Taste and See

Taste and see that the Lord is good

His love endures forever

Taste and see that the Lord is good

The Lord is good

Lyrics by Greg Bostock

When we picked up Ian from the orphanage, they handed me a bag. It was the items I had sent to Ian for his birthday through www.blessedkids.com. His blanket was still in its package, unopened, along with the other items which meant Ian never received them. I told Chris that Ian probably never even got a piece of his birthday cake, too. I was so disappointed.

Today, one of the parents in our group, Matt, celebrated his 39th Birthday. Our guide had a birthday cake delivered to his room. Matt brought us a huge piece of cake that could feed all three of us to our room. Ian was so excited that he barely let me sit down with it. As I was feeding it to him, the Lord reminded me that Ian was getting his piece of cake after all. God is so good! He makes all things right!

"Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in Him!"

Psalm 34:8 (NLT)

Shout To The Lord

My Jesus, my Saviour

Lord, there is none like you

All of my days I want to praise

The wonders of Your mighty love

lyrics by Darlene Zscheeh

Today's adventure was the Great Wall. On the way there, Chris pulled out his bag of M&Ms while Ian was looking out the window. As soon as Ian heard the crinkling of the bag, he leaped across my lap to Chris so he could have some candy. If I had any doubts that he could hear, that eliminated them.

We have been to China five times but have never been to the Great Wall. Chris thought it would be too hard to climb with Ian because it was very steep where we were climbing. I knew this would probably be the last time we would ever see the Great Wall so I really wanted to give it our best shot. Some of the steps were huge so it made it difficult to hold Ian and climb at the same time. It didn't take long to realize that Chris was right but I still wanted to push further. I was breathing so hard climbing up that we had to stop and take a rest. Soon four Chinese women probably in their eighties walked right by us without any trouble. We were so impressed that it gave us that second wind we needed to get down the steep stairs with Ian. By the time we made it back to the bottom, our legs were completely jello.

If that wasn't enough excitement for one day, our guide took us to the largest Jade Market in China. I think it was the most expensive one, too. Ian wanted to play with the jewelry but I was afraid he would break one. The Lord reminded me that I had the Chinese bracelet with the five wooden beads in my bag. The five wooden beads that represented my five children from China. When I gave it to Ian, I wanted to cry. I realized we had climbed so many great walls to bring home our children from China. Some walls felt steep and hard to climb but, with every step, God carried us because He "is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us" (Ephesians 3:20). Through it all, He has taken our breath away and left us where we can no longer stand but only lay at His feet and praise Him.

He Touched Me

He touched me, Oh He touched me

And Oh the joy that floods my soul

Something happened and now I know

He touched and made me whole

lyrics by Bill Gaither

Yesterday, we went to the Forbidden City. Ian was beaming as he walked holding each of our hands. He looked like a little snowman because we had to bundled him up. It was freezing, cloudy and windy so it was really hard to concentrate on what our guide was saying about the Forbidden City. After about ten minutes of speaking, our guide asked if we had any questions. Chris said, "Where is the hot chocolate?" We soon learned that hot chocolate was also forbidden.

The Forbidden City received its name because the common people were not allowed in the "city" where the emperor lived. I love that Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, walked among the common people. In Mark 10:13-16, people brought little children to Jesus so He might touch them. The disciples rebuked those who brought them. When Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” Then Jesus took the children up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.I am so thankful that we can still bring our children to Jesus in prayer and place them in His arms. He will touch them with His healing hands, bind up their broken hearts and give them a new song to sing (Isaiah 61:1-2).

