In 19 Days...

In 19 days, the precious child of the KING in this photo....


will be meeting the people whose faces he first saw in these photos.

Our lives will change forever, but take a minute and imagine how his life will change.

He has only ever known the orphanage.

He has never known life in a family.

And, while we know his life will change for the better, he won't understand that. While we have been preparing for him for 15 months, he has only known our faces a few months. While we have fallen in love with him, he won't know if he can trust us.

Please begin fervent prayers for his little heart, for God to soften the blow that will surely come when he mourns his past. Pray with us that we will have wisdom to know when to hold him tightly and when to hold him loosely. We are so ready to be his parents. Pray that someone in China is helping preparing him to be somebody's son.

Needed--For the Boys' Room

So...I thought there might be a few of you out there who'd like to see this:



No...that is NOT the boys' bedroom, but it is the bedding I have purchased for them.

I am almost, but not quite, ashamed that the beds in that particular room are currently covered with the same comforters that I purchased for Caleb when we built this house...um....18 years ago...

Yes...go ahead...call me a trend setter.

Well, mine and Stan's room has been updated, the girls' room has too, but the boys...well they didn't really care.

And, since we leave for China in

SIXTEEN DAYS!!!!

I figure it is time to get busy with that room.

Whitney is, right now, as I type at 10:57 PM working towards getting the old Atlanta Braves wallpaper border off the walls. She has a desire to paint the walls, so I am going to let her...and she did get much practice painting during her mission work in San Francisco this summer.

Currently in the room are bunk beds, and they have long since served their purpose. We bought them for Whitney's room over 20 years ago when we were expecting Caleb!

Now, however, I do not want Drew or Zeke sleeping on a top bunk when we come home, so we are going to put a double bed in their room.

Since the title of this post is "Needed--For the Boys' Room," I should share with you what we need.

We need a set of full mattresses.

I figure there must be at least one of our readers who has an old set they would like to sell for a very cheap price...or maybe even just ask us to take them off their hands.

So, if you or someone you know is that person...and if you or that person you know happens to live in south Georgia...email me!

And, now that it is after 11:00 PM, and I must teach school tomorrow, while being kind to fourth graders at the same time, I am off to bed, just 1 1/2 hours past my bedtime.

Off to sweet dreams of China!

Making a List and Checking it More Than Twice

Plane tickets---check

Beijing Hotel reservations---check

We're Going to China in 3 weeks!

We have our dates!!!!

And, our wonderful agency was able to get the adoption proceedings expedited so we don't have to be in China 3 full weeks. Praise the LORD!

Pending the purchase of airline tickets we will:

Fly out on March 15
Land in Beijing on March 16
Visit Drew at Amazing Hands on March 17
March 18---Stan and my anniversary....take the train to Taiyuan
March 19--Drew's Gotcha Day
March 20--adoption proceedings--then fly to Zhengzhou
March 21--Zeke's Gotcha Day
March 22--adoption proceedings
March 23---Fly to Guangzhou
March 28--consulate appointment
March 29--obtain visas

Dates....Almost

Well, we're making progress.

Today we received our CA....that's our consulate appointment date.

Our consulate appointment is March 29th...which means our last day in China is March 30th.

The facilitators have to plan with the end in mind. They can make all of the other appointments now, with two separate provincial governments...since the boys are from two different provinces.

We should have more specifics in a day or two...but we are surely leaving a China the middle of March at the latest!!!!!

I Am Slowly Going Crazy

So...there's this song that I used to sing with the children when I directed children's programs at my church. It went like this:

I am slowly going crazy.

One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Switch.

Crazy going slowly am I.

Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Switch.

Repeat.......

Repeat......

Repeat......

Repeat.......

Our case worker is trying to get information as to why our dates are taking this long to get.

Pray with me.....

And/or sing with me...

I am slowly going crazy.

One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Switch.

Crazy going slowly am I.

Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Switch.

Repeat.......

Repeat......

Repeat......

Repeat.......

Waiting--not so Patiently

We are waiting to find out our final travel dates.

I must admit that I am not waiting patiently. Funny how we say we trust Jesus, and then we find ourselves growing anxious when we are forced to wait. Or is it just me?

I am growing anxious, too, about the amount of money we will need to be able to take the girls with us. I am growing anxious about the price of airline tickets. I am growing anxious about the amount of time we will be in China....is there a theme here?

I've said this before, but I believe today is a good time to repeat myself.

I feel like the Israelites. Praising God one minute. Murmuring and complaining the next.

Please join us in prayer. Like the man who said to Jesus, "LORD, I believe. Help, thou, my unbelief."

That's where I am today.

LORD, I believe. Help thou my unbelief.

DID YOU HEAR ME SCREAMING????!!!!!!

Did you hear me screaming??????????

You should have seen me dancing!!!

REALLY.

I was dancing all around the room.

I was squealing with delight!!!!

It's our TA!!!!!!!

Our TA is on its way.

For those of you who don't follow adoption websites, like crazy addicts...those letters mean one thing:

China says, "Come get your boys!!!!"

Sometime in the next day or so, we will have our EXACT dates. We've requested to leave four weeks from now.....FOUR weeks. Oh, my I will never sleep tonight.

The text came at 9:40.

Our agency needed some paperwork I was given last week. I thought I had at least one more week to get it done. HAHAHA!

So, I've been busy completing that paperwork...and now I should be going to sleep.

But...........

who can sleep??????

Waiting on Travel Approval

We are officially waiting on a most prized possession...our TA!

For those of you who don't know what that means...TA...is Travel Approval.

I can hardly believe we are just one step away from knowing our offical dates to China.

Pray and hope with us that we receive our TA in two weeks.....

Then, travel should be about 3 weeks later.

That means, travel in about 5 weeks....

Wanna guess why I'm not sleeping...what thoughts keep my head spinning everytime it hits the pillow.

Yipee! Jesus!!!