Day 8 - Practicing for Real Life...while in a Hotel
So today we waited. In the hotel. All day. Don’t get us wrong, it is kinda nice to have no responsibility and chillax at the hotel all day, but parent/child drama always emerges wherever you go. So today we had some parent/child practice with both girls. New relationships. New dynamics. New drama. Girls (Jonathan’s note lol).
But also new love. When boundaries are tested and pushed, love becomes the glue to pull us back together. We had wonderful opportunities to love our girls through the tough moments and to push forward. To learn and live on. To enjoy one another in this unique time of bonding. To make memories and become closer.
Adoption is a beautiful thing but there are still many obstacles to overcome. Obstacles for everyone involved! Today was one of the first of many obstacles. Mia is realizing all the changes about to occur even as we begin to depart from the province she has called home her whole life. Our hearts break for her. If only she could see and understand the big picture...if only we all could! It hurts to see your daughters hurting...one being overwhelmed with so much newness and the other feeling as though her new sister being upset is her fault. So today we loved on and prayed A LOT over each of our girls! We prayed for protection, for peace, for understanding, for love and for God to imprint our hearts together as a forever family like only He can!
We did the usual breakfast routine with new steps of progress. It is such a joy to see small building blocks of trust and love grow. We had a blast for three hours at the pool before returning to our room for some rest. Mia and Soph are great swimmers! We have to use swim caps here (bought at the pool for $4) and Brittney found a Chinese bathing suit for $20 (she forgot hers but we wanted a much better deal than the $100-$200 options at the mall). We had a blast swimming and playing pool games with one another.
We received our official, government-approved certificates in triplicate today. Our guide brought them to us from the government notary to ensure all was correct before we leave Mia’s province (Guizhou) and head to the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou. Since we already had Mia’s passport we are ready for our next city! The documents today were basically a Chinese record of birth, of being an orphan, and of being adopted. Three important pieces of paper that tell a bit of the greater story of how Jesus has arranged Mia to be a forever part of our family.
Since our room doesn’t have a microwave we had to figure a unique way to try and heat Sophia’s leftover rice (Jonathan and Mia ate cold leftovers and Brittney ate some snacks she brought along for days like today) by putting the rice into coffee cups and surrounding them with hot water in the middle of the tea tub thing (not sure how otherwise to describe it). For dinner Jonathan wandered out to get a few options from a small convenience store and a bakery. We love the bakery and ended up finding a mango roll, strawberry roll, tart, grilled cheese, hot dog, and our favorite MACROONS! A dinner of mostly pastries...what a treat!
The slow day ended up being a good time for bonding and processing all of the changes. We got to do some video calls back home with Lydia and Alia, we miss them so much. Mia was able to video chat with her foster mom which made a big impact on her day. The reality of all the significant change is sinking in. It was a blessing to see her joy return after some tough times and to hear her love of and from her foster family. Mia has been loved so well the past few years which makes the transition even harder for her in some ways. But all of that love has prepared her for bonding with a forever family. Her smile is contagious and her laugh is a joy to hear..
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