Maia Comes to Signal

It's been roughly two months since we returned to the States with Maia and our family will never be the same – but in a very good way. Maia has become a part of our family with the smoothest of transitions, giggling her way into our hearts and those of our family and friends. Everyday brings a new adventure and a new experience for this little four-year old who takes it all in stride. I'm not sure we could have asked or prayed for an easier adoption as Maia adjusts to such new surroundings and a new life with us on Signal Mountain. One chapter of our journey has ended and another is starting and God's providence is abundantly evident in our experience and the joy we feel each day since Maia's arrival.

A common question we hear is how we deal with the language barrier. While Maia now knows quite a few English words, it will be sometime before she's speaking fluently enough for us to converse in any meaningful way. Yet, our relationship with her is not hindered by the lack of a shared dialect and in some respects, it may even be stronger as a result of the fact we are forced to use more than simply words to communicate. Like most parents and children learn at an early age, bonding comes from a myriad of non-verbal cues – a look, a smile, a hug, some help with a shoelace and a toy. So much is said without ever speaking a word (or at least ones that are commonly understood) that we all get by just fine. And for Ethan and Maia, who act like they've always been together, the language challenges seem minor in almost all respects.

In reality, we do speak a lot of words around Maia and that immersion (along with her experiences in pre-K now) is having a big impact on her comprehension and use of English. But rather than force the communications, we are simply allowing it to come naturally and so far it's working just fine. Where we do have challenges, it's related to learning new roles and routines and very normal, age-appropriate behaviors that we'd expect and hope to see with any child testing her boundaries and forming new social connections. Bedtime is bedtime after all, and who wants to do that when you're having so much fun.

This week is also significant as Maia will have an operation to repair her palate (the roof of her mouth) and some scaring left from an earlier surgery when she was an infant. The surgery will take place at Erlanger Medical Center after which she'll be a patient at T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital for several days before returning home to heal and begin several months of speech therapy. The surgery and therapy together will also be important in helping Maia with her language development and we are blessed to have a great team of clinical and behavioral specialists here in Chattanooga. Thanks for all of your cards, calls and prayers as we prepare her for a major surgery.

Tonight at dinner as I watched Maia enjoying her food, I was struck by the reality that somewhere back in China is a mother and father who gave up their daughter. Not because they didn't love her. And not because they didn't want her to have the best life possible, but more than likely because they couldn't take care of her. For us to now have that opportunity is an awesome responsibility and one that we hope as parents we will never take for granted.