Ten hours til Gotcha!

Well, here we are.  

We have reached Beijing, and in less than 10 hours we should have Hope with us.

This is our fourth adoption journey, and in some ways it has felt like a somewhat comfortable routine, but in some ways it has been so different. 

At this point, our biggest concern is how Hope is going to feel over the next few days and weeks.  (Not how she will act, but rather the feelings, thoughts, and emotions that she will experience.) 

We can only pray that she will somehow have some sense of peace, or at least that peace may come somewhat quickly. 

Try to imagine leaving everything you have known ... and being placed with strangers who look different, sound different, smell different, and act different than anyone that you have ever been around. 

Even as an adult, I would be overwhelmed if you dropped me down into a culture that I had no previous knowledge of and expected me to just accept this as my new life.  And since I cannot imagine experiencing this as an adult, I certainly cannot imagine what this will be like for a 3 year old. 

The good news, though, is that we do have faith that she will adjust and accept love. We are confident that love will win in the end, but we just pray for her to have a sense of comfort during this journey. 

Thanks for everyone's prayers back home!  They are greatly needed and appreciated. 

The great news is that in just a few hours she will no longer be an orphan.  Instead, she will be part of a family that is ready to love and cherish her and is ready to shower her with love. 

Our expected meeting time is 8AM in Beijing on Monday, which is 7PM back in Oklahoma (counting the the time change). 

We'll be in touch soon!

🐥🐥🐥🐥🐥🐣