Our Last Days In China

Our last days in China were spent in Guangzhou, getting to know Kate, and watching her bloom, like a little flower. We bought little Chinese dresses (and more squeaky shoes!), walked around the little shops, and went out to a farewell dinner with our new friends. It was peaceful, and I’ll always hold this time close to my heart.

We have met the most incredible people on this adoption journey. A man who, with his wife, has 2 or 3 children at home, had 2 stillborn babies, and now was in China adopting a little 2 ½ yr. old blind girl. As soon as they get back, will be in the process of adopting a little girl with heart issues, who will need numerous surgeries and may live for quite a while, or may pass away early in life…but he wanted what life she had to be lived out in a home with people who loved her.

We also met a shop owner who was a new Christian, and wanted very much to learn about the Lord and read the Bible, but had a hard time understanding the some of the reading, due to the language. When she would email friends to ask how to find a Bible in her own language, or a simpler version, her emails would be returned to her, saying they were undeliverable. She said that if I email her, not to use the words Lord, Jesus, or Bible…or the email will not go through. Kevin said there is a filter that blocks them.

We met wonderful May, who had us rolling as she answered my question, ‘how do you have a brother with the one-child policy?’…”Oh, you know (she giggles) I’m the extra-one.” My parents had a son, but wanted another child, so they accept the punishment.” “The financial punishment?” “Yes, they have to pay a lot of money, and go to classes to tell them ‘you have done wrong, (she says authoritatively, shaking her finger at us) You have not followed the policies of your country, and you have done this bad thing. It is very bad not to follow the rules of your nation”. "What did they do, accept the punishment, and just go on?” “Yes, pretty much”(she laughs). She said it much funnier than I can write it. She would practically bounce up and down like a little girl when she was excited…it/she was very cute and endearing.

The days have been filled with incredible people, things I have never seen before, things and people I will miss, and things that make me appreciate, to my core, my own country.

As I felt the back wheels of the plane leave the ground in Hong Kong, I looked at baby Kate with misty eyes and smiled, “You don’t live in China anymore baby girl…Let’s go home and meet your family. They’re waiting for us.”