In China
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Thursday, February 9, 2012 DAY SIX "Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." Isaiah 46:4 "Help me to hurt, just just a little, but the way you hurt when your children are overlooked and perishing. Help me to never be too busy or too comfortable to remember the people who suffer. Help me to never stop desiring to do something about it. Lord, help us to remember that as the body of Christ, this is our responsibility." (Kisses From Katie pg. 224) The above scripture promise from Isaiah is what God gave us to claim for our Ellie while we waited on her. And after our visit to her orphanage today, I can say with complete assurance, that our God is FAITHFUL. And and He keeps his promises. He carried her. He sustained her. And yes, he rescued her. Our day has been very long. We were gone over 12 1/2 hours. It is impossible to put into words our experience today. We are so thankful to have had the opportunity to travel to Ellie's orphanage and spend a good part of our day there. It was GOOD for Ellie, and it was GOOD for us as well. And let me just say that our girl was a wonderful traveler. Although she had no nap, and irregular mealtimes, she did not fuss or cry AT ALL. Except when leaving her mama's arms. And that was just fine by me. We left our hotel at 7:30 this morning, and along with our guide rode the high speed train to Chenzhou. We were able to visit Chenzhou on AC's adoption trip back in 2006, but at that time there was no high speed train, and the trip took about 4 1/2 hours by van each way. We were delighted on this trip to reach Chenzhou in a mere 70 minutes after boarding the train. The orphanage most graciously sent a van and driver to meet us at the train station, and then we went directly to a restaurant where we were hosting the director, some staff, and Ellie's nannies for lunch. We arrived before the rest of the group and I was very unsure of what would happen once the nannies and director arrived. Visions of gotcha day with Ellie, wresting herself from my arms and running across the room back into her nanny's arms were vivid in my mind while we waited. We did not have long to wait before everyone else arrived. In walked the group, and Ellie immediately became VERY somber. Her nannies all began calling her name and holding hands out to her. My girl did not reach for any of them. Her expression was not a happy one. One nanny was a bit persistent in trying to hold Ellie, so I handed her over, and my girl SCREAMED and CRIED. And reached her hands out for mama. The minute she was back in my arms, the crying stopped. And I'm not gonna lie, I was BEAMING and I couldn't have been happier. We visited for a while and then sat down to eat. Oh, my. It was quite the awkward lunch in my opinion. There were about a dozen people at the table. There were no highchairs at the restaurant. So Ellie was on my lap. Have I mentioned that she is not shut down any more~ especially while in my arms or on my lap. So, she is reaching for EVERYTHING, grabbing at EVERYTHING, and basically just being a busy girl. There's a huge lazy susan in the middle of the table, so I couldn't really push the dishes~ porcelain dishes, I might add~ far enough away from her so that she couldn't reach them. So, you can picture me, with the busy baby, trying to get her fed, her little hands grabbing at everything, trying to use my chopsticks to get myself fed, not being able to hand her off to Bill to help, as Daddy's arms are still not a good place to be. So struggling with all this WHILE having at least eight sets of eyes watching me the entire time. Yeah. I was REALLY wanting to tell them all that I AM a competent mother. I do have eight children, 3 of whom are raised successfully into young adulthood. Unfortunately, I didn't have the words to tell them. After what seemed to me a VERY long lunch, we headed back to the orphanage. The staff all walked, while Bill and I were driven. Again, a bit awkward, though we were most appreciative of their kindness to us. After the rest of the group arrived, we met in a large conference room and were offered fruit, tea, snacks and water while we stayed for quite a while to visit. I should also say that I had mentioned that we had wanted to check on another family's daughter, so their daughter (13) had been picked up from school and joined us for lunch, and then she too, joined us in the conference room. I was so very touched with the director's concern and care over this older soon-to-be adopted girl. The director asked us many questions about how the older children adjust to their families and other questions along those lines. Thankfully, we've had personal experience w/ older child adoption to draw on, so we could give some solid answers and advice.

Nannies and YuAi at lunch Such a sweet face Not happy to be back by my crib Oh no! I don't see mommy! Visting the SN school Saying goodbye to orphanage director

We then went and visited several of the rooms where the children were. I just wish I had the words to describe the precious children we saw. Honestly, as I sit and type tears are coming to my eyes. I saw each child as such a precious treasure they are. I saw staff so genuinely caring of these children. It was such a warm and loving atmosphere. Really it was in those little rooms. The director and nannies were showing us individual children and asking us to help them find families. The director told me that when they are on the list, it is just too long. And the children wait for too long. The nannies were running to show us their schoolwork, their artwork, telling us of cute personality traits they had. Anything that would make them stand out and be noticed for WHO THEY WERE. That they weren't just 1 of 147 million. They weren't a statistic. That they were CHILDREN who needed a home. The director was pleading for me to do all I can to find her children homes. It was HEARTBREAKING. I feel SO inadequate for this job. It is such a responsibility. She told me to post their photos and get the word out. Since this orphanage opened for IA's they have placed about 3,000 children. This director works HARD to get those children paper ready and to give them a chance a finding families. She told me that there were 60 children living in the orphanage with about 20 more of the undadoptable living with foster families. We did see some children with fairly severe needs, which the director said could not be adopted. The last room we visited was Ellie's room. Ellie was the oldest in her room. The other little ones seemed quite a bit younger. All girls, including a set of twins, and one little boy. 4 were tiny babies. There wasn't much in the room really, but the nannies were all holding the babies and talking with them. There were quite a few wooden cribs, but not all of them were full. The four tiny babies were all sleeping in their cribs, and I went to each one to stroke their sweet little heads. I had to laugh as they were under so many layers of blankets you could hardly see them, and each little head I stroked was sweaty. One little girl in the room has a family coming for her, and the paperwork for the twins had been sent to the CCAA at the end of January. Some will be doubly blessed to bring those sweet girls home. Yes, I did tell Bill that I wanted to bring the twins home, too, but he just laughed. We then left the orphanage to visit a school for SN's children from the city of Chenzhou. It's located in the old orphanage building. We visited 2 small, but very full classrooms, where the children sat in coats and unheated rooms. It was mostly boys that we saw. Some they are hoping to find families for, and others are too severely disabled to be adopted. A PRECIOUS little boy with Down Syndrome, ran up to Bill and I and hugged us, and didn't leave our sides the whole time. He sweetly rubbed Ellie's cheek. And when it came time to leave, he clung to Bill. The school's principal literally had to peel him from Bill, and as he did, the little boy just cried and cried. It was absolutely gut wrenching. I am forever changed. We then headed back to the orphanage, as they wanted to feed Ellie dinner there before our train ride back to Changsha. Ellie was going to have no part of a nanny feeding her, and though she did take a few bites for mama, I do believe her palate is more discriminating now, so she "passed" on her dinner. We then drove to Ellie's finding spot where we took some photos and video and then headed to the train station, and then on home. Ellie fell asleep on the way home, and perfect baby that she is, stayed sleeping while I got her changed and into bed. Really, she is the EASIEST child. When she gets tired, she doesn't fuss a bit. Just rubs her eyes, and then lays her head on mama's chest and falls right to sleep. Our trip today, made me so thankful for all the children who have found their families. But my heart just aches for those who are left behind.

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