August 1, 2006 Every Good and Perfect Gift is from Above
Today we received a precious gift. It seems hard to believe that we have been given the privilege of raising this amazing little girl. Many prayers were answered in a day that far surpassed our best hopes.
We were picked up at 9:30 and taken to the registration office. We met the registrar and began filling out paper work while we waited for the orphanage doctor to arrive with Shi Ru Yi. I had my head down busily writing when I heard a collected , “ohhhh.” I looked up to see a beautiful little girl in the doorway and added my own “ohhh.” The combination was a bit intimidating and she burst into tears. The doctor took her to the restroom and she came back looking wary, but not crying. We were ready with some of the toys and animal cookies we had brought and that did the trick. She quickly engaged with all of us and it was only minutes before we saw the smile that would be with us most of the day. Within minutes we were ushered out the door to drive to the photographer. We had our first hearty laugh in the elevator on the way down. We were a bit in awe of this little girl. She was friendly, engaging, attempting to communicate and following instructions. She thought the girls were hilarious and played games all day. As we drove from appointment to appointment, she learned to give high fives and taught us how to say “hug” in Chinese. She gave many hugs and kisses today.
Our last appointment before we took a break this afternoon was quite long. She spent quite a while playing with the beads we had received from the McNeils and then started looking tired and crying for “mama” - her foster mother. I picked her up and she laid her head on my shoulder and fell asleep. She slept through the rest of the appointment and our drive back to the hotel and continued sleeping quite a while after we got back. She even slept through the moment that she officially became ours at 1:30 p.m. after our 4 hour adjustment period had expired. My understanding is that in most other provinces it is overnight, but not here. All of our official paperwork is finished in this province, but now we have to wait until Monday to get her passport. While we wait, our guides have offered us many opportunities for local sightseeing. We found out it is not possible to visit the orphanage anymore, but we will take a tour of her home city and be able to take pictures of the area. Tonight, we were able to meet with the staff of Good Rock Foundation here in Urumqi. We met with the coordinator that has done the home visits for her and the woman who runs the charity store in Guangzhou. They brought us some baby pictures. The doctor from the orphanage brought us some clothing, a sample of the milk we needed to buy and the disposable camera we had sent.
We were so pleasantly surprised by Anna’s energetic and happy disposition through most of the events of the day. She was pretty unhappy about taking a bath and seemed afraid of the water. Tonight, she cried for “mama” quite a bit before she fell asleep with me holding her. When she is happy she will go to any of us, play and give hugs, but when she is sad, she wants the closest thing to “mama” available. We tried having her call us daddy and mommy thinking that might be less upsetting. She did learn to say “daddy”, but when she was looking for us she would ask for “baba” and “mama”. She speaks quite a bit and was understandable enough for the translator to understand much of what she said. Sarah remembered some Chinese words that she understood. By the end of the day, she had learned some English words. She copies everything we do. She listens and understands instructions remarkably well and communicates her wants and needs very well too. At lunch, she clearly communicated that she did not want a lid on her cup and then amazed us with her ability to use her arms together to drink without a lid without spilling a drop. Apparently, no one ever told her that she was disabled in any way. She is quite able and capable despite stiffness in her elbows and weakness in her hands. She also impressed us with her ability to use chopsticks and feed herself with a Chinese soup spoon. She is very creative at adapting to the limitations in her arms and hands. She is potty trained and knows how to brush her teeth. When we come into our room, she immediately starts taking off her shoes. When it was time to go, she was finding shoes for everyone. When she spilled some of her rice, she used a napkin to clean up and then started cleaning up around Rachel too! Jing had taught Sarah a Chinese nursery song that Anna has enjoyed quite a bit. We’re trying to learn another one that she was singing to us off and on all day long. She also likes to dance!
The hardest thing is knowing the heartache that comes with being separated from her foster mother. We are so thankful that she had the benefit of being is such a loving and nurturing environment. We are saddened by the situation in this country that results in abandonment of babies and having to choose between institutionalizing them or separating them from such devoted care givers. We know that the Lord has great plans for this bright, energetic and gifted little girl. I hope she will have a heart for the land where she was born and the people here as she grows up in America.
It was an amazing, exhausting and blessed day. We are completely in love with this sweet little girl. Enjoy the pictures. Pete picked them out and I’m not sure how he chose from the many scenes of the day. We can’t access the site from here, so I’ll have to see his selections when we get home. I don’t think I’ll stay awake to see it sent off. Blessings to all of you from China!
