 When we were packing on Wednesday night I realized I did not see my bible. I thought perhaps in all of my hurry I had accidentally packed it. Well when a text woke me up in the middle of the night I looked around for my new Bible but couldn’t find it. We are home now and still no bible. It was stolen. Please pray that it ends up in the right hands. I assume someone needs that bible more than I do.
Sophie woke up fever free but still wasn’t quite herself. My friend Cindy from church put me in contact with a mom from Kutztown about 1 hour away. This mom and her daughter travelled to rescue a 13 year old boy before he aged out. Dearest Winston is in a wheelchair but he is very bright and has the sweetest smile. We were able to see them twice briefly while in Guangzhou but since we were all staying at the same hotel and since we were on the same flight we were able to enjoy a fun dinner together in Hong Kong. Conner, Emily, and Sarah took a late night train into Hong Kong. They really did not get to see much, much to Conners chagrin. Conner has also been able to share the gospel with a male prostitute and a female prostitute via Weechat. Please pray that these precious souls would turn to Jesus! I was able to share the gospel with a flight attendant and a young couple. Precious seeds were planted. May God draw all these souls to himself. We woke up with plenty of time to check out of our hotel in Hong Kong especially since the hotel was attached to the airport. We were checked out by 8:30 for our 11:15 flight. We met up with our new friends the Lang’s near the United ticket counter. We were checked in and needed to get through security and then another level of checking of passports. The security line was rather short and as we got to the front of the line I told Christian to put his iPad in one of the bins. He said “ I don’t have the iPad”. I quickly asked Conner and he said “ I got mine out of the safe”. I had assumed he would have given Christian the family iPad. Well before Conner went through security he raced back to the hotel and back to the room to look for the iPad. We all started praying. The rest of us went through security. The line was crazy long to get through the second passport check. The security line was growing too. All I could think of was whether Conner would make it to the gate on time and if he would find the iPad. We had not eaten and one of our only options was to get into a very long line for McDonald’s. The Lang’s spotted Conner with the iPad (praise God!) and we all 8 of us raced to an elevator to get on the shuttle tram to the gate. We then got off the tram and raced to two more elevators to arrive at the gate as they were preparing to pre board those in wheelchairs and with babies. We boarded only 15 minutes after getting to the gate. It was a packed flight home with no spare seats. Not the luxury we experienced on the way to Beijing. Praise God sweet Sophie travelled like a champ. Hardly any fussing. She snuggled and slept quite a bit of the trip. Poor Conner and Christian came down with something and both boys were running fevers. A difficult way to end the trip. Praise God we arrived in Newark and got through immigration in record time. By the time we had our luggage and got to the door Tim and 6 of the kids arrived to pick us up. What a sweet reunion! We enjoyed a yummy lunch at the same Chick Fil A we ate at when we came home with Kiara. So neat to be on this journey again. So wonderful to serve a mighty God who loves us and loves all the precious orphans in the world. We just spent our first day home unpacking, snuggling and reconnecting. Christian and Conner have been running fevers all day. Please pray for their healing. I am so thankful for each and everyone of my precious children and so thankful that we are all home. Please keep us in your prayers in the days and weeks to follow as we help Sophie connect with us and as we help her to grieve the loss of all she has ever known. We are also praying for you to rescue children into your own family through adoption. We are praying that you may all know the joy and blessing of adopting a precious child. To quote the movie An Adoption Story, “ Adoption is risky, it takes love, it takes tremendous risk. But when you see my kids you see that adoption is not a word, It is not a calling, it is not a cause. Adoption is just about each individual kid and who they can be. Our world needs them. And I am so so fortunate that I got to walk alongside of them on this journey. I am far more blessed than they have ever been for being my children.” It is our prayer that through this blog that we have been a voice for the voiceless. It is our prayer that you would hear and see these precious children as God sees them as children with souls in need of a family. We love you all and thank you all for your prayers and support! Please also pray for Conner as he continues to follow the Lord’s leading. He plans to continue to be used of the Lord in ministry. He is looking for supporters to come alongside of him to help him raise support. Please check out this link to buy cards to support his trip to Thailand. You can check out what he is doing. www.limecards.info or you can donate directly to our PayPal at gthooh@aol.com Thank you!
