Sunday, November 18, 2012

We're Counting Down The Hours!

We arrived in Beijing on Thursday evening Beijing time (Thursday morning Florida time). We took a bus ride to the hotel and got some much needed rest. Our guides, George and Michael kept us busy on Friday and Saturday. We left the hotel early in the morning and didn't get back until early evening both days. We visited The Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, the Great Wall, the Olympic Park Village, and the Hutang Diatrict of Beijing (very old area of Beijing). We left Beijing early Sunday morning for our second city, the city we've all been waiting for and the reason we are here, Zhengzhou. This is the city where we meet our new daughter. In six hours we will load up on a bus and head to the registration office and twelve families will meet their children and there will be twelve less orphans in the world. In the group we are with most of the children being adopted are between 20 months and a little over 2 years old. I am sure there will be a lot of crying as these new babies meet their families. At this age they have no idea what is going on and are likely to be very scared. Please pray for these sweet babies that God would knit their hearts together with their new parents and that everyone's anxiety would be calmed.

When we arrived in Zhengzhou one of our guides pulled her cell phone out and showed me a picture she had taken just last week. I was so happy, it was a picture of Jaelynn! She saw her and spoke to her just last week. She told me that Jaelynn is very excited that she will be meeting her mama and baba soon. Pray for us as we meet Jaelynn in just about 6 hours. Pray that we will be able to comfort her and that she will know that she is loved so very much. It is so hard to believe that after 14 months (for most of those months not knowing when we might meet her) of waiting she will be in our arms so soon now. I still have a hard time believing that God is allowing David and I to be the mama and baba of a little girl that we prayed for. Our prayer for Jaelynn was that someone would adopt her and that she would know the love of a forever family. I know I have used this verse several times, but it is just so appropriate, "God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!" Ephesians 3:20
Well, it is about 4 AM and I guess I will try to get a little rest before we are off to meet Jaelynn. Check back later tonight for pictures of a beautiful little Asain girl and her ecstatic and emotional parents. Praying the Internet continues to work well for us because it is very unpredictable. Signing out as the mother of three and next time I blog I will be the mother of four.

2 comments:

  1. hi teresa! my name is kathryn and rebekah wright is one of my best friends. my little sister and i just adore isaac and have prayed for his little best friend to also have a forever family and i am so so ecstatic that it is almost time for y'all to become a family!!! i will be checking back constantly for pictures (and praying the internet works for you!). enjoy your sweet girl! praying you will bond quickly!
    love from TN,
    kathryn :)

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  2. We are so excited for you all. I feel like I am stalking Facebook for Altman updates this weekend. I can't wait to see pictures of you and David with this precious child.

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