Zai Jian China - Ni Hao United States

Tonight is our last night in China, at least for awhile. It represents our fifteenth day here, and for Xiao Qian it is just about as many, only for her in years. In many ways it feels like we've been here for almost a lifetime, and in others for only the short while it was. We deliberately told her once again this evening that we would be saying "good-bye" to China tomorrow because we are concerned it will be difficult for her to leave her motherland. However, at least on the surface, it appears to be anything but. From what we know of Xiao Qian thus far (now eleven days), it seems as though she has this remarkable gift of living in the moment, something I know a lot of us wish we possessed. So we're grateful we're not wrestling with a lot of sorrowful emotions with her this evening, but we will also not take this for granted knowing that there's a lot more going on inside of each of us than meets the eye.

Our day in Hong Kong today was very exciting. After a quick bowl of Chinese noodles in a back alleyway of the bustling streets of the city, we hopped into a cab and drove to a place outside of town called "Ocean Park". Maybe some of you are familiar with it. It's our equivalent of San Diego's "Seaworld" and it turned out to be a great way to see the beauty of Hong Kong (stunning vistas) and at the same time allow Xiao Qian to do something little girls her age love to do, get wild at an amusement park. Throughout the day Victoria and I marveled at this girl's free-spirit. We liken her to a beautiful wild stallion - free, independent and full of life, a zest unmatched by most we know. And as awe inspiring as that is, it also comes with it's pitfalls (as do all of our best character traits). For Xiao Qian that means that she's often far out ahead of us on our excursions, and I'm not just writing figuratively. In a land of 1.3 billion people we're afraid we're going to lose her in the mass of humanity and find it very difficult to retrieve her again (MaMa and BaBa instincts - that's just what we do). And at Ocean Park she was like a kid in a candy store, bouncing up and down with excitement, running from one adventure to another, scurrying about while her MaMa and BaBa did everything they could to keep up with her. We finally had to tell her with a stern voice that it was not O. K. to just wander ahead of us and that she needed to stick close by. In her broken (but o' so adorable) English, she said, "It O. K." This being one of our first visible points of conflict, we said to her, "It no O. K." She was clearly frustrated, but quickly complied and stayed a lot closer to us for the remainder of the day.

Xiao Qian has been relatively free, independent, and autonomous, with few boundaries for perhaps her entire life. Mankind was not made to live that way, and for her she now has for the very first time a mother and father who will shepherd her through these remaining years of her childhood, teaching her that life is full of zest and that we should live at peace in the moment, but with discipline will come the breaking in of a horse if you will, one that is refined and a sight to behold. What an honor it is to be her "trainer", who can love her to the point where she can roam the earth as a clearer reflection of her Creator.

Our flight leaves around noon or so tomorrow, so we're hoping to get some good rest this evening to be strong for the long, never-ending day. I asked Xiao Qian if she was excited to get on the airplane, and she said no in Mandarin, and then in her English said, "It very not good." I chuckled and said that I knew it was a long flight (which is what she meant) and that it would be the last time she'd have to be couped up like that for awhile (in much simpler phraseology). You know how it is for stallions.

We will very soon be united as a whole family in California, and as much as we all love China and cherish our far-beyond-our-expectations experiences here, we're needing to be with our all of our children. We cannot tell you how many adorable little ones we saw today that reminded us of Poppy and Willow and caused our hearts to sink. (Wish I could say the same thing about the rest of our kids, but I'm afraid westerner children are not quite as prolific here, but that doesn't mean we're not sick apart from them.) We understand that Meagan made a paper chain with one link representing one day since we left for China. Each day they've been breaking a link, and now they're down to just two (maybe one by the time they read this). We think that's so cute and thoughtful, and what an exciting way for any young toddler to anticipate the return of their mother and father. Meagan, Austin, Barret and Annie have been phenomenal through all of this - we just cannot believe how much they've risen to the occasion and loved as we would have hoped they would after investing so much of ourselves into one another. We're proud, and we're humbled too. "Thank you dear children. We love you so much and cannot wait to see you."

So here's to one ending, but to another beginning. Here's to one less fatherless and motherless child, and to one more member of the Kruggel household. And here's to not one last post (our next will be from our home-sweet-home), but to hopefully many more journal entries chronicling our pilgrimage through life abundantly, life everlasting found in Jesus Christ and in Him alone.

"Zai Jian" China & "Ni Hao" United States,