Chengdu

Well, we have made it safely to Chengdu! We left this morning around 11:10 on Air China to Chengdu and made it to mainland China. Talk about 2 different worlds! The brown smog left a very thick layer over the city and the traffic was the craziest we’ve ever seen! Our CCAI rep, Anita, picked us up after we came out of baggage claim and directed us to the van where the other family in our group, Jon, Amy, Jill & Kai were waiting. We took a very harrowing ride through the city to our hotel, the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Anita will be staying with us at the hotel as very few people speak English here – way different than Hong Kong! She gave us all of our instructions and more details to our itinerary for the next few days while we’re here in Chengdu.

Tomorrow is the day we get Jasmine. We’ll actually get to go to her orphanage and see where she’s been living. Our other family will be adopting a little boy from the same orphanage so we’ll all be going together. I have to say that as excited as I am, I’ve also been feeling overwhelmed and a little afraid. What if I don’t bond well w/Jasmine? What if she doesn’t bond w/us? What if I can’t handle 2 kids? Then what? What if I don’t love my 2nd child as much as I love my first? I continue to wrestle w/giving these worries over to God. I give them over and then take them back, give them over, take them back. I wish I could just give them over and be done with it. I have to keep reminding myself that it’s God’s job to knit my family together and He’s already done that. I just need to do my part. He hasn’t left us alone to our own devices for 1 single part of this adoption so why would He start now?

So, something that you can pray for (besides me setting my fears in God’s hands & leaving them there) is our adjustment to mainland China. It’s VERY different than Hong Kong and won’t be as easy as Hong Kong. Food-wise, it’s going to be a much bigger challenge than Hong Kong, especially for Lily, which causes us more stress. Please pray that even in these details, we’ll be able to leave them in God’s hands and trust His provision. Thank you God for prompting me to bring the snacks that I did!

Thank you all for all of your prayers and your support! We couldn’t do this without you! We’ll update you soon!