Jesus Saves

Free at last, every debt has been repaid

Broken hearts can be remade, Jesus saves

Sing above the storms of life
Sing through the darkness night, Jesus saves
lyrics by Tim Hughes

Happy Thanksgiving! We give thanks and glory to God because Jesus saves! We now hold Ian in our arms and I know heaven is rejoicing with us along with all of you! "I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart. I will tell of all your wonders" (Psalm 91:1).Ian is doing so great! He was scared at first which is to be expected. I gave him some Cheerios and he seemed to warm up to us a bit but would not make eye contact. The guide told us that we only had five minutes before we had to leave to go to the government office to do paperwork. When we started walking out of the orphanage, Ian started crying and was really upset. You could tell that he was confused and did not know what was going on. The caretaker came over to him, dried his tears and talked to him. I wish I knew what she said because he stopped crying instantly. When we got on the bus, Chris tried to make him laugh. Chris was hysterical but Ian stayed stone faced. It reminded me of the game the kids like to play, "See if you can make me laugh", and you try to see how long you can go without laughing. One of the kids who came with their parents to China was even laughing out loud but Ian looked at Chris as if to say, "Is that all you got?"When we got back to the hotel, Ian was very quiet. He had five layers of clothes on so we tried to take some of them off to make him feel more comfortable. He is very tiny and looked a lot bigger in his photos. Now we know why. He was wearing ten pounds of clothing. By the afternoon, he was smiling and laughing with Chris. By evening, he was puckering his lips to give us kisses at dinner. God is so amazing!At bedtime, we put Ian in his crib and gave him a lamb, a gift from Chris' mom, that has buttons that make different sounds like the ocean, rain and even the sound of a heartbeat. Ian was pushing all the buttons at first then went to sleep in about five minutes. Two hours later, he woke up and started crying. I comforted him but he was really upset. I prayed and asked God to show me what to do. He reminded me that Ian likes music because he has been humming tunes all afternoon. I put him back in his crib, placed my hand on his chest and started singing, "Jesus Loves Me". Within minutes, he stopped crying and was sound asleep. Again, God is so amazing. I wonder if the tunes Ian has been humming were the songs that God sang over him in the orphanage when he was afraid so many nights. "The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing" (Zephaniah 3:17).

Meant To Be

Long Before You Drew Your First Breath

A Dream Was Coming True
God Wanted to Give A Gift To The World

So He Wrapped It Up In You

lyrics by Steven Curtis Chapman

Photo: Ian Le Bourque taken on 10/8/2010

Ian turned two years old on October 8th, 2010. I had Adele from http://www.blessedkids.com/ send a birthday cake along with a package containing a bear, blanket and pictures of our family to his orphanage in Beijing. She was also able to get updated pictures of Ian from the orphanage along with his current measurements. What an incredible gift this was since we could not be there on his birthday!

Even though he is not smiling in the photo, I have been praying for many months that the "joy of the Lord would be His strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). God has been so faithful with all my children and I know He will continue to be faithful with Ian. "Our mouths were filled with LAUGHTER, our tongues with songs of JOY." (Psalm 126:2).

Please pray for us as we travel tomorrow to China and are finally able to hold Ian in our arms. It is required that we stay for 18 days because we are adopting from Beijing so please also pray for us and our children as we are separated. My parents are wonderful so I know that my children will be in good hands but it is still VERY HARD to be separated for this long. Please also pray for my parents as they care for our children. Lastly, pray for our employees as they hold down the fort while Chris is gone.

We feel so blessed to have such incredible friends. Thank you for praying for us. Below is our itinerary and the hotels where we will be staying so that you can keep up with us while we are in China. Of course, we will also keep you posted on the blog but at least you will know where we are even if we don't.

