Twilight Zone
May 28, 2006
I know that today is Sunday because we just returned home from church. Other than that I feel like we're living in the Twilight Zone. Jet-lag seems to have gotten the best of us as we fight to stay awake in the afternoons and remain in bed before the sun comes up.
The day after we returned (I think) we had some church family come to visit. At one point, a co-worker came over to take Joy to the train station (she went down to Greensville, SC to spend some time with her brother). I vaguely remember talking to them as they left and Tricia said when she woke me that my body was quivering. I've had some mild cases of jet-lag before, but this has been much worse than other times.
Praise the Lord we have family here who are filling the gaps for us with Grace and our other children. They have been gracious in helping with cooking, cleaning, and caring.
In addition to Tricia's mom, sister, and nieces helping, we have had some very kind people from church provide us with evening meals. What a blessing they have been this week during our transition. Also the visits by our church family have been a great encouragement to us.
Grace is doing so well as she seems to have adjusted to the time difference much better than Tricia or me. She is doing quite well as she meets new people every day. We have seen progress with her in some of her physical deficiencies. She is very close to being able to sit up and she is starting to reach for things and try to grab them.
Today was her first day in church and we are overwhelmed by people's excitement with us over Grace's arrival. So many people offered very encouraging words and we are looking forward to them getting to know Grace.
Gracie spent her first morning in the nursery and did very well. She fussed a little bit, but for the most part she did great. She ate a little and took a short snooze in between meeting so many people that have been praying for her and asking about her over the past 19 months.
All of the kids wore their special outfits that Tricia purchased for them in Guangzhou. They all looked so nice.
To those of you that have followed us through China (or as one new friend said, "Stalked!")—I would like to say thank you! Your enthusiasm, kind comments posted to our entries and phone calls upon our return mean more than we both could ever express.
Going to the other side of the world to a land where few understand you and you understand few is quite surreal. There were times that Tricia would wake during the wee hours of the morning and go to the computer hoping to hear from a friend or two from home. In a small way it made the days of a foreign missionary more understandable. Those friendly words from familiar folks can carry you a long way.
I hope to post some essay type entries in the coming weeks. My thoughts are still so disjointed but I hope to take some time to reflect on the goodness of God in our family. He is good and His love endures forever.
