Day 3 Encouraged

We got a sense of the power and control emperors have had by seeing the grandness of three famous Beijing landmarks.  First, we toured the Summer Palace.  After lunch we walked through Tiananmen Square. We were to tour The Forbidden City, but when we arrived, we found out that the ticket booth had just closed, so we were unable to buy tickets and go inside.  Our guide felt so bad, but honestly, our whole group was really tired and we didn't mind missing this tour.  We had walked and walked and none of of had had much sleep. The best part of the day was getting to know the other families in thr group. Their journeys of faith and trust in God were encouraging. Some couples have waited more than a decade for the desire to have a child to be fulfilled.  To share in their excitement was special for me.  I do not understand the pain of infertility, but I do understand the desire to love and care for a child.  As I looked into these soon- to-be-mother's eyes, I only imagined the years of heartache and wrestling with God.  I didn't see or hear bitterness in them, but a gentleness and a steadfast trust that God is in control, even if his timeline did not match theirs.

Summer Palace

Russ and Karrah at the Summer Palace

Walkway where Emperor could "view" the four seasons
at the same time through these paintings.

"Four Seasons" walkway

Marble "Boat" used for Emperor's parties

Kaden was popular with the young Chinese ladies.

Fun toy we bought off a street vendor.

Lunch in Beijing with our group.

Tiananmen Square

Forbidden City in the distance.

Forbidden City

As close as we got into the Forbidden City.

Outside the Forbidden City.  This wall would be very difficult to scale.

One of the many, many buildings in Beijing.

Dinner menu in Beijing.  Looks like a phone
book from a small town in Kansas.

Day 2 Keep Us Moving Until We Drop

The idea is to get us out in the daylight and to keep us awake so our bodies will adjust to a 13 hour time difference, so we had a full schedule.  Our hotel's continental breakfast was the best and healthiest I have ever seen.  Real eggs, not reconstituted powdered eggs like in the US, fruit, veggies, oatmeal, cereal, breads, meats, noodles, rice and salads were available.  It was more like a brunch. Our two oldest kids are pretty adventurous eaters and are willing to try about anything.  Even though it's been recommended that "you should identify your food, before you eat it" we haven't take this advice.  We went to the Great Wall, a large jade store, the Beijing Olympic Park (built for the 2008 Olympics), and a tea room/shop called Dr. Tea.  The weather was beautiful.  It was sunny with a cool breeze.  Here are a some pictures to tell about our day.

First experience eating a Chinese breakfast.  It
was more like dinner to us.

Entry of Great Wall.

A lookout at the Great Wall.

Kiana

Kaden. Karson, and Karrah climbing up Great Wall.

Karson taking a break.

This jade ship took 3-4 years to carve from jade.  The chain attached to the
boat was carved from one piece of jade!

Many couples place these locks along the Great Wall to
secure their love for each other.

Kaden and Kiana trying a Tang-hulur.  We have
wanted to try one of these for more than 10 yrs.
since we read the book, "Little Pear" when Kaden was
in Kindergarten.

Karrah flying a kite at the Olympic Plaza.

Kaden, Kiana, Karson, and Karrah in front of the Bird's Nest arena
used in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Traffic in Beijing

