Travel Itinerary

Well, everything seems to be going according to plan for our upcoming travel. Our itinerary is as follows:

Feb. 2 (9:20am)----- leave Peoria airport
Feb. 3 (5:55pm)----- arrive in Hong Kong
Feb.4 (2:10pm)------ fly to Nanning
Feb.4 (3:15)--------- arrive at Nanning airport
Feb.5 (2:40pm)----- travel to Civil Affairs Dept. to meet Maimie
Feb.6 (8:40am)----- adoption registration, notarization, passport

Feb.8 (pm)-----------notarized documents collected

Feb.9 (pm)-----------Maimie's passport collected
Feb.10 (am)--------- fly to Guangzhou
Feb.12 (am)--------- Maimie's medical checkup
Feb.13 (11:00am)-- Visa application submitted
Feb.14 (3:00pm)--- travel to US Consulate for visa ceremony
Feb.15 (9:15am)---- travel to Guangzhou train station
Feb.15 (10:55am)-- train to Hong Kong
Feb.15 (12:40pm)-- arrive in Hong Kong
Feb.16 (11:35am)-- leave Hong Kong airport
Feb.17 (2:06pm)--- arrive at Peoria airport

Maimie Beth

Well, some people work better under pressure. I guess I'm one of those people. I have been looking through baby name books for, well,....over 2 years now. I have six baby name books and have been on many baby name websites searching for that perfect name. Because our boys both have names starting with "J", I thought it would be sweet for the girls to both have "M" names. But being the perfectionist that I strive to be, I had to have a name that also had a good meaning, preferred there be someone in the extended family with that name or a derivative of that name, and wanted something a little unusual. It sounds possible until you take into account that this time I had 3 junior critics all having their own opinions and suggestions as well as a rather senior critic with self-appointed veto power. Not an easy task.

I made list after list and eventually shortened the lists. One of the names that we had chosen before receiving our referral was Maimie. It can be derived from Mary or Margaret according to the books. I do have a great grandmother who was named Margaret, and Mary being a biblical name sweetened the deal. Maimie means "wished-for child" and "pearl, treasure". Dad didn't veto it out of hand, and actually rather liked it. But we weren't sure. When we received our referral, we found that Zhen, her Chinese name, had the same meaning of "pearl, treasure".

Then for a middle name the whole family agreed upon Beth. Beth is my middle name and one of Mikaela's middle names. We thought that might make our baby feel tied more to our family. Both boys share Steven as a middle name after their dad and both girls would share Beth after me. Beth means "promise of God".

We knew from early on that we wanted to use our daughter's Chinese name as one of her middle names. It is very important to us that she be able to keep that little part of her birth country and cultural heritage. She will come to our family with the clothes on her back, a Chinese name given to her by the Social Welfare Institution, and a very brief past. All of these things are an important part of who she is and who she will become. Therefore they are very dear to us and we want her to feel no guilt in having them be very dear to her.

And so, when our social worker, Laura, called this week to fill in the final paperwork that documents our daughter's new American name, I had to finally commit. It was, after all, the eleventh hour. The pressure was on.

And so her name, the first gift that we give to our beautiful new daughter, is Maimie Beth GuoZhen Monday.

As Cold Waters to a Thirsty Soul...

"As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country." Proverbs 25:25

Yesterday at 3:41pm I received a call from Laura at Lifelink that we had been given our final approval to adopt Guo Zhen. We were just thrilled! She told us travel should be in 4-8 weeks and that we would know more soon.
I've been home with sick kids all week and have started feeling bad myself, so I was disappointed to miss meeting with Laura this morning to go over some paperwork and information. Steve called me as soon as his meeting was over. We have a tentative travel date!!!!! Because Chinese New Year falls in the middle of February this year and all business shuts down during that festival in China, they want to get us in and out of China BEFORE Chinese New Year begins. Our tentative date is February 4. I think I'm in shock. That's only 2 weeks away, and I feel so unprepared. Thrilled, excited, (feverish), and rather unprepared. Yippee!!

"We witness a miracle every time a child enters into life. But these who make their journey home across time and miles, growing within the hearts of those who wait to love them, are carried on the wings of destiny and placed among us by God's very own hands."--Kristi Larson

Two Mothers

(Lingcheng) Beiliu City, Guangxi

On October 11, 2005, our dossier was at Lifelink waiting with 3 other dossiers to be sent to China. I was filled with such excitement, hope, and promise to think of the daughter that my heart so desired. At the same time, halfway around the world, a woman in Beiliu City, in the Guangxi region of China was giving birth to her daughter, my daughter, our daughter. Her joy and elation from seeing her baby for the first time must have been tempered with the despair of her own situation and for that of her small child.
Of course there are so many things that we don't know, will never know, about this birth, the circumstances surrounding it, or the months to follow. I choose to believe that this mother loved her beautiful daughter very much and tried desperately to keep her. Perhaps the baby wasn't gaining weight properly due to feeding insufficiencies relating to her cleft lip and cleft palate. Perhaps the mother was poor but wanted her child to have a chance to thrive and to someday receive cleft surgery to repair her condition. Maybe she had already exceeded the 1-2 child policy in her area. Maybe it was for some other reasons entirely. But regardless of the reason, this mother left her daughter in a place where she was sure to be found one December morning shortly before her baby had reached 2 months of age.
If things had all gone as we had planned, our family would have been matched with a different child before this little girl had even had her adoption paperwork completed allowing her to be available for adoption.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Last week on January 11, this same little girl from Beiliu City, China, turned 15 months old. I feel in my heart that her first mother and I are probably both wondering many of the same things. Wondering how many teeth she has and if she is crawling or walking yet. Wondering if she enjoys playing outside and if she claps her hands when she is happy. Wondering if she is just babbling or starting to say Chinese words yet. Wondering if she is well cared for and healthy and happy. Wondering if her caretakers have whispered in her tiny ear of a family coming to her soon.