Ok, this is my last post for China.  This is a picture with Fu Jia, who was our student host for the family dinner.  We are at the goodbye banquet dinner that the East China College threw for us the night before we came home.  

This was a fun night and also a little sad. We had to say goodbye to our new friends and realize we would most likely not see them again.  There is always hope, but these students do not have the income to travel to America and I don't forsee myself, being able to go back to China anytime soon.

But it was incredible to get to know them and thank heavens for email and the internet so we can keep in touch.  

It is a popular idea in China for students to want to take on Western names because they feel that their names are hard to pronounce, also a desire to further westernize themselves. But Fu Jia liked the names of my daughters so much she decided to take the name of Maya as her western name.  I told her I liked her Chinese name but she was determined. I think she was trying to honor me in some way.  Which was so sweet but not necessary.  I wish  I could have fit her in my suitcase and brought her home with me!! Maybe someday I will see her again.

Anyways, I wanted to bring a bit of closure to the whole China experience because since I have been home I have had so many thoughts and I am still trying to process them all.  So many things I have learned and yet there are still many questions that have been raised for me. For now, I have been thinking about how much I take for granted.  I am so richly blessed and the freedom we have in this country is amazing.  Just the fact that if we disagree or agree with our leaders we can voice our opinions.  We have the ability to take action for what ever it is we believe in.  

I am glad to be home and humbled to have had this amazing experience. I wish you all well and hope that life is good.

All for now.