Blessed Beyond Measure: Hong Kong and out!

It's Friday morning here in Hong Kong. We arrived by van last night around 9:00pm. It took about 3.5 hours to get here from Guangzhou. We shared the van with another couple in our group and luckily both little boys slept and were content the whole way! Whew! When you leave China mainland, you have to go through customs at the border. Since we had 6 people in our van and they only allow 4 to be in the van to go through, 2 people had to get out and go through the building inside to clear customs. Fred took Sam and went in while the rest of us went through in the van. We were told we could all stay in the van by our guide, so we were a little surprised when the driver told us this. I was a little nervous as I watched Fred carry Sam in with just their passports to get them through, but everything worked out (other than the long line for the cars with passengers to wait in.) We must have waited over 15-20 minutes (seemed longer) to get through in the van. They take a look at your passports and your face, and that's about it. Then we picked up Fred and Sam on the other side. Fred said they let him go through a special line inside, so he didn't have to wait long at all. Then we all got back in the van and went to the Hong Kong immigration check. Passports and photo check again and they used a fancy thermometer gun thingy to check our temps. Not sure how that worked because she didn't seem to really take much time making sure she aimed it at everyone's head, but I guess she did. Apparently, Hong Kong started doing that temp check years ago during the SARS epidemic and just haven't discontinued it. So, yay! We all got out of the mainland and into Hong Kong safely.

Hong Kong is much more modern and western and tropical than the mainland. We are staying at another nice Marriott here for tonight and then will fly out tomorrow morning around 8am local time. Hong Kong is much different than the mainland and it's nice that no where in the hotel does it smell like smoke. Even in GZ on the non-smoking floor, it would reek of smoke in the hall late at night (and it would come through the ventilation system.)

We were also thrilled this morning when they had actual fresh brewed coffee at breakfast! It's hard to get a good cup of coffee in China! #notateadrinker

We are going to to explore Hong Kong a little today and then go to bed early for our big travel day tomorrow.

As we left the mainland with Sam, I was looking at him thinking of all he's been through in the past couple of weeks. Thank goodness kids are resilient. I look at him and know that his story will always be complicated. More complicated than the rest of our children. His story is one of loss and redemption and most of all love. He has lost his birth parents, his homeland, his culture, his nannies, and his foster siblings. He was found, and rescued and cared for by many people. Many fibers in the thread that led us to him. His birth parents knew they could not care for him. If he did not have surgery, he would still be very ill. They did something many of us could never consider, yet we do not know what it's like in their country, their society. He was found, he was taken to an orphanage, he was saved by another caring soul whom I believe God sent to him, he was healed, he was loved. By God's grace, he was sent to a Christian foster home and was not only cared for, but was loved, truly loved. He lost them as well. On Gotcha Day, one of his nannies said to me holding back tears in her very best English, "God be with you." I nodded, trying to convey to her the depth of our gratitude and my understanding of her loss. Then she said, "God be with both of us." I know He is and has been every step of the way.

Although he is taking it all in stride now, one day Sam will have questions. I'm sure he'll have many questions. Fred and I want to be prepared to answer them, although there will be some we won't know how to answer. But what we will be able to tell him is that he was loved. Throughout his life, he was loved. Even for the first several months in his orphanage, he was loved by parents who would never know his fate. Then he was loved by the amazing caregivers and volunteers who healed him at Little Flower and his foster home. And God has loved him always, from the minute he was born. Just as God loves all people, every baby, every person no matter their way of life or belief system. God loves. And He gives this gift to us, this amazing capacity to love each other. I used to wonder how I could love a child the same way I love my biological children. It's by God's grace. And we are blessed that it has come easy for us. And while some transitions can take longer and the feelings of love and attachment may not come as quickly, they do come. Every child should know this love so that they may learn to love in return.

When I look at Sam, I feel like we have this precious gift. A gift from China, a gift from God. We promise to love him always as our son and never diminish his past or his birth country. He will be become an American citizen very soon, and I'm so thankful for that. He will have opportunities and freedom and choice, and a family who loves him unconditionally. He will not be a Chinese citizen because they do not recognize dual citizenship, but part of him will always be Chinese. We will do our best to honor that.

We can't wait to be home and see the kids! I'm wondering how Sam will react to them at first. He is a slow-to-warm-up kinda kid, so we'll see. He doesn't offer smiles too easily if he doesn't know you, but I know those smiles and laughter will be filling our house soon enough.

I will leave you with some pictures...

Some are from Shaiman Island. It was in GZ and many adoptive parents visit and take pics with the statue of the children. Sam was a little freaked out by the statue:)