Nov 23: Fly from Atlanta to New York (JFK) by flight DL2976 at 10:45 a.m. and arrive at 1:00 p.m. Then fly from New York to Beijing by flight CA982 at 3:50 p.m.
Nov 24: Arrive in Beijing by flight CO 982 at 6:20 p.m. Stay at Wangfujing Grand Hotel
Nov 25: GOTCHA DAY! Meet Ian in the morning. God is good! Registration in civil affair office
Nov 26: Local sightseeing: Forbidden City
Nov 27: Local sightseeing: Great Wall
Nov 28: Local sightseeing: the Summer Palace
Nov 29: get registration certificate, notarization and apply for passport
Nov 30: Local sightseeing: Beijing Zoo,
Dec 1: Local sightseeing: Hutong Tour
Dec 2: Local sightseeing: Olympic Park
Dec 3: Get passport
Dec 4: Fly from Beijing to Guangzhou by flight CA 1315 at 1:00 p.m. and arrive at 2:00 p.m. Stay at White Swan Hotel
Dec 5: Local sightseeing: Yuntai Park
Dec 6: Take visa photo and Physical check. Visit Pedestrian Shopping Street
Dec 7: Visa appointment at 9:00. Local sightseeing
Dec 8: Swearing in the ceremony at the Consulate, visit Liuhuahu park
Dec 9: Get visa
Dec 10: Fly from Guangzhou to Beijing by flight CA1310 at 8:00 a.m. and arrive at 11:00 a.m. Then fly from Beijing to New York by flight CA981 at 1:00 p.m. and arrive 30 minutes later at 1:30 p.m. (I WISH IT WAS ONLY 30 MINUTES!). Finally, we fly from New York to Atlanta by flight DL61 at 4:45 p.m. and arrive at 7:35 p.m. to be united with our children. What a wonderful day this will be!!!!

Hotel information:
Wang Fu Jing Grand Hotel in Beijing
Tel: 86-10-65221188
Fax: 86-10-65223816
57 Wangfujing Street,
Beijing, China 100006

White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou
Tel: 86-20-81886968
Fax: 86-20-81861188
Shamian Island,
Guangzhou, China 510133

Meant to Be - Steven Curtis Chapman

For You

'Cause when you are up against the wall

You know I will be here for you

When you rise and when you fall

I'll always be here for you

lyrics by Michael W. Smith, William Owsley, Wayne Kirkpatrick

Photo: My Sweet Tooth taken on 10/31/2010

After taking more medicine, several more ultrasounds and painful procedures, my new doctor told me that I was fine. I told her that I didn't feel fine but she assured me that I would feel better in time. No matter how much I wanted to believe her, I knew I was not fine. In fact, we went to Disney with my parents one week later as we had planned and I told my mom that I had destroyed my body by taking the medicine.

After returning from Disney, four days later, I started having pain and would soon learn that I was hemorrhaging. I called my mom so she could watch the kids. This time when she said that I should go to the emergency room, I didn't argue because I knew it was bad. When Chris and I got to the emergency room, he told them what was going on and they immediately took me back to have a nurse look at me. The nurse asked, "So what is going on with you?" At this point, I am in a ball because of the pain and say, "I am worried about losing so much blood." She takes a closer look at me and starts yelling for a doctor. It all seems like a whirlwind or more like a dream. I couldn't believe that I ended up in the emergency just like Chris' Mom had said and, desperately, wished that I had listened to her by having the D&C.

During the whirlwind, the nurse starts asking Chris to tell her exactly what has been going on. She wanted to know doctors, procedures, dates and medicines I had taken. Even though I was in pain, feeling like I was going to pass out, I still was going to try to answer the questions because I really did not think a guy would remember dates, procedures, etc. As I started to answer for Chris even though I could not even remember my own name much less dates, Chris interrupts me and says, "Are you going to let me handle this, Tanya?" Suddenly, I realized that I am always trying to control the situation even when I am bleeding to death. The next thing I knew, Chris is telling the nurse everything that happened over the past month with exact dates, procedures and medicine like he was doctor reading it from my chart. I was stunned because I didn't even know the exact dates because I had been to the doctor so many times. Even while I was in pain, my heart broke because of so many times that I have tried to take over instead of letting him be in charge of the situation.

In the end, it was a long night and I ended up having an emergency D&C. When I woke up, Chris was there, the man in charge, my hero. Even while trying to wake up from anesthesia, I was overwhelmed at what an incredible man God has given me. I would not have wanted to go through this journey of life with anyone but him. He is "outstanding among ten thousand" (Song of Songs 5:10) and I feel blessed to call him my husband.