In Just One Week

One week from today, we will be sitting at an international flight gate at O'Hare, waiting to get on the plane... can't believe we are finally this close!

Our bedroom is a jumble of all the things that need to be packed. A few clothes have made it to the mix so far, but not many. This weekend we'll need to lay everything out and figure out what is going where! My friend Wendy has lent me a much bigger suitcase... but it weighs 15 pounds empty, and with the allotment being only 50 pounds per bag, I'm not sure it would pass if it were full. I'll have to do some filling and weighing trials this weekend, after we nail down how many clothes we will actually take.

Last night we slept with the quilt I made for Gwen. The friends we had over last week who brought their daughter home from China last January said they had slept with the blanket they gave her, so that it would smell like them and she would be able to sleep with that scent during the attachment process. I liked the idea... and boy, was the quilt warm, under all our other covers! I had a dream about her last night, too... maybe because of the quilt! The dream was long and involved, but the part I rmember best was holding her while she jabbered away in Chinese, trying to tell me something. She repeated the same phrase a couple of times, and I looked around for someone to translate her words for me. She said it one more time and then ended it with "Mama." I understood that... and then the rest didn't matter anymore!

I am still amazed at this gift, this chance that God is giving us to do this thing that will forever change all of us. The joy and privilege of it overwhelms me, and I cry everytime I try to express it to my children. I pray that they will see with their hearts and know what it means. Madelyn asked me the other day if Gwen goes to church where she is. I told her I didn't think so, but that we would get to take her with us to church... that is one of the greatest gifts about the whole thing. Perhaps this little girl never would have had a chance to meet Jesus... and we are so looking forward to introducing her to Him!

This post has been a mishmash of ideas... I have to tell you that's kind of where my brain is right now! I go from packing, to wrapping Christmas gifts, to writing out instructions about the kids for my parents, to being totally blown away that we are actually going to China to bring home our daughter, and then back to schooling the kids! THANK YOU for your prayers for us and for Gwen. We're going to get through this next week, get to China, and come home with the best Christmas present ever!