Goodbye and Hello...

October 7, 2012

Good Morning Dear Ones,

   Once again I sit in an airport the cross roads of good bye and hello, the waiting, transition, and movement of life pulsing all around me.  There is laughter, chatter, overhead announcements in multiple languages telling people where to hurry and scurry, there are tears of joy and tears of sorrow, people waiting, rushing, checking in, checking out, looking, searching, anticipating, determined, exhausted, energetic, and all here massed together to cross paths at such a time as this, a picture of life's journey.  Here I sit, Starbucks in hand (thinking of y'all!).  I have spent the past week with Mommy and Daddy who came a couple days early to visit before they pick up new little sister Kaitryn Jing Ni in Hefei tomorrow.  We have just said goodbye and I am trying to focus on the task at hand to keep the tears at bay.  We have had a wonderful time just being together, doing the things that I do here.  They have followed me around at both work and play getting a taste of my China world and even greater insight into the culture and background of my two precious little sisters.  I have been so blessed to share this time with them.  Just a few minutes ago here in Beijing we have parted ways and now I wait for more goodbyes and for more hellos.  In about an hour my sweet friend Abby will arrive from Luoyang with a very precious cargo.  She is leaving for her return trip home to the States and is bringing me a baby!  Yes, that really is how it works here transitions often happen and our omniscient Heavenly Father works out the master plan with such detail that the interceptions at an airport are always Providential!  Many of you have already heard bits and pieces of my latest proposed adventure and now the time to embark upon it has arrived.  Little Jeremiah and I will fly to Bangalore India tomorrow in order to take him for cardiac surgery.  He is 19 months old and I would covet your prayers as he undergoes treatment and we will both be in unfamiliar territory having neither one ever traveled to India!  I am grateful that I am very familiar with this precious little boy as I have been caring for him since he was only a few days old.  Momma loves the fact that he runs to hide behind my legs when he sees a stranger and peeks out from my shoulder to get a better look at those around him if he is unsure of them, flashing the brightest white of a smile when he does.  At this time we are projected to be there six to eight weeks, please pray for his recovery time and the skill and care of the surgeons who will be looking after him.  Pray that I will have wisdom and a clear mind as I sit at his bedside to provide the "Mommy" care he needs.  Pray for our hearts both physical and emotional.  I am so grateful for each of you and for those of you who have already shared so much information with me along with contacts and sharing friends or friends and family both physical and spiritual- I appreciate the care you have already given me as I enter a strange and new chapter of my journey.  I will do my best to keep you posted and updated in the weeks to come.

Covered in His Unending Grace,

Mariah and Jeremiah too