Gotcha!!!

The streets on guangzhou are horrible! there are people lying on the streets begging for money. Getting Samuel was amazing though.
        ~ Cassidy

Waiting, waiting, waiting; what seemed like forever was in reality probably only thirty minutes. Then we see him, he sees us. He is very studious and will watch you before he decides how he feels about you. It took only a few minutes for him to warm up to us in the hotel room. He looooves to repeat whatever you say (he's a quick learner), and he loves it when you praise his actions. My favorite moment of the night: we were talking about where to go for dinner, Samuel sleepily rubbed his eyes and put out his hands in that universal "pick me up" motion. I was more than happy to oblige.
      ~ Courtney

Without further ado....pictures!

Yes, he is doing THAT well.  It took a few minutes to warm up, but man, did he warm up.  He's tired now and we'll see how bedtime goes, but so far, Samuel has been amazing.  So many new sights and sounds for him today, and he studies every new thing very closely.  He spent a long time this afternoon mimicking everything anyone said.  He was funny and he laughed out loud at himself.  We are overjoyed and could not have asked for a better day.  Wanna see a video?  I knew you did.

~ Martha

 

 



Where are the words?  There are few moments in life that are so joyous as adding a child to your family.  This one is right there with the others.  Samuel is amazing.  I hear Martha's beautiful voice singing to him as she rocks him, trying to get him to go to sleep.  And even now, with him crying and fighting sleep, I just can't imagine a day that could've gone any better.  He is so smart, so funny, and such a joy!  His million megawatt smile could melt the coldest of hearts.  When he's nervous he gets very quiet and studies everything.  I can just hear him thinking "Okay, the Mama is a pushover, but the big dopey looking one might be kinda tough."

Martha is incredible.  Since August 2nd, 1997, the day Courtney LeeAnn was born, she has been my hero.  So patient and loving.  Sitting in the Civil Affairs Office, anticipating the arrival of Samuel and his entourage (nanny and orphanage director) she crackled with nervous energy.  She was like a big ball of raw nerves.  She cried with every other adoptive family as they met their children and laughed and cried with every smile from the children.  Then she cried just because!  As we waited, I searched her lovely brown eyes and found the soul of a beautiful, loving and caring person and I fell head over heals with her all over again.  Who would've dreamed, 30 years ago, that the Lord Jesus would take us down the paths we've gone so far?  And I know the best is yet to come!

Courtney and Cassidy are awesome.  They are going to be the greatest big sisters!  Before we left our room, in our last moments as a family of 4, we gathered and prayed.  Hearing their sweet, earnest prayers filled my heart with equal amounts of pride and humility.  Proud of the people they are becoming and humbled by the power of their prayers.  No pretense, no groping for just the right words.  Just coming to God on simple, honest terms.  They both had tears in their eyes at the orphanage.  Courtney is such a natural with kids!!!   Some day, in about 30 or 40 years, when I let her get married, she is going to be a great mother.  Her eyes light up around Samuel and she is so free with a smile for him.  Cassidy is a proud big sister.  She helped Courtney wrangle Samuel when we stopped at the market after leaving the CAO.  Courtney held one hand and Cassidy held the other, and they all three held my heart.  She shared her pizza crust with him at dinner, and that's like asking a hungry lioness to share her meal!

It is amazing to believe that after such a long journey we are finally a family of five.  The Lord has blessed us beyond belief.  When I look at my wife, daughters and son, I wonder how did I ever deserve all of this.  God is so gracious.

~ Matthew

"For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."  Psalm 100:5

Hello From Guangzhou!

Saturday morning at Tienamen Square

 

We landed in Guangzhou around 4:30 this afternoon, about an hour later than anticipated due to delays in Beijing.  We are soooo glad to have arrived at this point in the journey.  While Beijing was fun, for us laid back Okies it's nice to get away from the huge city of Beijing and it's population of 30 million to the sleepy city of Guangzhou and it's 15 million inhabitants! 

 

Our guide for this portion of the journey is Grace - an appropriate name if you ask me.  She picked us up at the airport and took us to the hotel.  I'm not even going to talk about how nice the Garden Hotel is, I'll let Martha do that.  Just suffice it to say that they don't usually let peoople like me in a place like this!  The beggars on the street.  Martha is speaking to that tonight.  I need time to process.

