His love

From the time my alarm went off Tuesday morning at home until stepping into the van that would bring us here, nearly 26 hours had passed.  To say I was exhausted would be an understatement.  With each turn our driver took it seemed that we were weaving randomly across the city.  I had no sense of time or direction.  

But then suddenly we left the main highway and turned onto a road lined with trees.  I knew exactly where we were.

It is good to be back!  

After a much needed night of rest, we had breakfast, attended a meeting where needs were made known and we petitioned the Father about them, and then had orientation to learn our roles for the week.  

(Orientation included a short video and my heart was filled with joy to see a picture of my baby boy from his time here).

My morning was spent in the toddler play room.  At first I wondered how that would be with my lack of Mandarin skills.  I quickly was reminded that to communicate with children, you don't really need language.  

I played a game with stuffed animals with one girl and was rewarded with belly laughs and claps of joy.  A bead chaser elicited endless smiles with one little boy.

 Another girl and I cooed at each other as I stroked her cheeks.  And one dumpling of a toddler boy snuggled up in my arms and fell asleep.

I may not have been speaking Mandarin to the toddlers this morning, but I'm pretty sure that the Father's love transcended...