Yearning to go back!

I am missing Anna Grace an awful lot today and the thought of having to wait another 2-3 months to hold her is sometimes too much. I am so very excited that my good friend Tonya received pictures and video of her beautiful baby girl, waiting in Nanning. She, along with another friend who has that adorable little guy I have mentioned about being in love with, are waiting for their LOA and TA. It's gotta come any day now, and their anxiety is seeping into my heart. I am living each moment vicariously through them.

I also have several friends either in China now or just leaving within the next few days and it is really making me yearn to return. Now that I know what to expect, I will relish every second we are there.

I spent about an hour today reliving our trip to China last year. It is still so fresh in my mind. I remember being homesick and missing our newborn baby, AJ. I remember being tired of Chinese food. I remember missing ice desperately. I remember being sick. I remember the squat potties. I remember how hot it was when all that we packed was mostly winter clothes. But, what I mostly remember is what an amazing, magical country it was. How beautiful the mountains were. The awesomeness of standing on the Great Wall knowing and feeling the history behind it. I remember the warmth of the people welcoming us everywhere we went. I remember the difference in cultures, yet being so humbled by their customs and traditions. I remember the importance of family to those that I had an opportunity to speak with. I remember feeling the pride in their heritage, yet being accepted for taking one of their own back to our home with us. I remember thinking while we were there that it was all so surreal, a dream that I didn't want to wake from. I remember what hardworking people the Chinese are. I remember worshipping with them in a Cantonese Catholic mass on Palm Sunday and just having tears streaming down my face. And of course, I remember holding my precious little Emperor for the first time and thinking what an awesome God we serve. We travel half way around the world for someone to hand you the most delicate creation that God has made, a baby, and hear the words, "this is your son". I cannot wait to go back to China, not only to bring home our beautiful daughter, but because I really feel like a part of me is there.

I hope and pray that in future years, we can travel back someday with Kai and Anna Grace to this beautiful country, the land of their birth. I pray that they feel the same passion and love that seems to be calling me back to it. I am filled with honor in knowing that I have been blessed with not one, but two beautiful Chinese children, and I am forever thankful to The People's Republic of China for opening up their arms and letting us be a part of them forever.