Adoption Musings

Well I just have to share a few of my thoughts for those of you who are interested.

We are still very much rock stars when we walk around the city here. Everyone is interested in my kids and the fact that we have adopted kids from China make us life savers in the eyes of people here. You would think that there might be something strange about coming to a foreign country and taking their kids back to a foreign land - but in fact the Chinese people are moved by our act.

Even though their economy is rising the general mass of people are still very poor. We ate in a McDonalds yesterday and I purchased a happy meal for less than $2 and I could tell that this was a lot of money.

One of the most amazing things was when we received Ella at the govenernment office there were multiple families there. A group from Spain - 13 families, two other American families and a group of about 10 families from Canada. What was so amazing was that everyone was taking photos of other families receiving their children. The atmosphere was just so full of love, anticipation, fulfillment, hope and future. People were crying, shouting, hugging - it was one of the most intense and beautiful things that I have ever experienced.

An admission ticket to something like this would be priceless.

I want to send out a word of encouragement for anyone out there who has even thought of adoption as a way to add to their family to keep considering it or if you are planning on having children in the future I would encourage you to think about this as an option. I don't have any agenda nor do I expect anyone to be like me (especially not remembering your wedding anniversary when you have to confirm your personal information - Not Good!) but I have seen the beauty of my relationship grow with my soon to be four year old daughter - Maya and I can see the future with my next daughter Ella as being one full of exciting times and great adventures. My mentor and father in life - Big O - adopted five children and he shared with me once during one of those conversational moments that you never forget that his kids love him passionately and that there isn't any difference between your bioliogical kids and your adopted kids. He has both and as I do now and have learned that yes this is the truth. So wherever you are at in life - I encourage you to consider it, encourage others and to give hope to those kids that are in desperate need of a life with parents.

So besides my daughters being Made in China - much of the worlds electronics and products are made here. So as one of my students loves to say, "I love Free" - Well I love deals! I might be able to get a really great iPod for $25.

Robert