a look back...

one year ago today i left on a journey across the world that has changed my life

my feelings and emotions on april 28, 2010 were all wrapped around the stress of travel, packing, counting money, organizing important papers to take, and weighing all my luggage!

i knew it would be a life changing journey

at times my lack of faith lead to fear

i feared it was all a mistake

and then i would feel the gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit reassuring me it was ok

one foot in front of the other

and so i continued

that 20 hour day of travel was difficult

eddie and i were squashed in the center aisle, middle seats

eddie's seat didn't recline, so he spent about 14 hours sitting straight up

i never offered him my seat:(  didn't even think about it until now!

i couldn't sleep, i couldn't relax

my baby was waiting for me!!!!

when we finally got to china we were so relieved!  

eddie was ready to explore and i was trying my best to take it all in and enjoy the moment

i was so happy to finally be on the same continent, the same country as my daughter

this was the beginning of a great and remarkable journey

some of these pictures were posted last year, however they deserve a second posting!

 this is us at the nashville airport

notice how tightly my luggage is packed?  oh how i stressed and stressed over this!  i packed and repacked many times.  what i needed more of...cooler clothes for me because i was so hot the entire trip!

see eddie's red suitcase...it's filled with protein bars, peanut butter, and random food that he had consumed by day 4 i think!  all his clothes were in that little black bag...not really but almost! ha!

the pic below is of my luggage being weighed.

i was so nervous that i would have to pay extra if it was over 50 pounds

but it wasn't!

that is why i took 2 smaller cases b/c i knew if i put it all in one large one it would be over the weight limit

it was harder to juggle 2 suitcases, one shoulder bag, a purse, and a backpack, but  i eddie managed!

if you are curious about airplane cuisine on an international flight...here you go

shrimp cocktail, salad, bread, and some kind of chicken dish

it wasn't horrible

 the in flight route...getting closer

 finally in china

 our beijing hotel room

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a look back...

Molly, here we come!

In one week I will be holding my daughter. 

In one week all the stress and headache will be worth it.

In one week I will have 'seen' China.

In one week I will be a mom.

In one week I will want my mom with me.

In one week I will be comforting my scared daughter.

In one week I will be longing for the comforts of home.

In one week I will have traveled 8,000 miles...only half of the journey.

In one week I will be breathing easier with my daughter in my arms.  

In one week...168 hours from now.

One.  Week.

It's hard to explain how you feel when you are looking towards a 23 hour day of travel to fly across the world to be united with your child.  My feelings right now are calm.  I'm quite amazed actually.  I'm sitting in the quietness of my home trying to formulate words for my final blog post as a single woman sans kids!  I just feel like every bit of effort, time, money, and energy I've put into this journey is about to come to fruition.  That is a wonderful feeling, but also a feeling of such calmness and rightness...as if I'm so certain this is what I'm supposed to do in my life at this moment.  God has prepared me for this exact purpose and for that I'm extremely grateful!  I'm praying he maintains this sense of peace within my soul throughout the next two weeks...and beyond.  There have been questions and doubts along the journey, but not now.  Everyone has asked me..."how are you feeling?"  I feel great!  I wonder how I should feel that within a few days from now my whole life is about to change?  ha!!  Should I be scared of the journey to come?  

I have packed, charged batteries, stuffed small toys into side pockets of our luggage, purchased prescriptions for any number of illnesses that may occur, precisely organized my paperwork for the officials, reserved plane seats, read about attachment, adoption, single parenting, cleaned the house, left instructions/requests for my mom and my neighbor, paid the bills ahead of time, and most importantly prayed it up! 

So as I get ready to embark on the journey ahead, I ask you to pray for Molly, Eddie, and me.  I don't know where I'd be without the blogging community!  I will keep the blog updated as best I can through my good friend, Danielle.  So keep checking in!!

*  For detailed prayer requests specific for our itinerary, check under the "Journey to China" page.

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Molly, here we come!