China Trip Part 1
*Note: This was originally written January of 2018, one week after we returned home from China.*
It's Monday morning. The kids just got on the school bus and Sadie is still sleeping. I thought I would take advantage of this quiet time and try to document out adoption trip. As I sit here and look back to what took place over three weeks ago, it's really strange feeling. The person that I was at the beginning of the trip, is not the same person that now sits behind this computer.
I am forever changed by the events of the last 3 weeks. I'm not sure I can explain it.....
I have witnessed Jesus carry our family. Adoption is not easy. Please don't think that just because we decided to adopt that we were never afraid. We were. Our path has been full of many unknowns (when will this happen? Will we have to wait so long that our other kids are too old? How will this effect our children and family? Are we able? Will we have the finances? and on and on). But through every fearful thought, as we chose to keep our eyes on Jesus, the author of this story, He deposited faith in our hearts. Faith greater than any fear. He carried our family through all the days leading up to Sadie, and he has carried us through each second with her.
What could never take place in human strength was accomplished. As humans we like to think we can do anything, right? Culture says we can have anything if we work hard enough. Well, adoption doesn't work that way. So much has been out of our control. When paperwork is processed, the mail service (imagine giving 6 months worth of paperwork over to stranger and trusting them to take care of it), and on and on. God assured me long ago that when He was ready he would part seas and move mountains and it would be obvious. And he has.
I have seen the promise that he spoke to me years ago fulfilled with 100% accuracy. Every whisper I heard in my heart, through prayer, reading His word, and worship did come to pass. Being witness to such miracles changes a person. May I never forget how big God is! How powerful! How sovereign! May I never forget that His promises are always true!
We have seen him go before us every step of the way. In case you didn't know, China is a huge country full of people! :) There are lines for everything and crowds everywhere. But it was literally like God ushered us in to every appointment and to the front of every line. Even at the airports, as we waited in line with 100s of others, a worker would approach us, open a rope, and direct us to a shorter line. Literally every time!
And the most miraculous thing we have witnessed is our Sadie girl! I can't even think about it without tears welling up in me. I have seen a fearful little girl with the bravest heart, be filled with explainable peace. I have seen a little girl with very few advantages in life have more joy than the wealthiest people I know. I have seen her trust complete strangers to care for her when it doesn't make sense. She is a depiction of the power of Christ. The fruit of the Spirit cannot be manufactured. They are given to us when we encounter the Holy Spirit. I have seen all of these things be given to her. When it didn't make sense for her to have joy, peace, self control, she did. When she was able to love strangers so quickly, it just had to be Jesus!
While we can never really put into words what we have witnessed it is our prayer that our hearts never forget.
Now on to China!
I decided to break our trip into parts. So today I am sharing days 1 - 3.
On December 28th our flight was scheduled to leave Lubbock at 6:00. Surprisingly we were able to sleep. My alarm went off at 3:00 I jumped up, got ready, we loaded the kids up, and drive away as a family of 4. It wasn't until we were to Ralls (30 minutes from our house) that I looked at my phone. I had a text message and an email saying our 6:00 flight was canceled. Oops! Lesson learned. Luckily, they had rescheduled us for the 8:00 flight. We debated turning around but decided to go on to Lubbock and have a good breakfast. We would now have a super quick connection in Dallas. We were all kind of singing the blues and then this...
Our family of 4 leaving Lubbock. We were full of all kinds of emotions. Excitement, anticipation, nervousness.
Even though we were super tired, our American time clocks told us to wake
up at 3:00am. The purpose of traveling to Beijing was to allow us to get
rested and on China time before we got Sadie. China is 14 hours ahead of
Texas. We were scheduled to tour Beijing that day at 8:30. So we had a
few hours to kill.
We went to breakfast as soon as the restaurant opened. It was comforting to find some comfort food on the buffet.
Then we ventured outside of the security of our hotel in search of 7-11 to buy some drinking water.
It didn't take long before we began to fall in love with China and it's people.
We departed the Forbidden City for a Hutong tour and lunch with a local family. We loaded up on Rickshaws and road through the alleyways of a residential area. The alleyways were lined with small local businesses and it gave us a much better idea of what life was really like in Beijing. We were served an authentic Chinese meal family style that was delicious. In case you can't tell, we ate A LOT!
It's Monday morning. The kids just got on the school bus and Sadie is still sleeping. I thought I would take advantage of this quiet time and try to document out adoption trip. As I sit here and look back to what took place over three weeks ago, it's really strange feeling. The person that I was at the beginning of the trip, is not the same person that now sits behind this computer.
I am forever changed by the events of the last 3 weeks. I'm not sure I can explain it.....
I have witnessed Jesus carry our family. Adoption is not easy. Please don't think that just because we decided to adopt that we were never afraid. We were. Our path has been full of many unknowns (when will this happen? Will we have to wait so long that our other kids are too old? How will this effect our children and family? Are we able? Will we have the finances? and on and on). But through every fearful thought, as we chose to keep our eyes on Jesus, the author of this story, He deposited faith in our hearts. Faith greater than any fear. He carried our family through all the days leading up to Sadie, and he has carried us through each second with her.
