Our second day with Finley

Today was a good day. We woke around 7AM and Finley quietly got dressed. We met our friends in the restaurant. They seemed to have their hands full but all looked happy and tired.

We found our table and gave Finley fried rice and some noodles. She knew immediately what to do. Given a choice between chopsticks and a spoon, she chose a spoon. Finley has a big appetite and ate her whole plate. It was amazing watching her eat. She didn't seem to have any issues even with her mouth. She loved drinking apple juice. She has no issues using a cup at all. Breakfast was good.

We then met Bill, our local rep in our hotel room where he gave us Finley's passport and records. Then we Skyped with the kids back in Illinois. We weren't sure how it would go, but Finley seemed to really enjoy herself. Especially when she heard Wa Ai Nee, I love you. Finley got a big smile on her face. She waved and even blew a kiss to the kids. It was fun to watch.

We spent two hours back at the Welfare Center finishing up all our paperwork. Today is the day that Finley officially became an Edwards!

After returning to the hotel, we stopped at KFC for some lunch. Finley preferred rice to the French fries and chicken nuggets. She had a little lemonade, not sure she liked it. They had a little playground at KFC which she wasn't too sure about. But she saw a display of the happy meal toys: Garfield and Odie. She got animated, pointed and wanted to get inside the display for the toys. Daddy went up to the counter, and Bill asked if we could buy them. Which we did. She carried those toys around all day. And is currently sleeping with them.

The three of us had a nice walk back to the hotel jumping and laughing.

It was a little after two. When we got back to the hotel she changed. She started crying when we tried putting on a baby Einstein movie. After several attempts to calm her, we laid her in her crib and she went quickly to sleep. She had had a long day and was exhausted. We all were!

When we all woke from our naps, we went out to walk around the city. It is very different here! Everything looks, feels, and smells different. It is very hard being so far from home! Back to the hotel for dinner. This time it was spaghetti which she seemed to like. The hotel has a small indoor play area so we went there next. She had a ball! She was very excited about the slide although wouldn't go down without holding mommy's hand. Finally bedtime!!

David and I have been through so many emotions the last few days it's hard to write them all down. We have been excited, nervous, anxious, happy, sad, homesick, overwhelmed, and a general feeling of being out of place. It will be good to get home! We really miss Marissa, Mason, and Nicolas!!

Time to go to bed. Post more later. Thank to everyone who is praying for us and keeping us in your thoughts!

Hong Kong in a day

We spent Saturday in Hong Kong. We had a great breakfast at the hotel and while we sat waiting for our CCAI rep in the lobby a strange man came up to us asking if we were with CCAI. It was James, part of the other couple we would be travel with to Guiyang. He, his wife Joselyn, Nikki and I quickly got to know each other and would be spending a lot of time together.

Matthew, our CCAI rep picked us up and took us on a whirl wind tour of Hong Kong. We started with a 20 minute boat ride around one of the many harbors to see the floating restaurant. Next Matthew took us to Stanley Harbor a popular market and tourist destination. We saw and heard several different languages. Nikki and I took a nice, and humid, walk to a small 200 year old temple.

Matthew then took us to the Aberdeen jewelry factory where we watched craftsman create beautiful pieces of jade and diamond. In the showroom, Nikki and Joselyn oddly enough picked the exact same diamond and jade pendant to commemorate our trip to China (and a belated Mother's Day gift).

We then attempted to drive to the top of Victoria peak. The fog was too thick that visibility wasn't possible from the top, so we only made it half way up and stopped for a photo of the city below.

We then went deep into the heart of Hong Kong for Dim Sung lunch. Thankfully Matthew ordered everything for us. We all tried new things, including some desserts like sesame soup, red bean soup, almond soup and some mango pudding.

After that Matthew took us on a walking tour deep into the city and steered us towards a ferry before wishing us well and leaving the four of us to tour for the rest of the afternoon on our own. We found our way to the ferry, somehow made change to get our ferry tokens and headed across the harbor from Hong Kong island to the Central district. We spent a long time at a large very nice indoor mall enjoying the air conditioning, while James found a Chinese themed cover for his iPhone at the largest apple store in Asia.

We had been encouraged to find a very long outdoor escalator to go to the top of central district to go to SOHO for dinner. Although none of us were hungry we made the journey anyway. The most fun was just soaking in the people and buildings. So different. So busy. So many people. SOHO was filled with some VERY nice looking restaurants including a lovely little Italian place called, Nico's. Not wanting food, we headed back down the hill on foot (the escalator only goes up). We ended up going through narrow streets and eventually an outdoor vegetable market. The sights and smells were interesting.

