Heading back to China

On January 14th, at the lovely hour of 4 a.m., I will head back to my "second home".....back to China to check on many LWB programs and most importantly, to hold and hug some of the most wonderful kids in the world.

I will be traveling with LWB's medical director, Karen Maunu, and we have a very full itinerary, from Beijing to Henan to Guangdong and back up to Beijing. We will go from business suits in Beijing to "baby rocking" clothes in Shantou. Somehow we have to figure out how to get all of these wonderful donations into our suitcases without having them break the zippers. :-) We are loaded to capacity this time, thanks to great donors who sent special infant formula, baby books, slippers, medical supplies, hats, gloves, blankets, clothing, toys and more. I have ordered my "don't leave home without it" balloon animal pump and 200 twisty balloons, and I scoured the city for the all important bubble gun. I have learned the necessities for coaxing smiles out of reluctant kids over the last three years. :-) And yes, I have my boxes of KIX cereal.....the ultimate ice breaker with any toddler who has that "don't come one step closer" look in her eye.

I am afraid to check the temps in the north. I am a southern girl now, and today while it was 74 degrees in Oklahoma, I had on my fuzzy sweater to keep the chill away. Please no one email me and give me the news that it will be COLD in Beijing and Henan. I am going with the "mind over matter" philosophy this time, and I am just going to tell myself I am not cold and hopefully my body will play along. :-) Another LWB board member, Arlene Howard, is in Anhui province at the moment, and she wrote today that one of the orphanages which normally has the kids one to a crib now has them two to a crib just to keep them warmer during these cold winter months. I remember vividly the first time I walked into an orphanage during the month of January. I had on two layers of Lands End silk long underwear, a woolen sweater and a heavy coat and I was feeling cold, until I saw the babies and toddlers with their little red chapped cheeks and hands......and then I felt so guilty for my many layers. I am bringing over 100 warm winter hats, thanks to some great friends of LWB, and many mittens to keep those tiny hands warm.

I am praying for good weather while we are there, as we have many connections to make and lots of long drives on rural roads. We are hoping to visit one of the teen girls on our cleft mission, who lives 40 km from one of the cities we are visiting, but there are not good roads. Our facilitator has asked us what are plans are if we drive out to her village and then hit a snow storm. Since I didn't have an answer for that, we are just hoping for clear sunny days so we can accomplish all we want to do.

Thanks for following along on our journey. I am sure we will have many stories to tell along the way, and I am sure that our hearts will never forget all the beautiful new faces we are about to meet.