Just miles away....

This morning, we ate another delicious breakfast at the Intercontinental Hotel's breakfast buffet. I promise you, it was the most vast and varied display of food you've ever seen in your life. And one of my favorite choices was the fruit smoothies served in tall shot-like glasses. The mango banana smoothie was so good!

And this was the view out the window at breakfast. Breathtaking. I hated to leave this beautiful city. Even the view from the lobby was amazing.

We got to the airport by 9:30 am. And we were soon on our way to Kunming in the Yunnan province.

As we flew low over the surrounding area of Kunming and landed, I was listening to the song "Faithful" by Steven Curtis Chapman. The following thoughts flashed through my mind...

Developing a heart for China my sophomore year of college when I wanted to do a summer stint with Campus Crusade....Visiting an orphanage in Romania almost 7 years ago and knowing I wanted to adopt one day....telling my parents that I was going to adopt a little girl from China when I got married....praying that God would place Scott and me on the same page and give him the desire to adopt as well....Scott looking me in the eyes in November 2008 and telling me, "I'm ready...let's move forward."...Dreading the due date of the twins we miscarried and then God redeeming that day as we saw our Grace's face for the first time in referral pictures. God is so faithful. As the lyrics to the song pounded in my ears, the pilot flew our plane closer to the ground. My eyes scanned the land before me, wondering if Grace might be anywhere near. And as our plane touched down, I realized I was finally in China. We were finally in the city of my daughter's home, and most likely the location of her birth parents. The combination of recognizing God's faithfulness and being just a few miles away from Virginia Grace suddenly overwhelmed me with emotion, and tears began streaming. I can't believe we're here.

Our guide for the week, Hellen, greeted us outside of baggage claim. The driver took us to our hotel, and we spent the afternoon unpacking, getting settled, and resting. We ate dinner at the Bluebird Cafe, across the street from the hotel. It's definitely different being in mainland China as opposed to Hong Kong. The people here know a lot less English, so we've been trying to brush up on some basic Chinese questions and phrases.

A housekeeper brought a crib into our room earlier, and I place all Grace's dolls, toys, and blankets in there. I just keep staring at the empty crib in wonderment....we'll soon have a baby girl here with us!!! The guide said we will get her on Monday morning (Sunday night central time).

I would love to write more, but I am completely exhausted. I will write more tomorrow. Happy Friday to you!

We Heart Hong Kong

What a great city!! It's 9:15 pm on Thursday night, and we've managed to stay up the entire day. For those of you who asked, the time difference is 13 hours ahead of central time.
Even though it rained most of the day, we had a great time exploring. First, we ate a huge breakfast in the hotel. Then I enjoyed the most wonderful massage I believe I've ever had. It was actually a "Jet Lag Recovery Massage," and I give all credit to the massouse for me still being awake after 21 hours. We then hit the town.
This is a picture of the harbor from our hotel. Because of the rain and fog, the camera couldn't quite capture how beautiful the view really is.
We took the Star Ferry across the water and then rode the tram up to Victoria's Peak, the highest point in Hong Kong. There are stores, restaurants, and all kinds of fun places to frolic in once you get up there. In an effort to conserve our money, we skipped the nice eateries up on the mountain and ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co instead. Our waitress told us to flip the tag when we were ready to order, and we soon noticed the tag said Alabama!! For just a few minutes, we felt close to home. :)
You can see the fog just sitting on some of the mountain peaks.
Here is a view from Victoria's Peak at dusk... you should see what pictures look like when it's not foggy and it's completely dark. They're breathtaking! But we were so grateful it had stopped raining at this point.
We made our way back to the hotel and watched the nightly laser show. All the buildings light up and additional strobe lights shine with the rhythm of music. Very cool!

We would love to have another day and night in this beautiful city, but we're also excited about getting to Kunming. Tomorrow is the day Grace will probably be brought back to the orphanage (if she hasn't been moved already). Please pray for her little broken heart, as I am certain she is missing her foster family and home.

So long Hong Kong! We hope to come back! Virginia Grace, we're getting closer darling!

Savvy Travelers

I'm being sarcastic. And the story is coming...but we're HERE!!! In Hong Kong, at least. We'll spend the night and fly out to Kunming, in Mainland China, tomorrow.

The flights weren't nearly as bad as we anticipated. We flew Cathay Pacific from San Francisco to Hong Kong, and the food was actually quite good! There was also a great selection of movies. We arrived here about 3 hours ago, at 6:30 am Thursday. After making our way through Immigration and Customs and then baggage claim, we made our way toward the taxi station. Several guys had been walking around asking if anyone needed a cab ride, so when one man approached us, I said sure. BIG mistake.

