3 Hours to Go

There are three hours until I see Amelia's face and have her placed into my arms. Three hours! As I reflect on the past three and a half years of this adoption journey, I am in awe of God's guidance. We have seen Him from the beginning when the desire to adopt a child was put in our hearts. We have watched the timeline and seen His perfect timing throughout. The process may have seemed like it was LONG and frustrating at times, but I now see that God was preparing our hearts for parenthood. Until this summer, I was honestly not ready to be a mother. I knew the process would be long and had prepared myself for it, but I still couldn't really imagine having a child. Oh yes, I shopped and decorated, and planned for it, but I didn't actually feel that it was the right time. This summer, it became the right time. I could feel the desire growing, and the urgent need to see my daughter. When we received Amelia's file, it was another confirmation of God's desire for us to have this child. Her name was Ruby, David's mother's name, and she was healthy. She was older than we desired, but developmental delays have her in the age we had hoped. She lives in a city of 30 million people, in a city orphanage where babies across the province of Chongqing are brought, not just the city. The orphanage is a Half the Sky orphanage, and the nannies are trained to love and care for the children there. This reassures us that God knew we wanted her to be taken care of and loved from the start, and we believe that she has been. We have felt God's presence as we traveled the many hours to this country. He has made sure that we had great seats TOGETHER on the plane and that we made connecting flights even though every flight arrived late. Our luggage, which was prayed over, made it with us intact. Our guide was at the airport as promised, and the hotel staff has been wonderful. We now sit in the lobby listening to Hark the Herald Angels Sing and are reminded that although we are in a communist country, God is with us, and it is the season for us to celebrate Jesus's birth.

Last night and this morning, we have felt anxious, nervous, and excited. We have nested in the room and prepared for having Amelia. Nesting is not a pregnancy thing; it's a parenthood thing. David and I have both been doing it. I have packed and repacked a diaper bag 3 times. I have reviewed paperwork and the schedule over and over. David has cleaned and baby proofed the room. He has made sure that all of the cameras are charged and ready. And now...we wait. We wait for 1:30 when we meet our guide in the lobby of our hotel. We wait to meet Amelia.

We ask that you please continue to pray for Amelia's transition. We have loved her from the beginning, but she has not loved us. It will be hard for her to leave her home and join a new family, learn a new language, and leave the country of her birth. We trust that God will be with her and trust that He has prepared her heart.

We will post pictures of our new family when able. Thank you for all of your prayers. We have certainly felt them!