After 18 months of paperwork and waiting, 2 weeks of packing, and 24 hours of travel, we have arrived in Beijing, our first stop on our journey to Anna Marie! We have too say. . . although a long day, our trip had the favor of the Lord on it from start to finish! We started with a short commuter flight from Cleveland to Chicago. After an hour layover, we boarded the big jet for Tokyo. What an amazing aircraft. The flight was so smooth and we, of course, made several friends along the way.
One was a freshman basketball player from Notre Dame named Luke. I felt as though I had lots of leg room after seeing him fold his 6'8" frame into the same size seat. When Sharon made a comment to him about how tight his seating situation was he replied "I cannot complain. . . my height is a blessing!" We knew right then this was a special young man. Luke was part of an "Athletes in Action" group of up and coming basketball stars on their way to Taiwan to play in an international tournament. The group is a Christian organization that will do mission work during their time in Taiwan. He was so interested in hearing about our story of adopting Anna. During our flight he passed us a note that said to please pray for the young Asian girl that was sitting next to his chaplain; he was sharing the gospel with her right at that moment! We were so impressed with this young man; he truly is on his way to be a great disciple of Christ. We exchanged emails and plan to keep in touch on our journeys in Asia.
The airline food was surprisingly good and lots of it. It seemed like every time we turned around it was time to eat again. Most if the time we weren’t even hungry . . . we just ate for something to pass the time. Four movies were shown during the flight. . . . nothing but rest and relaxation! We were actually the most relaxed that we have been in months knowing that everything was in place awaiting the arrival of our daughter. After the 2+ hour layover in Tokyo, we boarded for Beijing... another good flight. When we landed everyone looked worn out. . . Sharon looked at me with bright eyes and enthusiastically said "That wasn't so bad, was it? I agreed, the time went really fast.
Zhou met us outside of customs in Beijing and we boarded a bus for the 40 min. ride to the Holiday Inn. Tomorrow will be a full day of sightseeing, including the Great Wall. We are looking forward to the sites and shopping but anxiously await Monday - the day we will meet
Anna and begin our lives together! Off for some much needed rest... the day was filled with airports and shuttles and when we arrived in Beijing the sun had already set so we don't have any great pictures for you yet. Here is a few.
Thanks for all the love, prayers, and support coming our way!
In Christ's Love,
Ken and Sharon
(L to R) Randy, Jeanne, Nancy, Scott, Kathy, Larry, and Florence waiting in Tokyo!
Ken getting some shut eye... he's really faking, look at his smile!
