Sunday, May 28, 2006

We arrived in Beijing on Saturday night all safe…but not so sound! :) Let’s just say that a plane that size, with that many people, and that little space, should not be allowed to make such a journey!.... I do not ever remember being so exhausted in my life! Even the rock hard beds at our Beijing hotel felt like pillow top feather mattresses to our weary bodies. Sarah wondered aloud how sitting in one place for so long could make you so tired….I wonder too, but I can only tell you that it DOES! :) We slept like babies until 6 o’clock this morning when I was happily awaken by Kate kissing me on the cheek.

We visited the International Fellowship here in Beijing, where Stephen Curtis Chapman happened to be leading the time of worship. It was wonderful to see him and his beautiful family again and to be able to “reconnect” with them. They had a special part in our journey to bring Kate home, so it was moving for me to be here in China, worshipping and praising God together with her in my arms to share it. Kate joined the people around us and lifted her hands into the air and sang praises in as loud a voice as a two year old could muster. Several times she even threw her head back and closed her eyes as if she were enjoying this beautiful moment as much as I was! You should have seen the look on her face when Steven Curtis Chapman started to sing his famous song, “When Love Takes You In”. She gasped and looked at me in amazement as she proclaimed… “He’s singing MY song!” It was a priceless moment I will not soon forget!

Unfortunately, our plans to visit Hope Foster Home did not work out today. Sarah was bitterly disappointed, as she wants desperately to work there for several months after she graduates from high school. We instead joined the other family we are traveling with and went to the Great Wall. Happily, Sarah thoroughly enjoyed this afternoon and pushed us to climb much further than any of us intended to! It was absolutely beautiful and a wonderful experience to share with our two girls. Again I was reminded of our trip to this very place a year and a half ago, as I watched our precious Kate climb the very steps we climbed the day before meeting her for the first time!

As I type this, we are only hours away from our first meeting with Ellie! Just typing it gives me butterflies and I wonder how I’ll ever get the sleep I really need tonight! We must leave for the airport at the insane hour of 5:30 AM and will meet Ellie shortly after we arrive in Changsha! I look forward to writing to you from there! Pray that God’s presence will be overwhelmingly evident in the hours ahead…