Friday, May 13, 2011

Ni' Hao from Guangzhou, China! FINALLY!!! (And I mean that in more than one way!!!)

This is the last lag in our trip and we are SO happy to be at the famous White Swan Hotel with the other Bethany families whom we have grown to love. I believe that not only are we bonded for life because have shared our China adoption journey together, but the greater bond is the bond we have in Jesus Christ! AMEN! We serve such a loving God who can use HIS little Chinese children to bind hearts and lives together, for HIS glory! It is such a privilege to be called a child of the King! We have so many opportunities to display His love and power and to reflect His glory! I pray that this one opportunity we have had, to display adoption in action, will speak to someone's heart and life and draw them to the King, and just maybe prick a heart for adoption! It isn't just in the "big" things we do in life that bring Him glory, it can be in how we handle all the small things too. I pray that I reflect His glory in all areas of my life! I'm working on doing that to the Chinese people who stare at us, I mean crank the neck, stop dead in their tracks, staring at us! I have a hard time not taking that personally, so I am working on smiling rather than scowling and walking along my merry way! This is HARD for me! I know some of you are laughing, cut me some slack here! ;p

Well, we are FINALLY glad to be here in Guangzhou, because it took us SO long to get here today. We were up at 6:00 to skype with the kids at 6:45 and then breakfast. We met Susie, our guide, in the hotel lobby and headed to the airport for our 11:00 am flight. On the way to the airport Susie got a call that our flight had been delayed until 12:00, which wasn't a big deal. We got checked in, said goodbye to Susie and made our way to our gate. We were starting to get suspicious that something was going on, because it was 11:55 and we still weren't boarding the plane. A few minutes after 12:00, they cancelled our flight to Guangzhou! YIKES! Panic set in for a quick second, and then we got level headed and decided to call Shiyan. Shiyan is the lady in charge here in China. She talked with one of the airline employees on our international cell phone and reported back to us that the flight was rescheduled for 2:00pm. Okay, that was fine. We weren't thrilled with the idea, but we remembered that this flight was getting us one step closer to home! We finally were bused to a plane that was WAY out on the tarmak somewhere. Everyone boarded and got settled and the pilot came over the intercom announcing something in Chinese and all the passengers on board moaned and started getting angry. Jay and I could tell by their reaction, that the new from the pilot wasn't good. We ended up sitting on the tarmak for 1 and 1/2 hours in a large jet that was 100 degrees..........IT WAS AWFUL!!!!! We took off around 3:30 and landed in Guangzhou about 2 hours later. We were met by a young man who collected our luggage and whisked us away to the White Swan hotel. FINALLY!!! We got checked in and walked to yes, the 7-11, to get some necessary bottled water. When we got back to the hotel lobby we met up ran into some of the other families. We all went out to Lucy's (a famous restaurant that caters to Americans) I ordered a grilled cheese and fries and Jay got a burger, it was a good taste of home!

The White Swan is beautiful and is located right on the Pearl River. We have a full day tomorrow, including Emma's medical exam. Please pray for her, as she has a cold. She is still in good spirits, but pray that it doesn't get any worse! She was an angel today, considering all that she had to deal with! She is a keeper for sure! Enjoy the pics. for now. I am one exhausted mama and Jason is snoring on the bed! We did get all packed after dinner tonight, so that feels a little more human. We are determined to enjoy this last part of our trip!

Love to you all! Thanks SO MUCH for taking the time to jot us a quick note! We look forward to reading them everyday! God is using many of you to encourage our hearts......we are so blessed by your words!

Avarie, Evan and Ella~ We hope you have a BLAST with Grandma and Grandpa Tolsma this week! One more week and we will be home! YIPPIE!!!! Hope you have a great weekend with all that you'll be doing! Love, Hugs and Kisses to you!!! Mom, Dad and Emma Claire!!! xoxoxoxo