Here comes 2007!

Gracious me, tell me when 2006 happened?

It has been overall a fantastic year. So much has happened and Ian and I have talked about all the blessings that we've seen. Of course the biggest one is our sweet baby Kylie!

And as excited as we have been about finally knowing that we have a daughter, I also have a sorrow that is building each day that I don't get to hold her.

Yes, I know that this is all about me. Right now on the other side of the world Lian Bao Zhen is in her daily routine. In fact as I write this she is probably beginning to stir on the first day of 2007 (in her time zone). She will be getting up like any other day, oblivious to the fact that it is New Year's Day. As an infant, there is no reason to sit around and reflect on the year that has passed. From pictures and medical reports ~ dated in mid-August ~ she is well fed and obviously well cared for. She has her familiar crib mates and nannies. She is eating congee (a rice porrage of sorts) and has five bottles a day of Jinding brand milk powder. She enjoys her time outside ~ her translated biography says she flourishes in the sunshine ~ and plays with her rattle. She is content in her daily routine, there is no reason for her to imagine me here.

And yet my arms long to hold her tight. My heart aches with each day that passes with no word on when we can go to get her. But I know that God is holding her tight each night... He that is good enough to bring us knowledge of her will watch over her and keep her well until we arrive. So Kylie, though I know you have no idea I exist, I hope that somehow you know today how much you are loved. Surely you can feel the tremendous amount of love that Daddy and I (and Grandma Shultz and Grandma Miller and Aunt Traci and Uncle Adam and the rest of the family and Bethel Church and all our friends...) have for you.