Tears of Joy

As I was walking to the Civil Affairs office to meet Cameron, I was remembering the weather on the day that we brought Gretchen and Madelyn home from the hospital. Gretchen was born in a warm November and when we arrived home, the sky was on fire with the colors of all of the leaves. It was stunning.

Madelyn was born in a slightly warm February (warm for Boston), but it began to snow the day before we were discharged and we left right as another storm was coming in.

The clouds opened up in Xi'an yesterday and it was raining as I walked to Civil Affairs. The sidewalks here are tile, and I was slipping all over the place. The closer we got to the office, the harder it started to rain. It felt as if Jesus himself was crying tears of joy at what was about to happen.

As I entered the building, I witnessed a struggling family. A toddler was in complete hysterics and reaching and wailing for his Chinese orphanage caregiver. The daddy seemed sad, the mommy seemed unprepared, and the child was in such grief. I started to sob. It was so hard watching a child be in such pain, not being able to understand that what lies ahead is even better. And what God wants for all of us- to be a part of a family.

My stomach started to knot up as I stepped onto the elevator. Cameron was prepared for this day. We worked hard coming up with a plan. He had a book of his new family which was read to him daily at Starfish. I wore the same outfit as the picture that he had of me. You just don't know how things will go. I started down the hall towards the office and when I entered the room, Cameron looked up and ran into my arms and shouted "mama!" It was so perfect that the whole room seemed to stand still. Toddler adoption is a curious thing. There is so much that is hard to explain, yet so much that they seem to comprehend. Cameron held his book and pointed to my picture and then pointed to me. Then he pointed to my picture and pointed back to me. This happened for several minutes and it really seemed like he understood who I was. He also seemed pretty eager to start the next chapter of his life.

Since that moment, he hasn't left my side and starts to cry if there is more than 2 or 3 feet between us. We are all looking forward to this next part of the journey. And I am looking forward to all of the future tears of joy.