Thankfulness

Can I say that the stress is starting to pile on?

Yesterday was an interesting day.  We had an appointment for our older daughter to discuss a developmental concern, what I thought would be an easy in/easy out appointment left me reeling and wishing I had brought my husband along!  What was supposed to be an end, ended up being a beginning - a very unexpected beginning.  On the way to this appointment I accidentally hit a car in the parking lot.  I haven't had an accident since we moved here nearly 10 years ago, also in a parking lot.  What was supposed to be tying up loose ends so we can move forward and head to China put more work on my plate.  Then there was a line at the drive-through for Chick fil A, I seriously waited for 20 minutes.  And then there was a major lemonade disaster while driving down the interestate.  Yesterday wasn't my day.  

But at the end of it I reminded myself of the things I am thankful for.  I am thankful that my husband has a great job that provides for our family.  I am thankful that we have good health insurance coverage and Am's needs are going to be taken care of.  I am thankful that we have car insurance and that I paid it (another long story) so we were covered when I hit someone else's vehicle.  I am thankful that Chick fil A suace really does taste so good.  I am thankful for healthy children.  The list goes on and on.

Last night before heading to bed I wrote down everything that was on my mind of things I need to complete before we head to China.  I literally had an 8 1/2x11 filled with to dos.  The list is a little overwhelming but today I was able to check off half of it.

It is all going to be okay.  God has everything under control.

We're heading to China in less than 2 weeks!  

20 days!!

20 days peeps.

twenty.

let that sink in.

The day goes quickly, but then it comes to this point in the evening when it crawls.  Nevermind that my bedroom is a mess and my big couch (yes, the big one) is full of laundry that needs to be folded.

Time is standing still right now.

I've made Doron's packing list, called Verizon and discovered that putting International calling on our phone plan is a better option than renting a cell phone in China, recieved 2 of my amazon purchases (more arriving tomorrow!), I've sorted out who is taking what carry ons, and I finished Doron's blanket!!

I'm excited.  And yet, IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?!?!

3 weeks from tonight we will be in China, totally exhausted yet probably unable to sleep.  3 weeks from tomorrow we'll be touring Beijing, 3 weeks from Saturday we'll go on another tour, 3 weeks from Sunday we'll fly to our province and 3 weeks from Monday we'll meet our son!!  oh my goodness.

I don't have super thought provoking words, or anything really because I'm at a complete lack of words.  All I have is a silly smile and a running list that keeps going through my head and never ends.  There is always something else to do, but sometimes I just am too excited to move.  And then I wonder, what's all this going to be like for Doron?  New faces, new places, new things everywhere, a new name - if he knew what was coming would he be excited?  He's waking up today to a day just like any other, most likely completely oblivious (other than the CD and photo album of us) that his world is changing.

Kind of makes me think of this video our girls watched when they were babies.  There was a man and a woman in it and at one point the smiled and waved at the screen.  The girls LOVED it!  Always calling the man "grandpa" and the girl "that lady" - but how would they feel if that "grandpa" and "that lady", even though the liked them on the tv, came over one day and took them away from everything they'd ever known.  I imagine that's a little how its going to be for Doron.  Except not only does he not really know us, we don't even speak his language.  (We have learned/are learning a tiny bit of Mandarin...tiny.)

As we come home there are going to be a lot of big transitions for all of us, and we must always remember that our little guy is taking all of this in from a completely different view point.  At his age he doesn't understand what he doesn't have and what he is getting, he will for awhile only understand what he has lost and been taken from.

Please pray for us.  For the next few weeks as we prepare to travel and then for the next several weeks and months and we transition into a family of 5.  We are all going to need lots of grace and patience during this time....

Love and bless you all -

Brie

Final stretch

Here we are in our final stretch to bring home Doron!

The last few weeks has been a flurry of activities and excitement and tomorrow marks 4 weeks until we meet our son!  I can't even imagine how fast these weeks will fly, yet crawl at the same time.  

I was blessed to be thrown a Blessingway a few weeks ago by my dear friends and colleages of the doula group I work with, Little Lambs.  It was such an amazing afternoon.  I was surrounded by my closest friends and the few family members that could make it and showered with blessings for our family, Doron, our trip and all the unknowns of the future.  It was an afternoon full of amazing food, good fellowship, lots of tears and lots of prayers.  I couldn't have imagined a more perfect celebration of his life past, present, and future.  

And now its weeks later (geesh, how did that happen?) and we are literally preparing to go to China!  I still have a hard time wrapping my head around that thought.  All that we've been working towards for this past year and 2 months is going to come to fruition in the next 4 weeks and our family will be united.  

I'm counting out luggage and carry-ons and measuring things.  I'm concerned about weights and too much or too little.  I notoriously overpack, unless i'm trying to conserve and then I notoriously underpack.  I've never yet found the perfect balance in 11 years of traveling to Arkansas 2-3 times a year.  I'm reminding myself that packing for international air travel is different than packing for road trips (which we are very accustomed to), and waiting till the night before is not adviseable.  I'm kicking my procrastination to the curb on this one and beginning my packing early so I can make sure I have everything we need....

Will you pray for us?  We're finishing up Am's final weeks of first grade, she is very excited that as of tomorrow she only has 2.5 weeks left of school and then we are finished and packing for China.  She's almost a second grader! These next few weeks are probably going to be even crazier than usual as we try and squeeze in a few more field trips, shop, pack, and finish up some last minute things.  I can't believe that this time is almost here, and yet - if things had gone our way, Doron would have been here for a week already.  Not our plans, but God's.  He has had things under control from the very beginning.  We are so grateful for all that he has done and is doing.  

Our journey really is only beginning when we meet Doron, getting there is just another piece of this puzzle.