From China, with Love...

In late July 2011 we got a call about a little boy in China...to say we were shocked would be an understatement.  Not shocked about the call itself, just the timing of it!  We were expecting the call to come in September/October, so I'll never forget seeing "Holt International - Oregon" on our caller I.D.

We cannot say enough good words about our adoption agency - Holt International - our process was smooth and we felt so well-prepared.  There are many, many people involved in an international adoption and we were always treated with equal parts excitement ("you're getting a baby!") and education ("can we help you translate Chinese health records?")  The lady told me they "matched" a five-month old baby boy with our family.  He had cleft lip and palate and she thought he might have surgery that month.  He was much younger than we expected and we thought his age would blend perfectly with Lucy and Eli!  Here's the first picture we received of our Samuel...

Our adoption was through the "Child of Promise" program that matches orphaned children with "correctable medical conditions" with families who want to care for them.   We signed all sorts of paperwork to confirm that we accepted our "match!"  Holt called us a month later to let us know that Samuel's lip was repaired - here are some updated pictures we received...

The months between having our "match" and traveling to get Samuel were tough.  Of course, this is the process we signed up for...but it is still hard to trust the system and know that your baby is half-way around the world!  I was thankful that we had our house situation to keep me occupied...a new house being renovated and an old house that had a zillion showings and three offers before finally selling...we were not bored.  I was so very ready to hold Samuel in my arms and have him as part of our daily life.  I couldn't listed to John Waller's song "While I'm Waiting" without crying...

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait 

Sometimes Chris and I will look at each other and say "did we REALLY go to China?" The answer is "YES!" and, finally, here are the pictures to prove it!

We flew to Beijing like most adopting families because it is easy to fly into and centrally located to get to the provinces.  For a Chinese adoption, you have to travel to your child's province (like our states) to get your child and fill out paperwork.  Samuel's province was within driving distance, so we rode on a small bus with the other two families who were adopting from the Hebei province.  Before traveling to the province, we had a day-and-a-half in Beijing for some quick sight-seeing...not enough time to see The Great Wall, but enough time to tour their local parks, see Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City.  We weren't very daring with our food choices while we were in China...we had one typical Chinese meal and ate most of the rest of our meals at the hotel buffet...which had a wide variety, including mashed potatoes and fish that still had their eyes!  We plan to take Lucy, Eli and Samuel back one day and will be more daring then - we decided that this trip was about staying healthy so we could care for Samuel.  We each took two Pepto Bismol tablets a day in order to keep our digestive-systems running and drank bottled water the entire trip - even in a 5-star hotel.  Thankfully, we didn't get sick.

While in Beijing, we also met with the translator who would take us to Samuel.  His name was "William"...he was assigned that name in his first English class.  He showed us updated pictures and reports on Samuel...our excitement was building!

Samuel's Got'cha Day - February 22, 2012
The orphanage where Samuel lived also had adult residents, so they rarely allow visitors.  It was coordinated that we would meet Samuel at a government office about two hours from his orphanage - the same office where people get their marriage licenses, etc.  Of the four places in China we visited, his province was the most rural...you can see the smog from our hotel windows.  We arrived at the office before Samuel.  When Samuel's caretakers walked in with him he was very subdued.  I'll never forget those moments.  They handed him to me and Chris kept saying "ni hao" which means "hello" in Chinese...that is/was the extent of our Chinese.  Samuel immediately started crying and leaning out of my arms.  Through William we asked his caretakers (two women) if they thought he was hungry?  They nodded and we tried to offer him a bottle.  Through William again, they commented that Samuel is smart and he knew what was going on.  They tried to make reassuring comments, through William, about him having been on such a long bus ride, so maybe that was why he was crying.  He just kept crying.  Chris signed papers and I tried to soothe him.  We all (William, us, Samuel and his caretakers) had to travel to another building to sign more papers.  Samuel fell asleep in my arms during the bus ride - he just cried himself to sleep he was so exhausted.  He woke up again at the next office and leaned for his caretakers...it was very hard to watch.

