Of packing and praise..

The children's count down chart on the wall boldly declares that it's 9 more days till we step on that plane!! We are down to single digit numbers! This week loosk very full so no doubt the time to depart will come before we know it!

Derek finished his math book today and we will finish the remaining remnants of school this week. Yay for ending the school term early! One of the perks of home schooling was being able to stick to school steadily and not need to have weeks off for snow days! We have a gym day, 2 dentist appointments and a weekend of babysitting cousins. I also intend to get the last few items from our shopping list and work at packing....

Two specific books I cant wait to read many times over to Javonn. Beautiful childrens books on adoption. Thank-You Ellen & Carmen!

Packing for 6 people feels like a big job to me, but I'm sure it will all come together just fine. I'm determined to not stress about it. If we forget something, more than likely we can buy it there! Our in country flights only allow 44 pounds per checked in item so I'm planning to have that be our weight limit even though our flights to China allow 50 pounds.

The lovely cake from Aunt Carmen~~Javonn has no idea how many uncles and aunties are waiting to love on him!


Sunday morning both Steve & I came down with a nasty head cold that got progressively worse.... He was able to go to work today and I managed  to limp around with getting Monday duties done with very frequent visits to the couch, and ever reaching for the tissue box. Even though my eyes are swollen and it looks like I've been crying all day, my heart feels quite the opposite. I feel SO AWARE of God's presence today! And that, is SO SO precious!  Despite being sick at such an inconvenient time, I am not afraid, because I know God is with us and everything is in control. And most likely the sickness, is just another attack the devil is trying to throw at us.

I PRAISE and BLESS you , Lord, for you are so faithful to your promise!! You surround us today with your peace. There is no fear because you are with us!
I feel SO AWARE of the fact that our family is just about to step in to a new phase that will change our lives in so many ways. So aware that it will be a mixture of HARD and beautiful. But more than anything, right now I *FEEL* the presence of Jesus so clearly, that even sickness and packing chaos cant take away that peace.  He reminds us, this trip is ALL about him.
He planned it.
He's orchestrating every detail.
All we do is take His hand and follow.

There is NOTHING so sweet, so peaceful, so securing, as following the will of our Shepherd.

Surprise Pictures!

 I want to share about the amazing blessing God gave us this week! Our agency has a Facebook group for families that are part of the China Waiting Children Program. The other day I was shocked to see a post from a lady that mentioned that she had just returned from spending time in a specific orphanage and wondered if any parents out there might have a child there, as her team was able to take photos and some video and very likely they would have some of our child! The orphanage she mentioned was THE ONE our treasure is at!!

It made my heart beat faster...At first I tried not to get my hopes up. It seemed to much to hope for that out of hundreds of children, someone would have spent time with MY child!

Javon Tyler Shao Bo~~You are So Loved!

Through FB, emails and then finally a phone call..I was able to talk to a sweet dear lady who had just returned on Monday from spending time playing, holding and loving on my son and the many other children. She had been part of a mission team that went over to minister in the orphanages.

I was so wowed that God would give me this gift! Photo's, video and being able to ask specific question to someone who was just with him. It gives us a much better idea of how to prepare for him, what to take a long for him etc. Not to mention how special it is hearing about his personality. 

It sounds like 2T clothing will fit him. He is small and petite.

He is even fully potty trained!! At least, he is squatty potty trained!  I'm sure there will be some adjustments in adapting to our "big scary toilets!"

She said ShaoBo is such a happy child and will be such a joy to our family! He speaks fluently in mandarin (their Chinese dialect) She said he was like a little parrot and kept repeating English words that they said. Sounds like he will catch on fast to his new language!

He is healthy, and didn't appear to be developmentally delayed. He loves to laugh and dance and sing!

A walk to the park~~ Javonn is standing on the far left.

We were thrilled to hear that he is in a very nice orphanage. The directors and nannies love the children deeply and take good care of them. The facility is clean and orderly. 

This is Javonn's current home. His room is down the hall, the last door on the left.

Javonn on the right, with his sweet play mates. Everyone of them deserving/ needing a loving family!

My friend shared a cute story about the sticker pictures. While playing with Shao Bo she put a sticker on his nose. His eyes lit up like he was just given an amazing gift. Probably never played with stickers before. He kept pointing to different parts of his body and saying "stick-a" until after awhile he had like 40 stickers all over him. He loved every minute of it and cried big crocodile tears when some bigger kids started taking them off.

We have a little video clip where we can hear him say "Stick-a" :) It is so darling!! I havent been able to figure out how to link it on here.

Thank you Jesus! You knew that this mommy here in New York needed to be put in contact with a mommy from Louisiana . God knew I had secretly hoped for additional information, and I was given even more than I expected. I am indebted to my friend, whose heart is completely broken for the cause of the orphans , who ministered so much life and love to my little boy, so very far away, then came home and knew that his mommy to be needed to know and hear what her little boy really was like. She knew that only looking at a picture or two really dosent give you any idea of the real person they are!

We are more anxious than ever to go meet our son & brother! 

On Saturday we went shopping and got a bunch of things marked off our packing list. I know the time will fly by fast! 

We are so grateful we have these 3 weeks to prepare our hearts emotionally for the big trip and life changing event coming up. It feels so right to get everything in order here on this end, so when we leave we can be "all there" and focus entirely on whats best to help Javonn through the transitioning time.

How grateful we are that God so tenderly walks us through this journey! It is such a comfort to feel His presence. 

Travel Approval!

Wow! A lot has been happening in the last 16 hours! Yesterday afternoon we got the BIG call we were waiting for that out Travel Approval (TA) had arrived at our agency.

Steve was the lucky one to answer the call, I was home vacuuming carpet and missed the call. So they called Steve at work. I'm glad it worked out that way, so he could have the fun of getting one of the special BIG calls since I received all the others, the referral  and the referral acceptance.We were amazed because this was again sooner than the estimated dates we had been given.

The adrenaline was high as I shared the call with the kids. Lots of shrieking and cheering! Derek runs to the kettle cupboard to get two kettle lids to clang together for drums....until mommy intervened, that is. My ears were already almost ringing!!

We were shocked to discover that we had the option of leaving NEXT WEEK for Gotcha day!! As in 6 days away!! What a roller coaster we were on for awhile thinking should we....shouldnt we....let's go for it.....no lets wait..... it seemed like it kept changing  by the hour! There was some pro's and con's to either travel date but we came to a conclusion we all feel peace about......

We picked the later date, April 9 for our departure day. 26 days.......

So many emotions going on! I have some wonderful news to share about a VERY special gift from God, but it will be another post. Right now this mommy is needed to bring peace back to her house hold that has been on the chaotic side today!