Our Trip to Shriners

Nate's first month home

Soccer Season

Home School field trip to the Firestation

(the firemen loved Nate and I had one ask a lot of questions about China adoptions...said his family had been thinking about adopting:) )

 

On the farm

another home school field trip

Pumpkin decorating at the park

Nate was more interested in swiping the twinkie that belonged to the family beside us:)

This boy loves his food!

Halloween night (pictures to come....one day!)

Sigh, I have tried and tried to upload pictures but it just ain't happen! Life in the country is rough:/

Nate is doing great! He had so much fun last night trick-or-treating. He was Woody the cowboy and he walked around laughing like dracula! He was all about the candy and lets just say I had so much fun getting my tots to bed last night!

Nate has learned a new word this week: Trick- or- treat!

We're home....

We are home and doing wonderful! It's just really hard to get some free time on the Internet:)

 

Nate is doing wonderful and the kid are just crazy about him....well, we all are!

 

Had plans to post more pics but this Internet is SLOW!

 

Thanks to each of you who prayed, encouraged, cheered us on, and supported us in this adoption journey!

 

Praise the Lord... there is one less orphan in the world!

 

Hope to post more when life settles down:)

Entering the Story

Received this in my inbox this morning from our weekly email from our student ministry at church. Thought it was well worth the read and wanted to share it:)

ENTERING THE STORY—Parent Devotional
by Tim Walker

I like labels. They make things easy to define. If I can label those around me, it keeps things nice and orderly—something my structure-craving brain loves.

I have a friend who is the home improvement king. If I ever need help on a project, he would be first on my list to call. The guy just single-handedly renovated his entire kitchen and it looks amazing.

I have a friend who is a Bible scholar. If I ever have a question about a Bible verse or chapter, he's my go-to guy. He's incredibly smart and knows how to look at a passage from different angles.

I have a friend who is a great dad. He has kids older than mine so I know I can call on him and ask those "How did you handle?" questions. And when he does tell me, it's always in a very grace-filled, encouraging way.

I also have friends who are good at finances, lawn care, electronics—I think you get the idea.

But the problem with a label is that while it makes it easier to categorize everything in my brain, it gives me a very narrow view of someone. I begin to see people only for what they can do for me, and become blind to what I can do for them. All of these guys are friends not because of that one trait, but because they're just great guys.

They're also human. My friend who is the home improvement kind has a lot of stress on his job. My friend who is the Bible scholar has big dreams that need encouraging. My friend who is a great dad is grieving the loss of a family member.

Every person in your community, at your job, in your church has a story. Yet so many times we're content to just read the summaries, aren't we? We're content to just be satisfied with what we see on the surface and make our evaluations based solely on that information.

If we're honest, it can get ugly sometimes. We size up prayer requests based on how rich, how perfect, how beautiful someone's life is compared to ours. We determine who is and who isn't worth our sympathy and empathy based on our own evaluation of someone's worthiness. We determine how someone is worthy of help based on his or her own ability to get themselves out of the situation. We say we love others, but if we're really honest, sometimes we really only love what we want to love.

But not Jesus. He was passionate about people—even some of the most obnoxious, annoying people. People like Peter the hot-headed, or James and John the arrogant, or even Judas the backstabber. And, when you get down to it, people like me.

But the difference between how Jesus sees others and my default perception is that He sees the full person and his or her complete story, not some edited version. He also knows that will change when He enters into the story.

So many times I'm content to read the Cliff's Notes version of those around us, size them up, then move on. But Jesus stopped and jumped into people's stories.

And there are times when He lets me see those stories as well.

I catch a glimpse at the story behind the student who keeps interrupting me in Sunday school when I find out he is under a lot of pressure at school and home to be perfect.

I see the story behind the lady with the screaming kid at the grocery store when I realize she's trying to teach her daughter that she can't have everything she wants.

I discover the story behind the rude clerk at the gas station when I watch and see that he just got chewed out by the customer in front of me because they were out of a particular brand of cigarettes.

Everyone has a story, a story that is much bigger than the one I sometimes see. I just need to take the time to read it. And when I do, it makes it much harder to stick a label on someone. They move beyond a single word to become a living, breathing person. Someone who not only deserves my compassion, but my time.

Take time to read the stories of those around you today. And if you really want to be like Jesus, don't just "read them," enter those stories. 

The beginning of the end of the trip!

Checkout day! We will be checking out at 2pm, swinging by the Consulate to pick up Visa, and then off to the GZ train station. We've been warned that the train station is not so nice but the train was really nice...we'll see;) The train leaves around 4pm...I think and we should arrive in Hong Kong around 6pm. We will be traveling with our whole group so that makes things a lot easier for me. They have all been so much help!

We will be staying at the Summit Hotels...Regal Airport Hotel for the night. Nate and I will board United Flight 896 Thursday and take off at 11:10am China time (will actually be Wednesday 10:10pm Alabama time...I think!)  We will arrive in Chicago at 12:35pm Thursday. I am sure it will be a long, long flight for us all. You may want to start praying in advance for the poor passengers on that plane:) I believe there will be 3 of us from the group on this flight! 

We have a little over a 2 hour layover before we board United 5817 to head home!! Our flight will take off at 3:05pm and arrive in Birmingham at 4:47! I can not wait to be home. My sweet little Colin has had such a hard time being away from his mom and I have promised him the first hug... I am going to be such a sobbing mess! 

Please keep us in your prayers over the next 2 days! Train ride, plane rides, new places, and traveling with a very active two year old is going to be very trying and exhausting!

Love you all and can't wait to be HOME!! 

 

Our last full day in GZ

Whew, what a day and its only half over! Our group met in the lobby at 8:45 and headed to the Consulate. We arrived and went through 2 security checkpoints before entering a room where we waited for what seemed like forever before saying our oath. Then we wanted for the other half of  eternity for each family to be called to the window to check our adoption paperwork. In the meantime, Nate managed to find all kinds of mischief! If he wasn't trying to escape the building he was hitting and taking (the life of a 2 year old). Finally I had to make him sit by me. He wasn't happy but he did behave:)

When we were done we went back to the hotel for naps but Nate and I decided to do lunch at McD's first. I noticed a young girl sitting by the Ronald McDonald when we went in. When we were leaving I noticed she was still there and she was tickling Ronald McDonald under the arm (he is a statue). She appeared to be blind and alone and she proceeded to feel down his legs to his shoes. She makes a "stinky" face and then gives him a hug. Other Chinese were looking and laughing at her. Another Chinese lady looked at me and said "what wrong with her?" to which I replied "I am not sure." What do you do? Sad...weird...mentally ill? I don't know. It's a whole new world here....

Here is Nate in time out at the Consulate Office:) He had just tried to run out into the street while I was trying to pour water in his cup...stinker! It's really hard to get on to a face this cute....

He is now taking a nice and peaceful nap as I type:)