Day 2 - Sunday in Beijing

We have survived our second day in Beijing.

We went to church this morning. It was the Beijing International Christian Fellowship. It was held at the 21^st Century Hotel. People from over 60 different countries attend church there. The only ones who cannot are Chinese Nationalists.

I couldn’t help but cry during the praise and worship service. There we stood, in the heart of a communist country, praising the Lord with people from all over the world. It was such a moving experience. He’s not just the God of the United States. He’s the God of everything, everywhere.

After church we went to a jade factory. We learned about the different grades of jade, the difference between hard and soft jade, and how to tell if it’s real. We saw some amazing carvings.

After lunch we went to the Great Wall. It was Miracle’s absolute favorite part. I cannot even begin to explain what it was like to stand there and see that magnificent structure. We took so many pictures I’m not sure what we’ll do with them all. There are a total of seven towers at the part of the wall we went to. We made it to the first tower – barely. It was well worth it, however.


Tonight was the Peking Duck dinner. There wasn’t a single “Fah rah rah” or duck head. It was rather anti-climactic. It was good. And the interior of the restaurant was amazing. There were several women there in traditional Chinese dress. I had never had duck before. It was pretty good. The way you ate it was interesting. You get a tortilla, open it up, dip onion slices in hoison sauce and spread the sauce on the tortilla, then add pieces of duck. You wrap it up and eat it. Pretty tasty.


We were going to go down to the Carre Four tonight to look around. It’s called the “Chinese Wal-Mart.” Evidentially, you can get practically anything there, including some things you’d rather not see. After that, Miracle was going to go swimming. We changed our minds when Lineker told us to be in the lobby at 6:00 tomorrow morning. We need to leave that early to go to our province.

We will have a 2 ½ hour flight in the morning. We’ll get into Changsha in the morning and have lunch, check our baggage, and do paperwork. We won’t get our babies until tomorrow afternoon. I’m not exactly sure at what time we’ll get them. It won’t be soon enough I can tell you that!!

Now that the time we have waited for is almost here, I feel kind’ve odd. You would think I would be all nervous and anxious. I don’t feel that way. I don’t think I can really explain how I feel. Maybe because I don’t really believe we’re here I’m having trouble knowing how I should feel. Maybe tomorrow morning the emotions will kick in.

Miracle said she couldn’t believe she was actually at the Great Wall. I guess that’s how I feel about the entire trip. We waited so long, I can’t believe the wait is almost over. It’s like I keep expecting someone to say, “Oh wait, you’re not supposed to be doing this. You’re not allowed.” Or I feel like I’m waiting for someone to wake me. If this is a dream, I don’t ever want to wake up.