I think we had our pictures taken almost as many times as we took pictures! Blonde hair is kinda rare in those parts!
Our agency group
Mycah had his medical appointment for the US Consulate. Talk about a CrAzY place! I am not sure that the pics below accurately portray the chaos that was the adoption side of the medical center?! His TB test came back negative and there were no surprises at the physical. Praise The Lord!
Sunday we visited Shaiman Island. What an incredible oasis in the midst of a city of 33 million people! My favorite part? Church! Yes, church. I'm not sure all the ins and outs of that, but there are a few sanctioned churches that are allowed to hold services. Albeit very monitored I am sure, the Gospel is going forth! Taking Mycah to his first church service ever and doing it in his own country and language was absolutely priceless for me. I actually heard him cry for the first time, however. When the music started and the people began clapping, he was quite startled! So we spent a few minutes outside calming down, and then returned to the overflow room which was full of parents with young children. Even though the service was in Mandarin and English, I can't say that I caught too much of the message. It was kind of difficult to focus with the back and forth translation. But the worship...oh, the worship! Even though their talent was nowhere near that that most of us are blessed to enjoy on a weekly basis, their passion and heart for the Lord were quite evident. And God was there! As I stood among dozens of Chinese brothers and sisters (and a few adoptive families) and sang Hillsong's "Hosana", I was awestruck. The prayer I prayed almost two years ago that was the beginning to this journey was word for word in the bridge of this song.
"Break my heart for what breaks Yours."
And he did. And here I am. In China. Holding a child who was once considered the least of these. And he is now my treasured son. And I wept. No telling what was going through Mycah's little head, but he didn't say a word and no longer seemed scared. But I probably should have opted for the waterproof mascara that day!
Sweet Kinsley joined us for our church picture!
Once church was over, we shopped a little and went and had tea with Dong. It was so neat to see him make a serve the tea in their traditional style. Tiny cups. Very hot tea! And quite a sense of humor. His wife was there also and entertained Mycah the whole time. She is the first person he has really carried on a conversation with since I have gotten him and it was so neat to see and hear him. He is very quiet and shy around new people, so I was pleasantly surprised to see him dashing all around their store gathering toys and then bringing them to show me. He had quite the stash by the time we finished our tea! We put most of it back, but did find some Lego type blocks that he loves and some Pleasant Goat (popular cartoon) toys as well.
We had lunch at Lucy's which serves American cuisine. Since there was no Chick-fil-a on the menu, I went for the cheeseburger. It tasted a little different and was a little chunky. I just kept telling myself it was beef and I finished most of it. Never mind that I haven't seen a cow here yet!?
It has been such a blessing to meet so many people in person that I have known for months only in FaceBook land! We have been quite entertaining to wait staff around the city I am sure! I will miss our dinners and outings together when we all go back to FaceBook land. But I am oh so thankful to have made dear friends and shared this experience together. Some of their blogs are on my sidebar...hop on over and take a look. These families are all precious!
Hard to believe our time here is almost up. It has gone fast and slow all at the same time! I miss my family dearly, though, and am looking forward to getting home soon. And having that CFA sandwich and maybe even a cheeseburger with no worries. ;-)
