Goodbye to China

Wow... I thought about what I would write today for my last post from China. I am so thankful that we've made it to this point. We have a beautiful little daughter and she is soon to be a US citizen. She will no longer be destined for the hard life that would have been hers had she stayed here with "parents unknown" listed on her birth certificate. Orphans are considered to be "bad luck" here. When you meet Mia, and I so hope you do, you will see this little girl is anything but "bad luck". I know that we are about to take her from the only home she has ever known, but I know the one I'm taking her to is better. She now can be raised in a family who trust God... not Buddha. She can go to school, go on vacation, have friends, attend college, and choose her own life. But most importantly, when the chips are down, when the day has been rough, when it is Christmas time, or a birthday... she has a home... a home with a mama, a daddy, brothers , grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins to go to to be loved. She will never be alone. She has us... for better, for worse. For someone who has ALWAYS had the gift of a loving, supportive family, the thought of being an orphan is mind-boggling. God does not intend for us to be orphaned. He intends for us all to be in a loving family. He proved this with the gift of His own Son... who came to rescue us all. Griff and I feel so humbled that God called us to such a wonderful thing as adopting one of these precious children into our family. She will be our daily reminder of the love of Christ, of the importance of home. I encourage ALL of you to search your hearts, to pray diligently on what God may want you and your family to do for "the least of these". There are orphans everywhere... not just in China. There are orphans in our own hometown. Adoption is one way, the best way to help these children. Other ways are through orphanage sponsorship... like "Love Without Boundaries", "Half the Sky", and others. The latest statistic I saw on Orphan Sunday last November, was that if only 6% of the Christian population adopted one orphan, there would be no orphans left in the world. The main thing is do something. Ask God to give you clear direction. We have seen firsthand that God smiles on obedience and He blesses those who bless. We have a feeling that our blessing is just beginning.
To our boys: We have missed you more that you will ever know. This has been hard to leave you for such a long time, but we know that bringing Mia home is very important and that you understand. It won't be long now and we will all be home together. Can't wait to see you in Birmingham.
For those of you who are local, we are set to arrive in Birmingham on Sunday, July 18 at 8:18 pm. If you feel led to come, please do. Again, for all of you... thanks for the prayers and for your kind words of encouragement and support. We thank God for you all. Almost home...

"I will not leave you as orphans... I will come to you." John 14:18

Much love,
Ashley

Thursday in Guangzhou

Well, we are getting ready to call it a day. We went to the Botanical Gardens this morning. When we first left the hotel, it was a bit cloudy, so our guide was optimistic that it wouldn't be AS hot as previous days. WRONG... that sun came out and WHAM! I was sweating so badly that it was dripping into my eyes. Mia gets this prickly heat rash when we are outdoors for very long we have discovered, so it didn't take long before she was broken out all over. There was an indoor area with lots of beautiful orchids, ferns, palms, and succulents. At the top of the gardens, was a large rose garden. The roses were pretty, but as much as I hate to say it, we just couldn't get into the Botanical Gardens because of the brutal heat. I think that I probably would have enjoyed it... in February... LOL... We went back to the hotel and tried to get in a quick rest and then met again in a couple of hours to head over to the U.S. Consulate Building to take our oath. This oath ceremony is done as a group, and the consulate officer comes out and you repeat after her that basically you've been honest with all information regarding your child's adoption and pending citizenship. The officer congratulated us, because basically we had run the race and won... our child had been successfully adopted and their U.S. citizenship would go into affect once our plane touched ground in the U.S. Several of the mamas in our group cried... I almost did. For some reason, I think I'm able to hold back my emotions now, but when I finally get off that plane in Birmingham, Alabama... I may totally lose myself for a few minutes. It seems like this adoption has been going on forever, but in actuality, ours has been in record speed. Most of the families in our group have been waiting for this day for well over four years. After the oath ceremony, we had dinner with our good friends we've made from Georgia. Their daughter, Ruthie, is a few months older than Mia. I really hope that our girls can remain friends. Us mommies, too, of course. We ate at our favorite Italian restaurant that has kept us alive over the last couple of weeks. We will begin packing up tomorrow to prepare for our trip home. There are no words to describe how glad I'll be to finally be home with Mia, to see my boys again, to see my family, to sleep in my own bed, etc. etc. Only two more days... You all cannot know how much I look forward to reading your comments on my blog each day. It has helped me very much to know that so many care about us. Until tomorrow...

