Oh my goodness!! I am leaving in 1.5 sleeps!!! My niece, Hannah counted "sleeps" instead of days in her early years, so that is how I count! I say .5 since Friday night is not a full "sleep" because my flight leaves at 6:15 AM!!! International flights, arrive at the airport check in 2 hours prior to your flight...I didn't know that until a friend informed at the swim meet last Saturday!! UGH!!! It will be fine! I will breathe when I am on my first flight (with a surgical mask to steer clear of the many germs!!!)
VBS WEEK!! One of my favorite weeks of the year, and this year is PERFECT!!! I didn't know the theme until a couple of weeks ago, and all I can say is WOW!!! It is difficult to describe the meaning of this week...
Let's back track a bit...last year - it took A LOT of prayer for my husband to say YES to GOD and this little boy (click on the tab at the top of the blog to read "Our Story from the Beginning" if you don't know it!! If I had not been living this, I would have a challenging time believing it!!)
So Matt FINALLY told me I could inquire about this little boy...ON JUNE 23RD, 2011!!!!!!! I AM LEAVING ON JUNE 23RD, 2012 TO BRING HIM HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ARE YOU KIDDING ME???!!! GOD IS SO AMAZING!!!! I went back through my emails since I am terrible about deleting them and saw my desperate pleas on June 23rd for some wonderful Christian ladies to help locate our son, he was still listed just the day before!! I came to find out he was already spoken for by another family!!!oh, how my heart ached!! I felt forsaken by God. I truly thought this was our son....well, HE WILL BE IN JUST A FEW DAYS!!! I ALMOST have my bags ready, waiting on a few more items in the laundry....it will be done later today, so I can breathe a little easier...
Back to the theme of VBS...Mark 10:27 "Everything is possible with God." You don't say???!!!
We are living it!! One year ago this Saturday I thought I would never meet this precious child of God...1 year later, I am not only meeting him, but I am bringing him home to be our son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, friend...God has amazing things planned for his life!
As I read last week on another blog...we are plan B for XueFa...plan A was for his parents...I don't know their story, but I feel that they must have thought they could not care for him so he was placed where he would be found...THANK YOU GOD that he was found but it took MANY years for us to know about him. I pray and pray for his heart...he now, will forever be our son and we will forever be his family. I know God has taken care of all the preparations for us to bring him home...he is one of us, I am humbled and grateful...we all are...as I received an email from a new mom 2 days ago of a little 5 week old baby, just diagnosed with Achondroplasia...she is alone, but reaching out for support...It was a scary, unknown world that we were "thrown" into almost 10 years ago, but now I can't imagine not being "Welcomed into Holland!!" God is so good and this has been an amazing journey thus far...looking forward to seeing Michael's sweet face in just a few days!!
Apparently, the US is one of the few countries in the world that likes to "schedule" life....I asked when I would be meeting our son...just have the day, Monday, but no time designated. JUST GO WITH IT! Okay, I will...If I can pack 3 people in 2 carry on suitcases and 1 checked bag for 2 weeks, I can do anything!!! ;-) I'm quite sure no one outside of my house knows my issue of living out of suitcase...It is one of my least favorite things to do. I am a HOMEBODY, we are all homebodies!!! We have made a life here, and there is no other place is like it, just like Dorothy said, "There is no place like home!" As of today, we will be back in our "special place" in 16 days as a family of 6!!
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
