You Need to Adopt from China

I have a problem that probably does not afflict too many other people. It started about this time of year about 9 years ago. My problem is that when I see families that only have boys I want to go up to them and tell them to adopt a girl because they are missing out. Nine years ago tomorrow Mark and I first saw Grace's little face. She had chubby cheeks and was dressed in split pants. She hardly had any hair, but she was beautiful! I could hardly stand the wait to go to China. I wanted to jump on a plane that very moment and go bring her home. I remember the day well because it was my father's birthday too. I called him to tell him about Grace and emailed a picture to him. My dad had a joke that he liked to tell people about Grace. He used to say that one in five people were Chinese in this world so it was about time he had one in his family. Adopting from China was life changing. Not just because we added another child to our family, but because we added a girl. Girls are different from boys. I know most of you already know this, and I knew it intelectually, but not in reality. Now I understand. Grace can be a drama queen when it suits her. She has the bottom lip thing down to a science. And she can turn on the charm like nobodies business. Especially with Mark. It is amusing to me to see the kind of things she can get him to do. Adopting from China was also life changing because we went to China for two weeks. It taught me a lesson in humility and gratuitude that I remember still, and am grateful for it. We are so blessed to live where we do, have the freedoms we have and enjoy so much proserity. I think Grace will never understand what kind of life she could have had in China. And I am glad. I am glad she is here, happy and healthy with all the opportunities that she could ever want. A lot of people in China would tell us how lucky she is to be adopted by an American family. I would tell them that we were the lucky ones. Nine years later, I still think so.