Tue, Feb 3, 2015

Good morning or should I say good night? It is 5:30 am Wednesday morning and 4 of us are up and ready for the day. Hudson is still asleep. Yesterday was an exhausting day. We were up by 4:40 am and left the hotel at 9:00 am and arrived back at the hotel at 8:00 at night.....one long day.

We went back to the civil affairs office where we received both boys to get our official adoption certificate. As we sat there waiting for the brief ceremony we were able to see all the moms and dads, and brothers and sisters with their new little ones. It was so precious to look around and see some sweet smiles on the faces that only 24 hours prior had been screaming. We had a little while to really see each one of these precious ones who were made in the image of their creator. On the surface some of them like our Hudson couldn't walk others were missing ears or eyes, some had cleft lips and palates, others were in need of heart surgery and still others were unable to hear.....but the one thing that they all had was a new mommy and a new daddy to love them no matter what. A new mommy and daddy who would introduce them to the Savior and who will teach them right from wrong, who will make sure they get plenty of food and who will read to them and tuck them in bed each night. What they all have is a family who has chosen to want them and to love them. Something every person needs and deserves.

After we left the civil affairs office we headed to the Yellow River Notary to have all of our documents notorized......this was quick and easy except that the office was on the 6th floor and there was no elevator to get to the top. Mommy carried Wyatt up these steps last year and Daddy carried him up this year. Thank God that Conner is with us to help Daddy carry Wyatt up the last few flights!   Conner to the rescue again.

Next we arrived at the Zhengzhou train station at 12:25 to get our 1:00pm bullet train to the city of Sanmenxia to apply for Hudson's passport. Train stations in China mean lots of stairs and no elevators. Lots of exercise for all of us especially Tim and Conner who were carrying Wyatt and his stroller. Wyatt fell asleep on the train and we put him right into his stroller. We came to a huge stairway and were just about to take him out of his stroller to carry him down and a kind and strong Chinese man just picked him up stroller and all and carried him to the bottom. He then stayed with us and shared with us in his limited English how much he appreciated us and our willingness to adopt orphans. He teared up when he told me how much we loved children and he thanked us for adopting them. He was another sweet reminder of God providing just what we need even using strangers to help us.

Once we arrived at the police building we waited for the orphanage director to arrive with additional paperwork. A photo was taken and fees paid and the passport application was complete. We were thrilled to be greeted by Angela a young lady from Orlando Florida who spoke fluent Mandarin and English. She is a worker at the Sanmenxia Orphanage. I had emailed her only the day before we left to ask if we could visit this orphanage to see the room that he spent 17 months of his life. I received her email from a sweet friend Julie that we met on our trip to get Wyatt. One of her sons is from this same orphanage. How thankful we are that she shared this information with us. This orphanage stopped allowing visitors about a year ago however they made an exception and we were surprised to be allowed to visit his first home.  

We were given the tour of his orphanage and we are ever so thankful!   We were also permitted to take photos. They showed us his two different cribs and we were able to meet many of his baby nannys. They were all so surprised to see him. He has been in foster care since October and they all came up to him saying Shao Yu, Shao Yu!   They were all surprised how much hair he had and how big he was. It was wonderful to see this place and document it for his life book. He was so so tired that he did not really react to seeing these familiar faces. Part of this we suspect was self protection, part exhaustion and part he had not seen them in over 4 months.

It grieved my heart to see so many babies and later little boys and girls and older boys and girls who still need to be adopted. Oh how it must grieve God's heart too!   He must desire the church to wake up and to take his word seriously! He must desire for the church to put hands and feet to their faith and to rescue the needy orphan and to provide for them the illustration of the gospel. As believers we have all been adopted and when we adopt we are able to not only share the Savior with them but we are able to better understand our own adoption as sons and daughters of the King of Kings. If you would kindly pray that God would open your heart to welcoming one of these precious children into your family. We will pray too!  

Wyatt woke up this morning and snuggled between Tim and I and leaned over and kissed me and said Mommy thank you for adopting Di Di. I love him! I am glad he is in our family. Then he asked me why all the babies and other kids didn't have Mommys and Daddys like him and Di Di? He wanted to know if they had to wait because their new Mommys and Daddys were filling out paperwork? Oh how I wish that could have said yes! That all of those precious children were only waiting till all of their paperwork was through to be united to their forever families. Please pray for the millions of orphans worldwide to find their families this year!