One Month

One month from today, Lord willing, I will be boarding an airplane bound for China. I am really getting excited! It seems surreal in a way, to think of going back, to think of spending time with the children I have spent so much time thinking about and praying for in the 17 months since we were there to adopt Eliana. That trip changed our perspective on so many levels. You just can't go into an orphanage, no matter how nice it looks, and see the children and not be changed. You cannot walk out of those doors with a treasured daughter in your arms knowing that there are so many left who do not have families to cherish them without it changing the way you view life. Or at least we couldn't! And now I'm going back. Back to that same building that was home to our sweet daughter for the first 3 1/2 years of her life. And I'm so excited and scared all at the same time! I experience so many emotions when I think of Shanghai! I feel gratitude. The nannies there took care of my baby! The staff prepared her file so that she could be adopted! I also feel fear. I don't know what her life was like there. She doesn't talk about it much. She obviously doesn't want to. Will I find out more than I really want to know? But mostly I feel humbled and honored to be able to go back, to be able to help other children find families who will love them and cherish them as they deserve.

So right now I'm preparing on many levels. I'm making sure I have what I need. I'm getting my visa so that I can enter the country. I'm thinking about ways to break the ice with children who are nervous because of all of the unfamiliar people. And I'm also preparing my heart. I know it will be hard. I know it will be taxing physically and emotionally. I know I'm going to struggle seeing so many children in need of families. But I also know it will be worth every moment of it to be able to love on those children and to be able to provide more complete information to families considering bringing them home, not to mention the joy of being able to give families who are matched with a child the treasured gift of updates, photos, information, etc. about the child they are longing for.

Friends, can you join me in praying for the children we will meet? And for the team members who are going? If you have a child in any of the orphanages we will be visiting why don't you leave their name and which orphanage in the comments and, while I can't promise to meet them, I can promise to pray for them while we are there. It is going to be a wonderful trip!