Our Trip Home

It has been awhile since my last post.  A couple of weeks at least.  We've only been home for about 14 days and my last post was from Hong Kong.  At that point, I was still pretty worried (let's face it I was a wreck) that we would never make it home.

I know, a bit irrational... 

But I really was terrified of either being stuck in Asia for the rest of my life or getting on the airplane and crashing into the Pacific somewhere.  I brought my young 10 yr old son across the world and I was letting him down. To say I was believing in the lies of satan would be putting it mildly. There were just no other options in my mind at that point.  

Also and very weirdly, the Bible app I had on my phone would not work that last week over there.  I was able to access facebook, email, my blog, and every other app on my phone.  But not that one.  Believe me, I tried!  It wasn't until about 4:30 in the morning when I woke up unable to sleep before our flight out of Hong Kong, that I tried it once again and IT WORKED!!  What an amazing thrill and praise God!!  Truly.  But I will get to the rest of that in a minute. 

Not only was I freaking out concerned about the flights, but I was also worried that something would be wrong with the tickets and we wouldn't even get out of HK.  You see, when you book tickets for your newly adopted child leaving China, you have to make sure to book the ticket with the child's Chinese name.  You also have to make sure the birthdate is right.  If there is a mistake and the name on the ticket does not match the name on the passport, it would be a big problem.  Also, you cannot fly back to the US through countries like Canada or Taiwan because of certain regulations in the child's Chinese visa.  Anyway, I knew all this but since our flights all had to be re-booked because United would not refund or give us credit for the old flights, I was very concerned about a mistake on the ticket.  

I had tried to explain all this to my hubby who was frantically trying to find us flights out of China while at the same time trying to console my very hysterical self.  Lol  We went over it several times, and I even had him call Delta again the day after we had received confirmation of our new flights with them, because the names were not in the right order in the confirmation email.  He spent another couple hours on the phone and another $100 to fix the names.  Liu Yun Fen reads very differently than Fen Liu Yun, especially if you are American and you have no idea how different Chinese names are read/spelled and written.  Needless to say, I was not positive that it all was done right at 4:30 in the morning in that hotel room in Hong Kong.  

I woke up and checked my Bible app once again knowing it hadn't been working but praying that God would speak to my heart and give me some peace about it all.  This was not the first time I had prayed for this.  I had been praying for peace and for God remove my fears long before we had the trouble with our visas.  I was coping, but I had started living in fear. I don't know exactly when it started, but most likely it was during our 2 flights in China.  One from Nanning to Changsha and the other from Changsha to Guangzhou.  Both flights were a bit rough and included several hours waiting in a foreign airport.   I don't know if I had some kind of premonition of what was to come or if the fear itself contributed in some way to what happened.  I really don't think that, but I just don't know.  All these things played a part in my mind and spirit that last week and a half in China.  I was done and ready to come home days before we had our trouble with the visas.  So when that happened, I pretty much fell apart.  

It. Was. Not. Pretty.

Just ask Daniel.  Lol  I am so thankful that I had my sweet son there with me.  He helped remind me that I needed to be strong for my children.  I have a new respect for this precious child of mine.  He is a spoiled American boy in many ways, but he is also a beautiful young man with an amazing heart.  I know God has planted seeds that I don't even realize into his heart. I can't wait to see the results of what this experience will mean to his life. He loves both Ruby and Ai Ai so much, and his heart is forever changed!

Anyway, somehow I ended up at Hebrews 11.  I was just so thrilled to be reading God's word and I knew there was something for me there.  At the top it read, "Great Examples of Faith".   Hmmm...

Well, the definition of faith there is well known.  That made me feel good and gave me hope for sure!  But that wasn't all.

It goes on to talk about how through their faith the people in days of old earned a good reputation.  By faith, Abel's offering gave evidence of his righteousness over Cain.  It is impossible to please  God except by faith.  It is by faith that Noah built the ark and comdemned the rest of the world.  By faith that Abraham obeyed God.  By faith that Moses' parents hid him when he was born and by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as if  it was dry land.  On and on it goes.  Well, right away I knew what the message was for me.  Have some faith Kirsten!   Geezo!!

Well, that gave me so much encouragement. I love it when God speaks to me like that.  I had no fear anymore!  I wasn't afraid at all and I had peace!  Well, it was a good thing He prepared me because once we got to the check in counter at the Delta desk at the Hong Kong airport and they had checked in our bags, they informed me that the girls' names (their last name) was wrong!!!   I got butterflies and almost started to freak out.  But then I just had this peace and I told God, I have FAITH!  I know you have this God!  And He did!  We were blessed with very nice Delta employees helping us and who were willing to look at our old confirmation emails and who didn't question the children we had.  This young man hand wrote the girls' names correctly on the tickets and went and had them somehow authenticated I guess (for lack of a better word) and after probably 45 min we were able to go on our way.  We made it through security and to our gate in just the right amount of time.  Thank you God!  And I even got on the plane without freaking out being afraid at all.  I didn't even remember to take my pill to help with the flight.  Ha ha

God is so GOOD!!!  And I am very thankful we are home!  There is alot more to our story and I will try to catch you all up on it as I can.  For now, here are a few pics of our journey home.  

The girls enjoying noodles on their last night in Hong Kong.

At the airport waiting to board our flight from HK to Tokyo

Finally on board.  Daniel enjoying his personal TV with movies.

Emilee Ai and Ruby Mei.  Ai held the ear phones up to her ears for the longest time watching The Lion King.

On our big flight from Tokyo to Seattle.  

And finally in Seattle!!!  My sweet niece came and met us there with her precious kids!!  Thanks Owen, Addy, Leiya and Jenna for hanging at the airport with us!!  You made our first stop back in the USA even more special!  :)