shirt is great! 

Anyway, I digress… meeting another family.  Well, as I was walking down the aisle of the plane I saw what I thought was another shirt-interested passerby, but it actually turned out to be Doug Howard who is also traveling with his wife (Kara) and two daughters (Dara & Delana) to the Henan province with us.  He was not trying to register the meaning of my shirt, he was debating if he should talk to me as he is familiar with Show Hope and wondered if I might be part of another adoptive family.

Well, luckily, he did talk to me as I walked past again and we quickly determined we are all going to the same place.  Yeah!  During our three hours at the Seattle airport Katie and I had some time to sit and chat with the Howards and in one more big God moment we learned that the Howards are from Murfreesboro, TN, and live just about 1.5 miles from our old house.  Now I’ve said that Show Hope is a small world thing before, but that is just CRAZY!

So, anyway, here we are.  Into our final hour of a 12 hour (with almost no in-flight entertainment) flight and we are already not alone.  Katie and I are getting along famously, but neither one of us ever had any doubts about that.  It was fun, however, to watch Doug’s face when he realized that we had just met each other for the first time in person at the Atlanta airport.  A little bit nuts, maybe.  But it’s all looking great right now.  I don’t know when I will actually get this posted to the blog page, but hopefully it will be very soon.

Thanks for praying – it is wonderful to know that we are not going on this journey alone.  1 hour to Beijing – 4 days to Jack!

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

It is right now 11:53 p.m. on August 9, 2011.  In just seven short hours I will be in the car headed to the airport ready to check in for the first of my three flights toward Beijing.  By the time most of you read this I will probably already be checked in and may even be winging my way toward Atlanta - Stop One of my official Travel Journey to Jack.  I know that I should be upstairs asleep in bed, but for some reason I just felt I needed to do this first.

For the last several days, well, really since I got our Travel Approval over a week ago, I have wanted and needed to sit down and blog, but somehow time has simply gotten away from me.  Go figure!  There are so many things swirling around in my head though that I really wish I had been able to sort them out a bit better and put into words exactly, or at least partially, how this feels or the steps we're taking to make it all fall into place.  But the reality of it all is I simply don't know how to convey it.  Surreal is the only word that I can come up with and even it does not do the situation justice.

One year ago today I was also packing to head to China, and I was repeated telling friends and family that I was NOT going to China to bring home a child.  And yes, I was 100% sincere in my statements.  Yet, here I am exactly only year later packing to head to China for the sole purpose of bringing home a child and it just feels... well, surreal.

I suppose some of that is because Dan is not here to travel with me.  I have found my self wondering often this week if this is how he felt four years ago when he headed off to China without me to bring Becca home.  Did it feel odd to go alone?  Did it feel right to go now even if it meant flying solo?  Was there a sense of urgency about matters, yet a slow, steady pace to the whole thing?

I remember when we went to get Jolene and the simple excitement that ran fluidly through each part of getting ready.  The anxious arrival in Beijing, but also the fun times had while stopping in Hong Kong to play tourist first, and the newness of it all.  This time things are strangely similar and different all at once.  That peace is there.  It just feels right.  Natural almost.  Like this is the way it was always meant to be.  But going back to China this time is so very different as I've been before.  More than once.  And there just seems to be so much less mystery to everything.  I mean I've even made dinner plans for Beijing with a friend who resides in China and a Show Hope team who will be on their way home from a week's stay at Maria's.  Now that is definitely different!

And then there is Jack.  Sweet, lovable, almost mine - Jack.  With the girls we had pictures.  We had medical forms and a few comments from the orphanage.  Not much to go on, but still love at first sight.  With Jack in many ways it seems that this time around I have just enough information to be dangerous.  I know he likes puzzles - I've sat next to him while he played with them - so I want to take puzzles.  I know he likes Matchbox cars - he's driven one right up and down my very own leg - so I want to take him Matchbox cars.  I know his sweet smile.  I've heard his laugh.  I've even let him use my camera - the same one I will be using on this journey tomorrow.  And yet there is so much more that I do not know. 

How will he respond to me?  How much does he understand?  Does he know that come Monday his whole world will change?  Will he ever realize I came to him with a dozen people sending him hugs through my arms?   Will I seem strange with my non-Asian features, my English and hotel room, restaurants and Wal-Mart trips as I am continually warned by the adoption agency and parent training books and power points?  Or did his time at Maria's prepare him a bit better for this transition than typical orphanage life would have?  Will the lack of "surprise" typically brought by first encounters with Westerners be just one more blessing God has granted in this journey?

I don't know.  I am not worried.  I am not concerned.  And I am not awake at midnight because these things are keeping me up at night.  =)  I am, however, ready.  Ready to travel.  Ready to hug.  Ready to bring this boy home.  And, most importantly, ready to see what absolutely amazing things God has planned for us next because I have not a shadow of a doubt that He has great things in store for our family - all seven (yikes!) of us.

Thank you all for your prayers and support over the past twelve months.  It has been a wild ride - sometimes smooth and sometimes not - but we have kept our eye on the prize and we're FINALLY approaching that finish line.  I'll blog as I can and post pictures too.  Just five more days until I can stop counting things down and finally say "Gotcha!"

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."  Hebrews 12:1-3 

 "Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 3:13-14

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."  Romans 8:28