Throughout all the paperwork, William kept referring to Samuel as "she".  Samuel had on so much clothing (a onesie, a sleeper, and his traditional Chinese silk outfit) that we couldn't quickly check on his gender (ahem.)  We asked William, "is this a boy?" and he quickly reassured us that Samuel was a BOY and we learned there isn't a different word for "he" or "she" in Chinese.  William said that he usually uses "she" because most adoptions are girls.  Once we said our good-byes to the caretakers, we went back to our hotel with Samuel for the first time.  We slowly peeled off those layers of clothes, confirmed "It's a BOY!" and put him in some pajamas...he was ours!  Someone recommended I not wash the outfit he came in and let him use that as a blanket when we slept - the familiar smell was soothing to him.

After we got Samuel, we traveled to Guangzhou - everyone that adopts from China travels there because that is where the U.S. Embassy is located, each child gets a medical check-up, and there is still lots of paperwork to complete (three cheers for Chris who handled all of our paperwork...between the interviews, fingerprints, notarizing and many, many copies, we were thoroughly "reviewed!")  Holt organized different activities while we were there, but we stayed close to our hotel to help Samuel get on a schedule and to start the bonding process with him.

Once we were back home, the real fun began...and hasn't stopped!  I see changes in Samuel every month...he has shown such confidence in the pool this summer, he loves all of the play-time with Lucy and Eli, and he's trying new words all of the time...we're hopeful this progress means that he knows he is cherished!  Here are some recent pictures of him...

I sing "Jesus Loves Me" to Samuel after we say prayers and before I put him in his crib.  I add his name to the lyrics, "yes, Jesus loves Samuel; yes, Jesus loves Samuel..."  Recently I paused and said "yes, Jesus loves..." and waited for Samuel to say his name; instead he looked at me with those beautiful brown eyes, paused for a moment, then  said "Mommy!"  So, now we sing the song "yes, Jesus loves Samuel and Mommy..."

I don't know what is next for our family as we consider how to continue supporting the many orphans in our world.  I do know how lucky we are to be surrounded by family and friends who have embraced Samuel! 

Through an email distribution list, I keep in touch with other parents who have adopted children from the same orphanage as Samuel.   And, I have recently agreed to serve on the Adoption Support, Foster and Orphan Care committee at our church and I'm excited to see where that ministry will lead - there is so much awareness, education, and comfort we need to provide for orphans and families who welcome them into their homes.   Even though we've been home for nineteen months, we still get many questions about Samuel...the most popular one is "are those kids yours?....all of them?"   We will never be perfect parents, but I hope we can perfectly show love without boundaries - physical, emotional or otherwise.

Here's a picture of Samuel that I took last week...it so clearly shows what he's into right now...heaven help me!  He likes to take his clothes off, as you can tell by the one arm through the neck hole.  He's very into manuevering our chairs or stools so that he can turn on water faucets (and not necessarily turn them off.)  This picture is strategically angled so you cannot see his naked bottom half - he also takes his diaper off and loves to run around with a bare bottom.  My friends have heard me say a zillion times that I don't like "a half-way potty-trained kid" and even though Samuel shows a lot of interest, he shows no signs of control (ahem.)  I'm thinking we're waiting until closer to his third birthday.   I'm so very thankful that God opened our hearts and home to this little guy...his energy and curiosity are such a blessing to our family!

Music speaks to me and I am touched by this song...

Little hands, shoeless feet, lonely eyes looking back at me
Will we leave behind the innocent too brief
On their own, on the run when their lives have only begun
These could be our daughters and our sons
And just like a drum I can hear their hearts beating
I know my God won’t let them be defeated
Every child has a dream to belong and be loved
[Chorus:]
Boys become kings, girls will be queens
Wrapped in Your majesty
When we love, when we love the least of these
Then they will be brave and free
Shout your name in victory
When we love when we love the least of these
When we love the least of these
Break our hearts once again
Help us to remember when
We were only children hoping for a friend
Won’t you look around these are the lives that the world has forgotten
Waiting for doors of our hearts and our homes to open