Our Family's Journey to China
(cont'd)
To everything there is a season,
and a time for every purpose under the heavens.
A time to be born and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to reap; . . .
a time to tear down and a time to build up.
a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance . . .
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to lose and a time to seek;
a time to rend and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent and a time to speak; . . .

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
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August 26, 2001:   I am both frustrated and upset right now.   Virtually all the people in my travel group received their official proposals last Friday. They have had the weekend to memorize their daughters' beautiful faces and to think about their personality traits and schedules.  I, however, am still waiting.  My social worker is away from Friday morning, until Monday night and can't bring us our proposal until Tuesday morning.  I didn't mind it so much when everybody else was waiting with me, but now I feel like I'm on my own and I am so utterly and completely exhausted.  I have had too much waiting for my children:  waiting to get pregnant with Matthew, waiting to see if he'd be okay, waiting to get pregnant again, waiting for fertility treatments, pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, miscarriages and now, the daughter I've dreamed about for so long.  All the women around me had baby after baby, effortlessly.  Not me-- on no; I waited and I was disappointed time and time again.  I've consumed my entire inventory of waiting patience. All I can do now is try to have faith that there is a reason for yet another delay and that when I finally get to see her, all this anxiety, tension and bitterness will disappear.  I included the above verses on this page, because I find them comforting:  To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens. It has to be true, otherwise nothing in the universe makes sense.

August 27, 2001:   I changed the baby's name back to what it was originally going to be-- Faith.  I was worried that people would call Tamsin "Tammy"  and I absolutely hate that name.  I know that parents have a lot of control over whether or not their children are given nicknames, but I was afraid that Tamsin herself would want to be called "Tammy" and then I'd have no say in the matter.   I was thinking a lot about this extra little wait and I kept mulling over names.  My sister loves "Robin" and so does my mother. They both thought it would be nice for the baby's name to be connected to Rob's name.  I like it too, and I considered "Robin Lily" for my mom.  However, then I talked to Esther and she said she's taught several horrendous boys named "Robin" and, of course, that turned me right off. I was also thinking about "Carlie" and "Kylie" but "Carlie" is a derivative of "Charlie," which I don't like and isn't a good choice for an Asian child and "Kylie" is becoming more and more popular. I've always preferred less popular, but still "ordinary" names for girls.  (Speaking of which, I CANNOT believe what some people name their children.  Yikes!)  Suddenly it occurred to me:   maybe I'm having to wait, because I'm not entirely satisfied with the name I've chosen. I love the name "Faith"and I've wanted to give it to my daughter since we first started the process.  Also, faith is such an important part of life-- and not just in a religious way.  You need to have faith in yourself, your loved ones and a lot of the time, in the world at large, or you'd never be able to accomplish  anything.  So, yesterday, I called my mom and told her that I was naming the baby Faith Lily Fujia McGhie.  She was happy that her name would be used as a middle name and she said she did like "Faith."  So that's it!   My sisters are not going to change my mind again.  (It'll be too late by tomorrow morning anyway!)   My daughter is-- and I think always has been-- Faith.
Official Referral Photograph
Chinese Name: Fu Jia Fang
DOB: November 16, 2000
Residing at: Linchuan/Fuzhou S.W.I., Jiangxi Province
Canadian Name:  Faith Lily Fujia McGhie
DTC:  August 13, 2000
Official Proposal:  August 28, 2001
Agency:  Family Outreach International, Ottawa, Canada
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