UNKNOWN

It is Tuesday March 10, 2009. I have a window seat at the Crowne Plaza Hotel restaurant in Zhengzhou, China. Drinking coffee. Move over Starbucks! Very strong coffee!

It is overcast and windy. I scan the horizon for the familiar. With the exception of an occasional grouping of numbers on a license plate or billboard and a ‘no parking’ sign - the fact remains – I am a stranger here!

The entry signs at Chinese Customs in the Beijing airport made it very clear. One sign marked “Chinese Nationals”. The other read “Foreigners”. We were the foreigners. This is not our home. We are strangers here. We are unknown.

Chinese cannot understand our English. We cannot comprehend Chinese. Chinese say - English is too hard to learn. And, this comes from a land with about 3,000 characters in their alphabet!

Our “foreign” wonder quickly gives way to our smiles which announce to all those around us – strangers perhaps – BUT – we belong! We belong because our journey brings us half way around the world to connect with our 9th grandchild – a beautiful, rosy-cheeked, dark haired – almost 2 year old Chinese girl.

We cannot speak her language – but her precious little face is forever etched in our minds.

We cannot understand the culture in which little girls seem to have little or no value – but she joins 3 other beautiful granddaughters who have the mysterious ability to add immeasurable joy to Grammi and Grampy!

We will never know her past. But we will do all within our power with God’s help to influence her future.

Sweet little Mia! Mia ShyAn Xin Singer! How her life is getting ready to change! How our lives have changed already!

For all we do not and may never know or understand about Mia’s background and/or culture – we will forever remember and be grateful for the awesome blessings we received allowing us to travel with our children to China.

And, we will forever remember and be grateful for the experience of becoming “unknown” so that Mia can have a home!

Mia's "Gotcha" Day.

Today was the day we had waited for. It has been a long wait. I wish I could explain the emotions of seeing her walk around the corner holding the hand of the orphanage director. She was not a willing walker.

She cried. She was held and loved by her parents, brothers and grandparents.

She was bundled in layers of heavy clothing making her look like a little eskimo.

Now - back at the hotel she is in fresh clothes. She has had a nap, something to eat and plenty of love. She is playing with toys and a little keyboard, dancing to the music, clapping her hands and laughing. What a difference a little time makes.

One of the ladies explained to me that she is now "normal" and is no longer considered special needs. Did you hear that? That, my friends, is an answer to prayer. We have all been praying that by the time we got here she would be perfectly healthy. God is so good and we are so grateful.

She is loving playing with her brothers and her brothers are loving having her around to love on.

It has been our joy and privilege to be present for the birth of our first 8 grandchildren. God granted our desire to be present when Mia, #9 grandchild, was "born" into our family.

I always wondered if you could love a child who was not biologically your own, as your own. I know the answer. It's YES!! She is an amazing little girl. She is all ours - and she is loved.

China

What an experience this has been. First of all we were thrilled to be upgraded on the long flight to China. Thirteen hours on the plane was made much easier. We arrived in Beijing on Thursday afternoon and hit the road running. We visited Tianeamen Square, The Forbidden City, a silk factory, a jade factory, climbed on the Great Wall, saw the Chinese Acrobats and a variety of other attractions. We enjoyed a rickshaw ride as well. There were 38 people in our group. So we were on a chartered bus for sight-seeing. Thirty four are now here in Zhengzhou. Four others flew to a different province to get their child.

But the main attraction is coming tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. when Mia will be placed in her parents arms. This is the last night Mia will sleep without a family.

Please pray for Mia that she will adjust quickly.

I will post tomorrow with pictures. Be sure to follow Kristi and Tim's webpage miamakessix.com.