The FIRST time we held her...

Oh my...
As much as I reminisce about Gotcha...this is about another day...

I've been wanting to share this story
but had to wait until home and well, once home things have been busy...

As I said before, we got to visit New Hope on February 14, 2013 to drop off the bags of medical supplies we had brought for them.  We were so excited to have the opportunity to see LWB Heartbridge unit and New Hope Foster Home where Meisi had lived most of her life.  We had been told that Meisi would have gone back to her orphanage probably a day or two before we arrived...

However, upon arrival - Robin (the sweet co founder of New Hope) greeted us with the most amazing Valentine's day greeting EVER!  He said,  "I don't know how to tell you this, but your daughter is still here."  Due to the Chinese New Year Holiday the train tickets were harder/more expensive to get, so the orphanage had to postpone coming to get her.
My heart nearly jumped out of my chest! 
He asked if we wanted to do the tour first and of course as much as I wanted to see her, I knew if I saw her first then the tour wouldn't happen...
Actually I think I was in such shock still!  I was still just thinking about all the things I wanted to see and hear about LWB and New Hope, where she had been for so long.

I shared on another post how fantastic New Hope is.  The heart of Joyce and Robin who founded New Hope... can't explain how amazing they are!  Their heart for these children and their hard work to develop the level of care they provide has resulted in reformation of orphanages across China.  What a ministry this precious, Godly couple has.  So thankful they said, "Yes!"  when Joyce first felt the calling and that Robin listened to his wife's heart. :) 

After hearing their story and getting the tour....

We were in the room Meisi had been sleeping in at New Hope - amazed that our pictures we had sent months before were hanging in the crib where she slept...

Then Robin asked, "Would you like to see your daughter?"  My heart stopped as I turned around...tears from my eyes when her nanny handed her to us... It didn't seem real... Looking at the pictures afterward I cried looking at all the nannies smiling... oh my heart...the love these ladies give!

 

Just when I though I was in Heaven...

Robin asked if we wanted to feed her because it was lunch time...

Yes, I cried as I fed her..

So amazing to get to do this with her in her comfort area...

God never ceases to amaze me!!

This next picture...this was after she had just KISSED Brian on the cheek!  She definitely was Daddy's girl from the start!!

 My cup was overflowing already...but God wasn't done with filling us up...
our precious daughter, handed to us 4 days before Gotcha day - fell asleep in my arms.  I just held her for a while...in amazement that she is ours. 

 Brian took her in and laid her on her mat where she napped.

 One last picture before we had to say goodbye...  for now....

Walking out of New Hope that day was the hardest thing I think I have ever done.  I didn't want to leave.  I wanted to take her with me, but the peace God gave us that day was beyond understanding...

Brian and I were quiet on the way back to the hotel.. we just held hands and I cried a little... It was like an amazing dream.  Had all that really just happened?  We got to see and feel the love of the people who cared for her.   We got to see they had prepared her for us with pictures.. Then with great surprise we got to hug her,  kiss her, feed her and hold her as she slept... All this with the loving smiles of the nannies who have cared for her. :) 

I truly believe this day greatly helped her transition into our family.  The orphanage folks came and got her from New Hope the next day I think.  They traveled by train back to Anhui from Beijing,  then three more days after that - we walked into a room to see a very sad little girl...
However, she lit up when she saw Brian and I and immediately reached to him smiling and said, "Baba!" (Daddy in Mandarin)
I keep reliving all this!  Over and over... recounting in amazement how awesome our God is! 

I wish every adoptive parent had the opportunity to visit their child before gotcha with their nannies lovingly handing them to their parents as we had...  If ever given the opportunity - take it!!!  Honestly, it made the days leading up to Gotcha easier!  I wasn't stressed because of how great our first hours with her had been.  I was able to relax and enjoy our tours of Beijing. :) 

The down side of visiting New Hope and LWB Healing Homes (both Heartbridge and Anhui) is all the precious faces I saw that are still waiting...
waiting for surgeries,
waiting for paperwork to be made ready for them to be adopted or
just waiting for someone to choose them... those are the hardest for me....
I go to sleep at night with their faces replaying in my mind....
I wake up and they are the first thing I see.  Covered in prayer are these children... 

 

Is it you they are waiting for? 

Not all are "paper ready" at this point...but they will be...
Is God calling you to go? 
Is He calling you to open your heart and home to one of these precious children? 

I know everyone is not called to adopt a child... but we should all do something.

All of these children receive medical care, nutrition and love through either and sometimes both Love Without Boundaries and New Hope.  Maybe you are not called to adopt - maybe you are called to look after them until they are adopted through sponsoring them and/or praying for them - their surgeries, their nutrition, their nannies, their education... Both of these organizations are completely amazing!  You can have peace in knowing the money you send is changing the life of a child.  You will get updates on the child you sponsor as well. 

You can find their information on how to sponsor a child through -

http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/sponsor-child/
and
http://www.hopefosterhome.com/

I really didn't mean to turn this into a picture album post...but sometimes God leads me in different directions than I started. :) 

Will you pray with me over these children...and all the others waiting? 
Caution though - looking at their pictures and praying for them... It may change your heart and your life - forever!  :) 

"Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names
They are easier to ignore before you see their faces
It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms,
But once you do, everything changes."  from Radical by David Platt