The journey begins in 8 hours

We're in Nanjing now, the capital city of Peng's province. The bullet train from Shanghai went 300 km/hour and the Chinese man sitting next to us wanted to make sure we knew how fast we'd be going! He was quite conversational and, like most here, was a bit shocked to hear we are adding a 4th child to our family. He was vulnerable with us in sharing he and his wife have one, but are considering paying the fine in order to have another. He said the fine varies for different incomes, but their governmental fine would be about $25K. Another realization not to take for granted the freedom we have to add Peng, as well as all our kids, into our family.

Upon arrival, things could not have gone smoother. Jan escorted us every step of the way to our train station continuing to tell us stories of China as we waited. He has learned a lot in his 4 years living here.  We couldn't be more grateful for his help getting us get settled.

Jan and Kevin in Jan's apartment.

Our contact, Anna, was waiting with a sign for us and we quickly connected with three other families coming in and our social worker, Pam, who has been our main connection to Peng for a year now. It was nice to finally meet her in person and give her a hug :)

After getting settled briefly, Pam took three of the families for a walk around the Confucious Temple and Marketplace. Here is a bit of raw footage of a bit of downtown Nanjing outside the Marketplace.

I probably should have told people I was video taping as the group gave me a few odd looks.

The air quality is not stellar here. We saw the haze all the way on the train and both Kevin and I were wondering how long China can survive like this. Many in our group were coughing on our walk over to the Temple and it is not uncommon to see people wearing surgical masks when they are outside. I think there is even a market for stylized ones. We've seen colored ones, flowered ones and even Hello Kitty themed face masks. Another thing that is everywhere....selfie sticks. Selfie sticks and lots of grand posing for the selfies. This picture below is taken the old fashioned way, where one of us bows out in order to get a shot. We just cannot bring ourselves to purchase a selfie stick.




The two other families we've been hanging out with today are on the right. Kevin is standing next to our social worker, Pam.

We went to dinner with these two delightful families and got to hear more of their stories. One family lives in Minnesota and one is from California. Both couples have been waiting a long time to be parents. It is beautiful to watch God at work in aligning the hearts of people to meet a need in another one of his children. And both the parents and children will be immeasurably blessed.

In case you wanted an update on our sleeping patterns....(thrilling information, I know.....) we seem to be waking up at 4am...which isn't too far off our usual at home which is 5:30, so I can't complain. But, speaking for myself, I start getting crazy, dizzy tired around 8pm. Now, let's add a child to the mix today and see how everything goes! Overall, though we're doing great - rest wise.

We met Lu last night, the main Chinese contact here and she told us she DID get the photo book and audio book to him a while back. She claims the staff has been showing him the book, so that was welcome news. That means today will not be the first time he sees our faces. Maybe he'll even recognize us :)

We've been looking forward to this day for a year. Although, it is really only the beginning. We are just so ready to start the healing, bonding, loving from a near distance process with Peng. I feel like we're drifting on a calm river in a kayak where we are taking in all the scenery.  Peaceful, comfortable, amazed at the diversity in God's world. Any minute now, I feel like we'll be tumbling over the anticipated waterfall, with all new emotions, experiences and questions.

For each of our children we have chosen a life verse we use to bless them. To be honest, we prayed the blessing over our kids consistently when they were young, but have neglected it recently. As we chose Peng's verse, we hope to refresh that practice. (Mom and dad, you can even start at home if you'd like - they're up on their bedroom walls :)

If you are able to tonight, we invite you to pray this blessing with us for this sweet boy who is about to have his world turned upside down....

Peng, may the God of hope fill you with all the joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

We'll be in touch soon!