Quiet Day in Nanning

Christmas is alive and well, even in China.  Sometimes I forget for a minute where we are because wherever we go Christmas music is playing and the decorations are everywhere. It is wonderful to be reminded of the important day approaching.  We have received so many gifts on this trip already, but it all pales in comparison to God's great love demonstrated in the birth, life, death and resurrection of the Son.  Life in Christ is truly living and for that we are eternally grateful this season!

I need to begin today's entry with a story about last night.  We were able to enjoy a foot massage at the hotel. While the four of us sat in comfortable chairs, Elsa chose to sit with Dad.  No surprise there!  It was a wonderfully relaxing hour. I'm sure I drooled.  Annika was out cold by the time we were done.  And Elsa watched it all from her perch.

We have found that the best place to hang out as a family is the sitting area by the elevators on our floor.  There is room to run and two comfy couches. We have spent time there while skyping family and friends while Annika and Elsa play with balloons and play hide and seek behind the couches.  I think some of the hotel guests think we're strange for our choice of living room space, but we are foreigners here so we're allowed to be strange.

Today, as the title says, has been a quiet day.  We slept late, ate breakfast late, and napped.  In spite of all that lounging around, we found time to swim at the pool, shop for trinkets, walk around the neighborhood looking for a nonexistent park, and discover two new restaurants.  In the process, we continue to get to know this beautiful girl God has placed in our lives.  She loves strawberries and tea.  She can slurp noodles like a pro. She is definitely most happy with Dad and around lots of activity.  Todd is still baffled by her choice of favorites.  In addition, Elsa loves playing games on my phone.  What toddler doesn't, I guess.  I'm just surprised that she knows her way around an iPhone already!  She was able to show Mari how much she likes the pool today.  While she took a nap, Todd took Annika shopping on the street.  When Elsa woke up and Dad was gone, she was not a happy camper.  She called for Baba and jie jie through her tears and only stopped crying when I put her shoes on and headed out the door with her on my hip.  If you all could have seen her face when we found them, it would have brought a smile to your face. Too cute.

Later in the day, we wandered around looking for a park to play in, but came up short.  We ventured out to a new restaurant, ordered some unknown food and entertained the staff by trying to pick up slippery broccoli stalks with our chopsticks.  Mari was popular tonight.  She was asked to pose for pictures with a couple of different sets of people.  Did I mention that we are clearly the only westerners in this immediate vicinity? We found a cute restaurant that serves amazing teas and the best waffles we have ever had.  Todd was a little suspicious of his tea when a few minutes after drinking it, he began to feel a bit light-headed and his lips started to tingle. But, he couldn't stop raving about the place to the wait staff who responded positively by taking out their cameras and taking numerous pictures of our family.

All in all, things are are progressing well.  We are so grateful to God for how He is answering our prayers.  We love this little one so much and she is beginning to respond with smiles, laughs and playful interaction.  There are still sad moments which we know will not go away quickly.  But we praise Him for these precious steps toward bonding with us.  Thank you all for your prayers.  We really do feel that we are being lifted up.

 Sister love.

 The results of a great foot massage.

 Reppin' Wheaton College, thanks to our friends at the Alumni Office.

 Slurping noodles like a pro. 

 LOVES strawberries.

 At the pool.

 Photo "op" with Mari.

 Love that smile.

 Loved the tea. 

 But I think her dad liked it a little more, tingly lips and all. 

 Awesome waffles.

"Going here again tomorrow." 

Paperwork and Progress - December 20

I woke this morning with these verses on my mind.  "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."  (Lamentations 3:22-23)  I claimed that promise as we started our new day with Elsa.  We had to begin a bit earlier than yesterday because our appointments began at 9am.  Though Elsa woke up sad, she was much easier to console if Dad was around.  After eating a wonderful breakfast downstairs, we headed out with Cindy and Mr. Fu.  Our first stop was the Civil Affairs office where we met Elsa yesterday.  There we were to meet the orphanage director, answer some questions and sign our official adoption papers. We walked into the room where we were yesterday and Elsa kind of freaked out.  Our wonderful guide took control quickly and moved the meeting to another room.  This one was full of small kid toys and equipment. It didn't take more than a couple of minutes before Elsa began to follow her big sister, Annika, around on the equipment. As we had our meeting, the girls had a wonderful time playing and we began to see a new Elsa shining through.  She smiled, laughed, and squealed with delight as she played.  What music to our ears!  The orphanage director gave us some wonderful keepsakes for Elsa including a memory book put together by Half the Sky Foundation documenting her days at the orphanage.  It included early pictures and will be so great to have.

Our second stop brought us to another official office for another interview and more papers to sign.  While we waited for Cindy to get some receipts, Mr. Fu and Annika entertained us by racing on the outdoor basketball court.  Elsa continued to amaze us with her smile and laughter.  God's mercies to us.

With our official work done for the day, we headed back to the hotel for another new adventure......the pool.  She was skeptical at first, but watched Annika carefully.  After a few minutes, Elsa was venturing down the steps and smiling all the way.