What could never take place in human strength was accomplished. As humans we like to think we can do anything, right? Culture says we can have anything if we work hard enough. Well, adoption doesn't work that way. So much has been out of our control. When paperwork is processed, the mail service (imagine giving 6 months worth of paperwork over to stranger and trusting them to take care of it), and on and on. God assured me long ago that when He was ready he would part seas and move mountains and it would be obvious. And he has.
I have seen the promise that he spoke to me years ago fulfilled with 100% accuracy. Every whisper I heard in my heart, through prayer, reading His word, and worship did come to pass. Being witness to such miracles changes a person. May I never forget how big God is! How powerful! How sovereign! May I never forget that His promises are always true!
We have seen him go before us every step of the way. In case you didn't know, China is a huge country full of people! :) There are lines for everything and crowds everywhere. But it was literally like God ushered us in to every appointment and to the front of every line. Even at the airports, as we waited in line with 100s of others, a worker would approach us, open a rope, and direct us to a shorter line. Literally every time!
And the most miraculous thing we have witnessed is our Sadie girl! I can't even think about it without tears welling up in me. I have seen a fearful little girl with the bravest heart, be filled with explainable peace. I have seen a little girl with very few advantages in life have more joy than the wealthiest people I know. I have seen her trust complete strangers to care for her when it doesn't make sense. She is a depiction of the power of Christ. The fruit of the Spirit cannot be manufactured. They are given to us when we encounter the Holy Spirit. I have seen all of these things be given to her. When it didn't make sense for her to have joy, peace, self control, she did. When she was able to love strangers so quickly, it just had to be Jesus!
While we can never really put into words what we have witnessed it is our prayer that our hearts never forget.
Now on to China!
I decided to break our trip into parts. So today I am sharing days 1 - 3.
On December 28th our flight was scheduled to leave Lubbock at 6:00. Surprisingly we were able to sleep. My alarm went off at 3:00 I jumped up, got ready, we loaded the kids up, and drive away as a family of 4. It wasn't until we were to Ralls (30 minutes from our house) that I looked at my phone. I had a text message and an email saying our 6:00 flight was canceled. Oops! Lesson learned. Luckily, they had rescheduled us for the 8:00 flight. We debated turning around but decided to go on to Lubbock and have a good breakfast. We would now have a super quick connection in Dallas. We were all kind of singing the blues and then this...
You know what kind of people usually frequent Ihop at 4:00am... well I saw a group of people running past the windows and thought, "Oh boy, here is wild group of college kids." When a familiar face walked around the corner I was shocked. Our friends were at the airport at 3:30 to send us off, when they saw our flight was cancelled. They tracked us down and then joined us for breakfast. It was the best surprise ever! It was just what we needed to change our attitude and send us off.
Getting settled in for a 14 hour flight from Dallas to Beijing.
We departed Dallas late morning of the 28th and arrived in Beijing late afternoon of the 29th. When we got there we were so tired. We slept very little on the plane and had been up almost 24 hours. By the time we got to our hotel room it was around 6:00pm. We walked in to find 2 tiny beds (just a little bigger than a twin). Graham quickly improvised. Our guide gave us a number to order Pizza Hut from our room. He said it was English, but these ignorant Americans couldn't figure it out. We decided to just hit the hay. Going to bed that night I was full of fear. Fear of being in a country where I couldn't communicate, fear of the vast differences (which I totally made up in my mind). I was honest and vulnerable about that with a friend who prayed for me.
Then we ventured outside of the security of our hotel in search of 7-11 to buy some drinking water.
After breakfast, we met up with our tour guide George and four other families that were on their own adoption journeys. Our first stop was Tian'anmen Square which is at there very center of the huge city that is Beijing. The square is famous to many around the world because of the 1989 incident where college aged democracy protesters were confronted by armed military personel. The protests ended in martial law being impossed and many of the protesters being killed.
The square is famous to the Chinese people for a totally different reason. On October 1 1949 Chairman Mao Zedong stepped outside of the gates to the Forbidden City overlooking Tian'anmen Square and proclaimed the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in front of over 1 million chinese people. That day is still celebrated every ten years in the same way by the chinese people.
The square is home to Monument to the People's Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China, and the Mausoleum of Chairmen Mao Zedong. The area isn't just a popular place to visit for international tourists but for millions of Chinese people that visit Beijing each year.
Right across the street is the Forbidden City. The forbidden City was constructed in the fourth year of Yongle's reign (1406) during the Ming Dynasty reign (1368-1644). The Palace was finished 14 years later! The forbidden City served as the Imperial Palace that Monarchs of the Ming and Qing dynasties used for state affairs and living. It is the largest and best preserved ancient palace complex in the world. We were told that if your were born in the palace and spent one night in each room it would take you 27 years to stay in each room. Crazy!
We departed the Forbidden City for a Hutong tour and lunch with a local family. We loaded up on Rickshaws and road through the alleyways of a residential area. The alleyways were lined with small local businesses and it gave us a much better idea of what life was really like in Beijing. We were served an authentic Chinese meal family style that was delicious. In case you can't tell, we ate A LOT!
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