By Linda Porter Carlyle
Joseph Anderson Donetti paused in his writing. “I’m coming!” he called, putting the cap back on the black marker. He sighed. He’d have to finish copying his memory verse onto the wall later. So far he had written only, “My God will meet all.”
Joseph clumped down the stairs. He poked his head into the living room. G.M. was not there. “Where are you?” he asked loudly.
“In here.” G.M.’s voice came from the kitchen.
Joseph found G.M. seated at the computer desk in the part of the kitchen she claimed was her office.
“You’ll want to look at this,” G.M. said. “Pull up a chair.”
Joseph took a chair from the kitchen table and put it close to G.M.’s in front of the computer screen. “What is it?” he asked.
“I was just thinking about Pastor Chuck and Mrs. Pastor Chuck in China, picking up their new daughter,” G.M. explained. “They had mentioned the name of the adoption agency they used, so I decided to look it up online and find out a little more about it. I found this video. It shows some families in China meeting their new children for the very first time.” She clicked on the screen, and the video began playing.
Joseph watched, fascinated. He saw smiling couples getting off a bus and walking into a big building. Then he saw Chinese women climbing stairs, holding small children in their arms.
“Listen to that song,” G.M. said softly.
Joseph concentrated on the words. “If I have to go halfway around the world to meet you, I will,” the singer sang. “If I have to go halfway around the world to love you, I will.”
Joseph saw one of the Chinese women hand a little dark-haired girl all bundled up in a pink snow suit to a waiting father. The father looked so happy. He slowly leaned over and softly kissed his new daughter’s cheek.
Joseph and G.M. watched the rest of the video. Sometimes the little girl would be handed to her new father and sometimes to her new mother. Some of the little girls were crying. But it was always the same. Whoever got to hold the little girl first—the mother or the father—would lean over and give her a soft kiss. G.M. wiped a small tear from the corner of her eye. “That is so sweet,” she whispered.
“Is that what it will be like for Pastor Chuck and Mrs. Pastor Chuck?” Joseph asked.
“I think so,” G.M. replied. “I know they took a video camera with them. I’m sure they will show us pictures when they get home.”
Joseph was quiet for a minute. “Can we have one of those baby parties when they get back?” he asked suddenly. “You know, one of those parties to give the baby presents?”
“Do you mean a baby shower?” G.M. asked.
“Yeah!” Joseph said. “Only a baby shower that everybody can go to, not just ladies. I think all the kids would like to go to a party and see Pastor Chuck’s new daughter. I know Mac would! And Hannah. And Trevor—and probably even his brothers. Everybody likes Pastor Chuck and Mrs. Pastor Chuck!”
“That’s an excellent idea!” G.M. exclaimed.
“I’m going to call Mac. She’ll want to see this video,” Joseph said, jumping up and heading for the phone.
Very soon the familiar thud on the back porch announced Mac’s arrival. “What’s up? What video?” she asked, shucking off her jacket and hanging it on the hook by the door.
Mac was just as impressed with the adoption video as G.M. and Joseph had been. And she was very impressed with Joseph’s baby shower idea. Her eyes sparkled. “I know what!” she exclaimed. “We kids could dress up like the wise men and deliver the presents to Mrs. Pastor Chuck at the party! Too bad we don’t have a camel to put the presents on!” She glanced sideways at G.M. “I saw a really, really big stuffed camel at the toy store in Jacksonville.”
G.M. laughed. “I saw that camel too. It costs hundreds of dollars! But I think there used to be a big cardboard camel in the Cradle Roll Room at church. Maybe you could borrow that.”
“But Christmas is over,” Joseph pointed out.
“That’s OK!” Mac said. “We studied about other countries in school, and some of them celebrate the wise men giving presents to Baby Jesus in January. It’s called Day of the Kings. Because the wise men didn’t get there the day Jesus was born, you know. They came later. So we could still dress up like wise men anytime. And I could be a wise woman!”
“They didn’t have wise women!” Joseph protested.
“That was then!” Mac exclaimed. “This is now! And I can be a wise woman!”
G.M. laughed. “I don’t know why you can’t dress up and be a wise woman,” she said. “That’s what we all hope you will grow up to be.”
Joseph grunted. “They still didn’t have wise women in those days,” he grumped.
Mac ignored him. “G.M., will you help us make cookies for the party?” she asked. “We could make camel-shaped cookies and decorate them! And we could make square cookies with icing bows!” She twirled across the kitchen, her arms flung wide.
“It’s like my memory verse,” Joseph said, looking at G.M. “It says, ‘God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.’ That little Chinese girl needs parents, and God is giving them to her.”
Mac stopped twirling. “And God is giving us to her too!” she said. “We will be her friends. And I will teach her to be a wise woman!”
