Words really can’t describe what it felt like to sit on a sofa tonight with a 16-month-old little girl falling asleep on my shoulder. Today has been quite a day, to say the least.

We started with a celebration lunch for the boys at Pizza Hut (mental note…when in China, stick with the Chinese food). We came back to the hotel, rested (or tried to rest) for a minute, and then gathered as a family altogether in a circle holding one another’s hands to pray for Mara Ruth. Then it was off to the civil affairs office…

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Chaos is the only word to describe what we encountered next. In the Chinese adoption process, Monday is the primary day when families are united with their children, so we quickly found ourselves on the floor of an office building with numerous other families, all meeting or preparing to meet the children they were adopting. Imagine a room full of expectant parents who can’t wait to meet confused children who’ve never known a parent. All of the children wait in a playroom beside the main room, and then one by one, representatives of each child bring them out.

Within minutes of arriving, we were escorted to the spot right outside the playroom where we would first meet Mara Ruth. As we stood there, we were shocked to see a little 1-year-old girl come running out of the playroom with a huge smile on her face only to jump into our arms and shout out in broken English, “Mommy! Daddy! I’m so glad you came!”

Not really.

This is an idealistic vision for what adoption might look like, but in the end, it’s simply not reality. There is a certain tension, even trauma, involved in any adoption process. For a precious 1-year-old little girl to be woken up this morning, to be taken from the one place and the few people she has ever known, and to be put in unfamiliar arms is by all accounts a difficult transition. Knowing this, we have prayed for this moment ever since we saw Mara Ruth’s picture, realizing that this would be an exciting day for us, but it would not be an easy day for her. For that matter, the days ahead won’t necessarily be easy, either, as she adjusts and attaches to a family for the first time. As you’ll see in each of the videos and pictures below, she has a lot to soak in for a 1-year-old!

So there we stood, a nervous yet eager family waiting for a confused and frightened little girl. And for the first time, we saw her…

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For the next hour or so, we stayed at the civil affairs office while we took care of a few details. This gave Heather and me both our first opportunities to hold our daughter…





Within a few minutes, we were back in the van. We had come as a family of 4, and we were leaving as a family of 5…

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After a quick trip to the baby store to pick up various essentials, we were back at the hotel, where we ate…

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And we played…

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Until we were all worn out. Just a few moments ago, we gave Mara Ruth a bottle and she fell asleep in our arms. We placed her in her crib, and she is resting soundly…at least for now. Thank you, thank you, thank you for praying for us, and especially for praying for our Mara Ruth. This family of five is now headed off to sleep…