Dear Prayer Team, Family and Friends,

I often look back at the birth of our biological children as being particularly miraculous days. True, every day is a miracle, a gift from God and evidence of his manifold grace, but at the birth of a child it seems like God laughs out loud. He bends low and kisses the earth. He the Author of Life, and a Loving Artist splashes the canvass of that day with the bright colors of anticipation, terror and wonder as a Life is added and a family is born. 

Today equaled those days in every way. Anticipation, terror and wonder all converged on a ninth floor conference room of a dingy little hotel in downtown Shanghai. An hour of tedious paperwork and 10 minutes of restless anticipation and then God laughed and spread vivid color into the lives of 19 families from all over the United States who had waited 3-5 years for children to be added to their families. As my wife has often said, “That’s a long pregnancy!”

We started the morning with an informal prayer of dedication in the lobby of the beautiful New World Mayfair Hotel. Although I had taken great pains to travel incognito on this trip, it had leaked out that I was a pastor, and pastors are expected to do “pastorly” things. I shared briefly from Ephesians 2:8-10 about God preparing good works in advance for his people to do. We had been chosen by him since the foundation of the world to show His love in a very specialized way. As such we move with boldness and confidence into the day. And since everything was already prepared, we could release ourselves from our own pre-conceptions of how things should work out. We were free to respond to the Holy Spirit and allow God’s love to spill forth unconditionally toward our new child, whether they were able to receive it or not. 

Having been so armed and prayed up… we got on the bus and traveled to this neutral site to be paired with our child. Xu Ya Xiu or Shu Shu, as she is called, was the second child to be announced. Pam and I came up and as I approached I gave a little wave. Instant recognition and a small smile back- a hopeful sign. God had used the picture album we had sent in advance to prepare her heart. We sat together at a little table and made welcoming gestures to each other. Other children were being announced, and some of these Shu Shu/Katelyn took great interest in, so we turned to watch the presentation of her friends to their new families. After this, our world shrunk to the size of a 3 foot conference table with 4 chairs set around it. Pam gave her the lovingly packed backpack and there were many shy smiles as Katelyn took great joy in the books, crayons and Little Kitty that we had brought with us. After that, we traced our hands on a piece of paper, noting the size difference between Daddy, Mommy and Katelyn. We also drew pictures of our family- Daddy, Mommy, Katelyn and then Amanda, Justin and Joshua; (I drew myself and Joshua, Pam drew Mommy and Amanda, and Katelyn drew herself and Justin); finally Pepper joined 2 dimensional crayon family. I think Katie will really enjoy her brothers and sister. They add so much to our family life and we really have missed them this past week. While we were drawing the director of the Shanghai Children’s Home stopped by and presented us with a bag of mementos from the home, including a DVD, photo album of the home and invaluable information about Katelyn’s life and schedule at the orphanage. The pictures confirmed that Katelyn’s home for 7 years was good insofar as institutional life can be good- including nutritious food, adequate care and instruction. The home was clean and efficient. We are so thankful.

On the bus ride back to the hotel one of the little children was inconsolable. They were sitting right beside us. The crying and arching of the toddler was tough to see and hear. I watched Katelyn’s emotions unwind like a clock until she too was in tears. What a tough day for these children. They certainly must be filled with so many anxious thoughts and fears.

As I sit here writing this, it is 7:30 on Monday evening and Katelyn is safely tucked in bed. She keeps winding the music box soft little lamby that Pam brought for her night time ritual. The song Jesus Loves Me is playing softly. The day was filled with a lot of joy- a walk in the park for Mommy and Katelyn, blowing bubbles with friends, and tossing a little ball. My greatest enjoyment has been carrying her around. She seems to truly take pleasure in her perch up high in Daddy’s arms and holds out her arms when beckoned. I even got the first hug while walking to dinner tonight. 

So that about sums it up. Tomorrow is a new day with its own challenges and blessings. For now we are 7,000 away from home on the 19th floor of a hotel overlooking a city of 16 million souls and resting in the goodness of God. Come to think of it, “Jesus Loves Me” pretty much sums it all up. 

Enjoy being held by your Father today.

Steve for all.