Destiny

I was talking with a friend here yesterday and she was trying to explain how important the idea of destiny is to people here in China.  How behind each meeting, each friendship, even each family member there is this idea that it was predestined.  

On our flight from America, Kyle started up a conversation with a lady in front of me, he pretty much likes to talk to everyone within 5 feet of him on an airplane, in line to get on an airplane, getting our baggage, etc.  I am pretty much the opposite :)  Anyway, he started talking to this lady and it turns out that she was a part of a team of 14 doctors, nurses, speech therapists and medical educators headed to China to work in the orphanage.  They were spending 10 days in two different orphanages to train the workers, do medical work, and spend time with the kids.  At least two of the ladies had adopted daughters from China.  Previous to this I had been worrying about Jaxon.  He has cleft lip and palate and has only had a lip repair surgery done in China and I wasn't sure how this would affect his eating.  I had a lot of questions that I hadn't be able to find answers for.  The lady in front of me introduced us to the doctor sitting with her and one of the nurses.  They were able to answer all of our questions, had great advice and were so excited for us!  Was it destiny that we met them?  I don't know, but I do believe it was a blessing given to us from God.  It gave us so much more information and confidence about what we are facing.  

Recently a friend made the comment that that God has blessed us so much.  And she is right.  He has.  Immensely.  Sometimes I get caught up in the hard day to day living and forget to look at the big picture.  I get stuck in the murky waters of living out of boxes in several different locations for the last couple years.  Of living in a rural area in a foreign county, which is great (big picture) but so hard (day to day) to do basic life, especially with three small kids.  I get depressed over the loneliness, the isolation. I get irritated with my leaking bathroom pipes, moldy walls and lack of transportation.  I have anxiety about my kids spending years in this polluted air and the lack of reliable medical help nearby.  This can all be overwhelming.  I start to drown under the weight of it all and then I have to step back.  I have to be reminded how blessed we are.  I have to stop and look around me, we are living in China and it is amazing!  I wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world!  It has been crazy and frustrating but we have learned so much, experienced so much, met so many great people.  We have been constantly loved on and supported by our friends and families.  We are SO blessed!  I just have to stop and remember and say 'thanks'. 

We are leaving in three days to bring a little boy into our family, my girls get a brother, my husband and I a son,  and a little boy gets a crazy family who will love him with all our hearts.  Please pray for us over the next two weeks.  We leave Oct 26th by train from Hangzhou to Zhengzhou.  We meet Jaxon on the 27th.  We will spend the week in Zhengzhou getting his passport and doing paperwork.  From Zhengzhou we fly to Guangzhou on Nov 1st.  We will spend our time there filling out more paperwork, going to the US Consulate and getting his US visa.  WooHoo!!!  We head home on the 7th via train with a connection in Wuhan.  It will be a busy crazy two weeks with a lot of travel and a lot of kids.  There are also 11 other families coming from the US to adopt kids.  We will all be in one group for the two weeks.  I will be posting as often as possible so that the posts don't get too long!  :)