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 IToday we headed off to the safari park and zoo. It was fun to see the animals so close up on the safari train and also on foot as we walked around the zoo. Feeding the giraffes was a highlight! We could have fed the elephants, tigers and monkeys too if we had wanted. We also enjoyed taking photos of monkeys playing over our heads and seeing koalas in the trees. We saw many Giant Pandas and some were enjoying bamboo. The tigers were active and even jumped into the water to get some food. We saw baby tigers in an incubator and young cubs sleeping a few feet away from us not even behind glass. What we saw we would never see in the United States. It was was a full day of fun with our new friends from CCAI. All day long Sophie napped in her carrier and just did not seem to be herself. On the way back on the bus Sophie threw up on me. Once at the hotel we said goodbye to sweet new friends. It is so hard to believe that in 2 1/2 weeks you can become such good friends with people you never meet before. New are thankful for these sweet friends that God allowed us to get to know. We are happy we will be heading home but we will miss all the new friends we made. Hopefully we will see them again this side of heaven. I hurriedly got changed and we all finished packing. Conner ran to get us lunch/dinner. We left with visa in hand for our 3 hour van ride to Hong Kong. Precious Sophie is running a low grade fever. We pray she feels better before tomorrow’s long flight home. Please pray she feels better soon. Thank you. We leave on Friday 2/9 and we arrive home on the same day because we are flying back in time. So strange! Thanks for following our trip. Thanks for your prayers and thanks for your support. We love and miss everyone.  Yesterday morning after family devotions we headed to the park across the street. It was super crowded due to Chinese New Year. All of the amazing decorations are just about finished and the official lighting of the displays is tonight. It will be beautiful but we will miss it since we will be already in Hong Kong when it is lit up. Conner is bummed. After the walk in the park we had a brief paperwork meeting about our departing China.
Following the meeting was a quick Chinese food lunch. After lunch we headed back to Shamain Island with a few of the families from our group. We decided to go into the White Swan Hotel. The White Swan was the famous hotel where most families stayed who adopted little girls about 12 or more years ago. Many of the families used to have their children’s pictures taken on a red couch. We decided to have our little ones photos taken here too. It was neat that they had a sign about the history of the red couch. It was a beautiful hotel with a river view and a waterfall inside. While on Shamain we enjoyed pretty music, shopping and just strolling around. We finished our time on the island with an early dinner at Lucy’s. Lucy’s is famous for western food and we enjoyed burgers, fries, onion rings, and quesedias. Back to the hotel for packing and a last swim. Conner went out to deliver tracks after I went to bed. Please pray that these tracks fall into the hands where God wants them. Somehow Tim”s text to his boss is hooked to my phone so for the second night this week I was awakened with a text tone at 3:30 am. I tried to fall back to sleep but couldn’t. Please pray for strength and energy for me today. We are going to the safari with the group while we wait for our visa and some clean laundry. We then are coming back finishing packing and then taking a 3 hour van ride to Hong Kong. It will be a super long day especially on so little sleep. We fly out of Hong Kong direct to Newark on a 15 and 1/2 hour flight home. Two long days and then home to see our precious family. Keep us all in prayer as we make this final leg of our trip home. Pray for me as I am most afraid of jet lag. We will need plenty of sleep and everyone st home just wants to see us. Please pray that we get back on track with our wake sleep patterns quickly. Thank you so much. Mountain, Embassy, Pet Store, Flower Shop, group photo,and dinner
Yesterday morning Conner, Emily and Christian went with Kai’s family to ride cable cars up the nearby mountain. Again they had some amazing views of Guangzhou. Sophie and I went to the Embassy to apply for her visa which will take 2 days to receive. It will be ready for pick up on Thursday. Because Chinese New Year is in a few weeks the embassy was packed. There were more than 12 families in the room at the same time. We were the only family from CCAI who had an appointment yesterday. The rest of our group have theirs today. ThWhen we first arrived Sophie needed a diaper change. I was thankful we were at the embassy with western toilets and a changing table! Sophie once again had a mini meltdown. Where she cries hysterically. I can’t quite figure out the triggers but it could just be grief and loss and fear all wrapped up in not having any control in this whole process. Since I was the only one with a hysterical child I felt like everyone was looking at me, but I just did my best to reassure her and she did calm down and even fell asleep on the 30 minutes bus ride back. When I got back the kids were here and we headed out to lunch and to the pet mall and flower mall. It was a 30 minute taxi ride. There are literally millions of fish in all sizes and colors. They are in giant bags, small bags, little bowls, big tanks. It was like a giant flea market for fish and aquarium supplies. It was way better than the actual aquarium. In another section there were frogs, and every king of turtle you