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It was one year ago on Hainan Island in the South China Sea that Frank and I waited for a timid little girl in the Social Welfare Office. When she walked in, all I wanted was to grab her and hold her and tell her she was safe and I would always take care of her. But she was TERRIFIED. She wouldn’t let me touch her. I bribed her to come close to me with strawberry starburst. She fell for that for a minute, but then got wise. The ladies who brought her reminded her of the pictures they had been showing her of us, told her that I was her mommy, but what good did that do? She didn’t know what a mommy was anyway. I sang songs, talked sweetly and prayed earnestly for the next 30 minutes or so. In the end, they just had to go and leave me with my daughter-who yelled and screamed and cried and even tried to hit me. She finally allowed Frank to hold her in the cab on the way back to the hotel. With the new found calm I seized the opportunity to get close and stepped into the hotel bathtub fully clothed to bathe her and play in the water with her. It worked! Frank eased out and fell asleep-it was an exhausting day. For the next hour, my tiny Yuan Yuan/Ella Grace sat with me in the hotel room and played with my rings, wondered at the sticker that came off the baby powder bottle, and tried cheerios. She didn’t smile, she didn’t make a sound.

She didn’t know what had happened to her that day. She had no idea she had sisters. Her grandparents all waited for word, she didn’t even know they were there. She knew herself as Yuan Yuan-no last name, no parents. But that’s not who she was-she was Ella Grace all along, we just hadn’t gotten to her yet.
Today, she knows. Look…

On June 8, 2005 Allison from America World Adoption Agency called  me. It was around 11 am and I was getting ready to go  somewhere and as soon as I heard who it was, I knew she was calling  to tell me she may have found Ella Grace. In all the world, the child she was calling me to tell me about might be  my daughter, Ella Grace, for whom we had been looking and waiting and praying for almost a year. Minutes later, she sent us pictures of this little girl, in an orphanage on an island that we had never heard of (neither had our agency!) in the South China Sea. Frank saw her first and called me. I said, “what does she look like?”  to which he replied, “I think she looks like Ella Grace.”

My Daddy ’s eyes welled up with tears as he looked at her picture later that night at his kitchen table. I explained that, even though it appeared that she was “the ONE,” I was having trouble being sure because I was so prepared in my heart for a younger baby and that I needed to really take some time and pray it through. Daddy said, “are you kidding me? Look at those red shoes! GO GET HER!!”

And, you know what? It WAS Ella Grace! The next day, we called the agency and accepted her referral. Now that scared little girl, who was standing on the staircase in an unairconditioned Social Welfare Institution in a third world country has a mommy and a daddy and two sisters and a whole big family. She has a church where she loves to play with her friends. She has a bed with HER animal friends to snuggle with. She has more clothes than she will ever wear-all for her!

She has a last name.

God, in His infinite wisdom and divine providence, found her and brought her home. May His name be praised!

“Behold, what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we may be called the children of God!” 

Anne Louise got braces this week! When we fixed her up for the school play she suddenly looked 5 years older-yikes! Here she is with her best friend Mimi.

American Girls

After all this time, we finally met Clay Crosse-he was doing a men’s conference at a church a block from our house so we e-mailed and asked if we could come say hello and thanks for all he did to help with our adoption. It was good to chat about shared experiences-he got home in December with his baby from China. Thanks Clay!

Yesterday, February 12, 2006, was the anniversary of the date that my daughter was found outside the gate of the orphanage where she spent the first 2 1/2 years of her little life. A passerby saw her and reported her to the police who took her in to the Haikou Social Welfare Institute. So, while we don’t know for sure what the day of her birth is, we know now that she is 3. The first record of her life was on February 12, 2003.

In addition, on Anne Louise’s 10th birthday-Feb 22, 2006- we will also be celebrating 6 months of having Ella Grace in our family. Time flies! She is having real trouble sleeping, but she has made huge strides in her recovery this week. We will visit Cleft Clinic this Thursday for her follow-up.