Thoughts about China... encouragement for those that will soon travel!

I am sure that there will be more posts than this on this subject, but I wanted to share some thoughts with you now!  My hope is that this post will encourage people to pray.  In addition I hope that those that are still to travel to get their children will take some of what I have experienced to help you have the best experience possible!

As you know, we spent a few days in Beijing before we went to Myah's province.  I am so thankful for this time.  We were able to spend time seeing amazing sights and learning a great deal about history and culture!  It's not every day that you are in Asia and can go visit The Great Wall of China!!!  It was far more amazing in person than I could have ever imagined!  If you are trying to decide if it is worth the money to go to Beijing.... DO IT!!!  You will not be disappointed!!!

Before we left for China, we prayed that God would use us as a light for Himself.  God opened the doors for us to share our faith, even with just the tiniest of seeds.  One woman said to us that we were so happy and that she loved that!  My response to her was simple.  We are Christians and our joy comes from the Lord!  She said that she could tell we were Christians and was happy that it made a difference in our lives!  I pray that the time we had with this woman and our future contact will enable us to share more with her in the future!  While we were cautious with what we said to people, we also took the opportunities that were presented to us to share the love of the Lord with those that we met!  Listen the the Holy Spirit and share when you feel God's leading! 

Both Jeff and I were surprised when we arrived in China.  We fully expected something different then what we saw.  We both expected to so lots and lots of oppression.  Neither of us saw that, but rather we saw people living out their daily lives, just as we do here in the United States.  I have come to the conclusion that many if not most of the Chinese people do not have any idea the freedoms that most in the world experience. It reminds me to everyday be thankful for the freedoms we have here.  Let me never take for granted all that I have.

On that day that we first had Myah, we went out to find food for lunch and dinner.  As we walked I watched our sweet baby.  She was seeing things for the 1st time.  She was hearing sounds that she may have never heard.  The smells from the different dining establishments may have been completely new to her.  She had left the world and life she had always known and was now seeing and smelling things that were all new to her.  Likely, she had only left the orphanage only once before, when she went to the hospital for her lip surgery.  As I held her close to provide comfort and safety to her, I also wanted her to experience all that she could while we were there.  Certainly very little of what we did and saw will be remembered, but it was so fun watching her to point towards the sounds that she heard and the sights that she saw. 


There were certainly things about our trip that we didn't like.  There were times we were tired of eating Chinese food!  One of our hotels was not the finest.  Some of the streets that we walked were not the cleanest.  We saw poverty, homelessness, handicap people begging on the streets.  Certainly none of those were the ideal, yet there are what they are.  We spent many hours walking the city that Myah is from.  I tried to capture as much as possible in photos.  I watched the people, listened to the sounds, breathed in the smells.  Someday our daughter is going to what to know of the country of from which she came.  I want to be able to give her a big picture!  I would encourage you to not lock yourselves into your hotel room, but go out and walk, see, smell, touch and take it all in. 

There were 5 families in our travel group.  All of our children different ages, different personalities, and different special needs.  Some had been in foster care, others in orphanages.  Some had more significant physical delays than others.  Regardless of the places in which our children came, they all needed love and attention that only a family could provide.  Every day it was fun to see the personalities of our children come out.  It was fun to see them interact with the others.  Their personalities shined the brightest when we were out and about.  While the easiest thing to do might be to stay in the room, it may be the hardest for your child.  Myah's personality was different for us when we were in the room and she "came to life" when she realized we were leaving our hotel room.  Walk off all the carbs from rice and noodles, and go explore!!! 

The day we got Myah one of the nanny's from her orphanage came and talked to us about her schedule, eating habits, likes, dislikes.  While I am so glad to have that information, much of it was not how things worked for us.  The bottle she was used to taking at the orphanage, she refused to take for us.  The time that she was used to going to bed was when she was playful and full of lots of energy.  We were told she only napped in the afternoon, but we quickly (within a few minutes of having her) learned that she also sleeps in the morning.  She was only given very small pieces of food and was fed at the orphanage, but she was able to handle everything we fed her and at times really liked putting it in her mouth on her own.  I say this to remind you that just because they give you info about your child's life and schedule doesn't mean that it will work like that for you.  We let her call the shots and it seemed to work the best!

So there are some of my thoughts!  I hope they are helpful.  I am sure that there will be more to follow in the days to come!