What an emotional rollar coaster today has been. Wow, I never thought recieved our TA would be quite so stressful and emotional! As of this morning, I had emailed our family coordinator and told her that I realized that May 3rd was not an option. We were told that if we had any hope for May 3rd, then we HAD to get our TA today and everything had to go perfectly. But, we also realized that we would be pushing things on our own to get it and that the cost of tickets with that short of notice would be impossible. So, it was not even a thought anymore. We had worked out all the details to travel May 16th (we assumed that would be the timeframe for this group of TA's). THis morning I emailed all of the teachers (over 20!) and told them that we would be tentatively traveling May 16th - May 30th.
Well.. fast forward to around 11:25 this morning. I recieved a call from Betty who teased me relentlessly, sharing about her weekend and the weather and then very quietly said she had recieved some mail. She cracks me up! Anyways, the first thing she said is "so.. are we trying to get the May 3rd date". I figured there was no option, but we decided that we would have the travel agency give us the price of both flights. Then I prayed. I prayed a prayer of thanksgiving. God has been so faithful. Then I released it into His hands, whatever date He wanted us to go, we would go. I wouldn't try to figure out ways to get us there on the the May 3rd group. If we waited, even until June, that was fine with me. I was totally content and completely anticipating May 16th. Not a hope for May 3rd (at least in my mind). Well... I guess God may have some other plans.
Please pray that the CA will be scheduled for May 16th. It is such a short notice, they are not sure we will get it, but we are praying for that date. If we get it, then we will be able to go with the May 3rd group. This is important right now. The tickets for the May 16th group are $500 more per person! That adds up when you have 7 people traveling.
Why do we have to go May 2nd? Well, there are no flights available on the May 3rd, only May 2nd. So, we will have to be in China a day longer then everyone else. It will make for a long trip, but I guess we do what God lays in front of us.
The emotional rollar coaster was the high of recieving the TA and hearing that May 3rd was a possibility. The extreme and very, very quick low was hearing the cost of each ticket. Then further low of hearing the cost of the May 16th travel time. Then realizing that we really needed to reconsider taking the kids and then sharing that news with the kids.
The high... after sharing the news and allowing the responses, they all began figuring out ways to make it possible, but the most important and best high was the fact that we began to look at Ri in a whole new way. We began to be burdened for him and for bonding with him... not for the China trip, but for our little boy. The kids began to feel the pain of not being there when Ri joined our family. THey ached at the thought. They didn't care about anything else. They wanted to be with him. It opened the door for some incredible discussion about what Ri needs and about how we need to be.
The word of God says that trials bring you closer to Him. They are to make us more like Christ. Trials are a true gift, hard... but a gift from God. And so.. today I rejoice in experiencing God in a very powerful way. I rejoice in His work and who He is. I was reminded by a dear friend that God has a plan for Ri. She reminded me of God's provision when we prayed for wisdom whether to adopt him or not and God provided a pediatric cardiologist who reads Chinese! What a precious reminder that was. God has a plan for this little guy. I can not wait to see it come to pass.
And so.. we hope to be traveling in just 9 days. Wow.. I have A LOT of work to do! Stay tuned and see what God's plan is. We will know on Wednesday.
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