Traveling

This blog post is brought to from somewhere darn near the north pole. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration. But we are over ice according to the map on our seat back. This flight is superb! We have economy plus, which gives us an extra 4 inches of legroom. Let me tell you, it is worth it for 14 hours. And about that....when we got on the flight type was showing 12 hours and 58 minutes to go. So I guess it’s one hour shorter than we thought ;-)))))) We are cruising along at 33,000 feet, and have 4571 miles to our destination. The outside air temp is NEGATIVE 87. Wow. So, that’s what’s going on with us. Right now, I think it’s 630pm at home. I LOVE the seatback screens. We can pick music, movies, TV, games, etc. (on United BTW) And when our fabulous travel agent (we used Sue Sorrells) booked our flights to and from China, she put us in a group of three seats, with Eric on end and me on aisle. So, there’s NOONE in the middle seat. I’m tickled pink. But still not sleeping, which is unfortunate. Even cocktails and Lunesta aren’t helping.

There are nine hours and eight minutes left in this flight. I can’t believe how fast it’s going. But we’ll see if I say that in nine hours:-) When I was younger I used to journal a lot. As life got busier, that fell to the wayside. However, whenever I have a million thoughts in my mind, it seems to all calm down a little if I just sit and write. Or type:-) Now I like to call it my stream of consciousness. And I can’t wait to look back at all of this in years from now, to help relive it in my mind!

I was so busy Sun, Mon, Tues, and Wed. My Mom arrived Wednesday at lunch, and I immediately felt a huge relief. She went off to do a bunch of errands, and took Drake with her. He really needed to go, b/c he’s been incredibly clingy. Do you have any idea how hard it is to prepare for China when your two year old won’t get off your leg? I spent the week torn between just stopping what I was doing to hold him, or actually being productive. We finally found a nice mix. Finished all the packing last night, got the bags by the door, and were in bed by ten. My sweet boys both went to bed with no tears last night. I think they did that to make me feel better.

I’ll be honest. I was a hot mess last night. To say I wasn’t doing too well at the thought of leaving them is an understatement. I was back at the pediatrician yesterday with Eli, b/c he wasn’t any better after ten days of Amoxicillin. They gave him Augmentin for ten days now. And our pediatrician is AMAZING. Elliott Dorsey if anyone in Charlotte is looking. He is a caring and Godly man, and really knows his patients and their family’s. He told me to not give Eli another thought, that he was JUST fine. That my parents would baby him to death, and he was always a call away if my parents needed him. He said, “Ya’ll go get that baby girl and get her home, we’ve got these boys covered!!!” That gave me a lot of peace.

Speaking of peace, let me tell you about my sweet women’s lifegroup. We meet on Tuesday mornings, and in the midst of the crazy week, I knew----- I needed to make time for that; this week of all weeks. It was a great time to talk about praises and prayers. And especially to verbalize all my fears and anxieties about this transition and travel. These ladies are amazing, and we closed our group Tuesday with a tight circle, and amazing prayers offered up, while they all put a hand on me. I can’t even really tell you what it feels like to have caring and Godly women place hands on me and pray over me, my family, and this trip. WOW, just wow. And to simply receive short and simple emails yesterday. “I’m praying”. “You’re on my mind”. These little snippets yesterday meant a lot. Thank you ladies! I love you! XOXO

My lifegroup is just one place where I’ve felt majorly supported. Facebook has been a very positive thing in my life this entire process, but especially in the last few days. People have come out of the woodwork to wish us safe travels, and let us know they are praying for us. It’s inspiring. And I can feel a hedge of protection around us. God whispered, I answered, Eric said Yes......and now he is protecting us every step of the way.

I got the absolutely sweetest voicemail from a dear friend yesterday. We finished grad school together in 2005, and even then adoption was something that weighed on my heart. So it was so nice to hear a Congrats on following a dream, and it made me realize just how far Eric and I have come. There have been ups and downs since we met in 2004, but are stronger than ever right now. I am so proud of the father he is. And of the father he will be to Tessa. I can’t wait to see that relationship! We’ve had a fun time together traveling. It’s been nice to reconnect some. And our two days in Beijing with no kiddos is going to be awesome for some “us” time before we flip our lives upside down again.

It is crazy how much I love Tessa. Crazy how she is already my daughter in my heart. To feel such strong emotions for a child on the other side of the world, who you’ve only seen pictures of...well- those types of feeling can only come from our God. We were all orphans, and he adopted us all. He teaches us to care for the orphans and widows in his word. I am so thankful he put this on my heart. First the burden to adopt, and then this overwhelming love for Tessa. And the change in Eric’s heart could’ve only come from our Father above. I prayed that God would either give Eric a heart for adoption, or that he would take the desire from my heart. God answered that one pretty clearly!

Map Check Time:
over glaciers!
4268 miles to Beijing
8 hours 25 minutes left
-64 outside. Brrrr!

My stream is over for now.........




I’M BACK!!!! Two sleeping pills, a couple of beers, and all was right in my world. Eric and I are estimating it’s probably around 3 am back home. Now we only have an hour until landing. China has never really been on my list of places to visit. But the closer we get there, the more excited I am. This is my daughter’s birthplace. Her history. Her culture. I’m so excited to soak it all in, to see all I can and learn as much as possible. We’ll have guides along the way who don’t just help with adoption stuff, but are true teachers as well. I’m feeling such peace about this trip, so I can definitely tell everyone’s prayers are working. Keep them coming!

Eric has stayed awake the whole flight, watching movie after movie. We’d downloaded numerous movies for our travels, but the inflight entertainment has rocked here. Eric watched “The Hangover” in Chicago and then the plane had “The Hangover 2”. Perfect.
And for my JM girls- you”ll love this! He watched the first Twilight movie too! I downloaded all three onto my Mac/ipad and hope to watch them all while here.

The map says we’ve traveled 6506 miles, and only have 203 miles to go. I can’t WAIT to step foot on the ground that is Tessa’s! I can only imagine how I will feel Sunday night when we land in Changsha. We will be sleeping in the same city as our daughter. It will be her LAST NIGHT as an orphan.

“For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a HOPE and a FUTURE.”
Jeremiah 29:11

Fear not, for I am with you. I will bring your children from the east, and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth.
Isaiah 43:5-6

Lean on the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Proverbs 3: 5-6


Next post coming from Beijing!


Hugs and love from China!
Keep praying, and someone kiss our sweet boys for us!

Nikki