 

Not sure how well I'll sleep tonight. A constant prayer of ours has been that the Lord go before us to prepare Samuel's heart, but yet I find myself half expectant that he will not like me at first. That's okay, cause either way I'll still be his daddy!  Here I am, at 46 years old, on the other side of the world and I'm about to be a daddy to a 5 year old Chinese boy!  Who woulda thunk it?  Only God the Father can write a story like that!

~ Matthew

We spent the day traveling, so we took no new pictures.  Matt mentioned the hotel.  Grace told us the Garden Hotel is the nicest in Guangzhou.  It is very opulent, roomy, kind of an oasis from the crazy outside world truthfully.  This is the hotel chosen by our  adoption agency for all of its families.  Because tomorrow is the start of the Canton Trade Fair, the hotel is incredibly busy with business travelers from all over the world.  I can tell they feel more at home here than we do.  Don't get me wrong - I am SO HAPPY to be here.  Like I said, it's kind of an oasis.  We are very near some good restaurants and stores.  We ate at a Thai restaurant tonight.  All of us ate well for about 20 US dollars.  The same street has Starbucks, Pizza Hut, McDonalds, 7 Eleven.

Here's the difficult part.  On our way to & back from this restaurant, we have to cross a crazy street.  Chinese drivers will not slow down for pedestrians.  They will just hit you.  Scary crossing! 

The other, much more difficult part, is the beggars on the street.  I'm not talking just homeless people (and I am not downplaying that), but people with serious deformities lying on the sidewalk.  So hard to walk by knowing there's really nothing we can do to help.  So hard to watch our girls see that.  Just hard, especially walking back to our opulent hotel with a full belly.  I can't get the image out of my mind, that sick feeling out of the pit of my stomach.  Don't know how to react.  Completely at a loss. 

Enough rambling.  My brain is full.  Here's a few more pictures from yesterday.  This is the funny sign of the day.  Again, you'll have to click on the picture to see the close up.

 This is the lake adjacent to the Summer Palace.

 Here's part of the Forbidden City under renovation.

Interesting fact learned about the Forbidden City and Summer Palace and apparently houses in China as well.  The thresholds in both palaces are like 6 inches tall.  You have to step over.  Our Beijing guide explained that these are to keep out "devil  spirits."  They believe these spirits can't jump over these thresholds.  The guide said her childhood home had thresholds like this.  They also represent the father of the family and are never to be stepped on, only over.  Cassidy found that funny and stepped on every one she had a chance to from there on.  Ornery girl. 

 

Tomorrow is THE DAY.  We will meet Samuel at last.  What a bundle of emotions I am.  I'm tired and words are failing me.

Please pray for us - that Samuel will just know in his heart that we love him and that he can trust us completely; that we will know how to meet his needs; that his health will be strong; that we will all stay healthy; that the overwhelming parts of this trip will not be overwhelming but that God will teach us what He wants us to learn from it all.

Thank you all!  Good night.

~Martha

Experiencing History

Under cherry blossom tree at Summer Palace

 

 

The forbidden city and the summer palace was cool to see i'm still

excited to get Samuel.

~Cassidy

 

 

Today was very interesting, the Forbidden City, Tianamen Square, and the summer palace all in one day. I feel like on this trip we are hearing a lot more about the history of these places, and doing less and less of the main touristy stuff. I think I like the summer palace the most because of the more nature-friendly atmosphere: the lake, the garden. It's a very nice walk along the lake and the breeze off of it is awesome! The Forbidden City is huge, and most people tend to go more on the main path-straight through-but I really liked it that we went to parts that weren't jam-packed with people. Three hour flight tomorrow, maybe I can finally shake this jetlag!

 ~ Courtney

 

And on to pictures!  Below is the entrance to the Forbidden City.  See all the people?  Yeah, we were feeling a little overwhelmed with the crowds today.  Fascinating place, though.  Everything is incredibly ornate, as this was a palace for the emporers. 

