outside the gate

China, the place where East Meets West—and the place where I first met my daughter. This reality has dominated the landscape of my life for the better part of a week now and for good reason. Let me explain what I mean by this. I’m a history buff…and those of you who know me…know that. I must admit, visiting Asia has long been on my bucket list…so to come here and get my daughter really is a double blessing for me.

To date, I have stood on the soil of 5 of the world’s 7 continents. All of them have amazed me in different ways. While in London I marveled at the fact that you could still touch crater holes in buildings made by German V2 rockets during WWII. In the African bush I was mesmerized when I sat just feet away from wild Lions in the safety of my Safari jeep. Both times when I traveled to Brazil I remembered thinking how much I adored the people of that country…there was just something about them that made me love them. Of course, I would be amiss if I did not least mention my home continent of North America. I have made my life in the US and am proud to call it home.

All that being said, I have personally wanted to see China for a long time. I mean…for a person who loves history this place is the equivalent of setting a sugar addict free in a candy store. For example, today Carin, Mia, and myself were able to tour the Yellow Crane Tower in the city of Wuhan, which is located in Hubei Province. In case you’re wondering, Wuhan was the birthplace of the uprising that officially ended the China Dynasties and paved the way for the modern China that exists today. So here I stood in this tower which bleeds antiquity…yet is totally surrounded by skyscrapers, huge housing developments, and all of the other amenities of the modern Western world.

It’s a paradox of sorts…yet has become the new face of China. What has most fascinated me about this place is that you can buy a Starbucks coffee and drink it while standing on the soil of a roughly 5000 year old civilization that has shaped much of the Eastern Hemisphere. I found that thought to be utterly amazing and grand on a scale I have never experienced before. China is the place where ancient meets modern…where East meets West…and as of Monday, March 19^th…the place where I met Mia–Yi Qiu Rey (Yi-Cho-Ray) in case you’re wondering what they call her here.

As I was reflecting on the bigness of all of what I just mentioned…I couldn’t help but think that sitting in the middle of two Global Hemispheres…two historical epochs and all of this grandeur…is an underweight 30 lb.—2.5-year-old girl…who as of yesterday legally became my daughter.

This is the girl whom I have loved for the better part of 4 years…and who from her perspective-sees me as the guy she met a day ago. It’s obvious this is the case, she still recoils when I try to touch her and gets teary eyed when I’m too close. It’s heartbreaking, but I knew this would be the reality of our relationship until she starts to see me as Daddy—or Ba-Ba in the Chinese language.

So like China, I find myself standing at a major intersection in my life’s journey…the intersection of my daughter’s life. In the truest sense, I am part of the bridge between what life was like for her and what it is now about to become. It’s been a daily exercise of getting comfortable with being rejected in order to earn the love and trust of a little girl’s broken heart.

As her father, it’s a pain I must bear in order to help bring healing to her hurt heart. Consequently, it’s brought a whole new understanding of how my Heavenly Father has had to deal with me…which will be the subject of my next post. So keep praying for the bonding of our two hearts…which I deeply believe is the greatest history being written in China right now.

~ by Anthony Orzo on March 21, 2012.

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