I woke up around 6:45am US time this morning and before my feet even hit the floor silent tears began to flow. I was surprised by my emotions and really have no explanation other than I just feel so blessed...blessed with some of the sweetest friends and church family in the world, blessed with a dear family, and now this new little guy that God has entrusted us with. And here I lay in my comfortable home so many miles away from Jake's birthplace. It seems so far away and yet so close. My heart is somehow broken. I can't explain it. This trip was really hard for me.
We left Friday after getting Jake's visa at 4:30pm to go from Guangzhou to Hong Kong. The ride was supposed to take 2 hours but at around 7:45 - 8:00 Jeff and I were wondering if the driver had gotten lost. We could not talk to the driver because of the language differences. This wasn't the first time we were at someone else's mercy. I think we get to our hotel room around 8:30pm. It wasn't a bad ride, just long. The "van" was actually quite nice and the only vehicle we rode in with seat belts. Turns out that ride was only one of a couple where I felt like we needed seat belts. Jake did well on this ride as Jeff and I talked and played with him the whole ride. Turns out our older ones had a harder time and I thought I was nearly going to have to gag them at about the 3 hour point. They just got beyond silly and LOUD!!! Anyway, the whole experience wasn't so bad, but just knowing we were getting up at around 6am on Saturday for a 15 hour flight that started at about 10:30am made it a little unnerving.
All went fine Saturday am but just lots of reloading bags, bellboys, lugging the luggage around, checking in, getting seats together (Praise God for my idea to check "one more time" to explain to the Delta check-in person that although we had "3 adults"...they had us seated by 2, 2 and 2....that our third adult was only 13, we got seats 3 together and another 3 together), trying to feed everyone, etc. The flight got started on time but within minutes we were encountering "turbulence". This "turbulence" due to "a batch of thunderstorms" lasted for about 5-6 hours!!! We were told to stay in our seats so we wouldn't get "hurt". I was MISERABLE and, in my weakness, my mind went all kinds of places. At some point I asked Parker to get my bible (I was holding Jake who was sleeping) and my mind went to Jeremiah 29:11. This is what the version that I had said:
Jeremiah 29:11
King James Version (KJV)
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Before we left for our trip we all each got small bibles for traveling and apparently the one I brought was this translation. The part that I zoned in on during that moment was "an expected end". This comforted me somehow because I thought that the Lord wanted this boy (sweet Jake) home to be raised up in the Lord's ways. God's word, along with some Christian worship music, sustained me through the rest of the flight.
Oh, forgot to mention that Parker had a little incident on the plane at about the 5 hour point. I think the "turbulence" got the best of her so she had the experience of throwing up on a plane. The plastic bag worked good and I offered no explanations to those seated around us. It was what it was.
In Detroit, all the various security checks went fine but just when we got ready to present the "brown envelope" which was supposed to remain sealed from our consulate appointment, I look back at Parker and she says that she feels like she is going to pass out. She is green and I've seen that look before. I ask the homeland security person if he needs me to pass over this envelope or if just one parent will do and he says that's fine and that he can call an ambulance if we need him to. Parker would have been horrified and after sitting and some orange juice, she was fine. The flight from Detroit to RDU was fine for everyone....except Jake. He cried nearly the whole hour and part of it was these extremely ear-piercing screams that he does sometimes when he's excited and sometimes when he's scared or upset. I literally had to hold that child in his seat at the end because he is squirming out from under the seatbelt. He was just absolutely spent.
One of the reasons that I had tears this morning I think was because of the welcome home that we received at RDU. A huge group of dear friends...some from our church, some from our co-op, some from our taekwondo group, some from the community, came to welcome Jake home and us back. It was so sweet. I was stunned and hardly able to speak. Jake was precious and enjoyed meeting all these people. I believe he could feel their love for him and his smile radiated that. It reminded me of what happens in heaven when one person is saved and welcomed in to the kingdom of God. Jake has no reason for people on the other side of the world to love him like they do. But God had a plan and He is in the business of redeeming and saving the lost. I can't imagine the party in heaven.
