(Nathan) Eliana has made several public appearances during her first
week here, much to the delight of her adoring fans. Last night was her official “coming out”
party with a baby shower put on by many of our friends. Lots of pink clothes, some yummy Chinese
cuisine for snacks, and lots of talk about Her Highness.
I remarked to Lisa today how funny it seems to me all the
attention Eliana gets. I guess we’re
just so used to her that we already think of her as a regular part of our
family. But everyone else is just now
experiencing the joy of her arrival. To
them, she’s more than just a new baby in the family. She’s unique because she’s from China and because she’s adopted.
For the rest of her life, people outside our family will see
her the same way. It will be obvious
that she’s not Caucasian, so it will be obvious that she’s adopted—and we’re
fine with that. But in my eyes, at
least, she’s not Chinese. She’s not
adopted. She’s just my daughter.
I think that’s just part of the bonding process, and it
surprises even me how quickly it happens. Looking back, the physical journey to
China and back took much longer than the emotional journey
to claiming her as our own. We just
latched on to her as if she was always ours.
Many of you have already started that journey too. You might make a comment on how she looks
like one of us or acts like one of her brothers. It’s an unconscious way of laying claim to
her and it’s a good thing. The more
you’re around her, the less the words “Chinese” or “adopted” will come up in
your mind or conversation and she’ll just be “Eliana”. (We’re certainly not offended by talking
about her heritage or adoption, just so you know. We’re proud of it and want her to be too.)
I think it’s the same way with God. We so easily put labels on each other like
“well-to-do” or “poor”, “smart” or “uneducated”, “black” or “white”, “in crowd”
or “out”. But God just sees us as who we
are, lays claim to us, and says, “You’re mine.
That’s all that matters.”
And that’s what I say to our baby girl. “Eliana, you’re mine. That’s all that matters.”