All you have to do is ask

Today was a very special day. Today we were blessed to be a part of a very important event -- Jake's baptism! This was our first visit to Patricia and Glenn's church, and watching Jake experience this most profound event -- sitting there in the front row, even! -- was so very touching for us. Every word in the sermon was meant for us, it seemed. It would appear that our travel date was perfectly orchestrated to allow us to be there, at that moment, to be a part of something so meaningful.

It has been one of our goals for several years to find a church family. Layne had set a personal goal of finding one before we left for China, and our surprise match made us believe we would be finding a church after we returned home with our little angel. But again, pose the question, pray for an answer, and it all seems to work out. Indeed, in such wonderful way: the church is full of families that look like ours! We even met a family with a child from Inner Mongolia. How amazing. Each child we saw today was part of the famous red thread, no matter what he or she looked like. Every family has been affected so profoundly by the experience of adopting from China. And we are now a part of that larger family, finally!

We are days away from travel, and our experiences today have made me so ready. In one week I will be holding our daughter. Our daughter!

Thank you, Patricia and Glenn and Ryan and Jake, for allowing us to be a part of your special day. You touched our hearts. Patricia is right -- there is a fierce and comfortable and special kind of camaraderie that develops when you are part of this greater family, the family touched by adoption (especially a waiting child adoption). There is a special understanding of the experience that doesn't even require words--Patricia seems to know from the look on my face, at each stage of the process, exactly what I'm feeling and she just doesn't need to say a word. Every other parent we met today was the exact same way. As I said, ask and you most definitely will receive -- it was exactly what we needed after the exhausting rush of paper and packing and prep.

I spent an hour and a half today re-reading a huge portion of the Jake blog. And I have to tell a funny story. I saw one of Jake's photos of him sleeping with his little blue elephant and I honestly didn't realize he was exactly the same as the one Patricia got for Jaidyn. So I wondered.... so far, all this little guy has done is light up. No sounds. So, I put fresh new batteries in and guess what.... 

I am an elephant, swinging my truck

I am an elephant, flopping my ears

my ears and nose 

and mouth and eyes

are on my head

that's no surprise.

I am your elephant!

I can hear you laughing, Patricia. I was fooled by half-dead batteries! :-)

Oh, and congratulations, Chrissy, on the birth of your twins. Best wishes to your family. Can't wait to meet the boys! Just wait til we have all of our little ones at work at once. No work will be done in either office....