One day...............

I feel like I could sit here and write all day about the amazing things Jackzhen does! He is such an inspiration to me.  In three short years on this earth, he has endured so much and yet he is still so brave, strong, and confident! There are many times during the day that I allow myself to day dream about where he has been for the past three years, and where I have been for that matter! I play the "what if" game often!!! What if we would have looked into international adoption sooner, what if I wouldn't have quenched the spirit in 2010, what if he could have been with us sooner? But I have to quickly remind myself, it wasn't about my timing, it was about the Lord's! People often say that everything happens for a reason, but there is truth behind that phrase! There is a great reason that Jackzhen became an Aldrich in April of 2012 and I trust that God will wipe away all the tears from our eyes and use this situation, and our little Jackzhen, for his glory! I trust that one day soon he will not grab the hand of a stranger as comfortably as he grabs mine, he won't try to kiss the older grandma-like ladies out in public, he won't stomp his feet and hold back tears when he gets hurt, one day he will stand firm on the word of God and believe the verse that tells him that he IS fearfully and wonderfully made!

Today we used some of our free time to capture some pictures of our little guy here in China! We found him the cutest traditional Chinese outfit and we brought him black dress shoes that went with it perfectly! I have to take a turkey trail and tell you about these shoes for a second!!! When I put them on his little feet this morning, he stared at them long and hard! Then, he stood up and started dancing! We thought it was cute but that was not the end of the shoes in Jackzhen's world! When we got in the van with our guide Cordelia, the first thing Jackzhen told her was "Look at my shoes, they are so pretty!" Those second hand, black, dress shoes, made a bigger impact then I even imagined they would!

Okay off of the turkey trail... :)

We are packing up and getting ready for the long trip home, so it was a nice break to our afternoon! Guangzhou is an AWESOME place for pictures! Every day we take walks through the courtyards and there are at least 2-3 photographers that are photographing a bride and groom! It is just simply gorgeous here.  In case any adoptive families are following our blog, you can take this as my plug to say STAY ON THE ISLAND! It is hard to know where is best if you haven't been here, but this is simply the best decision we made! Okay, on to the pictures.......................

I can't tell you how much it warms my heart to see him smile! There were so many pictures that were sent to us during our process, where he has a glazed look in his eyes.  Without being there in person it was hard to decipher if it was how he was, or if there was a story being told.... I think it was most certainly a story, of sadness, discontentment, confusion, because baby - he doesn't look like that anymore!!!  Well off to bed I go, only 35 more hours until we are on a plane bound for AMERICA, the land that I love <3