I wish I could describe what things have been like since we have been home these few hours. Jake is taking so much in. There are so many "firsts" that it would be hard to list them all. He really enjoyed meeting his cats this morning and tried to love all over them. He's a little more skeptical of Joey (he's a smart little fellow:)) and even when he sees him through the window, he comes running for "Mama". His little legs clamp tight around me as he asks (in some language) to go back to see the dog. It is precious. He is amazed by so many things in our house. So many friends blessed us with a toy or clothes or a stroller, playpen, etc. here and there and every one of those things has come in to good use. It was so neat to watch him get on a little ride along thing that a friend from co-op passed to us and then to see that big smile. We don't know if he knows who Elmo is yet or not, but he seems to love the music. And what would we have done without the stroller that a friend passed along to us right before we left. We used it the entire time (it carried Jenna's carryon and Jake once we got him). The list just goes on and on. It is almost as if the Lord God Himself put this thing together!!! I feel like I'm just walking into it if that makes any sense.
So many people have touched our lives through this process. I am grateful for every single one of them. God has blessed us far, far beyond what we deserve. And I can feel the Lord changing us. I am so grateful that He doesn't leave us to ourselves and that He is faithful and trustworthy. Thank you Lord God for bringing us home and for loving a little boy and us and for uniting us as a family.
Before we left for our trip we all each got small bibles for traveling and apparently the one I brought was this translation. The part that I zoned in on during that moment was "an expected end". This comforted me somehow because I thought that the Lord wanted this boy (sweet Jake) home to be raised up in the Lord's ways. God's word, along with some Christian worship music, sustained me through the rest of the flight.
Oh, forgot to mention that Parker had a little incident on the plane at about the 5 hour point. I think the "turbulence" got the best of her so she had the experience of throwing up on a plane. The plastic bag worked good and I offered no explanations to those seated around us. It was what it was.
In Detroit, all the various security checks went fine but just when we got ready to present the "brown envelope" which was supposed to remain sealed from our consulate appointment, I look back at Parker and she says that she feels like she is going to pass out. She is green and I've seen that look before. I ask the homeland security person if he needs me to pass over this envelope or if just one parent will do and he says that's fine and that he can call an ambulance if we need him to. Parker would have been horrified and after sitting and some orange juice, she was fine. The flight from Detroit to RDU was fine for everyone....except Jake. He cried nearly the whole hour and part of it was these extremely ear-piercing screams that he does sometimes when he's excited and sometimes when he's scared or upset. I literally had to hold that child in his seat at the end because he is squirming out from under the seatbelt. He was just absolutely spent.
One of the reasons that I had tears this morning I think was because of the welcome home that we received at RDU. A huge group of dear friends...some from our church, some from our co-op, some from our taekwondo group, some from the community, came to welcome Jake home and us back. It was so sweet. I was stunned and hardly able to speak. Jake was precious and enjoyed meeting all these people. I believe he could feel their love for him and his smile radiated that. It reminded me of what happens in heaven when one person is saved and welcomed in to the kingdom of God. Jake has no reason for people on the other side of the world to love him like they do. But God had a plan and He is in the business of redeeming and saving the lost. I can't imagine the party in heaven.
I wish I could describe what things have been like since we have been home these few hours. Jake is taking so much in. There are so many "firsts" that it would be hard to list them all. He really enjoyed meeting his cats this morning and tried to love all over them. He's a little more skeptical of Joey (he's a smart little fellow:)) and even when he sees him through the window, he comes running for "Mama". His little legs clamp tight around me as he asks (in some language) to go back to see the dog. It is precious. He is amazed by so many things in our house. So many friends blessed us with a toy or clothes or a stroller, playpen, etc. here and there and every one of those things has come in to good use. It was so neat to watch him get on a little ride along thing that a friend from co-op passed to us and then to see that big smile. We don't know if he knows who Elmo is yet or not, but he seems to love the music. And what would we have done without the stroller that a friend passed along to us right before we left. We used it the entire time (it carried Jenna's carryon and Jake once we got him). The list just goes on and on. It is almost as if the Lord God Himself put this thing together!!! I feel like I'm just walking into it if that makes any sense.
So many people have touched our lives through this process. I am grateful for every single one of them. God has blessed us far, far beyond what we deserve. And I can feel the Lord changing us. I am so grateful that He doesn't leave us to ourselves and that He is faithful and trustworthy. Thank you Lord God for bringing us home and for loving a little boy and us and for uniting us as a family.
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