The Day Before the BIG day

I thought that the day after you make a long international trip was supposed to be a day of recovery! Today didn't have a lot of recovery time, but it was a GREAT day!! It started off with a short tour of the local area with my adoption facilitator, Bob! He showed me the most imporatant things for a new adoption parent to know - a 24-hour Seven-Eleven that is next door, the huge White Swan Play Room (which is ONLY for adoption children and their parents), the swimming pool, and the LadyBug Laundry within one block of our hotel. When we returned, I had the great fortune to meet the families who had their "Gotcha Day" last week. This was really cool because one family (the Brannons) are close friends of our cousins (the Lauffers) in North Carolina. All of the children were just adorable to see!!!!
After that, I was invited to go to lunch with some colleagues from Procter & Gamble, who work in Asia. For those of you who don't know, P&G is our company's biggest client and, over the years, my partners and I have gotten to know many P&G executives throughout the world. We went to a well-known restaurant in Guangzhou called the Cow and Bridge, where we ate eel, pork, rice, vegetables, and other delicacies. At lunch were Rene Co, his boss (Erik Jonnaert), who had heard me speak in Cincinnati twice before, and some members of Rene's family. They wanted to introduce me to P&G's lead physician in China and we had the opportunity to speak tonight. Dr. Lee heads up P&G's efforts in China with our program, the Corporate Athlete. He is meeting me for coffee tomorrow morning to give me contacts in the medical community, associated with P&G, who are all willing and ready to help me if I have any problems at all. Everyone has just been so incredibly nice and helpful. They are Blessings to me and my family, that's all I can say.
After I returned from lunch, I went back to the famous Seven-Eleven and got snacks for Shen's arrival to our hotel room tomorrow evening. I then wrapped the gifts for the nannies at the orphanage, whom I will meet tomorrow, and I just finished going through Shen's toys, coloring books, and "stuff" that mommy sent with me.
The camera and the camcorder (thanks Margie for loaning us the camcorder) are all charged and ready to go. Tomorrow is Gotcha Day!! Yes, I am excited about it because I believe that Jodie and I have been put on this path from a higher calling. In Isaiah 43:5, Scripture says, "I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west." That says it all!