Grace Finds a Home

Bidding farewell to China is harder than we thought it would be. Tonight we ate in the Italian restaurant on the island and then took a slow walk home...lingering a bit longer in this exotic (to us) atmosphere. The people of China have been very gracious to us. There has not seemed to be any resentment or rancor that we are taking one of their own to another life in another culture. Rather, there seems to be appreciation that a little girl with nothing and no one is now going to have a decent shot at life. We have great appreciation for the way they cared for our daughter. They sent her off with a backpack full of clothes and pictures of her friends and gifts. There was even a banana packed in a pocket for the ride home. She has been well loved even before we arrived.

As I write this, at about 9:15 in the evening, we are anticipating a short night. We have to be in the lobby for our ride to the airport at 6:30 am. Grace has a case of the giggles and can't seem to get settled down. Kathy is singing Jesus Loves Me to her. Intermittently, she sings along, mimicking the words without knowing what she is saying. We are praying she will drop off soon since we have such a long trip tomorrow. We fly from Guangzhou to Beijing for about three hours. Then we fly from Beijing to Newark for about 14 hours. Then we fly from Newark to Charlotte for about an hour and a half. We'll be home by 9:15 pm.

When we touch down in Newark, Grace will automatically become a US citizen. All that will be left to do is to get her a Social Security card and a US Passport and everything will be official. Now the real work begins. Parenting. Thanks to all of you who have followed our blog with your interest and your prayers. Now we seek an interest in your prayers as we begin to proctor this young lady for the Kingdom.

If you think of it, check this site from time to time. Periodically, we'll post some pictures and let

you know how Grace is doing.

See you stateside,

Rick, Kathy, Bradley, and Grace