A Demanding Following!

Okay, you want more, so here's a few tidbits.  We are reasonably fresh and ready to head out this morning in a few minutes.  Seeing more people who must be traveling with us at the hotel breakfast buffet.  We'll meet shortly.  We truly our having a wonderful time.  Can't wait to see more today.  So many people in the park yesterday.  We were in one of the buildings around the temple of heaven, and a little Chinese boy came right up to me looked me in the eyes and said, "Hello."  I responded with "Ni shuo yingwu ma?"  (Do you speak English)  He responded very clearly, "Yes."  I said, "Hen hao."  (very good)  We gave each other big smiles and off he went.  So fun.  All our work learning Mandarin has been worth it.

 

Here's a few shots to enjoy.  One is our hotel room . The other is just a taste of what traffic can look like here.  More later.

Land Ho!

We're here!  The trip wasn't bad.  Sat next to a nice woman headed to Australia, and once we started chatting, we didn't stop.  The next leg we had plenty of room and abundant pillows to make ourselves comfortable.  Once we went to sleep, it went quickly, and I woke up with no idea how much longer we had to go.  Asked for breakfast, and the flight attendant said to eat quickly.  Turns out the landing gear was already down.  That's the way I like to travel!  Waited four hours in Guangzhou, then a 2.5 hour flight to Beijing.  Feeling good enough to try out the gym.  Walked down the street to buy water at 7/11 and survived crossing the street four times!  That's not easy to do.

 

We'll eat dinner in the hotel tonight and tomorrow we have a day of sightseeing:  Temple of Heaven, hutong tour with authentic Chinese dining (for us that means chicken and rice) and acrobat show.  Each day a step closer to meeting Maryn.

Final Boarding Call

All our bags are packed, we're ready to go. We're leaving on a few jet planes. We're going to get our little girl! Oh, the many months, years we've waited to declare that. The suitcases are finally waiting by the door. Not a sweeter sound to be heard than the final zip of a suitcase.

To those of you who have waited patiently with us, we say thank you for being there every step of the way. Confucius said, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." We couldn't have done it without you. Xie xie women de Zhongwen pengyou, Coral, Jean and Louise. Thank you to our family and friends who will miss us while we're gone and will be there to rejoice with us upon our return.

From Max Lucado's book, Grace for the Moment, July 28

DON'T BE TROUBLED

"Just prior to his crucifixion, Jesus told his disciples that he would be leaving them. "Where I am going you cannot follow now, but you will follow later: (John 13:36)
Such a statement was bound to stir some questions. Peter spoke for the others and asked, "Lord, why can't I follow you now?" (v. 37)
See if Jesus' reply doesn't reflect the tenderness of a parent to a child: "Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father's house: I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. . . . I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am going" (John 14:1-3).
Reduce the paragraph to a sentence and it might read: "You do the trusting and I'll do the taking."

The person who trusts the Lord will be blessed. (Jeremiah 17:7)

We've got a long way to go to get to the other side of the world, but we're keeping our eyes on the prize.

Toodles till TianAnMen Square!

Women chi le

Our Chinese teacher prepared a meal for us in celebration of our trip to
China. Hao chi le! Xie xie, Wang laoshi, women de pengyou.

Life is Good

These are some of my favorite people on the planet. I have known one of them all of my life, three of them most of my life and one is the joy of my life.

The setting was beautiful, the food was delicious, the gifts were plentiful and the company spectacular. But, most importantly, the car is gone and so are the tires! My darling Doodlebug created the memory game. She gathered the items, placed them on the tray, and when she removed the red scarf, this is what we saw. I was so dazzled by the array of pieces, many from my childhood, I forgot to memorize what was on the tray.

Thank you, girls, for this beautiful event, a highlight in my life.

If You Shower the People You Love With Love, You'll End Up Getting Wet

On Saturday, our wonderful church family celebrated the impending arrival of our little girl by holding a shower for us. They showered us with food, gifts, love. We showered them with tears of joy. Excitement and anticipation filled the room, and joy radiated from every face as we opened our many amazing, thoughtful, creative gifts. Love was all around, and the memories of this special event are priceless. These wonderful people have waited these many months right along with us, and now their dreams for us are coming true. How blessed we are, indeed! Thank you, all, so much for taking this walk with us.

It's All Good in the Hood

Our wonderful neighbors held a shower for us last night.  It was an amazing outpouring of love and enthusiasm for our family.  To see and feel such kindness was awing.  From the moment they found out we had been matched with our daughter, a shower was in the works.  No detail was missed in order to make it a perfect evening.  The food was fabulous, the decor was worthy of a magazine spread, the company was outstanding and so beautiful.  So many of them volunteered to help.  It was a lot of work for them in a collaborative effort, and, yet, it was seamless.  We didn't have to lift a finger except to carry all the wonderful gifts home.  So many wonderful gifts.

 

Thank you for all you did to put on a truly memorable party.  Thank you, too, for sharing our joy and for all you have done to help welcome our little girl home.  We are so touched.

Showered With Love and Loot

T's friends at work had a shower for us yesterday. What a wonderful group of people they are. They have been so enthusiastic through our long wait, and it was such a special treat for us that they hosted this celebration. The invitations were beautiful, the desserts were fantastic, and the pink and green theme was an excellent choice. You really did it right! The gifts they gave were so thoughtfully chosen, and we know, without a doubt, that our daughter will love them all. We've already put a guard on duty to protect them until she arrives.

Long Distance Love

We were able to send a care package to our sweetheart limited to a disposable camera, small toy, photo album and love letter. Our Chinese teacher translated our letter for us, beautifully penning the characters, and, when she finished, it was a work of art. It looked like it had been done on a machine. The characters were perfect and beautiful, but, more than that, she told us she was honored to help us and she poured her heart into writing the characters as if she were writing the letter to her own daughter. It was a labor of love, and it showed.

We took the care package to the post office, gave it a kiss and sent it on its way to China. Once it left our hands, we wondered about it's route to China and whether she would receive the package. Amazingly, we were lucky enough to find out that she has, indeed, received the package. What a rush of emotions that information brought. It was a direct link to her. She knows she has a mama and baba. How does she feel about that? What does that mean to her? We'll soon see.