Gotcha Day and More!

After 2 1/2 years of waiting, our Gotcha Day was officially October, 18, 2010.  I have just figured out how to post on this blog by going through a VPN - the website is officially blocked in China.  So, now I am catching up for the last 2 days!

After arriving in Guangzhou on Sunday, October 17, 2010, via train from Hong Kong, we were met by Becky, our guide and translator.  The train station in Guangzhou was crowded and it was interesting to travel with the "locals."  We transferred to the Holiday Inn Shifu in Guangzhou which was to be our home for the next 11 days.  The hotel was fine - not exactly a 5 star, but adequate.  It was located on a pedestrian shopping mall which was great for walking around at night.  It was also within a 10 minute walk of Shamian Island, a popular shopping and walking area. 

After a leisurely morning on Monday, we were met by Kathy, another guide, who was substituting for Becky, since Becky had a previous commitment.  We went to the Guangdong adoption center, arriving around 2:30 pm.  We completed some basic paperwork, and within about 10 minutes, we met Rebecca Joy for the first time!  She was friendly, but still obviously still pretty attached to her caregivers.  She did not cry, which was terrific.  Anna Hope was very kind to her, and excited about meeting her little sister for the first time. 

In the photo on the left, you can see Teresa on the right, one of Rebecca Joy's nannies, from the Long Gang Social Welfare Institure in Shenzhen.  We were very impressed with her.  She was friendly and obviously knew Rebecca Joy pretty well.  She is showing Becca Joy an album that we had delivered to her a couple of months ago with pictures of our family.  Becca Joy was able to go through the album and match up the pictures to us.  Teresa told us that Sheng Xuan's nickname at the orphanage was something like "Shen Shen", or at least that was what it sounded like to us.  She had actually spent the past two weeks with a foster family, I think to help provide some transition from her caregivers at the orphanage.

There were 2 other people with Teresa who assisted in making the transition and completing some paperwork.  We all took a group photo on the right.

After leaving the adoption center, we went back to the hotel.  The transition seemed to go really well, much better than we had anticipated.  Becca Joy cried some when her nannies were leaving, but we quickly got her out of the adoption center and got her focused on something else.  Anna Hope treated her really well - she was being a great big sister.

 
When we arrived back at the hotel, Becca Joy and Anna Hope seemed to bond really well.  She was also very friendly to us.  Within a few hours, they were playing and reading books together.  It seemed like they were old friends!

Anna Hope had brought some sun glasses, and she put on a pair that she had brought for Becca Joy.  They had a great time walking around looking at themeselves in the mirror.  Hopey was all over the place, jumping around and acting crazy.  It was really fun to watch them together for the first time.

After a few hours, we put them in the  bath tub together, which they loved.  We had already decided they would sleep in the same bed, so we put them down and they went to sleep. 










So, our first day with Becca Joy comes to a joyful end.  When we first received news that we had been matched to Becca Joy, some people wondered outloud whether we were doing the right thing, whether she would be ok, physically, mentally and developmentally.  Doubts started to flood our mind, but then God reminded me that "what kind of a father when his son asks for bread, would give him a stone."  And, we decided to trust Him with the good and perfect gift he had promised to us.  It is interesting to me that most people seek to move toward a place of human understanding and efforts rather than a place of faith in God.  We have chosen to move toward a place of faith and trust in God, and God has once again shown His faithfulness to the promise he made to us about Becca Joy.  We are rejoicing in Him today!