Dates & Sorrow

Kate called today with our dates.

Our GOTCHA date is January 4th.

January 4 they will place her in our arms.

January 4 we become a forever family.

January 4 will change our lives forever.

January 4 is the date we have been waiting for, for a LONG time.

We will most likely leave December 31, get there January 1 and poke around Beijing for about 2 or 3 days, seeing as how the chances of getting John back on a plane to China are virtually nonexsistent. He says if we ever have money and are able to adopt again, we are going with a country that delivers.

No joke. He really said that.

He is not a traveler.

Then we travel to Nanning.

And the history starts.

Then this afternoon, my husband called me. I was at Borders. This in it of itself is not significant. I was picking up a new pair of reading glasses, as I lost my old ones. I happen to walk by the clearance rack and was looking at kid's books. Cute kids books; the kind of books one reads to their 3 year old; when my phone rang. It was my husband. And he gave me news that instantly broke my heart. And made life real.

And it became one of those moments that you remember forever where you were when you heard the news.

Like when my brother in law died.

And 9/11.

Our old church's pastor's wife died.

She died.

She was 45.

Her youngest baby is 7.

And I cried.

So, if you could please pray for those left behind. Pray for our pastor, her husband. Their 5 children. There is just so much there. I can't even begin.

The day we got our dates, and I knew the date I would have her in my arms, is the same day her children became motherless. Unexpectedly. To us.

And somehow, maybe because of it, they have now become precious to me.

And we grieve.