Going for Gracie

The "suburbs" on the way to the village.
Some of the housing in the village. Notice the children playing.
Me and Gracie :)
A happy girl

A little baby girl was born to a mother on October 2, 2007, in the Wang Village about 45 minutes outside of Kunming. When I began dreaming of things about Gracie and for her, one of my hopes was that she would be found with a note. I was hoping that this note would give her some comfort that her mother loved her and wanted a better life for her. I was disappointed when I was told there was no note. I had heard that her orphanage typically doesn’t give out any information like that even if there was any. So, I still thought that it was likely. However, after yesterday, I realize that in all likelihood there wasn’t any such note. Not for lack of love on her birth mother’s part, but on lack of all that we take for granted. Let me first say that I have truly enjoyed my time here in China. Many parts of it are just like you see in pictures. It’s beautiful, modern, and the people are so friendly. However, I now realize there are so many things here that I never could have imagined. When I first arrived here, I was taken aback at the living conditions in the hundreds of thousands of apartment buildings everywhere you turn. These apartments are literally right next to fancy, expensive, modern buildings. It’s not something we are used to. I was so saddened to see how poor so many of these people were, and how bad things seemed from my perspective. Today, I realize they are some of the lucky ones. I wish I had the words to describe what we saw, but I just don’t believe there are any. I just want to say that now more than ever, I do believe in my heart that Gracie’s mother loved her and wanted a better life for her. She gave Gracie a gift by leaving her to found by someone that she knew could take better care of her, and in turn, she gave us a gift as well. I will forever be grateful to this woman I have never met and who lives half a world away. I cannot even begin to imagine what she must have gone through to have to leave her baby. I know it was hard for her because it took her well over a week to do it. My prayer is that somehow she will have a peace in her heart about the little girl she gave birth to. We certainly cannot begin to understand all of God’s ways, but we are certain that He knew this would be our daughter.

Once she was found, she was taken to Kunming Social Welfare Institute. There, during her initial entry medical examination, a small heart murmur was found. She was then considered a baby with a "special need." In other words, her first step on her road to us. We were told that she stayed at the orphanage for about 5 or 6 months. We had the opportunity to visit this orphanage today. It is very nice, well kept, and clean. We were not allowed to take any pictures inside the building, but it was very much like what you might think. Nice, but an orphanage all the same. There were baby beds lined up one after the other in the sleeping room. There was only room enough to walk between them. In the eating area, the same is true for the high chairs. We were able to meet some of the caretakers, and they even remembered Gracie, calling her by her Chinese name. We were both a little concerned how this might go with her, but she showed no interest in them at all. She was happy right where she was - in my arms. :)

At some point, she began living with a foster family. We don’t know anything about this family. All we were told was that they lived on a farm. We believe that they took very good care of her, as good as they were able to do. She seems to be very healthy and happy. For that, we are so grateful. However, living on a farm in China has some problems. The main one that is still affecting her is the bug bites. They are on her chest and arms. She has scratched some of them until they have become sores. They were very itchy, and it has been sad to watch her scratch like that. We have been working hard to get them healed. Hopefully, that will be a thing of the past very soon. They are already well on their way.

As far as whatever was going on with her a couple of days ago, that is completely gone away. Except for a little runny nose, she is as healthy as we could hope for. She is filling our days here with happiness, love, and believe it or not, even a few kisses now and then. :)

I will sign off for now. I’ve probably already gone on way too long. Tomorrow we leave Kunming to finish our China adventure in Guangzhou.

All children come from G--, for some the journey home just takes a little longer."
- unknown