This past Tuesday, June 24, we received our confirmed travel dates and were told that we needed to buy our international airline tickets now. Well, we didn't know that and had some money on reserve, but not enough. There were only four tickets left for the dates we needed and they were about 5,000 dollars. We called around other airlines, like Delta was wanting about $7,000 (who can afford that). So, we were going to try get the airline with the $5.000 (airline tickets for the 3 of us) tickets. They told us if we could pay some on them now that they could hold them until Thursday and we could pay the rest until then. But, we don't get paid until Friday. They said they couldn't hold them that long and plus the price could go up on Friday IF the tickets were still available (remember only 4 tickets left). We still needed half the difference. We prayed for a miracle. And come Thursday, a miracle came. We both got paid on Thursday instead of Friday. We have never received our paychecks a day early, but this month we did! So, now we have our travel dates and our plane tickets, so it is finally happening. We are finally getting our baby girl after 16 months! Our travelling agency in China is taking care of all the travel "in China," so that is one less stressful thing we have to worry about. Soon, they will send us our iterinary and invoice (hopefully, we can get another miracle on that one too, since they will probably want their money instantly also) for the travel within China. I do know that we will get to tour the Great Wall of China, get Sophie on July 22 (Gotcha Day!), and have a lot of free time in Guangzhou while we wait on her Visa. With that said, I do have some prayer requests; pray for travel safety, Sophie's acceptance of her new family, Sophie's foster mother (who has had her since this past September), Sophie's parents (I know it must of have been hard for them to give up their child), David Ryan and the rest of the family's safety and health while we are gone (I will be half around the world without my son and I will be at better ease if he was well and safe while we are gone), Sophie's transition to her new home, David Ryan's acceptance of his new sister, and the 14 hour plane ride (especially on the way back with a two year old).
We did send a photo album to Sophie with pictures of us, but I know it is still going to be hard for a two year old to understand what is going on. I do expect it to be hard at first. But, I pray that she will soon learn that she can trust us and accept us. I do want her to grieve, it is only natural that this happens. But, I also want her to know that we love her and she doesn't have to be afraid. So again, please pray that Sophie transitions well.
The next blog post will be with us in China! I am going to try to post everyday, but I don't know how the internet connections will be there and how Sophie will act everyday. Until then, I have a lot to do before we leave. See you in China!
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