We are learning more and more about this little girl of ours.  She has a dimple on her left cheek when she smiles big.  She goes on the potty and not in her diaper.  She can slurp noodles like a pro.  She has wonderful fine motor skills, writing with a pen on paper.  She loves her big sisters like crazy.  She loves playing with balloons.  She really likes Skyping on the computer.

There's not much left of today. We are heading out to dinner with a list of dishes to order written in Chinese thanks to our new friends here in Nanning.  Then, its time for foot massages.  This will be a great ending to a wonderful day.

To the praise of His glorious grace.

 Playing around at the Civil Affairs office.

 Signing official documents. 

 Official footprint.

 First smiles and laughs.

 Cindy and Orphanage Directors.

 All of us.

 Mr. Fu and Todd.

 Sisters.

 Mr. Fu, Cindy and the girls.

Lindquist Girls. 

Gotcha Day! ~ December 19

God is good.  He had a plan for the Lindquists which included a little girl born in Nanning on July 12, 2009.  Today, He brought us all together......forever.  Paul talks in Romans 8 about the wonders of God's plan for His children; how He brings His children into His family.  Near the end of the chapter are some remarkable verses about His love for us.
"What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:31-32)
We have such a great God who will supply all we need as we follow Him in obedience.  We are so dependent on Him as we step forward with Elsa.

Cindy met us this morning and Mr. Fu drove us all to the Civil Affairs office in Nanning City.  There we waited nervously for Elsa to arrive with the orphanage director.  Let's just say that she was not all hugs and kisses.  In her defense, she is grieving for her foster family.  We will have patience to wait for her to turn to us.  We held her, tried to coax her with toys, food, and stuffed animals.  In her bag that they brought with her was the well used photo album we had sent in August. She knows us in photos, but the real thing is going to take a little more time.  We were able to take her adoption photo in a moment without tears and then went outside to a small park. Annika tried to entertain her by playing on some of the equipment.  She only wanted 'Baba' (Daddy) to hold her.  It was so cute. Cindy was so helpful to remind us that it is a good thing that she grieves.  She has loved deeply and has attached to her foster family, so we wait and pray for the time when she will transfer that love to her forever family.

As the day progressed, Elsa needed to be entertained in order to remain content.  This meant that we walked the block, shopped at the mall down the street, and encountered many stares.  That's ok. In the midst of the day, God sent two special families to encourage us.  We met Patty and her kids in Walmart.  While her husband teaches English at the local university, Patty is home with their three kids.  Noah helped us find things around the store.  We hope to connect with them in the coming days.  The second family we met while walking in the mall.  They are Americans living and working in Shanghai with two adopted daughters from Nanning.  They encouraged us that their youngest was two when she was adopted and that the transition was not always easy.  God has definitely watched over us today and we are so grateful for that.

We can feel the prayers of so many family and friends as we go through today.  We knew this wouldn't be easy. Our hearts break for her and we wish there was something we could do to let her know we love her so completely.  As we hit the pillow tonight, we are thankful for how far God has brought us and looking forward to how He will continue to answer our prayers.

 On our way to the Civil Affairs office.

 Gotcha!

 Getting to know each other.

 First semi-family picture!

 Nap time!

 Making it official.

 Annika is a big sister!

 Daddy with the little girls!

He's a great Dad.

Hong Kong to Nanning-December 18

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us, that Your ways may be known on the earth, Your saving power among all the nations."  (Psalm 67:1-2)  We are so thankful that God has blessed us beyond measure in Christ in order to be a blessing to the nations.  That's the message of Christmas!  We think about that as we travel here.  May His name be known and praised.

We have had a pretty quiet day.  Waking up after a refreshing night's sleep, we swam in the pool and found some food.  Then we were back at the airport for our plane to Nanning. Annika made a couple of friends while we waited for the plane. Once we boarded, Todd tried out our "Jibbigo" app on his seatmates, asking them questions about Nanning.  I noticed Mari's head above all the rest when I went to the back of the plane.  We definitely stick out here!  Arriving in Nanning, we went through customs and were met by our wonderful guide, Cindy.  As we drove into the city, she told us all the wonderful things about Nanning.  After settling in, we ventured out to find some food on our own.  The doorman pointed us to an area around the block from the hotel and we started on our adventure.  The restaurant we chose had dumplings on the menu which sounded great to our hungry stomachs.  It was clear from the moment we walked in that they do not serve many foreigners!  Our server tried her best to communicate with us and we all laughed a lot!  The food was great and we were stuffed. Mari also noticed that a few cell phones were surreptitiously taking pictures of us. Too funny.

 Can you find Annika in this picture?

 Did you guess right? There she is.

 Now can you find Mari in this picture?

 With our wonderful guide Cindy.

 Todd wasn't sure what he had ordered.

 With our server who spoke zero English.

Well, we are heading to bed and preparing for our big day tomorrow.  Cindy said we will meet Elsa at 10:30am at the Civil Affairs office.  There is one other family that she knows of who will also be adopting a little girl tomorrow.  Pray with us for a good first day.  Her foster family wrote a little note on the bottom of an update Cindy gave us tonight saying that they wanted Elsa to be in a loving forever home and that they would love updates about her.  Clearly she was well cared for and loved.  We praise God for His provision in that way.