Trials and Blessings of Adoption

Well, we are now the proud parents of one beautiful little 17-month old girl.  The joy that fills our hearts and the excitement we are filled with in her smiles and laughs is overwhelming.  In the 40 hours or so as we have now had two full nights and one and half full days with her has been one incredible roller coaster. While there was many things we were prepared for, the enormity of being first time parents was not something we saw coming.  God, however, in His faithfulness, is continuing to supply all our need in this life journey!

I will have to say that there is nothing like holding your daughter for the first time after knowing she has faced so much without you for the first 17 months of her life.  I think one of the most amazing moments we had with her was the moment they handed her to Shannon and she buried her face in Shannon's chest.  She had found home and she did not want to ever leave the security of mama's arms.  That was one of the more heart-warming and exciting moments of the day. What has also been exciting is that she loves her daddy just as much.  It doesn't matter who is holding her, she is just as happy to be held by the other parent and loves to bury her head in both of our chests.

Day two with her has been a testing and trying time for both mom and dad.  She woke up with a slight fever from chest congestion and what seems to be an ear infection. We gave her some children's medicine to help with pain and the fever and she became a new person full of life.  That, however did not last long and we were given the wonderful opportunity of taking her to a Chinese hospital. This was probably one of the most trying things Shannon and I have ever had to face.  Not only were they checking her health but were also running other tests on her general well-being and development. While this in and of itself was extremely trying on a new mom and dad, there was one particular moment where they were testing the development of her motor skills. Her face scrunched up into what turned into a silent scream and then crying at the top of her lungs. This was extremely hard for both mom and dad. But, as they wrapped up this particular test, who did she want?  US!  Not the nanny from the orphanage she came from, but us!  As soon as she was in daddy's arms and could once again bury her head in his chest, she was fine! A few minutes later when mommy started to hold her, she was still just as happy!  At that moment, nothing could be clearer that this was an answer to prayer that God had put it into her heart to know who her parents were! This truly is our daughter!

Yesterday evening we signed the final documents that made her officially and legally ours.  Before we signed those papers we were asked the question if we were certain that we were ready to take her as our own with the "special need" that she has.  For both of us, this led us to tears to even consider what her life would be like if we turned her down.  Who would she end up with? Where would she go? These were questions that grieved our hearts. We were quickly reminded of the clear calling God had placed in our hearts to take Promise as our daughter and we joyfully signed our papers.  We know much of what lies ahead as there will be surgeries and therapy. BUT, we also know who she will be doing this with.  She is going to be doing it with the God of the universe who loves  her more than we will ever be able to. She is doing it with her forever family who will never stop loving her and will never give up on her. And she is doing it with one of the most amazing support teams we have ever seen for a family in you guys!

Last night she continued to battle the fever and we had the wonderful privilege of dealing with throw-up for the first time as new parents but we feel so blessed.  We know the road ahead is long with many speed bumps and trials.  As new parents, however, we also acknowledge that we don't yet fully understand how high the highs will be and how low the lows will be.  We covet your prayers as all three of us are learning the dynamics of our new family.

At the end of the day, we were all so tired and had no problem sleeping.....