August 18th

Isaiah 43:5

Do not be afraid for I am with you: I will bring your children from the East, and gather you from the West...

Exodus 20:3

Do not have any other Gods before me..

First, let me start by saying, I wake up in the mornings, and can't wait to read the messages you have sent us! It is such an encouragemnent to know that we are being prayed for each and every day. I read each and every message and hold the words in my heart all day long!

Second, I have had a couple people saying thank you for our journal and how they feel they are in China w/ us! And I want you to know, that you are! When we chose to adopt this baby, we did it for us and what we felt that the Lord was calling us to do. What we did not realize, is that we not only made the decision for us, but for ALL of you. Each of you have learned about the adoption process right along w/ us. You now know what a dossier is, a LID, and what it feels like to wait. We know that you hurt along w/ us as we waited, and you cried along w/ us as we first laid eyes on our beautiful daughters referral. You have listened to our frustration and you have listened to our excitement. You have prayed for us and for Sage. And most important, you have loved this baby, as if she was already here. We have no doubt that this baby girl is coming into a circle of family and friends who are already in love w/ her! So I just want to say thank you. For ALL you have done, for all you are doing while we are gone, and for all I know that you will do when we are home w/ Sage. I hope that you know how big a part of her lives you are, and our lives. I hope that you feel you are right here along w/ us, because you are here in our hearts.

Couple of interesting things I forgot to mention... I tried to pull up one of my favorite sites, bible gateway, it was blocked, surprise! We do have our bible w/ us, though yesterday we thought it disappeared, I thought I had left it out, but I guess I stuck it in our cabinet before we left because we finally found it. I have to say, when we first got pulled over yesterday, it went through my head, "did they catch us praying at dinner?". But from what I understand that is not a problem. The Chinese people are very nice. I have never felt unsafe at all. They seem to be curious of course about us, but always kind. There are no lines. You better scoot your way up, or you will be waiting forever! But they are nice about it and no one gets mad. In fact that is one thing we notice in the traffic. Lots of honking, but no one ever looks upset. In the streets the bikers and pedestrians are walking or riding next to the cars. Even when a car about runs over one of them, they never flinch. In the US, there would be screaming and cursing, probably outside of their cars. But this is just life here. Everyone has the right of way, and you just figure it out. When shopping, they shadow you. Yesterday at the Summer Palace, the street vendors were everywhere. Look, buy a Rolex, buy a Gucci purse, etc. They start at 100yuan, you say no, they go down, and down and don't leave. It does not bother me, I just figure they will leave eventually. It is just amazing. EVERYTHING is so different, yet not really.

Our day was so full and my emotions are so high, I am not even sure if I can put it all into words. We were able to see China today.... It started early. 4AM and we could not go back to sleep. But we are going to bed early, and getting more sleep than I had been getting at home. Maybe God is adjusting us to Sage's schedule? I feel rested, which is crazy to think being up at 4am! Breakfast Buffet wonderful of course. I have to get some pictures of this buffet. I just can't believe how large it is. My favorite is the quiche. So good. We met up with our tour group at 830 in the hotel lobby and were surprised to see that more of our group was now here! We did not realize they would be joining us today so that was very fun! We had 3 more couples, 2 of them w/ Hunan babys. We met our guides and were off to the Temple of Heaven. First I have to start by saying, I enjoy the tours, but my ADD kicks in, and to be honest, I really zone out on alot of the details. I told our guide they need to make a CD so we can go back and listen so we can remember all those things. So my understanding was that it was a place built for worshipping the ancient Gods. I don't feel to bad, Mark does not remember all the details either. I remember they showed us one area where they prayed for Good Harvest. Of course we all know that for us as believers, it breaks our heart that they think "their Gods" could answer them. Regardless. we enjoyed the beauty of the area as you can see in the pictures the details of their buildings. It was much warmer today! The best thing about the Temple was that as we walked in, there were people everywhere! Sitting around dancing, playing checkers, singing. I have never seen anything quite like it. I can't really concentrate on the details of the tours, but what I am drawn to is the people. I love to just watch. Watching them sing together, or dance together. I am so drawn to them and I know it is because to me they are Sage. This is her China, and I never ever want to forget a single detail. I am trying to plant it in my mind, but I pray it is also forever implanted in my heart. All day today we had fun w/ the street vendors. They shadow you, and they do not give up. I pulled out my video camera at one point and the girl finally backed off w/ her knockoff guchi purse. But it is constant. One guy REALLY wanted me to buy a chariman mao watch today!

After the Temple of Heaven, we ate lunch at a really neat place. They had dancing on stage while we ate a traditional Chinese lunch. Mark liked the fried duck, he eats anything. I did try it, along w/ a few things I was not sure on. So far thankfully I have not been sick at all, I was worried about that. After lunch we went on a rickshaw tour which was really fun! I guess I did not realize exactly what this was. I knew we would be riding around on the back of a bike, but did not realize it was through the Hutong area. Which is where people live. It broke my heart to see, yet this is China and I am thankful to see it. We were able to go into a house of a typical family. The woman was so nice. She did not speak English and so we had a translator. The house was very small, just 3 rooms. And no bathroom, they share a public bathroom. She loves her pets, and we were able to see those. She seemed very happy and content. I will forever be grateful that we were able to do this and see this area. We also toured through the area, shops etc.. Then we went to another building, called the Drum Palace. They used to use it and played the drums so you would know what time it is. The stairs there were VERY steep, scary steep. And we were able to see them play their drums. Everything is so beautiful to watch and listen to. We had Sage's name painted while there which turned out very pretty.

Like I said, it is hard to put into words what we all saw today. We took around 70 pictures and I had the video going all day! When we come home we can bore you w/ hours upon hours of footage! But I just want to remember it all, I want to share w/ Sage someday the amazing country that was her home. My mind is in overload and my heart is full today for China!

Oh and one last thing... These street vendors, we had this guy following me trying to get me to buy these calligraphy brushes. I did not know what they were, and made the mistake of asking the lady next to me. Well he took my question for interest, so he followed me, to my rickshaw, and then started RUNNING next to the rickshaw. Mark, being the cheap not much fun to shop w/ guy that he is, kept saying no. The guy is trying to sell me these things for $2.00!! I kept saying, just BUY THE BRUSHES!, because at this point they are on my lap while the guy is running along beside us! So Mark paid up, all the while complaining about me giving in. PLEASE! They are actually really pretty, there should be a picture posted. And who knows, maybe Sage will be a budding artist, it will be a neat gift to put away for her. Mark can't see the beauty in buying whatsoever. I told him he is not shopping w/ me anymore! Thank goodness there are LOTS of ladies here who will be great shopping partners!

We are meeting our group for dinner soon, not sure where. I am going ahead to post this because I know we are going to be wiped out and in bed early tonight!Tomorrow is a very full day again, and all the families will finally be here! Only 3 more nights till Sage!