 For lunch, we had what they call Beijing noodles.  It took a few bites to get used to, but it really was good.  It was not a tourist place, but where locals eat.  That was fun. 

This is in front of the man made lake adjacent to the gardens of the Summer Palace.  It was beautiful here today with a nice breeze coming off the water.

 Tiananmen Square is just amazingly big.  This square can hold 1,000,000 people.  Today there weren't quite that many, but plenty crowded.  Lots of Chinese tourists, actually.

We were told this was a light day for Beijing traffic.  Mercy!  I have never experienced constant traffic like here.

 This photo was taken in the garden of the Forbidden City.  It was really pretty as well.

 Here's the sign of the day.  If you click on the picture, you will be able to see the sign above the shop door that reads, "God Save the Streaking."  What that means, I will never know.  The other funny today was on our menu at lunch.  I got a picture on my phone, but can't get it over to the computer.  In the description under a menu item, it said, "The city flavor explodes a belly."  Didn't want THAT to happen!

Sorry the pictures are kind of in random order.   We went to Tiananmen Square, then the Forbidden City, then lunch, and finally to the Summer Palace. This has certainly been an interesting couple of days in Beijing.  We have seen and heard a lot of history of this nation.   Always interesting to hear how the guide's view (and probably information) differs from ours on former rulers and leaders.   I am looking forward to going to Guangzhou tomorrow and getting ready to meet our son on Monday!  Indescribable.

~Martha

 

 

Another fine day seeing the sights in Beijing.  I still get chills in Tiananmen Square, but I never said anything to our guide.  I hate to admit this, but the giant portrait of Chairman Mao on the North end of the square kind of gives me the creeps.  As the generations pass, it seems that Mao's legacy lessens.  The current generation doesn't worship him as a god as past generations have, but they still revere him as a great leader.  It's almost like they have never learned of his treachery and tyranny.  Yes, he did good things for the country, but at a large price of souls. 

 

The Forbidden City is incredibly rich in history.  It's amazing to see the rooms where emperors roamed so long ago.  The detail in the architecture is wonderful.  The extravagance is a little much for me, but you can appreciate the workmanship in the structures, furniture and belongings.

 

It was sad to exit the Forbidden City and run into beggars on the street.  Your heart breaks for them.  We ran across 3 or 4 in a row whose bodies were deformed and broken.  Sights that we just don't see back home.  It sure makes me thanksful to the Lord for His unending grace and mercy in our lives!

 

The Summer Palace is like a miniature Forbidden City in architecture and design, but I think we all preferred it.  The grounds were slightly less crowded than at the Forbidden City, and the highlights there are the beauty in the gardens and nice breeze coming off the lake.

 

Tomorrow is a travel day.  We fly to Guangzhou in preparation to get our son on Monday.  I can't can't get the images of those beggars out of my mind.  Lord willing, Samuel will never experience such an existence himself.  The reason we came here is fast approaching.  I think we're all nervous, but expectant.

 

~ Matthew

 

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11



Great Wall visit

What a beautiful day to visit the great wall with temperatures in the 70's, and a light breeze which made it perfect for climbing the steeper parts!  Eight years ago we visited the wall at a spot closer in to town, and while it was still way cool, this one was better.  First off, the weather conditions today sure beat the 30 degree temps we experienced on our way to get Cassy.  Secondly, this was further out and slightly less touristy.  To start, we took a ski-lift partially up into the mountains, breathing in the crisp cool air and soaking in the scenery and sun.  From there we began making the climb from tower to tower, stopping in each one to take pictures and revel in the views.  Amazing to think we were standing on a piece of history about 2,000 years old!  I'll save some of the description for Martha and the girls.

Thanks for all the prayers, they're appreciated more than you can imagine!  Three more sleeps until we see Samuel!

~ Matthew

The mountains were so beautiful.  Unlike the North American Rockies, the peaks are very jagged.  Just look different.  The Chinese lettering on this mountain says, "Follow Mao." 

Here we are on the Great Wall. 