Scott and I have traveled enough to be aware of tourist pitfalls, but we fell right in today. The guy took us to a totally different door to leave. Scott and I kept looking at each other but followed him anyway. Long story short....the driver charged us $200 for what should have been a $100 ride or less. He made us stop at an ATM on the street to get more Hong Kong dollars when we told him we didn't have enough to cover the astronomical fee he was charging us. And he also dropped us off at the WRONG hotel! We are staying at the Intercontinental, and there are two here in the city. But we had told him which street our hotel was on. We didn't realize we were at the wrong one (we actually didn't even know there were two) until we were checking in and they couldn't find our reservation. So we had to get our luggage and pay for another cab ride to the other Intercontinental Hotel.

The other sad part is that we had received some great recommendations of activities to do while here. Stanley Market, the beautiful view at the top of Victoria's Peak, a ferry ride, laser show, etc. But unfortunately, it is pouring today. And strong storms are moving in tonight.

So being that it's 9:30 am here and we have the whole day to explore, we're trying to figure out other fun things to do. We're not going to let this rocky start to our Hong Kong stay get us down. :)

We just skyped with Carter, and he seems to be doing really well. He did get sad yesterday a few hours after we left, and at one point he said, "Mommy and Daddy come back" while running to the front door. But after my mom sat with him on the stairs for a few minutes and validated his sadness (thank you for this tip Erin!!), he was good to go.

Your prayers are being felt, for sure. We feel calm and peaceful about everything (well, except for losing $200), and I expected to be much more anxious. We're loving all your sweet comments, and it's been so touching to receive words of encouragement from those of you we don't even know. Thanks for investing in this journey with us! We'll get to Kunming tomorrow afternoon, and I'll post an update then.

Much love,

I Love My Bed

I just wanted to say that. When I woke up this morning, I tried to savor the feeling of being stretched out, on my back, with a nice soft mattress and pillow. Once we fly out this afternoon, we'll be in the air or in airports for the next 24 hours!! And have I mentioned the flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong is 14 hours???? And have I told you that my husband is 6'5" and has long legs? Now you know what to pray about the next couple days. :)

In all seriousness, we're excited to finally embark on our journey to China. But our joy and anticipation has been mixed with sadness and motherly concern as we leave our 2 year old son. So far, he seems to be doing okay. This morning when he got up, he said, "Mommy....Daddy....get Grace." And he said it with a big smile. I think he gets it. Though he can't possibly fathom how long we'll be gone.So after I took this picture, I found our small carry-on suitcase in our bedroom!! I can't believe we almost left without it!

In the car this morning, a thought entered my mind. Scott and I are so excited about welcoming Virginia Grace as our daughter. While she may not be of our flesh and blood, we already love her so much. I wondered if God ever experiences this giddiness when He knows a person is about to become a child of His and experience His amazing love. While someone might be seeking, they can't possibly anticipate what they're about to experience. I can almost imagine the Lord smiling as He waits to welcome a lonely and lost "child" into his arms. As that individual accepts the gift of salvation, he or she takes on the name of Christ. And God loves them as if they're His very own.

Guan Xue Hua will soon become Virginia Grace Xue Brown. She'll take on our name and be called one of our family. I've never experienced a clearer pictures of God's plan of redemption and salvation. A second chance at life and love and intimacy.

We'll reach Hong Kong tomorrow around 5:30 pm US Central time (6:30 am Thursday morning in China). I'll try to post when we get settled in the hotel. I have been blown away by all the messages, comments, and emails you've sent our way. Thank you, thank you!! And as you enjoy the comfort of your bed tonight, think of us. :)

Travel Dates - Leaving Tomorrow!!!

It's official...we're heading to China. TOMORROW!!! 

We fly out at 5:55 pm. Our route is Birmingham to Houston to San Francisco to Hong Kong. We'll arrive in Hong Kong at 6:25 am on Thursday morning, and we'll actually spend the night there. Then, we'll fly to Kunming (where Grace is) on Friday at noon. It will be nice to have a day and a half in Hong Kong to explore, rest up, and enjoy some couple time before our lifestyle changes for many months.  (ie. no date nights for quite awhile because I won't be able to leave Grace until she's fully bonded to me) When we get to Kunming, we'll get to see one of my college friends, Joy, who is in China with her family for a year, on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. We can't wait to spend the weekend with her!!

We should have "Gotcha Day" (an adoption term for the day you meet your child and they become yours forever) on Monday, April 12th.  It gives me chills just thinking about what an emotional day that will be! We will spend the rest of the week in Kunming.  While we'll tour the orphanage and the city of Kunming, we'll also have lots of down time when we can just play and bond with Virginia Grace.  We have no idea how she'll respond to us. She may grieve and be unresponsive at first.

