Time to Leave

Well the my last night in China has arrived. This post might be a little vague as it is almost 1am and I am getting up around 6 to say goodbye to Natalie and her kids. Our last full day in China was jammed packed with activities. We visited the Summer palace, a pearl store, the Forbidden City, had a peeking duck dinner,and went to a Chinese flying acrobatic show. We ran out of time to go to Taniman Square. I was a little disappointed about that because it is something you see so often on TV and in history books. Oh well, something to do next time. The Forbidden city was amazing. It was HUGE! The detail on the buildings was stunning.Apparently it took 14 years to build and was made out of the finest materials. Let's just say the Emperor sure did have a cool crib! The Chinese acrobatic show was awesome too. They made this show for the Beijing Olympics last year. It reminded me a lot of Cirque du Soleil. It was a great way to end the trip. And yes we did have duck for dinner. How did I feel about it you ask, well lets just say i would have been better off had I not known what it was. lol, it was cool to try something different though. After we returned from our busy day a bunch of us got massages in our room. It was the best massage I have ever had and it only cost me $23 including tip! I couldn't pass it up, where in the U.S. can you get an hour massage for $23?! I rest my case!
I had a great time today despite being extremely tired. I spent a lot of time thinking about the orphanage though. I miss the kids. I miss their smiles, their laughs, and their hugs. Tonight we had a closing team meeting. We were warned that we might have a hard time going home because people at home have not been through what we have been through in the last 10 days. While I can not wait to see my husband, I am a little nervous to go home. On top of being exhausted, I know that life will be there to greet me when I get home. We were encouraged to email our teammates and ask for prayer from them if we find that we are having a hard time when we get home. I hope that after a few days of sleep, prayer, and time with Chad that I will be ready to go onto what God has planned for me next. Natalie also had us write a letter to ourselves or to God that she will mail to us in the next 6-9 months. The point was to paint a picture of what we have seen and experienced during our time here. She says that after we get back to real life it can be easy to forget what we saw here and the letter will help remind us of what we did and saw during our time at the orphanage. That should be a neat thing to read. I wrote a letter to God and while I asked him a lot of questions. I told him I would always trust him even if I didn't understand. I can't wait to see what He has planned next for me and my heart for orphans! God is so good!
Please pray for me and I return home and get back to real life. I do get into San Francisco at 8:40 am Saturday morning but I am not guaranteeing that I will be up to talking on that day. I am very tired and just need some time to sleep, pray, think, and be with my husband. I have missed him so much and I can't wait to see him again.
I hope this entry didn't sound to melancholy, it's just hard to say goodbye to people I have grown quite close to. I have had a great time here in China and I am so thankful for this joyful life changing experience. I am going to continue to blog about China for awhile as I have many more stories and thoughts that I want to share with you. Thanks for reading my blog while I have been away, I hope you were blessed by it. I know so many of you are praying for me and for that I thank you. You are all in my heart. I better get to bed now!
See you soon!
Vanessa


The Summer Palace, Dragon Lady lived here


The Forbidden City


Duck anyone?!


Chinese acrobatic show