Sunday in China

Today was a good day. We began with the wake up from Davie at about 4am. She is such a good sleeper, but she keeps waking up really early. At about 5:30 I stopped telling her shhh and finally got up too. We ate breakfast at the buffet which includes American types of food along with a traditional Chinese breakfast. They seem to eat dinner for breakfast so I eat the American foods. Davie is feeling much better today, her fever is gone, but now David and I also have a cold. I can't stand the thought of not being able to kiss Eliana because I have a cold, so I am asking the Lord for healing...by tomorrow :)! After breakfast we went to the Harvest Church in Beijing. It is a church service for foreigners only. It was ok...the speaker was no Pastor Jon! The worship team was all made up of folks older than David and me...I told him we could retire there and still sing on their worship team. The music was fine, but made me appreciate home more. The songs had sweet lyrics which I loved. After church was our visit to the jade factory. I am now wearing a beautiful bracelet that I will someday pass down to Eliana. We had a sweet girl helping us. It was a good shopping experience. Then we ate lunch at the Friendship Store. Our meals in Beijing are all traditional Chinese food. They put many dishes of food on a lazy susan in the middle of the table and then we get some of whatever we want. I am not very adventurous so I don't eat much, but manage to eat enough. I am ready for a good ole hamburger though. After lunch we spent several hours at the Great Wall. David and Davie climbed to three towers together. I chose to stay at the bottom and wait for them. The steps are very uneven and very very steep as you will see in the pictures. It is very hard to climb the wall, but Davie stayed with her daddy the whole way and did great. In those types of things there is no better daddy than David. He is so patient and tireless. After the Great Wall we went for our Peking Duck Dinner. One of the gals at our table will eat anything. Go Amy! So we have her taste things and tell us what it is and if it is good. Most of us fill up on the fried rice. The final activity of today was the Chinese Acrobat Show. It was a show of young students who performed amazing acrobatic feats. It was phenomenal! Davie fell asleep during dinner and didn't wake up for more than 3 minutes during the whole show. I'm betting she will be up again at 4am tomorrow. So tomorrow is Eliana Joy Lin's Gotcha Day!!!! I cannot believe the day is finally here. I have gone through so many emotions during this process and finally being here in China is quite surreal. I have loved having Davie with us and seeing China through her eyes. She has won everyone over of course and has made friends with Conner, the oldest son of the Hedricks. Our group is wonderful. Not a loser in the bunch! :) It is going so well for everyone. A note to the rest of our group coming on Monday...it is quite cold and windy in Beijing. You will need a good coat for sure. We had lots of wind and a "sandstorm" yesterday, so one must be prepared for anything! I have thought a lot about how tomorrow is going to change the lives of our two youngest daughters. Davie will lose her position as the baby...makes me a little sad. She has been a marvelous daughter so far...my dream China baby come true. I hate to see her grow up, but she must. Tomorrow Eliana Joy Lin will gain a family. She is our daughter that I never even knew to dream for. I am the most blessed of women. Why God has been so good to me is just the evidence of His grace. I am not worthy of His blessings and yet He pours them out lavishly. Tomorrow is going to be amazing...I guess I must go to sleep to be ready for all that Abba has for me. God Bless you all. My heart is full...satisfied in my Lord. Thank you so much for your prayers...don't stop! P.S.If you have left us comments I have not been able to access them up to this point. They say that will change when we leave Beijing. I miss home, but am loving China. If you need to reach me my email works so you can try that. Much love!