GOTCHA DAY!

Yesterday was a long day! We went to the International Church service which was really good, very evangelical and Christ centered. Sadly, no Chinese citizens are allowed to attend and we had to show our passports to get into the church. Our guide tried to explain to us the reasons for this and that the government is not against allowing the Chinese to go to church. She said it was for our own safety that only foreigners are allowed in this church. I didn't really understand what she meant by that. She explained that "other" Chinese Christian Churches are open to everyone and that the government does not restrict them from going to those churches. Interesting!!
After Church we were taken to a Jade store and then another store where we had opportunity to purchase items if we wanted to. After the sales pitch, we were then fed our meal for lunch. No local Chinese were anywhere to be seen at these stores. I'm guessing they are probably government run and for tourists only!! Just a guess though! They definitely were not cheap!

After lunch we spent four hours on the bus going to The Great Wall. Normally it would take around 1-1/2 hours to get to the wall from Beijing, but because of the national holiday and extremely large crowds it was bumper to bumper traffic all the way up and all the way down. By the time we finally got to the wall, we only could spend an hour on it so we didn't get to go very far, but what we saw was pretty cool. We'll post some pics and slide shows as we learn how to do all of that. Thanks again to Arianne for helping us communicate with all of you! Coming back from the wall was a 3 hour bus ride. You can do the math--seven hours on a bus for one hour on the wall. Oh, well! It was still a good day. We missed the Peking duck dinner we were supposed to go to so our guides brought us hamburgers from McDonalds. That put a smile on everyone's face after such a long and somewhat frustrating day.


Dana's thoughts for this day:

Today will be our "Gotcha Day" as they call it in the world of adoption, the day we meet our daughter Shi Guo Jin Abigail Rose Kelley. I have to say there are a lot of emotions moving in this mothers heart right now, please bear with me as I share it with you all! As John and I were reading our daily devotions this morning we just felt the Holy Spirit speaking to us. The scripture for the day is Ephesians 3:20-21 which reads " Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us , to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever, Amen." This is one of my favorite scriptures, and I'm overwhelmed by the fact that Jesus through His holy spirit will be with us in that room today when we meet little Guo Jin. He has paved the way for this adoption and is placing her into a loving home just like He is calling each of us to Him as part of His family to have a vibrant loving relationship with our heavenly Father! The King of the Universe. With that said I keep thinking of my short comings as a mother and the times I blow it and have to come to my Savior and repent and how He gently and lovingly walks and guides me when I bow before Him and allow Him to do the work I could NEVER do on my own. He is all powerful,"able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than we could EVER ASK OR IMAGINE!" That is my heart cry, Lord Jesus step in today as we meet our little girl and do exceedingly abundantly more than John or I could ever do to Love and care for our daughter(s) and our sons and do the work you want to do as Abigail joins our family. I am going to close my section of the blog today with this prayer that was at the end of our devotion this am.

"Lord God of exceeding abundance, I worship you as the one who is able to do all things well. Forgive me for repeatedly turning to my ability. Lord, as I seek you in your word, build my faith. Unleash the powerful life of your Son within my heart, making me what you want me to be, through Christ I pray. Amen.

That is a little taste of my heart this morning, thanks so much for all of your thoughts and prayers, they have blessed us abundantly on this adventure.


John's thoughts for this day:

Today is the day we have been waiting for now for four years. As a father who is about to add another daughter to my family a lot of thoughts and emotions have gone through my head this morning. To be honest, my heart really aches this morning. It aches for a little girl who I don't know yet, but already love! A little girl that is being taken from everything that she knows as normal and pulled into something different. A little girl that probably doesn't understand how much we want her to be a part of our family and to feel safe and loved. How does a father communicate that to a child who does not know him and cannot understand him? I really was encouraged as I read the "Day By Day Grace" devotional for today in the Blue Letter Bible. God is always able to do more than I can ask or imagine. I think today I am experiencing a taste of the heart our Heavenly Father has for us before we know Him. It is a good place to be, definitely out of my comfort zone, but fully aware that I am not and never have been the one in control of all of this. Please pray for Abigail and us today for a sense of peace and security as we step out into this new phase of our life as a family. Thanks!