Count It All Joy

Dear Vivi -

We are discovering that you are like pretty much every other toddler on the planet - you're all about the fun and want nothing to do with the stuff we have to do!  So we try to mix the fun in when we can.

Like riding the hotel lobby escalators up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down...

When we went out to eat with our group at a local Portuguese restaurant, we stared at all of these ginormous fish,

who seemed to be weirdly vying to be caught by the chef and become dinner.

We had to go to the medical clinic today to get you all checked out and cleared to fly to the states.  It's a little blurry, but we're definitely an adoptive family!

Look who we found on the floor of the Guangzhou Medical Clinic!  He keeps showing up in the weirdest places.

We tried to walk around a little bit to check out the scene.

Ultimately though, this morning was mostly about this sad little face because you had to get poked and prodded a little bit.

Hands down the fastest ENT appointment ever. It was good it was so quick because it led to the longest attempt to draw blood ever.  Parents aren't allowed in while they're trying to take blood for the TB test and I'm kind of glad - it was nice not to be the one traumatizing you, but getting to be the one who comforts you.

After we got back from the medical appointment, Mommy and you checked out the play area on the fourth floor of the hotel while Daddy went to the local supermarket to pick up a couple of supplies for the week. We've reverted back to you not liking bows.

Beautiful girl.

Trying to do it all on your own!

You were looking so cute in your monkey "piyayas" (which you YELL every night when it's time to put them on) that I had to take a picture.

I made it a point in the last entry that I wrote two days ago to stress that adopting is really hard.  And it is.  Throughout this journey, Vivi, we wanted to give you the most accurate portrayal of what it was like to seek you and find you, and open our hearts to another child in a completely different way.  Honesty is so important.  So when I was writing about our struggles and the challenges, please know that I was not depressed or downhearted.  I was simply saying that underneath the surface of any adoption there are issues that we believe need to be dealt with if we are responsible about adopting you and honoring the past you had before we became part of your life.

But all of those questions that will eventually need to be answered and all of the struggles that we go through are totally worth it.  You are totally worth it.

One week ago, you did not have a family. Today, you do.

One week ago, we did not have a daughter, sister, granddaughter, and niece.  Today, we do.

One week ago, our lives were missing someone.  Today, they're not.

One week ago, you would not have been allowed to worship Jesus openly as a citizen of China.  Yesterday, as our child and an almost-citizen of America, you were.

We believe that we were called by God to go on this journey, and that he led us directly to you.  And like the quote from Francis Chan at the top of this blog says, "...we trust him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through."

God came through on every step of our journey to you.  Because he did doesn't mean the path isn't going to challenge us.  It means that we have to learn to trust again and again until our trust is complete.  We were unafraid.  We would have been in trouble.  But God came through.

And for the miraculous way that he did, through this incredible face of yours, we will be eternally grateful. Is it any wonder that your Chinese name, the one we kept for part of your new name, is Joy?  That's no accident.  That's God coming through.

Love,
Mommy & Daddy