Wednesday,
January 3, 2007
“In you, O LORD, do I take refuge, let me
never be put to shame! In your righteousness deliver me and
rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me, for you are my
rock and my fortress.” Psalm 71:1-3
It is 4:33 PM; Grace arrives in exactly one hour. We have
everything set, clothes are out, toys are in place, the Cheerios
are in the bag! Soon we will have our little one, the one we
have been preparing for over a year.
GOTCHA! What a marvelous
experience, it is impossible to describe. As we walked down to
the lobby it was surreal. The last few moments of waiting were
grueling. Then I saw her! She was so much smaller than I
expected. I am totally in love! It was difficult listening to
the CCAA official talk about his paperwork while Gracie was
there with her nanny. I wanted to pluck her up right away and
run! How glorious an experience! How wondrous! How good the Lord
God Almighty is! Today we begin a new day, today nothing will
ever be the same. Never would I have ever fathomed that I could
love a child like this.
This is David:
Denise wanted to post again but I made her get so rest, I get to
watch Grace and post.
Grace was running a high temp and very congested when we got
her. Gave her some food, formula/apple juice and medication. She
looks like she’ll sleep soon. Very long day, we went to see the
terracotta warriors this morning and it did help past time (it
was extremely cold and I would not take my daughter in that
temp. plus she would not have liked it- we enjoyed it.
Let me explain what was going through my head at gotcha: we were
told o be down stairs by 530PM but could not wait any longer and
went down early. We waited with our guide and waited; the
orphanage staff got caught in traffic but made it a little past
6. That was a long wait- a year of waiting comes down to half
hour. I know our lives as a family was going to change for the
better but it was hard to be leave it wasn’t a dream. When I saw
her I wanted to hold her but know Denis needed that and would
kill me if I tried. Grace did not go easily to Denise but
neither did she put up a big fuss either. I took several
pictures and waited my turn; what seemed like a life time Denise
gave Grace to me, again another fuss but it did not last long.
Instant love, she was our daughter. It so very heard to put into
words but you know what I mean. After some photos and discussion
of what China expects from us it was over and we took Grace up
to feed her, bath her and bond. I had to run to the grocery
store to get formula and a few extra items.
Got to go get some sleep.
I want to thank every one who is fooling along and apologize for
not posting consistently; I do try my best and if you don’t see
text, check out drop shots. I try and post photos.
Thank you Joe and Jen for working so hard for us. Time is so
very short here and computer problems run amuck also.
Thank you God for blessing us with this precious little girl, I
pray for wisdom to be a very good father and a roll model for
her to follow. Grace is such a wonderful little girl and its
hard to believe that I get to be her father, thank you God!
Ask me now if adoption was worth it- it was worth so much more
to get to be parents and to be a part of this girls life for
ever. Grace will be a reflection of not just her parents,
sisters but all her brothers and sisters in Christ who play a
part in bringing her closer to God. Thank you all!!!!!!!!!! |
I introduce you to our
new member of our family- Grace Zhen Juan Phillips
Mommy posing with lady ho brought Grace into us
Daddy posing with Grace
Daddy kissing his daughter,
waited a very long time for this
Close up of Grace all cleaned up
|