I'm thinking this might show a little of the steepness of the climb/descent on the wall.  One thing that makes it hard to walk is that the angles are steep and the steps are uneven in height.  You sure have to concentrate on the height of each step.  It looks about like this between each tower - steep downgrade then back up.  About halfway into this trek, I was kicking myself for not doing a little "gonna climb the Great Wall" training regimen before we came.  My leg muscles were literally shaking by the time we got back to where we started.

This is the view out of our hotel window.  I had forgotten the busy hustle bustle of this city.  Walking on the sidewalk or crossing the street is completely crazy.  You can get run over by bicycles, scooters, or even cars wherever you are it seems.  We listen to car horns honking constantly.  Sure reminds me how much I love the slower pace of good old Oklahoma.

 

Below is the funny sign of the day.  I hope you can read it.  The Chinese translations into English crack me up.  I wonder if English translations into Chinese are so bad.  The section of the wall that we visited had the option of going down from one of the towers riding a taboggan down a stainless steel plume.  We chose to take the ski lift chairs back down, but it did look like fun.

We had lunch at a restaurant called The Schoolhouse after our visit to the wall.  It was a tourist place, good food, high prices (they DID have a COLD Diet Coke, which made me happy.) Dinner was at a Chinese restaurant across from our hotel.  Really good fried rice and we all ate for about $10.  We will probably go see them again tomorrow night.

 

We are all pretty wiped out and headed back to the hotel tonight.  Tomorrow, we visit the Forbidden City, Tiannamen Square, and the Summer Palace.  Lots of walking, but not so steep :)

 

Good night all!

 

~Martha

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello from Beijing

We made it!  The weather around Chicago caused us hours of delays, but we made our connection and here we are.  We all faired well and are exhausted from a lack of sleep.  Our guide met us at the airport and got us checked into our hotel.  We visited the 7 Eleven across the street for water and some snacks and now we're preparing for bed.  Tomorrow we go to the Great Wall!  More later when I can form some thoughts.

~Martha


We made it to beijing and tomorrow we are going to see the great wall!
  cassidy


Hey all!   Well, aside from the four hours of delays everything else went according to plan.  We're all very tired but glad to be here.  Flight here took us up and over the Northern edge of Alaska, so not quite as close to the North Pole as last time.  Big day tomorrow.  We'll keep you posted!

p.s. Ask Martha about the revolving doors!

~ Matthew

Countdown!

A little over 10 hours till we leave on a jet plane.  Wow.  Seems so surreal right now.  I've checked everything on the to do list and we will be packed once the dryer finishes with that last load of laundry. 

Here's a quick run down of schedule and such.   The time difference - China is 13 hours ahead of CST.  We will arrive in Beijing Thurs afternoon (their time).  We will try to get acclimated to the new time zone and do some sightseeing on Friday & Saturday.  Sunday we fly to Guangzhou, where we will meet Samuel on Monday.  Exactly the timing of everything else, I honestly can't tell you.  We will make a visit to the orphanage, have a medical appt for Samuel, interview with Chinese officials about the adoption, have an oath taking ceremony at the US Consulate.  In between those things, we will do sightseeing and shopping and whatever else our guides suggest. 

We will be blogging hopefully daily.  As always, we are thankful for your prayers and words of encouragement. 

One more sleep (theoretically - the sleeping part, that is).

Love to you all!

~Martha

Humbled and Commissioned

It’s Monday morning, just 2 more sleeps as Martha likes to say, until we leave for China and Samuel. Yesterday morning, two pastors that I respect, look up to and love joined with other members of our church family – a family that we adore – and surrounded Martha, Courtney, Cassidy and I to pray for us and commission us in our journey to bring Samuel home. What a blessing to have people whom I know are better than I could ever dream to be place their hands on my shoulder and carry us to heaven in prayer. I am truly humbled.

But the lesson in humility didn’t just start. It’s been carried out for about a year now. When we took the leap of faith and embarked on another adoption journey back in March of 2010 we knew in some part what we were getting into. We knew it would be a long, long road with mountains of paperwork to climb and oceans of red tape to wade through.

We knew there would be worries. Money, Courtney, Cassidy, and acceptance/approval by friends and family all hit the list. We told you that we wanted to be transparent in this whole process, hoping that anyone who might be interested in adoption would be inspired to take the ride and provide a family to a precious child – and at least one couple has!

