The unknown can be a very scary deal! We are now on day 13 of our China Trip and we get on a plane in less than two days to head home. We cannot wait to get back! We miss our kids, we miss our friends, and we are so ready for this part of the process to be completed... and we are almost there. But yesterday we had something happen that was very unexpected and unsettling. We had the opportunity to go to the Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou which is the biggest zoo/safari park in Asia. We didn't go the last time so this time we thought, we are here, might as well do it! So we went with 9 other adopting families and saw some incredible animals (they have over 200 white tigers which is almost half of the white tiger population in the world, along with Pandas with triplets, Koala Bears, and a lot of other animals). Like I said, it was incredible, but halfway through our time at the zoo our guide walks over to us and says, "we need to head back to the medical clinic before 4pm, something showed up so we have to do a further test". We then planned to leave by taxi at 2pm to make it to the clinic on-time. The rest of the time at the zoo was full of "what-if's"... what if it confirms she is sick, and how does this affect us leaving in 3 days? (Dan's visa expires the 19th so he has to leave). Can this delay us days, weeks, months...? Man she is ours, we have adopted her in China and as soon as we land in the US she will be recognized as ours by the United States. We love this kid, could something worse happen? Could we lose her? We arrived at the medical clinic around 2:30 and they took us right in to the X-ray room... let us just say that Kaili wasn't very excited about getting the x-ray and she let everyone know about it. A few minutes later our guide came over and said, "I just spoke to Doctor, he says the x-rays are clear...she has no problem". We just sat there in silence with tears streaming down our faces thanking God that she was okay.
Today we went to the consulate for our Visa appointment. That went smooth and the guy who interviewed us was from a little place in Florida called, "Mandarin" (where I grew up). Crazy who you can run into in the middle of China... He grew up off Scott Mill Road and graduated from Stanton in 1993. We left the US Embassy and went back to a meeting area to wait for our bus trip back to the hotel. While there we talked with some other parents who were adopting and listened as they talked about what God had done to move and enable them to adopt...it was very encouraging. As we were about to leave a Chinese national walked up to Michelle and Myself, and said, "Hello, are you taking her home?" We said, "Yes"! And then he asked, "Do you believe in Jesus Christ?" Almost taken back we responded, " Yes, we believe in Jesus Christ." He looked relieved and said, "Good, that is very good." So I asked him, "Do you believe in Jesus Christ." And with a huge smile he said, "O yes, I believe in Jesus Christ...I went to college in the U.S. of A. and at college someone told me about Jesus and I became a believer in Jesus." We talked about him going to church which he did, and how we served on staff at a church and worked with young people. Our bus pulled up at that point and we had to leave. His name was Lei (pronounced Lay). I had a Chinese National share his faith with me in a place where that is illegal.... I am still stunned by that encounter. Because we had just come from the US Consulate building we did not have any phone or camera because I would have loved to have gotten a picture with him. It was pretty amazing to say the least.
It's now Tuesday night in Guangzhou, and it's been a great day for Kaili. She has really begun to blossom over the past 24-48 hours. She is still a little shy, but now I am getting high fives, and she is beginning to make some sounds which is pretty awesome. Even when we are out and about she is laughing with us and really seems to be attaching well. She is an amazing little girl and we are so blessed. Tomorrow afternoon we take a train to Hong Kong and the next morning we get on a plane to head to the United States of America. We can't wait to be home.
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