Sunday, November 29, 2009

Hohot Arrival

Hello again! We made it to Hohot from Beijing, but first we wanted to include a couple of pictures from the Great Wall! Isn't is beautiful; the weather was wonderful that morning.

When we landed at the Hohot airport and were pulling into the gate, God gave us a beautiful sign that He was with us. They turned music on in the airplane and Silent Night, Holy Night was playing in English!!! The specific words that came on were "Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child, Holy Infant so tender and mild." Mark, Lydia, and I all together looked at each other and said that's no coincidence. Thank you Lord for Your loving assurance and strength.

Julia and her caretaker were waiting for us in a meeting room on the third floor. We signed several papers and then it was time for the caretaker to catch the train. As expected, little Julia cried and cried saying she needed her Chinese mother. She continued saying she needed to get on the train to go to her Chinese mother. We took her to our room and Mark and Lydia left to walk around and I stayed and comforted Julia. When I told her that Leah Hope had cried and was sad at first too, that seemed to comfort her. I told her I understood why she was so sad and and said it was okay. I told her I would feel sad too. God was definitely giving me the words to comfort her because within forty five minutes, her crying ceased. Her grief will continue, but she started playing with Lydia as soon as she and Mark returned.

Please continue to pray for her and her foster family. We can feel His presence as we continue to walk this journey. Thank you for all your comments, prayers, and support. We are now able to see the blog and the comments.

Tanya Lea, Molly, and Mandi, I have several pictures of your beautiful kids and will try to e-mail them to you this week. I gave each one a big hug and kiss from their moms in America.

Until tomorrow...............blessings, Michelle, Mark, Lydia, and JULIA









5 comments:

  1. Oh Michelle, this is the first chance I have had to catch up on my blogging and I am so excited to see Julia with her new family. I love the first video of the girls dancing. Julia still has her infectious lauch.

    I can't wait to see pictures of Drew and hear all about Hohot since that is where we will be going as well.

    BLessings,
    Mandi

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  2. Michelle,

    I have a smile ear to ear for you all!! I just love seeing Lydia and Julia together...sisters at last!!! Even though the final transition was difficult for Julia and the loss will continue, Your words to her were so touching....simply beautiful. You met her where she was at, and it was obviously just what Julia needed. Bravo!

    I loved the dance video and to hear Julia's famous belly laugh!!!

    God bless you all!!

    Tami

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  3. What a blessing to hear Julia's laughter. I just love it! God bless!

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  4. Oh Michelle~ What a great post! I loved every bit of it. Hearing how you dealt with Julia's grief with such wisdom and tenderness just blessed my heart. Truly God-breathed!! Meeting her where she is will be so helpful as she grieves the memory of her life in China. That is the love of Jesus shining out from you. Truly inspiring to read.

    And those VIDEOS!!!...LOVED them! It was wonderful to hear that infectious Julia belly laugh that we all have grown to know and love for so long now. She is just too cute.

    But I was equally touched by Lydia. What a wonderful and tender big sister she is. You have clearly done a good job raising her up. I love seeing how she interacts so well with Julia and engages her in song, dance, expressions, etc. Just beautiful to see the new sisters together at last!!

    And thank you for loving on Khloe for me... I'm so excited to see the photos when you have some extra time. But only then, as this is YOUR TIME with Julia in her homeland!! So happy for you all! <><

    Blessings,
    ~Tanya

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  5. Congratulations on your precious girl! I'm so happy she found her family. I have been looking at her pic over on Lisa's blog. An answered prayer indeed!

    Blessings,
    Robin

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