But let me swallow this lump in my throat and tell you about what we didn’t expect. Our family on my mom’s side, the Wells, passing the purse (albeit a Texas Longhorn purse) and taking up a sizeable collection to get our funding kicked off at last summer’s family reunion. We didn’t anticipate at least 4 incredible families from our adoption network of friends paying far more, and then some, than what we asked for our fundraiser t-shirts. Our second parents (and you know who you are), have done more for us than we could ever repay – although I pray I get the chance to try! No less than half a dozen individuals/families from OBC have contributed to the cause and some more than once. I like to think I’m a writer, yet I will never be able to come up with the words to express our gratitude. You have overwhelmed us with your love and generosity. Thank you!

That’s just the money part. Family and friends from around the world have encouraged and lifted us up in prayer. Coworkers and neighbors have invested themselves in our saga. Your encouragement has meant more to us than you will ever know.

We knew our brothers and sister in Soul’d Out would be at our side, they have been for over twenty years now – day after day, week after week. We’ve shared far more than just music together. You guys have been there – Sink or Swim and we love you guys with all our heart!

Olivet Baptist Church is an incredible church family, as already alluded to above. But I don’t think we realized how much they would invest themselves into the adventure. We’ve had prayer warriors lifting Samuel and us up on a daily basis. There hasn’t been a week go by when we didn’t get a word of encouragement from a church member. I could write an entire different blog post on how the OBC family has been intertwined in our lives for over 26 years and I hope to some day. But suffice it to say that I am a grateful member of OBC.

I think the last thing I didn’t expect was how the Lord would use all those mentioned above to teach me humility. Not just in Sunday’s prayer, but in the events of the last year. You see, I’m not really all that proud about most things – I never felt there was much in myself alone to be proud of.

 

But for all of the lowliness I’ve always felt inside, I’ve come to realize how prideful I’d become in one certain area, and that’s in letting (or rather, not letting) people help. I’ve never asked for a handout (not even from my parents) in my life, and I’ve taken pride in that fact. After all, doesn’t the Bible say that if a man doesn’t work he doesn’t eat?

Oh, I was okay with selling books, t-shirts or whatever to raise money, but don’t give it to me. Huh unh. I’ve always taken pride in providing for my family. I’ve been proud of my self-sufficiency. There’s that word again. One of the seven deadlies. Yep, I’m guilty. It has pained me to have these gifts lavished upon us. Made me feel like a beggar. Needy.

But isn’t needy exactly what I am? I’m in need of God’s love, grace and redemption every single day of my life. And God has graciously used family, church family and friends to drive this through my stubborn pride and hard head. They’ve been like heavenly sledgehammers, pounding away with unsolicited, unmerited gift after gift, teaching me that it’s okay to let others help – maybe they’re just following a calling from the Lord. Maybe they just want to be a part of something greater than me and my foolish pride. I ask for the Lord’s help then stubbornly try to reject it when it comes from the hands of His children. What a dummy I can be!

I’m not self sufficient. My hope, my abilities, whatever shred of good that might be in me comes from Jesus Christ alone. I am nothing without Him. Oh, I’ve always known that – even wrote songs about it. But I guess it never completely sunk through to my heart. Now I truly understand what it means to place your trust in God Almighty and not your own abilities. Accept what He gives, in whatever form it comes.

And it only took the Lord forty-six years and hundreds of fellow believers to bring me to this realization! Not bad for a guy whose neck size is bigger than his IQ, huh?

To all those mentioned in this rambling blog, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Thanks for the surprises and love. Thanks for the tears of joy you brought to Martha and I, and the lessons in humility – as painful as they might be. Did I say thank you?

I make you this promise: I will be faithful to the calling of raising my son. I will love him completely and unconditionally, just as I do my daughters, and try my best to point him to the cross. I will rely on the Lord to help me teach him what it means to be a Godly man. I will hit my knees daily, realizing my need and my shortcomings as a model to my children and ask Abba Father for help.

Then accept it when it comes.

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy…” Philippians 1:3,4

~ Matthew