Much love,
Ashley

And She Smiles...

Last night, our group went on a Dinner Cruise on the Pearl River. It was a buffet, and let's just say it was catered to locals... not Americans. Pig knuckles, chicken feet, fungus, and other Chinese delicacies were on the buffet. Nothing that even remotely sounded good. I ate a little bit of noodles, but was saving myself for the ice cream cart that was promised on the way to the cruise by our guide, R. Then, about midway through the dinner, an announcement was made..."Attention all Lifeline Families... unfortunately there will be no ice cream this evening... but we will provide plenty of watermelon." Fantastic... So, after dinner we went up on the top deck of the boat to make pictures of the skyline. Mia had so much fun. They were playing salsa music, which I found a bit odd, but it made for a great dance, so she laughed out loud. We were so excited to see her having fun, that it negated the fact that we'd had no dinner. This was the first time we had seen Mia being silly, laughing, and smiling for more than a nano-second. Once we returned to the hotel, I went straight to the snack shop within the hotel and grabbed a Haagen-Daas bar... for $10 US... What? They made a big profit on that ice cream bar, but man, was it good.

Much love,
Ashley

You must read this...

This article gives a wonderful "State of the Orphans in China" review... A must read. We are so fortunate that God allowed our family to save one little one from this kind of fate. God is faithful...

http://chinaadoptiontalk.blogspot.com/2010/07/amy-eldridge-of-lwb-speaks.html

Copy and paste the above link into your address bar and it should take you to it.


Much love,
Ashley

The United States said YES!

I am proud to announce that we had our appointment today with the U.S. Consulate office here in Guangzhou to petition for Mia's visa to come to the U.S. At this appointment we had to show the U.S. that we had completed the necessary paperwork, had received approvals on all the paperwork, had secured Mia's passport, and had completed all necessary immunizations required by U.S. law. We met all this criteria, so the U.S. said YES! They will issue her a visa... which for those of you who have not traveled internationally (like us), a visa is a page inside the passport that states that you have permission to enter a particular country. It is my understanding that not all countries require visas, but China does, and so does the U.S. So you see, a passport isn't enough, you must inform the country WHY it is that you are traveling to that country. We are now finished... the actual visa page in her passport will be ready for pick up Friday afternoon at the Consulate's office. At that time, we are free to leave. Unfortunately, we must wait until Sunday morning to catch our flight. We will be heading back to Hong Kong Saturday in preparation for leaving. So many prayers have been answered and we are very, very thankful. I am now thinking ahead to our journey home, the trip over here was a struggle... long and exhausting. The trip home will be harder with an infant in tow. God gave us a little "happy" at the Birmingham airport, by allowing our flights to be changed, thus giving us EXCELLENT seats for the long, 16-hour flight. I am already praying that God grant us another "happy" for the trip home. Nothing is impossible for God, especially something so simple as an airplane ride... :)

