Thankful

We arrived in Shanghai about 2 hours ago. The flight was a long 13 hours and 45 minutes, but we all survived. Adair was wonderful, I really can't brag on her enough. She slept a lot on the plane and has been a total trouper today! We departed Birmingham at 10:35 am and headed to Shanghai after a brief layover in Detroit. We arrived here at 4:30 am on Friday central time, which is 6:30 pm on Friday local time.

It's now 9 pm and we are settling down for bed. Hopefully all three of us can get some sleep to help with the impending jet lag. Tomorrow we will continue on to Nanchang where Gotcha Day will take place on Sunday afternoon and we will spend the next 7 days.

Before turning in for the night, I wanted to share how thankful we are. We are thankful to finally be here, thankful for those who prayed, encouraged or contributed to our journey in any way. The following is a post I drafted on the plane as I pondered our journey...here we sit at the and of one journey and the beginning of another...

It goes without saying that we have so much for which to be thankful. Walking a long road such as this really reminds you of that and gives you the desire to reflect on the journey and the people who have impacted it in a vast way. Now, let me insert a small disclaimer here…I know that it’s never a good idea to begin naming names in an entry like this, because, without a doubt, I will forget someone very important, but I am willing to take that chance in order to remember these people for which we are indebted for their kindness, generosity, support, encouragement and prayers.

First, thank you to each friend who has called, emailed, texted, prayed and asked about our progress over the past year. Rest assured that God was using each one of you to encourage us and confirm our calling to this journey and our daughter. He used you to sustain us during the long journey, the sometimes unknown, and the never ending waits for more information. Each of you means more to us than we could ever find the words to express. Thank you to each and every member of Fusion (our precious community group at church) and to our core group—Jared and Melissa, Joe and Julia, Patton and Natalie, Christie and Alex; Karen, Alicia, Stacie, Kim, Dana, Kelley, Shannon, Carrie, Hayley, Jenny and Chris (thank you to your spouses too…and I know I am forgetting many here); “Aunt” Hollie and “Uncle” Bobby; Blair and Phillips, Loren and Bobby, Kara and Mark, Kimber and Matt, Mary, Mary Ellen and Kevin, Meg and Basheer, and Tricia and Judah; Bo (thank you, also, for providing the peace of mind I needed by being our “back-up” plan); Rich and Heather, Warren and Susan, Brad and Ellen; Mac and Melissa; Hank’s Thursday morning Bible study—Chuck, Ethan, Jason and Josh; Uncle Eric, Aunt Laura, Ben, Kate and Lucy; our Iron Tribe family; Melanie and Jerry; Alan and Shannon; Craig and Amanda; Amy M.; Hank’s boss, William; my TAG group—Marcie, Amy and Wendy; and many more!

To my red thread coffee group—it seems like it was yesterday that I met you all for the first time and Stacie had pictures of sweet Karlye. Now Karlye has been home over six months and many of us are embarking on this journey to finally bring our daughters home. What an indescribable blessing you have been in my life over the last year! I absolutely cannot imagine how much harder and how unbearable this journey would have been without you. We have celebrated each step together and bared one another’s’ burdens when things didn’t quite go as anticipated. I thank God daily for bringing us together. You have no idea how you changed our journey for the better. To those of you who have already brought your daughters home or are preparing to—Rushton, Robyn, Mallory, Stacie, Tricia, Kim, Emily, Michelle, Janet and Tiffany—I cannot wait for our girls to become lifelong friends, to grow up amongst families who look like their own. I look forward to transitioning our coffee dates into play dates very soon! To those of you who are still on the path to your daughter—lean on each other. It will make all of the difference in your journey!

To Mom and Dad—thank you for your support from day one. There are not enough words or hours in the day to adequately say “thank you” for all of the ways you have loved us through this journey. Thank you for loving our Emalyn from before you ever even saw her face and for our obvious anticipation to meet her and love her as much as you love Adair. You are so dear to the three (…four….five) of us and we love you so much!
To the sweet friends who provided (or offered to provide) airline miles and points to allow us to book our flights with Skymiles—Gary, Rich and Heather, Cerny, Warren, Eric, Paul, Bo and Stan—thank you! I think it’s common knowledge that this process is not inexpensive, and your generosity made a huge impact for us financially. Thank you for sacrificing whatever else you could have done with those miles and points for us. We are truly honored that you shared them with us. Just know that this gift is making a huge difference for our little girl on the other side of the world. Thank you for literally helping us bring her home!

To Amy and Karla, our amazing Lifeline contacts, and all of the Lifeline staff—where do I even begin? You each are truly spectacular at what you do. God has gifted you to make a lasting impact in the lives of families and children. It is awesome to watch you do what you do and we are so thankful we chose to work with you. Our journey is better to have had you in it. To Karla, especially—you are the absolute best. We would not be on this air plane today if it weren’t for you and Lilly working tirelessly and at all hours of the night to make it happen. Thank you for your support, your encouragement, your patience, and your calm spirit. You certainly have a way of bringing peace to a seemingly chaotic situation. Continue to allow God to use you! I can assure you that you are making a lasting difference in the life of our daughter and family and in the lives of each person with which you work.

I know there are others who have not been adequately thanked for the role you have played in this process. I know that I could go on and on for pages about each person named here and many that I am sure I have forgotten. Our hearts are full as we remember each moment, each gift, each person for which we are thankful. Each one of you is so dear to us! Please know that you have touched our hearts in such a special way and we give God all of the glory for the ways that He has used you and will continue to use you to minister to our family.

We cannot wait for you to meet our little jewel for which we are waited a year to hold in our arms. We know that your impact will continue into her life in a very special way. We love you all!


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