A "New Day" in China

I am typing this blog from the legendary New Day Foster Home, where Libi spent the last 15 months of her life. As we told Karen (the New Day Director), "we all in Bloomington feel as though you, the staff and kids here are movie stars." However, unlike movie stars, they are more beautiful in person than they are on the web site.

We had to get up early, as you could tell from the post about Libi's cold, and take the van to the airport. When we arrived at the airport, it seemed as though it was going to be another one of those John Candy and Steve Martin travel days. However, by the time we found the New Day driver in the Beijing airport (7 hours later), we finally got a heavenly perspective and laughed. Anyway, Libi coughed her little "5 pack a day lady" cough most of the way to Beijing. She was even more of an attention getter than usual. No seizures however. After getting the bags to the van and passing a 6'10 Chinese girl, (Jacob was impressed) we made the 75 minute trek to NDC in rural Beijing.

I never pictured how far out this place is. It put so much perspective on Libi's treks to the hospital and how difficult that must have been. Anyway, it is a beautiful place in the country. It is a Business (for helping Chinese nationals have a fair place to learn skills and make a living), a Language school, (to help students and young adults perfect conversational English), and a foster home. Many of you have seen pictures of the foster home on the web site, but they don't do it justice. It is a very pleasant place for the kids, with great rehab facilities, a playground and classrooms. We were grateful to God for this place, the care Libi received, the sponsors that contributed to her care, and mostly the nanny that cared for her daily. Julia is a sweet lady, who clearly loves this precious child. As we have experienced ourselves, our hearts ache for her. Libi did get to spend some time with her, and we took some great pictures of Libi with Julia.

Waking up this morning, we questioned whether it was the right decision to come to New Day at the end of the trip. We quickly rebutted that God was sovereign and let it go. After the brief time with Libi's nanny, Karen brought us to the nurses office, where there happened to be the nurse, the resident doctor, and a visiting doctor from Mercer School of Medicine. So, that cold that you all were praying for today, was treated by not 1, but three medical providers in the most rural part of Beijing. How's that for a Great Provider. They even had some antibiotic and cold medicine to give to her. Praise the Lord. Anytime we begin to look at scheduling conflicts or adverse conditions, we need more of that Sovereign God perspective, amen?

Now the hard part... you know those movie stars I mentioned earlier. Turns out they are just as needy as those in Hollywood. Amy and I went in the toddler playroom after dinner and we were attacked. Let me preface this with a description of what New Day Foster home is - It is a fantastic place, where kids are loved and most importantly saved from the medical conditions that plaque their lives. It is an intense treatment foster home, meaning the really sick go there to get out of the grave and off the gurney. On top of all that, they have nannies, interns and staff that love them dearly. However, the reality of what we saw is this is only temporary. What these kids want is a ma ma and a ba ba. Those kids could not get close enough to you. They would fight over each other to have the prime spot in our laps. They are truly remarkable kids, and every one of them, with their medical baggage and all, would be a tremendous gift to anyone of us. (We have some stories for some of you that have favorites there, so please be patient and we will get some pictures and descriptions of their personalities.)

Friends, let's all get on the bus together. There are kids here that want a family. I know that blogs, stories, pictures and even video do not touch the reality of what we experienced tonight. We can only pass along the experience and hope that the Lord will take it a step further and personalize it for each one of you. Many of you have experienced it and have commented that the feeling can even be addictive. Wow, what a great drug to be hooked on.

We have said many times, and will continue to repeat it: "We could not have made it through any of this without the army of prayer in front and behind us." Almost every night we are overwhelmed to tears by your prayers, scriptures and encouragement left for us on the blog. Thank you each one, and praise you Father for your showering abundant love on us.

We will be arriving in Chicago tomorrow night, and all who are crazy enough to make the drive up there to she Libi place her feet on US soil as an American Citizen are absolutely welcome. Libi has had a traumatic few weeks, and though we would love all of you to experience her silky smooth skin and kissable cheeks first hand, we will limit passing her around to just her brothers and grandparents. Also, when we arrive home we will take the weekend (thru Monday) to get Libi comfortable with the house, her brothers, and sleeping in the Western Hemisphere, by leaving the phone off the hook and the doorbell unattended. I hope that you all understand our desire to see Libi bond and feel safe, before we throw too many people in front of her. We will be having an open house for everyone to see her on June 8th at the Hampton Inn in Bloomington. So, this is it for our in country posts. We love you and cannot thank you enough...