We embarked on a journey to pick up our daughter a little over a year ago. On what should have been a simple journey to China, we quickly learned our journey was going to be anything but simple. As we left Little Rock on the 28th of March and should have arrived in China on the 29th, we saw that God had other plans. After four days of travel and seeing six different airports, four countries, three states, three hotels, 1 Noshi, 1 train station, and very little sleep; we finally made it to Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It was now April 1st, 2014 and we were a day late on picking up our daughter.
This is not how we pictured our journey to China. In our third airport (Honolulu, Hawaii) of the journey, we found out that our journey would end there for at least a day due to a maintenance cancel. We had already been rerouted and delayed and cancelled so we were already deflated and exhausted. In those first moments of learning our fate, God whispered to me, "Enjoy it [reroute to Hawaii, a night to see Honolulu/Waikiki Beach, a free hotel, and free food...a mini-vacay!]. This is your last time together as three and you are in for a whirlwind."
**sigh**
So we enjoyed all that we could of our short time there, but for Jess and I, it was hard to be content. We had the draw to keep moving...to get to our daughter. Then we got to Guam and God didn't tell me to enjoy it. He had my eyes wide open to all of the sex trade and trafficking that was happening on every corner. And my heart hurt for all of the daughters out there trying to earn a dollar or being forced to do things no woman should have to do. And my heart still hurts! After a few hours of sleep, we headed on to Japan and the terrible Noshi. He is the rudest Japanese (rude and Japanese are oxymorons) person I have ever encountered and he held us up in the belly of the Osaka airport for three hours because they bumped us and two others from the flight...a flight straight to Guangzhou. And in those hours, my heart as a mother was breaking. We were supposed to be meeting our child. We were supposed to be there wrapping our loving arms around her and letting her know that she didn't have to sleep one more night without a mom and a dad...but instead, we were not there to hold her and comfort her. Nope, we were still fighting to get there. We were still fighting for her. So instead of flying straight to Guangzhou, they sent us on to Hong Kong where we had to spend the night. We were right back at it within a few hours and went from the train (HK to Guangzhou) to the hotel (only to drop our bags) to the site where she would be waiting. Normally, people dress up for this event, however we weren't allowed the time. So we arrived as-is...dog tired and too rushed for panic or any other emotion.
As soon as we walked in, we could see her with her nanny in one of the other rooms. Jess and I both teared up. So many emotions! But we had to wait...we had more paperwork to do!!! And in those moments of trying to sign all the paperwork and understand the instructions of the interpreter, our minds were in another room and our hears were beating profusely.
Then, we heard a commotion and looked over and the two ladies from her orphanage were bringing her out. It was time! We cautiously moved in as we knew she would be scared. And our hearts melted. We finally had our daughter in our hands. We finally could hold her and touch her and smell her. It was no longer just a two-dimensional picture but a three-dimensional person. And our hearts were full.
So we enjoyed all that we could of our short time there, but for Jess and I, it was hard to be content. We had the draw to keep moving...to get to our daughter. Then we got to Guam and God didn't tell me to enjoy it. He had my eyes wide open to all of the sex trade and trafficking that was happening on every corner. And my heart hurt for all of the daughters out there trying to earn a dollar or being forced to do things no woman should have to do. And my heart still hurts! After a few hours of sleep, we headed on to Japan and the terrible Noshi. He is the rudest Japanese (rude and Japanese are oxymorons) person I have ever encountered and he held us up in the belly of the Osaka airport for three hours because they bumped us and two others from the flight...a flight straight to Guangzhou. And in those hours, my heart as a mother was breaking. We were supposed to be meeting our child. We were supposed to be there wrapping our loving arms around her and letting her know that she didn't have to sleep one more night without a mom and a dad...but instead, we were not there to hold her and comfort her. Nope, we were still fighting to get there. We were still fighting for her. So instead of flying straight to Guangzhou, they sent us on to Hong Kong where we had to spend the night. We were right back at it within a few hours and went from the train (HK to Guangzhou) to the hotel (only to drop our bags) to the site where she would be waiting. Normally, people dress up for this event, however we weren't allowed the time. So we arrived as-is...dog tired and too rushed for panic or any other emotion.
As soon as we walked in, we could see her with her nanny in one of the other rooms. Jess and I both teared up. So many emotions! But we had to wait...we had more paperwork to do!!! And in those moments of trying to sign all the paperwork and understand the instructions of the interpreter, our minds were in another room and our hears were beating profusely.
Then, we heard a commotion and looked over and the two ladies from her orphanage were bringing her out. It was time! We cautiously moved in as we knew she would be scared. And our hearts melted. We finally had our daughter in our hands. We finally could hold her and touch her and smell her. It was no longer just a two-dimensional picture but a three-dimensional person. And our hearts were full.
And God was right, it has been a whirlwind!
And the whirlwind is still continuing.
The last 12 months have been the hardest 12 months Jess and I have ever walked through.
And I can't imagine what has gone on in that little brain of Mei's. How does one so young process something like this? She can't fully yet.
And that is where some of our trials come in.
But as I came around the corner yesterday and found her looking at this book, a flood of emotions and thoughts overwhelmed me.
I thought about the family she has never known and possibly will never know and how she has yet to truly mourn the loss of that family. I thought about her having to grieve the loss of her mother at just days old. I thought about her having to grieve the loss of the only "family" she knew when she left the orphanage...no matter how good or bad the experience was. And I thought about the family she now knows. She is in an imperfect family with imperfect parents. We are parents who have struggled a lot this year and have failed many times over, but we are her parents. We are her family! And just as God has adopted us into His family, we have adopted her into ours. Now we just need the unending amounts of love and grace and mercy that God pours out on us to pour out on her. And that is where we have to turn to God and say, Lord, I/we can't do this on my/our own. I/we need you to help me/us make it through this whirlwind.Everyday Lord, we need you to help us!Everyday Lord, we work towards making this the best family we can be for Mei.And everyday, we get one step closer to this whirlwind finally dying down so we can truly enjoy our now family of four.
Happy Family Forever Day Mei!
Thank you for sharing your story. Such a wonderful testimony. We love reading your story and getting to glimpse God at work in your lives and how you allow Him to work in and through you. May God bless you.
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