Over the weekend, we'll travel to Guangzhou. This is where the US Consulate is located. Grace will have a mandated medical exam and required immunizations, and we'll have a court date where the adoption is finalized. This will happen on Tuesday, April 20th. We then have to wait until Thursday to receive Grace's visa. We'll take a train to Hong Kong that evening and fly out at 12:30 am Thursday night/Friday morning.  We're set to land in Birmingham at 10:04 am on Friday.

It's going to be a long 18 days without our son, Carter. Please pray that he will do well during our absence. My mom is coming in town tomorrow, and she'll be the primary caretaker. Primarily, we want to keep Carter's schedule as normal and routine as possible.  On certain days and for one of the weekends, Scott's parents will keep Carter.  He'll be having so much fun and attention, he probably won't miss us! We do plan to Skype with him daily, so at least we'll get to see each other's faces.

I'll be posting daily to the blog once we get to China. While blogger, Facebook, and many sites are blocked there, we downloaded a software (mainly for Scott's work) that will allow us to go around those firewalls. 

I'll post some more specific prayer needs and requests as we go. But for now, would you please pray that God would begin preparing Virginia Grace's heart? She is going to be scared and sad and lonely when she is brought from her foster home back to the orphanage on Friday.  And I can't go into much detail (at least until we have her safely in our arms), but let's just say that her orphanage is not a safe place.  It is very atypical among most Chinese orphanages.  Please pray against physical, emotional, and psychological damage during the few days she will be at the orphanage. In just a week, she'll be safely in our arms.  A moment I've dreamt about for years. It's very surreal. 

Thank you for walking through this with us. Your sweet comments and emails have been so uplifting and touching. I hate that I can't respond to all comments, but know how much they mean to me.  I also love that Grace will see how many people were praying for her during this journey when we turn this blog into a keepsake book for her. We are eternally grateful for your support and love!

 More to come soon!!!

Our Redeemer Lives

In Carter's words..."He is risen in-DEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!!"

Mom & Dad (aka GrandMary and Papa), these pics are for you....we can't wait to see you very soon!

Sweet boy...

I love how he initiated the hug himself and squeezed me so tight...these are moments I cherish.

(If sound accompanied this picture, you would hear Carter shouting "CHEESE!" as I kissed him. What a ham.)

As you can see, the glasses and toy camera were the two biggest hits from his Easter basket.

Happy Easter to everyone! What a joyous day!

Don't Leap Yet

Every year, as Easter approaches, I find myself swept up in the anticipation and glory of Christ's resurrection. But I've also discovered that it doesn't have quite as significant of an impact on me if I don't walk through the agony of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. It's almost as if I become so used to talking about Christ' atoning work that I become desensitized to what he actually endured to save me and all humankind. A few days ago, a friend sent me an encouraging email as we awaited our travel approval, and she pasted in this prayer. It so perfectly articulated what I had been thinking the day before...

God, this is the beginning of Holy Week. My heart isn't ready for the
terrible loneliness and dread that Jesus felt in the Garden of Gethsemane,
when He asked if this cup might be taken from Him. My heart isn't ready for
the wrenching contradictions of the Last Supper, or the burning injustice
and horrors of Friday's crucifixion. Help me, O God, not to leap over this
terrible, yet holy time. Help me not to skip over the agony of defeat,
before I run to the empty tomb to hear the good news of Easter's
resurrection. Forgive me when I want cheap grace. Forgive me when I forget
the agony and sacrifice of Your only begotten Son. Before I rise to new
life in Christ, I know that I, too, must deny myself and take up my cross
and follow Him. Strengthen me, O God, for I need Your strength to do it.
Amen. (by Dr. James H. Daughdrill, Jr., Prayers At Work)

Over the last few years, I've tried to find ways to "reacquaint" myself with the horror of Jesus' torture and death so that is has true meaning for me. Sometimes I've watched The Passion, or just a few clips from it. One year, I read Rachel's Tears, the journal of the 16-year-old Columbine student who was shot to death by two classmates for standing up for her Christian convictions. Another time, I listened to an audio recording of the ending chapters of the Gospel of Mark. Just listening to the words read aloud brought them to life. Seven or eight years ago, I first heard the song "Why" by Nichole Nordeman, and I cried for about 20 minutes after it ended.

If you've never heard it, I encourage you to listen to it below. I have embedded two Youtube versions....the first has the lyrics so you can read them as you listen. The second has clips from The Passion and may prove to gory for you (or your children) to watch. The song is just under 6 minutes (just stop it at that point on the 2nd video), and I know that's long. But I promise you will be touched by the lyrics written by an amazing musician and Christian. As we move into Good Friday, let us not be too quick to jump into Easter celebration. We need to remember what Christ did for us.......I am bewildered and humbled every year. Thank you Lord Jesus for such an indescribable act of love!