Shamian Island

April 26,2009

Today has been a great day. I was able to sleep through the night from 10 pm to 7am. The best nights sleep yet. I showered and got ready for the day. Gideon woke about 8am happy as usual. We went to breakfast about 9am. Breakfast at the Victory was very nice. Not quite the White Swan but still very good. After breakfast we walked to StarBucks and had coffee--I actually had a cafe mocha. It was good, just not hot enough. We relaxed on the patio for a while and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for church. We went to the church that is both Mandarin and English. We sat in front of a family from Peoria Illinois. The father was there adopting his daughter and his 2 teenage daughters were with him. We had met him the day before at the medical exam. The church was packed. There were only a few americans there. It was so nice to sing and worship together. I got very emotional singing the songs in both English and Mandarin. The sermon was from John 13:34-35. He spoke about love. After church we walked though Shamian Park and met a very sweet chinese girl named J. She had seen us in the church and was anxious to talk to us. She was excited to tell us that she was a Christian because an American had told her about the bible. Her family is Buddhist and she hopes that one day they will listen and want to know about being a Christian too. We went back to the room for a while and then Tim laid down and I went out to walk and shop a little. Gideon and I walked and walked all over the island. The Christian girl I saw earlier found me and took me to her shop. She was trying to teach me to say things in Mandarin. She said I was very good. We talked for a while and then we walked some more. Tim and I then had plans to meet a couple we had met in Nanchang for dinner. They took us to a Shanghai restaurant and ordered traditional shanghai food. It was mostly good. Some was not but we really enjoyed most of it. We then walked to Lucy's for dessert--good old apple pie ala mode. Gideon and their little girl Anna sat side by side in their strollers and played. We then walked around the island with our new friends and really had an enjoyable evening. We plan on having lunch with them tomorrow at Lucy's and then going to the Market together. We have to stay in our room from 9am-12 noonwhile our guide is at the consulate in case there are any questions. Our new friends Jennifer and Peter are here until Thursday. We have really had a pleasant day today and Gideon has been the perfect little angel. He really was good all day even though he wouldn't take a nap. He went right to sleep as soon as we got back tonight and is sleeping soundly now. We are so thankful for all the blessings we have been given. We miss all our precious ones at home waiting for us. We can't wait to get home to all of you. Good night from Guangzhous, Love Mom, dad and Gideon.