Exhausted but making it

"I will go before you and level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through
bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3

Sorry I didn’t blog yesterday. It was a L O N G day. We had to fly to Guangzhou on a 3 hour flight. She started having problems in the airport. Our plane was also delayed for over an hour. She calmed down before we got on the flight. God was so good. She did phenomenal on most of the flight. The last hour was horrendous. She woke up right before the descent crying for her foster family. This lasted for over an hour…through the end of the flight and through the airport until we were finally able to find our guide. Some of the times she was so overwhelmed with emotion she was screaming. It breaks my heart when I can’t comfort her.
We didn’t get into our hotel, which is stunning by the way, until almost 8 pm. I have gotten a cold and between that and the emotions, by 8:30 I was exhausted and ready for bed too. At least it was better than some of the families who didn’t arrive until midnight and had to get up 6 hours later. Keep the families we are traveling in prayer as a couple of the moms are also sick.
We got to start the stress all over again today. We had to go and have our medical exams done today. Fortunately, none of the children are now sick but one has finally been able to break her fever after 4 days. Nothing is more stressful to the children than transitions and then to be poked, proded and for those who were 2 years old and older, they needed a TB test. Jade cried and screamed during that 1.5 hour ordeal too.
She fell asleep on the bus ride over to the shopping center. They took us to a very expensive mall. I have had to carry her everywhere for the past 5 days. Now that she sees other children walking around with their parents, she is at least willing to walk around holding hands. This is a big step. She still doesn’t want anything to do with the stroller, but at least it is helpful in carrying our bags!
Please keep her in prayer. I am having a hard time getting her to drink enough. I am concerned with her getting dehydrated, especially since it is in the 90’s and humid where we are now.
She is the most precious thing I have ever laid eyes on. She is such a good girl and already has me wrapped around her tiny little finger. Imagine that! I have had so much fun being the mom and the dad. I picture a family I adore and how her husband who has raised 6 girls still, 40 years later, does silly things with his girls before he puts them to bed. His wife then has to come in and remind the girls it is time for bed. I am doing both of these, but how to I tell her she needs to go to sleep when I am the one that wound her up?  Fortunately, I tell her to go to sleep in Chinese and she smiles at me and lays back down.
What a gift she is. I know that God’s plan to have me in China over the past year was to help me to be able to communicate with her. I do believe this is one of the reasons she is doing so well. I praise you Lord for all you have done for the two of us. I continued to be amazed with how smart she is. On the day we were leaving Tianjin, she told our guide that her mama had taken her necklace away from her. That happened on the first day I got her because I didn’t want her to break such a precious gift. Because she remembered that 4 days later and told our guide, I was able to show her where it was and that seemed to reassure her. Today as she lay down to take her nap, I was amazed to hear her count in Chinese up to 50. Today, she started initiating in English. I had to take care of some things and mom was giving her some yogurt. When Jade “Congcong” was ready, she told my mom “Ready!”. It only takes one or two models for her to learn things. (This may be normal for all of your own three year olds at home, but not typically from a child who lived in an orphanage for the first two years of life.) I so love her.
I need some sleep but have to go downstairs to send this blog out…internet cost around $12 a day if you want it in your room. Please continue to pray for many of the fathers on this trip. As would be expected, the children typically bond with their mothers and want little to do with the fathers. This has been very hard, even though they have expected it. A few of the children have done the opposite and only want the father. This too breaks a mother’s heart. Please pray that over time, these children are able to attach with both of their parents. For those of you who do not understand attachment issues, there is a great website written by two adoptive parents. www.a4everfamily.com I thank you all for all your prayers. I know it is in the power of prayer that Jade and I have bonded so well and are working through the challenging times with God’s strength and wisdom.
Tomorrow should be easier. We are just doing some sightseeing and then the afternoon is open. Maybe we will head over to the beautiful park right across the street.