One More Sleep!

Tonight will be our LAST night in China! We are so ready to come home. We have had a completely free day. We have spent it packing and at the pool. Mia warmed up to the pool much more so today. There is a small kids pool that is only about 2 feet deep. She played in there for quite a long time. It seems that she prefers to have something firm beneath her feet. I get that.

At 4:30 we will meet our guide and he will give us Mia's passport with her travel visa to the USA! It is our very LAST piece of paper that we need to get home. Praise the Lord. We will have a very long travel day tomorrow. We leave at 9:30am for the Guangzhou airport. Fly out at 12:35pm. Lord willing, we arrive in Seoul 3 hours and 15 minutes later. We have only 1 hour and 45 minutes of layover time so we are praying for no delays. Our next flight will be 13 hours long to Chicago where we land at 5:40pm (Friday). Then onto a bus to Madison...picked up by Kathy around 10:15pm (if we make the first bus), then a 2 hour drive home. Best case scenario, we will arrive at 1:00am Saturday morning. So about 30 hours after leaving our hotel, we should be stepping into our house. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. If you think of it, pray for our safety and for smooth flights, for Mia's comfort and our patience along the way.

And while we're talking prayer requests, I have to tell you that our hearts are filled with gratitude to each and every one of you who has prayed for us along the way. Our family, here and at home, has been blessed tremendously by the Lord through you. Your emails and messages have brought an indescribable sweetness to our days. Your tender care for our three treasures at home has been beyond what we could have ever asked for. A thank you will never feel adequate enough for the way that you have ministered to us. Thank you.

This trip has been filled with every emotion you can imagine. There has been so much joy. But it has not been all glorious. Not even close. We have had times of fear and impatience and frustration. We are just ordinary people, with all kinds of weaknesses, walking by faith in Our Almighty God. We were called to China for this little girl. There is no denying it. We could never have done this in our own power. We still cannot walk this in our own strength. The Lord has brought us to a place of greater dependence on Him. At times it has been hard. But there is no place that we would rather be than right in the center of His will.

China has changed us forever.

We are so grateful.

To Him be all the glory forever.




Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and His understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31

We cannot wait for you to meet our new little girl!