Our journey to our daughter: 2 More Sleeps

Well we feel like we are on the home stretch and can see the light at the end. Today was the day that the American Consulate reviewed all our paperwork to issue Ava her Visa. Praise God we did not get any questions regarding our paperwork. Please pray for the Ludlums that their paperwork is taken care of overnight and that they receive Gabe’s Visa tomorrow and are able to travel home. They’ve been told they could be delayed for up to a week and this little guy is in need of heart surgery so they desperately need to get him home. Thank you for all the prayers for our paperwork.

Today was a pretty casual day. We took Ava for another swim after breakfast and she enjoyed sitting on the side just kicking her feet. She also enjoyed “pushing” Morgan down into the water. After swimming, we had to stay in our room awaiting any questions from the Consulate. This afternoon the four of us headed out for a little more shopping. When we were in the mall, all the salespeople were so friendly and they all wanted to try their English with us. They would always smile when we complimented them on how well their English is. We then took our traditional group photo. Since we are not staying at the White Swan, we did not do a “Red Couch Photo”. But it was still special getting our group together for a photo. This evening, we all went to a local restaurant for a Farewell Dinner. It is amazing how close we have grown together as a group since two weeks ago we were mostly strangers.

This may be our last blog until we are back home in Sesser. We will leave for Hong Kong on the train tomorrow evening at 6:15pm (5:15am Sesser time). Then we fly out of Hong Kong for Newark at 10:15am on Thursday (9:15pm Wednesday Sesser time). Again we are asking for prayer for safe travel, on time connecting flights, and peace for Ava on a 16 hour flight.

Our time in China has been very special and we are going to miss some things but there are things we are not going to miss. We will miss a breakfast buffet every morning but will not miss not seeing Jackson and Hudson when we wake up. We will miss eating at McDonald’s for less than $10 but not miss having to convert all prices by 7. We will miss having a clean room and our beds made every day but not miss living in a hotel for 2 weeks. We will miss seeing our travel group on a daily basis and all their new children but will not miss not hugging on Jackson and Hudson each day.

We sincerely appreciate everyone who has followed us on Our Journey to Our Daughter. Hearing from so many people has been a true blessing. We pray that God has used our journey for His honor and His glory. Every prayer that has been spoken for us has been felt and we are eternally grateful. We do plan to continue blogging our journey with our little miracle. And who knows what God has planned for us in the future. We pray that we are willing and ready to go on any journey He has for us.