Disney Land Hong Kong - Magic across the globe

It's Magical no matter where you are......

After much deliberation yesterday morning in the lobby, we finally decided we would skip out on Ocean Park and head to Disney Land with the Freeland’s.  Unfortunately we waffled too long and caused us all to miss the free shuttle from the hotel.  But all it all, Disney was the place we needed to be. We had a total blast there.  I think we actually liked the fact that it was much smaller so that we did not feel like we left anything out.  We pretty much took in everything this park had to offer, no matter what age it was geared towards. 

Since Space Mountain was closed last April when our family went to Orlando, that was the first ride we all hit when we arrived.  Even GDaddy got on that one.  We were floored that he rode this with us.  However, that was pretty much all that he rode after that for the rest of the day, except the “low-key” It’s a Small World boat ride.  But he was a trooper through it all, even more than others in our family. 

.....unless of course you happen to not like Space Mountain....  :)

Since it was a Friday here, the longest we had to wait for any ride during the day was 5 minutes, so it made it much easier to go from ride to ride and catch everything we wanted.  However, there must be a “night discount” offered because around 4:30, you could tell that people were flooding into the park, and it was not as manageable to walk around as it was earlier.  But the park had a Halloween theme for the month, and lots of the park became geared towards ghosts and goblins for the night. 

We did have a couple of neat opportunities to communicate with some local folks today.  The first one was at lunch where we shared a big table with a mother and her young son.  It was obvious that she was curious about us, as she watched us the whole time, especially little Jessica.  As we were leaving, GDaddy did his usual "I never meet a stranger" conversation by telling her why our families were there.  You could tell that she was pleased we were adopting and bringing her into our families.  She then asked if we were "C's.  (She actually said the whole word.....)  She said she noticed that we prayed before lunch, and she was comfortable telling us that she was one too.  BAM!!!!  World opened up by His Grace.  It was great that any "perceived barriers" were broken down in His Name!!  PTL!!!

During the afternoon parade, we sat down to get a good spot on the front of the sidewalk to see the parade.  However, in China, it does not matter how you think you may have a good spot. It does not take long before you are overwhelmed by the local folks, as they do not recognize "waiting in line" here.  But it was ok, as it gave us the opportunity to get to know this sweet little boy that really adopted us as he did not recognize that we did not look like him.  We had a neat time playing and talking with him as the parade passed by.  His father seemed to also be glad that us "non-locals" really wanted to spend time with his son.  Father calls us to plant seeds "as we go" no matter what age or nationality.  We cannot miss opportunities like this to walk Matthew 28:19-20.

By late afternoon, jet-lag hit every one of us, and we were done by 6:00.  We had hoped to stay later for the last parade.  But we wanted to at least make sure we caught one free ride back to the hotel before it was too late.  (The taxi ride was not as cheap as we had hoped earlier.) 

All in all, it was a great start for our families in Hong Kong.  We will check out of this beautiful hotel (that Debbie Freeland so graciously offered to us) later this morning.  Our plane does not leave for Chongqing until later this evening.  So we are not sure what this city offers us for the day.  But I hope that even in these “simple plans”, we allow our Father to guide us to where we need to go.

Oh, you know how we said that we really just needed to make sure that the paperwork was all that we really needed to remember to bring?  Well, it hit me yesterday morning that the late-night trip to the supercenter was so important to get our last minute items that I totally forgot to get them out of the trunk before we left.  Nothing in there cannot be replaced.  But it was frustrating to forget these items, as there were some last minute gifts for the officials that we bought, as well as some things for Mary Beth (for her dry skin) that we hope to be able to find later today or in Chongqing.

One last thing for the day…..  Luke (in his usual huge-heart-self) came up to me and loved on me yesterday to thank us for bringing him to Disney, but to also thank us for bringing him to China to get his little sister.  I love that he continuously thinks like this.  As we talked and hugged, we were reminded that in 2 days (big gulp…) our family will change forever.  Wow!!!  That thought actually woke me up this morning with some anxiety (that and GDaddy’s snoring J).  I know that in the next couple of days, this reality will hit us deeper and deeper. 

What will Mary Beth think when she sees our strange white faces?  How will we react when we see her…..or even if she pulls back from us as we draw closer to her?  These are thoughts that continue to flood my head.  But they are reality and we must consider them.  (Isaiah 42:16)

It reminds us of how we are adopted by Him and how we react when our Father wants to draw closer to us, and we sometimes pull back in defensiveness or fear of the unknown, or where He will take us.  But He never stops His pursuit, no matter how hard we tug against His effort and love and no matter how long we push against Him.  We must pursue Mary Beth with this same type of love.  I cannot imagine she has ever been pursued like this before, and we must not lose hope.  We will gain her trust and love by loving as our Father commands, and by His example.  1 Corinthians 13 is the chapter that addresses love as it was meant to be.  This is the type of love we must offer to Mary Beth, as our Father commands us to also love the world.

Thank you for your prayers that we so covet these next few days. 

We hope to touch base at least once more from Chongqing before Gotcha Day.