We finally made it to Guangzhou!!

Oh what a journey to Guangzhou!! On Friday morning at 3:30 a.m. we woke up and headed to the Birmingham International Airport. My parents followed us there and took this picture of us. Our last family of 4 picture! When we return little Ruthie will be in the middle!!! Thanks Mom and Dad!! :)

Our flight to Chicago was fun! It was Steve and the kids first flight! They really enjoyed it and everyone traveled well!! When we arrived in Chicago we had a few hours to rest and to explore the airport. We ate pizza at 8:00 a.m.!! Then we had Chicago style hotdogs for lunch!! Yum!! We knew that our next flight was a long one!!! 

So, we finally got on our flight to Hong Kong. It was really neat, we were able to watch movies! The kids loved it!! We were able to sleep for a while, eat on the plane and watch the screen that showed where we were located in the sky!! They enjoyed knowing where we were on the map. :) The food and service was fabulous on United!!! 

So, when we arrived in Hong Kong, 17 hours later, we arrived an hour late. So, that put us behind and we missed our last flight to Guangzhou. Our luggage was lost, so we had to stick around Hong Kong a little longer to wait on our luggage and decide whether or not we wanted to take a train, plane or automobile!! :) We sat there and just watched everyone grab their luggage and continue on their journey. Our luggage finally came all by itself and no one else was around. So, then we decided to take a shuttle bus to Guangzhou. That added another 2 hours to our trip. Boo!! Imagine taking a shuttle bus for another 2 to 2 1/2 hours with no one like yourself and no one that speaks the same language!! I prayed and asked God to give us all the strength to get through this change in plans and additional 2 hours of traveling. Ugh!! He gave me the peace that I needed and I continued to pray for the next few hours and asked  God to please reveal what he wants me to learn from the detour that we are on. While on the interstate, we were able to see these apartment looking buildings. Every apartment looked really, really worn down and they had clothes lines with clothes hanging on them outside their doors. We also passed a few places that people were sleeping on the steps with absolutely nothing with them except what they had on their bodies. I just didn't understand at all!! While this is all different to us and a huge learning experience, it finally dawned on me. God was trying to remind us was that he is in control and when something happens, he is going to take care of us. What he was also trying to tell us was that we came to China to pick up our daughter and rescue one of his children. When we thought our luggage was gone, Ruthie comes to us with nothing. When we were confused and felt helpless because no one understood what we were trying to say(most of what we were saying), Ruthie is going to feel that way when she first comes to us. She is going to feel like her world that she has always known is gone and now she is with these people that look nothing like her and sound really funny. The anxiety that I felt when we missed our flight and had to reschedule something else on our own was not comfortable to me at all. That is exactly what Ruthie will feel when she comes into our arms tomorrow. Last night God wrapped his arms around us, led us and guided us! When we travel to the Civil Affairs office tomorrow, we are going to wrap our arms around Ruthie, pray for her and just love her unconditionally just like God does for us!!! I love love love God's story's and how he opens our hearts and eyes to him to realize that he is still in control!! It excites me to know that we get the joy and He gets the GLORY!!! Praise Him!!! 

Our Gotcha Day is tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. While you guys are sleeping at 1:00 a.m., we will be getting loving from our sweet daughter! Until another update.....God bless you all!!

Blessings and Love,

Julie

P.S. Here are some pics of what we see from our hotel room and some of the kids.