Category: Thankful Thursday

• I am thankful for Diet Coke bottles. (Mom and Dad don’t let me actually drink the stuff)

• For my “cell phone” (I want to be like Momma you know!)
• For Mac and Cheese – the best food on earth.
• For my learn and groove table. That is the best toy on the market right now Christmas shoppers.
• For goldfish – it’s the snack that smiles back.

• For the Christmas tree – I like to look at it and touch the ornaments on the bottom.
• For books – Momma and Dada will read them over and over.
• For all the people that love me.
• For stacking cups – need I say more?
• For learning to walk….it’s much faster than crawling.

Sorry that I missed last week, but I was THANKFUL for the photo above. My dear friend Jessica and her husband Randy came down for the company Christmas party on Saturday. So Nadia, Jessica and I got to spend Thursday and Friday running around having a great time and eating delicious food. We set a record and saw each other 3 times this year. WOO HOO!!!

• For Randy and Jessica’s visit and the fun party that the company put on.
• For all the KIDS HOPE USA volunteers at our church that help me make this such and awesome program. I would be useless without them and I am grateful for their time and energy put into these at-risk children.
• For Tarrant Net and all their work to reach out to people in our area. It’s a coalition of churches and community groups that are really reaching out to the people around us.
• For Darwin mentioning Nadia in his sermon this week – even though it brought me to tears (in a good way). Listen to the podcast here: http://www.fortworthpca.org . It’s the December 2nd sermon and you can download it on the right hand side of the home page.
• For the World Vision “Step into Africa- AIDS exhibit” that was hosted here at the Potters House last week. We went on opening day and thought it was a compelling view of the AIDS pandemic facing our world. It does a great job of making it real by viewing the pandemic through the eyes of children. To see if it’s coming to a church in your area go here: http://www.worldvisionexperience.org/ Click on tour dates to find out where it will travel to next.
• For Nadia’s sweet smile. It melts our hearts each day to see that this wonderful child is in our family. We are continually grateful to God for His wonderful gift He has entrusted to us.

I couldn’t be more grateful to God for giving us such a wonderful child. She fits our personalities and into our family so perfectly. Today marks 4 months since they put Nadia in our arms. I will never forget that day. We woke up in Beijing WAY TOO early. Our bags had already been picked up and we got ready and I kept looking out the window at the insane amount of traffic and people on the street so early on a Sunday morning. We exchanged some of our US money for yuan and then all the moms, grandmas and siblings in our group posed for a photo. We traveled to the airport full of anticipation.

The plane landed in Nanchang and we loaded into another bus for the hour long ride to the hotel. Once there Mike went with some other dads to the store to get formula, rice cereal and bottled water. I was frantic running around the hotel room for no reason. I had packed the diaper bag before we left Beijing just in case we were short on time. I washed my face, brushed my hair and double checked everything. The guys got back and then it was time to load up to head to Civil Affairs. It was SO HOT!!

We rode the tiny elevator to the 24th floor. We entered the room and there they were! I was scanning the babies looking for Nadia. I thought I was going to pass out from the excitement. I kept thinking, “It’s really here, It’s really here.” Then I thought, “I can’t see her…there’s too many people, where is she?” Then I saw a nanny and she was holding Nadia’s hand pointing towards me saying ,”Mama, mama” Then I thought I was going to faint again. When were they going to call our name? When? When?

Then it was our turn and they handed the sweetest baby in the world to me. She just stared at me and looked around possibly wondering why all those babies were crying. As many have told me after seeing the video it was about the only time they have ever seen me speechless. HA HA! Once she went to Mike she was hooked and shortly after that she went to sleep. (if you haven’t seen the video – click on the video tab to see it in detail)

Our lives have changed in the most awesome way since that day 4 months ago. We adore being parents and it seems like Nadia has always been with us. She couldn’t sit up on her own when we got her at nearly nine months old. Three weeks later she started to crawl. Soon after that she was pulling up and cruising. Now at nearly 13 months she is on track with most babies her age and even ahead of many. She is incredibly smart and analyzes EVERYTHING. When we are out in public or in big groups of people she is watching, watching, watching. Then some time down the road she surprises us by imitating something that she observed.

Other things I’m thankful for on the extra special Thankful Thursday:

• For my wonderful husband Mike – he is the best daddy too!
• For our family and friends who have just surrounded Nadia with love since she came home.
• For having a great church to attend freely.
• For my work with World Vision and KIDS HOPE USA. I am grateful to God and to Mike that I am able to work with both of these ministries to serve children while still spending my days with Nadia.
• For the staff at church who don’t mind that Nadia joins us at staff meeting each week.
• For my cousin Jen and our lifelong bond. I love you and I am so thankful that we are so close.
• For all the cool people I have met since starting our adoption journey. So many people I would have never come in contact with otherwise that I now know.
• For our country’s military people. I know that this is such a hard time of year to be away from your family and I am grateful for your service.
• For all the aid workers around the world (World Vision and others) who sacrifice so much of themselves for the people that most of the western world has forgotten about.
• For getting to see Jess P. next week! That makes 3 times this year and I think we are setting a record.
• For our house and clean running water that is safe to drink. Spend 2 weeks in China (or lots of other countries) and that is a serious thing to be grateful for.
• For tasty food! I had to throw this in since it’s Thanksgiving. But I am truly thankful that I have a family and a refrigerator full of food that I am about to start cooking for this evening.
• And for all my other blessings too numerous to mention.

If you are wondering how this is a Thankful Thursday (TT) post, all I have to say is that I am thankful for Mike and Nadia. Thankful that I didn’t have to face this sort of heartache in China. Thankful that we have come home and settled into a most wonderful life. Thankful that I can hug them tight each day. But I have been thinking and praying for this woman since I first heard the news on Monday and wanted to share her story.

This week I want to ask you to pray for this family by reading my post. The family is a part of one of my yahoo groups and this past weekend in China the husband went into a diabetic coma and died. They already had their “red book” which is the absolute most important document you are given in China. I have shown it to many of you…it’s the paper that says the child is yours. The mother Sandi just found out that the US Consulate is refusing to issue the visa for her child since the husband died and they want her to refile her 171H with her new marital status. This process can take months in the US and so they are basically telling her that she would have to leave the child. Where would she leave the child? In China’s eyes they have no responsibility since the child is Sandi’s.

I can’t even imagine what it would be like to lose Mike in China and then be told that I couldn’t bring Nadia home because of our government. Yes, I understand that there are rules, but I also understand that there are people coming here every day illegally and this family has done everything by the book and her child should not be denied the chance to come home because her husband died. In the age of mass communication there is no reason that this can’t be taken care of through phone and internet. There is no reason for her to have to leave her child behind to get this paperwork accomplished. As it’s stated below they are making no guarantees that she would even be approved if she re-filed and came home. Then once again – where would that leave Hannah. To China she is now a US Citizen’s child and not their responsibility. They have done their part in finding a home for this child and taking care of all their paperwork. This whole thing is just heartbreaking.

• Edit as of 2:40 PM. Sandi’s family has requested that no one else contact their congressmen. More than 1000 people have called and I think the message on behalf of her has been spread. Please continue to pray that this could move forward and that she can bring Hannah home.