More Shots, More Shoes, and The Guangzhou Zoo

So, I didn't get around to blogging yesterday... mainly because there wasn't much to tell. We went back to the Medical Bldg. on Shamian Island and got the rest of Mia's vaccinations. She did fine and then we went shopping afterwards before catching the bus back to the hotel. We were on a mission... more shoes. Remember I told you about the cute, cheap shoes? Well, we stocked up yesterday... I bought varying sizes for the next couple of years... 17 pair total. I am really excited about those shoes. We stopped by Starbucks and had another iced tea and bought a few more souvenirs, before heading back to the hotel. Griff and Mia napped during the afternoon, and mom and I ventured out to the Friendship Mall across the street. This is a very high-end mall... designer names, very expensive price tags. We went into the supermarket to try to buy some snacks, but we ended up buying nothing. I am searching for a tea pot that I saw at Chen's Lineage Hall the other day, so I stopped into a little tea shop. I didn't buy anything, as I need to talk with our guide about price. The Chinese know that Americans bargain, so they set their prices high and expect us to try to negotiate a cheaper price. I am so skeptical about buying without first checking with the guide. So, we will see if I get a teapot!!! LOL... This isn't a teapot that you see in the U.S., but very small that you use to make tea with loose tea, which is so very delicious. Today, our group went to the Guangzhou Zoo. It was a zoo... nothing to get really excited about. I think the heat pretty much put a huge damper on the "Wow" factor of this zoo. We made a few pictures, but mainly "Sweated to the oldies" as Richard Simmons would say. The funniest thing about the zoo is that the Chinese found the Americans as interesting as the animals. They stand and stare at us, some wave at us, one family even made Mia and my picture. Funny... They are very curious about us, they glare at us sometimes, some smile. Some jabber words, none of which we can understand. I felt like the animals on display at the zoo, because the people there found us so interesting. Part of it, is that they are curious about Mia... especially her hairbows. You cannot find hairbows like hers here... so they are VERY unusual. Mia has been playing with her toys more today and she smiles every so often. I've been teaching her a little sign language so that we can communicate and she signed bird with me today! Cute. She waves at people, especially Chinese people. She has very thick hair, so she sweats as bad as her mama in this humid air. Oh, and I almost forgot... she let my mom hold her today without going bananas! Yay!!! We are winding this trip down and are counting the days. This morning I just stood in the shower and cried my eyes out because I am so ready to leave here and go home. We are on Day 14... four more to go. Tomorrow is our Consulate Appointment. This is the time that the U.S. looks over all of Mia's paperwork, for the seemingly hundredth time, and issues her a Visa to enter the U.S. as a citizen. Now more than ever, do I realize what a gift U.S. citizenship really is... Just a few more days and we're coming home... Thank you, Lord Jesus... Until then...

Much love,
Ashley

The Red Dress

During the waiting months, I sewed and smocked outfits for Mia. It made me feel better about the whole thing, and kept me excited even through frustration. As I would complete something, Griff would say, "Yeah, that's good... but I can't wait to see her in a little red Chinese dress." So the other day, we were on Shamian Island and we bought the dress. I also bought dresses for Chinese New Year and Moon Festival for the next several years... afterall they were only about $5 a dress. That's crazy, isn't it? Anyways, we had group photos made this morning in the hotel lobby. As you will see from the photo, the majority of the children in our group are older. Mia is the youngest in our group. She is also the only one who had to get so many shots. Lucky us. We tried on her new dress last night and mom, Griff, and I giggled for the longest time. It was as if she knew she looked beautiful. And guess what? I had already purchased an enormous satin bow with a rhinestone center to wear with this special dress. :) I am the laughing stock of the group and every day when we get off the elevator everyone is waiting to see what she's got on top of her head today. Mia did not enjoy the photo session nearly as much today as she did last night. But we got some good shots anyhow. There is a little girl in our group that is a few months older named Ruthie. She is in the photo with Mia in the big chair. She is a doll. After the photos, we went back to our room and changed clothes. We went to a shopping mall where we bought pearls and other gifts. We bought Mia a strand of pearls for her wedding day, a pearl bracelet for graduation, and we also bought three pearl bracelets for Mia and me to give to her brothers' brides on their wedding days. I am already praying for the girls who will one day join our family... then Mia will finally get some sisters! I've bought some little items to give Mia for birthdays over the coming years. I've enjoyed getting to do this because I know I'll be glad I did this one day when we are home and far away from China. I have started googling how to make congee as I'm afraid this little girl is going to get hungry without it. Many of you have asked, Congee? Congee is much like porridge, very white and milky looking. It is often flavored with chicken, beef, or pork. The orphanages feed the babies lots of congee because it is easy to swallow and fast to feed. It rained today for the first time. It is so hot that eggs could fry on the concrete if we tried... Tomorrow we go BACK to Shamian and get the final three vaccinations. Mia has had a high fever from the shots she got Saturday, so I'm so thankful we didn't take all six at once. After we get our shots, we will do some more shopping. We are on the final week of this journey. It feels as if I've been away from home for a century. Again, I must tell you all how much your comments here and on facebook have meant to me. We are touched by how many people are interested in our story. Until tomorrow...

Much love,
Ashley