Waiting for Zane

Our adoption process for William Zane Hilliard is nearing the final stages. We've cooperated with the governments of Hong Kong, China, and the USA in obtaining more forms, certificates, clearance letters, and fees than should be allowed. But the "labor pains" cannot be avoided, even in adoption. Our dossier of documents arrived in Beijing this week, and we expect to get the final approval to go get him in September. The wait seems long. Zane, or Xiao Wu as he's called in the orphanage, has recently said goodbye to several of his lifetime friends in the orphanage. Although kids getting permanent homes is a good thing, from Zane's perspective it simply means losing yet another friend, and the only "family" he has ever known.

Xiao Wu means "little noon", as he was found around noontime on December 5, 2002. They estimated him to be one year old at that time, so they established his birthdate as December 5th, 2001.

We're naming him William Zane Hilliard. Zane is a form of the more common, "John", which means "beloved". Brett just finished preaching through the gospel of John at church, and Zane will definitely be beloved. God has shown great love toward this child in preserving his life and allowing our family to be blessed with him as our own. William is Brett's first name, giving Zane a strong sense of belonging and the joy of always having to correct the teacher on the first day of school. ("I go by 'Zane').

And soon we will have our completed family: from our oldest, Abby, to our youngest, Zane. Kids from A to Z.