Saying good-bye to Chongqing...

This will probably be my final post from Chongqing, as we leave tomorrow for the final leg of our trip, Guangzhou, which is even further south in China. This is where the U.S. Consulate office is where we will finalize our adoption. As we prepare to say good-bye to Chongqing, I am filled with many emotions. Not only are we saying goodbye to Michael, our new friend, and our faithful bus driver, but we are also saying goodbye to Karsynn's city. The city who so kindly gave her to us. We are leaving behind the life that she has known for a much better one, but still, it is all she has left of her old life. We have tried very hard to capture some beautiful memories for her on video and in pictures, yet we wonder if it will ever be enough to satisfy her curiosity of where she is from. As I'm typing, we are sitting here in front of a huge window with a splendid view of her old world and tears are flowing down my face. I'm ready to come home, but I'm sad to leave, if that makes any sense at all. As we've walked through the city and stared into the many faces of mothers studying Karsynn almost as if to see if they recognize their own abandoned child, my heart aches. It aches for all the Chinese women who have felt forced to give up their child and for all those to come. As I look at Karsynn I imagine what a sacrifice her birth mother made just to save her life. We have learned that so many choose abortion over abandonment, which is very sad. At least her mother loved her enough to save her. For this, we are eternally thankful. Our prayer is that God grant her peace of mind and heart and that she knows that she will be well taken care of. I will post pictures later, if possible. We love you all.