Kings and Queens

A favorite song of mine is one that every time I heard it, I thought of Eli ... here, in China, without a mommy or daddy. Without brothers, without sisters, grandparents, friends. God has called us to take care of the widows and the orphans. We believe that not everyone is called to adopt, but we do believe we are all called to help in some way. Whether it is sponsoring a child or by donating items or money or maybe it is personally adopting a child into your family, we all can help the orphans of this world. Here is the chorus of the song called "Kings and Queens" by Audio Adrenaline ...

"Boys become kings, girls will be queens

Wrapped in Your majesty
When we love, when we love the least of these
Then they will be brave and free
Shout your name in victory
When we love when we love the least of these
When we love the least of these
Break our hearts once again
Help us to remember when
We were only children hoping for a friend
Won’t you look around these are the lives that the world has forgotten
Waiting for doors of our hearts and our homes to open"

If you haven't seen the music video, it is worth looking up. It truly is beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U64bongHqYU

Today was our last full day in China. We went to the park again across the street. It really is a beautiful place and was much busier than last night. People are so interested in us and in Eli, that they sometimes follow us around for a while. We never feel threatened, just annoyed at times. You can always tell when they are talking about his lip when they touch their own face and point to him. It used to bother me, but now I hope it is more of an education for them that children with differences are accepted and loved just how they are. I had one lady ask me last week if I was from America while I had Eli in my arms. I said that I was and she said, "bless you, bless you" while patting Eli's back. I was so touched.

We will travel to Hong Kong early tomorrow morning by van (about 2 1/2 hours) and then we will fly from Hong Kong to Chicago (another wonderful 14 1/2 hour flight). I feel like we are time travelers, since we leave on Friday at 11:50 and we land in Chicago on Friday at 12:10, 20 minutes later. Its like we are stopping time. We have a layover in Chicago for a couple of hours. We have heard getting through Immigration in Chicago is not easy and can take a long time. As long as we get through Immigration on time, we should be back in Cincinnati at 5:10 p.m.

I cannot wait to hug all of my kids and for them to meet Eli. I cannot wait to see family and friends. I cannot wait to sleep in my own bed and stop living in a hotel (even though they have been nice ... there is no place better than your own bed). I cannot wait to eat a home cooked meal, vegetables that I know are safe to eat and drink milk. I also cannot wait to drink water from the tap and brush my teeth not using bottled water (you can't drink the water here). Those are the things I look forward to. I will also miss China. It is a part of me. I have now spent a month of my life in this country. I love learning the culture and seeing new things. I love knowing that two of my children were born here and that their birth mothers chose life. I may never know their whole stories, what life was like for them, but I am thankful.

Our next post will be from the U.S. Again, thank you for all of your encouragement and prayers. We ask for them again as we travel. This flight is not going to be easy for us or Eli. He has become very active so keeping him contained and happy may be challenging. We also ask for prayers as we transition to being a family of 6. We send our love from China!

 

 

Posted with Blogsy