It is with mixed emotions that we leave China. It is such an amazing country - very different than the U.S. in so many ways. But, it is the people of China that make us sad to leave. The country of birth of both our daughters is full of wonderful, loving, kind people, and we feel honored to have visited and been so kindly received.
But, we are heading home, and we can not wait to get off that plane at Dulles! This trip has been exhilarating and exhausting, and especially hard on Beth who has spent the last six days struggling mightily with a nasty illness. We are praying that our almost 24-hour trip home goes smoothly, that Beth does not feel too sick, that Sophie can manage to get some sleep on the plane, and that the lovely ice storm that is apparently hitting the DC area right now does not cause us any delays. But, we trust in One who is mighty and strong and loving, so we know that He will bring us home in accordance with His will, and that's plenty good enough for us! Thank you Lord!
I also wanted to add another long-overdue note to all the readers of our travel log. When we determined that our first daughter, Mia, could not make the trip with us to China to get Sophie, it was without hesitation that we asked Beth's mother, Barbara Wolford, to come down from Ohio for the two weeks that we would be away to stay at our home and take care of Mia. She agreed. The next part is hard to put into words... Mom, we will never be able to express our gratitude for your selfless act of service that you have performed over these past two weeks. What all of you readers should understand is that Beth's Mom not only had a two-and-a-half year old to take care of, but she had a two-and-a-half year old with a chronic kidney disease to take care of, with ALL the stress that comes along with knowing that Mia could have relapsed at any time. Praise the Lord that Mom did not have to deal with a relapse, but it does not diminish the sacrifice that she has made to serve our family in this way. Mom, we love you and could not have made this trip to bring our daughter home without you. We are truly blessed to have you as a mother, mother-in-law, and, of course, Grammy!
We are scheduled to be landing at Dulles shortly after 3:30 pm on Friday if any of you are interested in stopping by. We will probably be somewhat secluded for several days after our return getting over severe jetlag and adjusting to our new family dynamic, but will try to get an update made to this website at some point in the near future. Thanks again to everyone who took a moment to post a message to our guestbook. It was a real lifeline to us in many ways.
Signing off for the last time from China! (The last time in 2005, at least!)
John, Beth, & Sophie Lossing