| The first day of our trip to California, I called my parents several times to see if the agency had called. Nothing. When we awoke in the hotel room on Friday, November 19, 1999, we both privately decided that we weren't going to hear anything until the next week at the earliest. We were heading south on I-5 and finishing our lunch, when our cell phone rang. We were in the most remote, boring section of Central California, so we knew there could be only one reason for the call! We scrambled around for the phone, and I answered with my heart in my throat. It was the director of our agency, and he had great news! Lian JiangBi, born May 7, 1999 (my sister's birthday) was waiting for us in Lianjiang Social Welfare Institute in Guangdong Province. At 4 months (she was now 6 months), she weighed about 13 lbs. John promised to fax her pictures and referral information to my parent's house! We were thrilled! John had more good news. Because of a closure by the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou in anticipation of Y2K problems in China, we had been told to expect travel in mid to late February. But, our agency had been able to get us Consulate appointments at the end of January, so we were leaving mid-January instead! Now we were really excited! We'd be holding our baby in 8 weeks! We drove as fast as we could (without getting a ticket) to my mom's house, calling friends and family on our cell phone (expensive!). We pulled in at dusk and my mom was waiting on the front porch with faxed pictures of the sweetest baby in the world! We could barely make out her face, but we could tell she was incredibly beautiful! We couldn't praise God enough for this wonderful gift! |
