Two hours down the road in a town called Zhuhai, Zachary is spending his last night in an orphanage.
My heart leaps for joy at the thought that our precious boy will no longer sleep alone. That he will always have someone to rock him and sing to him, give kisses, and pray over him as he falls asleep. His future is full of love and hope.
But I am also filled with a deep sadness. Because this is the last night that Zachary will spend in an orphanage, and that change is going to rock his little world.
In our adoption training they basically encouraged us to view "gotcha day" as similar to kidnapping. At first that might seem harsh- we've prayed and waited so long, spent over a year on complicated paperwork, and flew half a world away to meet our son! But...this is pretty much going to look like kidnapping to Zachary.
Two white people, whom he has never seen before and can not understand, will come in and take him back to a hotel never to return to the life he's always known.
An orphanage might be a cold and lonely place to live. But it has been his home.
A few caring nannies can never give the kind of love and attention that a full time Mom and Dad can. But this is who he loves.
And he doesn't know that there is redemption and hope and love ahead for him. We pray that God will heal the broken places in his heart, that he will give Zachary peace and joy as he realizes we are a family, but there is no guarantee.
The ony guarantee is that there will be grieving and fear and sadness tomorrow as Zachary comes to us. And God will meet us there. He will carry us through this and walk with us on a journey of healing and hope.
So tonight we are excited. And nervous. And sad. And joyful. I guess you could say that's life.
What a flood of emotions! We don't know how Zachary will react to all this change. But, I do know that your patient, loving care will translate. Praying so much that he will come to feel safe, loved and at home with you.
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