We made it back to the ferry, crossed back to Hong Kong island and grabbed a taxi back to our hotel. The four of us had a wonderful day filled with great conversation. Sharing each others adoption stories. James and Joselyn had been waiting for over 6 years for their match, and in December were matched with twin 2 year old boys. Totally exhausted, Nikki and I had a quick bite to eat and then crashed at 8:30. Our last day and last night before we meet Finley and everything changes. With tired bodies, and anxious hearts and minds we went to sleep knowing tomorrow would be one of the most exciting days of our lives.

We made it!

Nikki and I made it safely to Hong Kong. The flight went smoothly and we both spent our time watching movies or reading. Sleeping was difficult. I don't think either of us got much rest.

We arrived right on time. I think we both experienced some culture shock just taking in all the new sights and sounds.

We found our bags and made it through customs with zero issues. Our rep, Joanna, was there as we came out of the baggage claim with a sign saying CCAI (our agencies name). We had a lovely drive to our hotel. It is a beautiful area. There are green covered mountains all around and even a DisneyLand Theme park.

Our hotel is nice. We had a quick bite to eat at the hotel restaurant and went to bed. I was fun watching all the families and children. I couldn't help but start imagining us in 1 more day with Finley sitting having dinner just like everyone else.

Today we will have a city tour for about 6 hours. Then some free time. We'll update tomorrow.

Here we go.

With less than 20 hours to go, I wanted to give one last sound off. We are packed and ready to go. In less than 5 days we will have pictures of the 6th Edwards family member.

Thanks to all our wonderful friends and family. The past 2 weeks have shown us that we can do this with full knowledge that the body of Christ is indeed present in our lives and we can trust it will hold I'd through this new phase in our life.

God bless all.

Adventure, here we come!

But, but, but what about...?

Reading Radical and talking that September evening was just the beginning.  It was now time to put into action what had been placed on our hearts.  So many questions ran through our minds, "But, are we crazy?", "But, we already have 3 kids, won't adoption rob them of our time and attention?"  "But, how do we really know God is leading us?  Shouldn't we wait for a clear sign that this is the right thing for us to do?"  Not having talked to every adoptive parent who has walked this Earth I can't say for sure, BUT I'm pretty certain that almost all potential adoptive parents have had these kinds of thoughts running through their mind.  Let me walk you though these questions one by one.

 "Am I crazy?", absolutely. 

"We already have 3 kids, won't adoption rob them of our time and attention?", absolutely.  I rob my children every day of my time and attention.  I'm sure every parent does.  But I would challenge whether "rob" is correct term to use.  How does loving and attending to a child constitute "robbing" another child of time and attention?  A parent's job is always to balance the needs of their children with the time they've been given in each 24 hour day.  Robbing suggests taking something away from someone that was rightfully theirs.  Nikki and I won't be taking away love for our children by adoption, we will be giving the love that is RIGHTFULY due to all our children, including Finley. 

"How do we really know God is leading us?", Easy.  Is Adoption something that God has historically and repeatedly called on faithful Christians to do?  Christ himself was adopted by Joseph.  We are all adopted sons and daughters of God.  God has always been in the adotion business, in both ACTION and WORD since the creation of man.  So did Nikki and I need a clear sign from God?  No.  Did we get one?  Absolutely.  Whether from God's Word explicitly (I was divinely provided James 1:27 on the first night this question arose), from our September evening encounter, or from literally dozens of "affrimations" or "coincidences" from that day forward God gave us all the assurance we needed to know to keep walking on Finley's Journey.

I know this all sounds very philosophical. BUT, in reality, none of this thought process actually took place during this journey.  It is only now thinking back that it is clear to me how silly these objections really are.  The REALITY is that after that evening in September, my mind and body went into cruise control.  Most questions and doubt quickly faded away.  This is a big deal, because I have to be honest, I am a worrier.  I am an obsessive worrier.  Anxiety and worry are probably my greatest vices, so when  NONE of these questions had any lasting impact on me and our decision to adopt, that in and of itself is the only answer I really needed to hear.  It was go time!

The Journey Begins

So I thought I would start at the beginning.  By now the actual date has been forgotten, but Nikki and  I will both attest that is happened in early September 2011.  I read this book, very much against my will and with great pain.

By chapter 6 I had written all over the pages of this book arguing and criticizing the premise and conclusions of the author David Platt.  But then on a Thursday evening sitting on the couch next to Nikki I reached page 139 and read this.

When I read the last paragraph, "...It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms.  But once you do, everything changes." it was as if I had been transported off my couch, out of my home and across the ocean to that orphange in Kazakhstan.  What the author saw, I saw.  The deep emotions the author felt, I felt.  The conclusion he reached, I reached too.  So with this stirring in my soul, I turned and asked Nikki, "Could you ever picture yourself adopting a child internationally?"

With that question the Holy Spirit took hold of Nikki and I and Finley's Journey officially began.

First time post

As Nikki and I get closer to our travel date we will be catching everyone up on our adoption story over the past 18 months. But for right now I say welcome to our story and feel free to check back often as we will be updating Finley's Journey often.