Thursday, June 26, 2008
JIAOZUO DAY

We began the day eating breakfast with Philip’s friend from Philip Hayden and his family. The boys were very happy to see each other and were typical three-year-olds, eating, giggling, and being restless. Then it was a free morning for us until 1 P.M. We spent it napping and eating lunch so that Philip would be rested and have a full stomach for the long journey to the orphanage and back.

Our van driver drove us to Philip’s orphanage which was about an hour and a half away. We crossed the Yellow River. It really is yellow. Then we continued past many rice paddies and small towns. It seems that the people we passed today work very hard to make a living.

We were only at Philip’s orphanage for a brief stay, just long enough to pay our fee and take a picture, but it was an emotional time for Kevin and me. This was the place that took in Philip when he was only two days old and very fragile. Even though he stayed two short months in this orphanage, we felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude to these people for caring for him. They saved his life. Then they gave him to the Philip Hayden Foundation to continue helping him. What a survivor our little guy is, what a journey he has had up to this point in his life, and what selfless and amazing people have helped him along the way. Kevin and I sat in silence most of the way back to Zhengzhou just watching Philip sleep, realizing where he has been and imagining where he might go.

Psalms 139:13 - 16 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.