Last day as a family of three!

This morning we were up at 5am, had breakfast at 6 and were ready to leave our hotel in Beijing just after 7am.  The flight to Zhengzhou was only 1 1/2 hours. (You can click the Travel Map on the right sidebar to enlarge it and follow us as we move south) Our snack served during the flight was Digestive biscuits and water.  At Zhengzhou airport we were met by our new guide Rita and another family who joined the group today.  The room is a little bigger than the hotel room in Beijing, and it has an extra piece of furniture...a crib!

The Moms got unpacked and all the gifts ready for the various officials and caregivers tomorrow while the Dads went to the bank to change US dollars into RMB.  The bank was fussy about the bills not having marks on them so some were rejected!

A family we have become very close to (and whose son is coming from the same orphanage) and ourselves decided we would like something other than Chinese food tonight.  The hotel has an Italian restaurant called Mamma Mia's.  It was a little more expensive than Chinese food, but it was sure nice to have pizza and pasta for a change.

If we thought the drivers in Beijing were crazy, I think they are worse here.  We walked to Walmart tonight to get supplies and had to be constantly watching out for motor cyclists driving along the sidewalk.  A green crossing light does not necessarily mean that you can assume you can cross the street safely:-)  No, the cars and cyclists just keep coming. Video clip of the chaos here:

... coming soon! ...

Walmart was quite the experience.  The smells were overpowering and the noise was crazy.  It is fun to experience another culture, one we are enjoying immensely.

Tonight the family next door, whose little boy will ride up from Luoyang with Jack tomorrow, came to our room to read and pray.  It is refreshing to have each other to lean on, but even more reassuring to know we can leave tomorrow in God's hands.

Tomorrow (Monday) we will go to the Civil Affairs building at 10am to receive Jack.  I know many of you to the west will be up for another few hours.  Our prayer request is that Jack will not be fearful tomorrow when his caregivers leave him.  We will be strangers who don't look, talk or smell like his caregivers. It will be a traumatic day for him. Essentially it will feel like an abandonment.  Our prayer is that in spite of the language barrier, he will KNOW that we love him, will not harm him and will NEVER leave him.  God has a heart for the orphan, so we believe He can comfort a child who hasn't even heard of Him.

Many have left comments and many more have prayed along with us every day since we left home for China.  We appreciate those prayers and messages of encouragement very much.

If we don't get a chance to write a post tomorrow, we will try and post some pictures of Jack.