Home away from home.

The church is alive and full here in Kunming! We made our way over, about five minutes before ten, to the Trinity Church this morning. We were ushered upstairs to a packed house, and a kind group of American tourists rearranged their seating to accommodate us. Jimmy noticed that some of the Chinese people were taking photographs of the group (some taking selfies, too), and they had headphones for us English speaking guests! Is it me, or do I look more Chinese when I'm in China??

After the sermon, when it came time for the Christian version of the Catholic "peace," Chinese folk crossed the aisles to shake our hands and greet us. Then the Pastor asked all of the guests to stand up and a woman came over and passed out flowers to all of us. The congregation sang a beautiful welcome song to us! It was pretty awesome...we were both slightly choked up. I couldn't help but rejoice in the fact that our appearance is totally different, our language is completely foreign, yet we share this common bond and blessing...our faith.

 

 

The weeks leading up to our departure from home, I found myself humming a tune. It was a tune I remembered from protestant church before we became Catholic. When I heard the tune of that song in church yesterday--even though it was in a different language--I still recognized the tune instantly and it gave me a tremendous sense of peace.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. 

Praise Him all creatures here below.

Praise Him above ye Heavenly host. 

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  

Amen.

 

It felt like such a gift to be there today. When we returned to our hotel, we received a call from our guide, Jane, and found out that we will meet our son around 3 p.m. tomorrow while you are sleeping! 

Jimmy and I walked around the park again today, in such gorgeous weather (much like Florida in the winter) and as I watched little children run about, I soaked up the magnitude of it all. After tomorrow, Joseph will never be without a family again. He will have a mother. He will have a father. He will have a sister. And he will have a brother. I know our life as we know it will surely have trials and challenges, but how incredibly awesome is that thought? In less than 24 hours, we will finally see his face; we will touch his skin; we will hear his little voice. And we will love him unconditionally.