Tomorrow Is Xiao Qian's Day!

So this is the first of what we hope to be many posts from the mainland of China via e-mail interface into Blogger. Those who have recently paved the China adoption way ahead of us were right, Blogger is blocked and we cannot access the website (facebook is also blocked, so we cannot give status updates or view this web page for the remainder of our visit here). Again, the formatting of our posts isn't going to look quite the same, but it's the pictures and the content that count, right?

This morning we had a very nice, leisurely time together. I couldn't sleep much, but Victoria slept like a baby. We enjoyed a wonderful Asian buffet breakfast (reminiscent of the White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island for those fellow adopters who have ever stayed and dined there), and took a short stroll around a small portion of the Hong Kong Bay near the hotel we stayed in (picture above of Victoria in the area). It was your typical overcast day in China, never really seeing the sun. My orientation is all vertigo when I'm in China because the sun is all I know in unfamiliar terrain in order to gain any sense of bearing, and it rarely seems to shine here. (There's a spiritual metaphor in there somewhere, but I'll spare my children writing about it here as I'm accused by them of doing that far too often). As wonderful as Hong Kong is, what I (and I believe I write confidently on behalf of Victoria) loved most about the time was the time in solitude together. I am very in love with my wife, especially at times like these because aside from Jesus, all we in these foreign, unfamiliar lands have is one another. And what I love about her most at times like these is her sense of adventure and enthusiasm to take risks for Jesus. I can tell she's in the wheelhouse right now, the sweet spot of walking with Jesus and one another, and it makes me not only happy, but very much in love.

Our train ride to Guangzhou went off pretty much without a hitch. In fact, we sat across the aisle way from a few foreigners (to China that is, and maybe to Californians as well) from Alabama. I couldn't help but overhear their conversation and decided to butt in and introduce myself. Why? Because Victorian and I could tell they were here for the same reason we were, to adopt. They're so excited and so joyful. This is their first (by way of adoption that is), so we were able to exchange some stories about our experiences, especially with Special Needs children (like they're adopting, even a cleft lip/pallet, like Willow). We will no doubt see them tomorrow at the Civil Affairs Office as they miraculously welcome new little ones into their family. (By the way, the train stopped in Dongguan, Xiao Qian's home town. So strange to literally be there, pass through, knowing all the while we were so close. Two of the pictures from the train are posted above - I hope.)

We spent our evening reflecting upon all of our children, and our past adoptions of Poppy and Willow. (We sure miss them all a lot, and it's only been a few days.) Walking through the streets of this, what is now, old turf stirs up emotions that bring such satisfaction to our souls. The Island is a bit tore up right now due to massive renovations everywhere you look, but that didn't cloud the good memories. In fact, we went to one of our favorite spots for dinner right next to the water and enjoyed some exceptional Thai food. (And Zoe &  Dave, our bosom partners from Texas that shared in our joys of adoption together during our last visit to China, we drank and toasted a Tiger beer together in honor of you. We miss you.)

We're now back at the hotel prepping ourselves for a rather exciting and emotional day tomorrow (Victoria's doing that by snoozing next to me, and it's only 8:30). It will all start at about 9:00 a.m. (was moved up from the original afternoon time slot), which is about 1:00 p.m. on Sunday (PST) for you. We'll probably meet up with Xiao Qian about an hour after that. In speaking with our guide, Jeff, today, he reminded me of something I have thought of all too often, but not within the last few days. She will come into our lives tomorrow with a whole set of unknown (to us) expectations of  us; our personalities, our humor, our mannerisms, our affect, you name it. Like most of life, there's a good chance we won't match up with many of those (my reflection upon Jeff's reminder). And so we must be ourselves and just love, love, love, with patience, patience, patience. Eventually, expectations will vanish as reality becomes the dream we/she could never conjure up on our own.  This is a God-thing, and this is the wonder of salvation.

Tomorrow is Xiao's Qian's day. It's her day, in deed.

We love you, Xiao Qian.