Trying tea at Dr. Tea's Teahouse

Day 1 Travel Day

This was a very long day and I am so proud of our kids.  They were amazing travelers and I didn't hear one single complaint from any of them!  Karrah was my seat buddy and we had a fun time together sandwiched between two Asian women who were so sweet and kind.  I am amazed and in awe that an airplane as big as a 747-400 can be in the air for 13 and a half hours without needing to stop for fuel.  Wow!  When we reached Beijing airport we were directed to go to through Customs for "Foreigners."  It feels a little humbling to be called that, even though we are-"Foreigners."  Until we reached Customs, the airport seemed eerily empty.  The line for Customs was a jam packed mess of about 500-600 people all trying to get up to four check point windows.  The "line" wasn't moving.  I was trying to not get discouraged, but we were all extremely tired because we had had little sleep the night before we left and not much on our flight.  Of course we couldn't understand any of the signage and we weren't exactly sure we were in the right place other than the fact that it seemed everyone in the airport was in this same location!  Once we reached the check-in window, we were passed through very quickly without question.  We picked up our bags and headed out to find our guide.  I had visualized this moment of making it to China, and once I saw the smiling young woman holding the America World Adoption sign, I about broke down crying.  All of the emotions and stress of preparing, packing, and traveling let down.  I was rejoicing that we made it.  Thank you Lord for all your provisions, help, and going before us.  I could and can feel us bathed in prayer.  Thank you all at home for remembering us.

Naming Our Son

"Daniel" was a name given to our son by either America World, or the Chinese Social Services for his privacy.  Those of you who know us well, know that all children in the Campbell family have a name that begins with "K."  We never set out to do this-it just happened along the way.  Kaden was born and when we became pregnant with our 2nd we thought we were having a girl  (even though we didn't know for sure).  We liked the way Kaden and Kiana sounded together. I don't even remember having a boy name picked out, although I'm sure we did.  When we were pregnant with our 3rd we used "K" names to help make the process easier.  Choosing names when one spouse is a teacher is always difficult.  A lot of the names I liked we couldn't use because they reminded Russ of a student, usually a bad behaving one!  Karson was born.  When our 4th came along, we were stuck.  We had to choose a "K" name or else she would feel left out.  No questions were asked when we chose "Daniel." He would have a "K" name also, but since we are adopting him and he is 7 years old, we wanted to keep part of his given name.  We chose "Kai" to be his first name and will keep his given first name as his middle name.  Very soon, Kai Fu Zhong Campbell will be joining the Campbell K-Kids.

Unbeknownst to us, Kai is a special name because he is from Kaili City.  I had seen that he was from this city, but thought it pronounced "Kay-lee"so I didn't make the connection.  Kai's foster-mom pointed this out to me and told me that the two are pronounced the same-with a long i.  I love this because Kaili City has been his home for 7 years, and I don't want him or us to forget his country.

Kai means "firmly rooted."  I pray that Kai will be firmly rooted in Christ someday.  "He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper." Psalm 1:3

One Year to the Day

Once we applied with America World (AWAA), we were given access to their Waiting Child page.  This online page has photos and a short description of children who haven't been matched yet with families.  On March 11, 2014, while I was looking through the photos, I was drawn to 3 kiddos.  I wrote their "names" in my prayer journal and began praying that they would be matched with a family soon. One of those kids was "Daniel!"  Two of them were matched within a couple of weeks and Daniel was left,  I didn't think about pursuing Daniel too much because we were so early in the process and I didn't know how any of this adoption-thing worked.  We will leave the U.S. on 3-11-15 to go get Daniel!  A year to the day that I began praying for our son.  God is so good!  

Why Adopt?

Some people may wonder, 'Why are the Campbell's adopting? They already have four kids and their life is so full and a little crazy at times too!'  I can't remember the exact circumstances, but when Russ and I were first married, before we even started thinking about having kids,  the desire/burden to adopt began.  That was 20 years ago and this "call" to adopt only grew.  Of course there were many years that this call was dormant...while we had babies around and then the struggle of learning differences with a couple of our kids.  These years stretched us greatly, but that story is for a different blog (if I ever write that one). I would share this call, or burden with Russ from time to time, but God hadn't put this same call on him, so I waited.  Eventually, I just prayed that if God wanted us to adopt then He would put the burden on Russ as well.  I didn't want to talk Russ into this.  Fall of 2013 we were driving home from some activity and Russ asked, "Do you still think about adoption?"  My heart leapt.  "Yes, all the time..."  That was the beginning of a discussion that lasted through the holidays, and on March 6, 2014 we applied with America World Adoption Association.