Complete, Finished, Done and Beginning

We had a great last day in China. After getting things packed up this morning, we headed to Shamian Island one last time. This time, it was to meet Jacqui Shurr of Good Rock Foundation. It was such a tremendous blessing to finally meet her in person after corresponding and helping her with some writing projects these past three years. She is a very special woman. Our time together passed far too quickly and I forgot to even take a picture!  She had two new volunteers with her and it was a treat to meet them as well.   After Pete dragged me away from Jacqui, we rushed back to the hotel to get checked out. Our guide and driver met us and took us to the US Consulate.  It was a smaller group for the swearing in ceremony today - only seven families. I heard tomorrow there will be 35. They told us they have, over the years, processed over 70,000 Chinese adoptions. We weren't allowed to take cameras into the consulate. I wished I could have been able to record the Consulate Officer's words when she said, "Congratulations, your adoption process is now complete!"  What a journey it has been!    The Adoption Officer is new to her job and was very interested in hearing our concerns about the new immunization and TB testing requirements. We gave her our letter and email address.   From the Consulate, we hopped in our van for the drive to Hong Kong. It was about a three hour drive, but so much nicer than an airplane or bus would have been. The scenery was very interesting and the boys did great. Because we were the only family, our facilitators had arranged a private driver from HK and we were in a luxurious van for the drive.  We felt very spoiled. The three hour drive was worth it just to drive into Hong Kong at dusk.  It was AMAZING. The boys were squealing at the lights from the ships on the water, the huge lighted up suspension bridges, the tunnel that seemed miles long, the full moon just rising over the tops of the lighted city skyline.  I've never seen anything like it before.   Things went fine at the border crossing. Since we were in a private car, we didn't have to unload luggage.  We were a bit nervous at the China checkpoint. There seemed to be some issue with Joshua's passport. We had to pull aside while they walked our passports to another building and looked through our adoption paperwork. We wondered if it had something to do with the passport having been issued in XJ province. Eventually they said all was fine.   When we reached our hotel in Hong Kong, I couldn't help but do a HK happy song and dance. It felt like such a weight had been lifted. It very much feels like being in the west again. When we stopped here on the way into China, we didn't realize our hotel was connected to a huge outlet shopping mall. We wandered in there to find some dinner. After dinner, we went to the huge grocery store in the basement to buy ice cream bars to celebrate Pete's 43rd birthday.  Pretty glamourous place to celebrate his birthday, I think.   Joshua has done great today.  He was very excited tonight and enjoyed walking through the outlet mall with us.  He is such a sweet boy and such a blessing.  He is playful, friendly, affectionate, naughty and all boy.  He has much to learn about our family and our culture, but I think he will do fine.  We will have to extend grace as he learns what we expect and he will have to extend grace as we learn to communicate with each other.   Today I had a song running through my head. Our kids have been learning various instruments, but don't have very many songs that all of them can play together. One that four of them can play together is called El Shaddai and has a line that says, "El Shaddai, God is our strength and in Him the victory is won, it is finished, it is done..." I know it is taking the intent of the song out of context to apply it here, but I couldn't help but thinking of it. The last Sunday before we came to China, there was a song sung that said that God is the first word and the last word. There have been so many things that could have derailed this adoption from that night in January 2007 when we first noticed this sweet boy in a photo. Even this week, that has been evident again. We are reminded that nothing can thwart the plans and purposes of God.   Sorry for no pictures again tonight. The connection here is slow.  I'll post some from home when I will also have more time to reflect on all that has transpired and we can show you pictures of the newest American Citizen.  It is late now and everyone else is sleeping.   I'll end this post with some verses my daughter called to my attention last week.  She had sent an email asking me to read Psalm 27.  That Psalm had come to my attention several times over the last few months. There are many good verses there and it ends with this, "I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!"