could imagine. Some for pets and many perhaps to eat. In the very back there were kittens, cats, dogs, puppies, rabbits, bunnies, hamsters, rats, mice, tarantula’s wolf spiders, snakes and hedgehog’s. Emily wanted to bring home a husky puppy for Juliana. They were super cute and better cared for then I might have expected. We were told by one of the locals that because it is the Chinese New Year the year of the dog that everyone wants puppies. We did not see any puppy sales but saw a police officer buy 2 turtles and two children each get a bunny. Right next to the pet section there was every kind of flower, tree, plant, succulent you could imagine. We met a sweet young lady who spoke English and we bought two plants for our guides and were able to share our family photo and the Kiara gospel card with her. She was very appreciative. It took us 45 minutes to get back to the hotel and Sophie napped. We then had group photos and a group dinner at a Portuguese and Cantonese restaurant. We loved the beef and pepper dish and the excellent donut type dessert. Lots of fun eating with the other CCAI families. A quick swim before bed. Another full day and a another day closer to being home. Thanks for your prayers. Yesterday was another free day while waiting for the results of the TB test. The results were negative. Yippie! We took a taxi and went to the Canton Tower where we were able to take a one and one half minute elevator ride up to the 108 floor. It is the tallest tower in China and the third tallest in the world. The views were breathtaking. They even have a glass jut out where you stand out over the city. Amazing. At the top there is also an outdoor thrill ride where you free fall for part of the way down. It is the world’s tallest thrill ride. They also have a vertical Ferris wheel that circles the top of the building and several revolving restaurants. It is a beautiful building especially at night when it is lit up in beautiful colors. When we got back to the hotel we joined Kai’s family at the Decathalon store. What a fun sports store where you can try out bikes,scooters, basketballs, soccer, arrows, darts and golf. We played and shopped. If anyone is looking for a great investment opportunity in the United States I would recommend looking into owning one of these stores. It reminded me of an IKEA of sports stores. Super sleek! After shopping it was off to the playroom and swimming pool. At 5:50 we met the group in the lobby and headed to the Pearl River Cruise. It was fun to eat dinner on the boat and enjoy the beautiful lights of the city, other boats and bridges and especially the Canton Tower which is breathtaking at night. It was a good and long day. Today we head to the Embassy appointment to apply for Sophie’s visa. We have a free day tomorrow and are heading back to Shamain Island and then to the Safari on Thursday morning and then we get her visa and then head to Hong Kong for one night and then finally fly home! We are getting closer each day. Miss you all. Thanks for your prayers. Yesterday morning Christian and Conner went to tour the Buddhist temple. How sad it was to see so many worshippers bowing down to a false god and bringing a statue food offerings. Oh pray for their eyes to be opened to the truth of the gospel. They need Jesus! Conner left some of the gospel tracks for them to find. Please pray they fall into hands that are open to the truth. They then went to the Old Chen House where they could see local artists painting with their hands and creating many different works of art. A beautiful place for pictures. When they returned we joined Christian’s friend Kai’s family for lunch at a local noodle house. Yummy food and good prices. We all came back to the hotel and Sophie took a nap while I prepared the paperwork for her visa appointment on Tuesday morning. While I was in the paperwork meeting the kids and Christians friend and his dad and brother went to the park across the street. It is being set up for Chinese New Year. Elaborate lighted decorations adorn the park. It is quite amazing to see all the effort they go to decorate for their new year. Kai’s mom, Sophie and I joined them after the meeting was over. We walked up to the 5 ram statue and took Christian’s picture on the same step where we took Wyatt’s twice before. It is so hard for Sophie to be carried so much. She wants to walk but since she can’t I need to carry her. I have aching muscles in every part of my body from all the walking and climbing and carrying. Getting her home for an orthopedic evaluation is the first prioity. She needs a leg brace and a walker. It will give her so much freedom. She is super smart. She now says bye bye and points to the door, she waves bye bye to people, and gives high fives. Please continue to pray for her adjustment to our family. We ate food from the Hong Kong restaurant in our room for dinner. After dinner Christian and Emily went swimming in the outside pool with two of their friends. The parents were standing around the pool in winter coats, hats and gloves while the crazy kids swam! Back to the room and off to bed. We fall right to sleep from complete exhaustion each night. Today we have a free morning and then need to be in the room by 2 to wait for the TB test results. Tonight is the River Cruise with pizza on board. We are looking forward to a fun night with our CCAI friends. Only 5 more nights till we are home in our own beds! Thank you for your prayers we appreciate you all so much! Medical appointment and Shamain Island
Yesterday was another difficult day. We met some other adoptive families at breakfast. One of the families has an Albanian father and a mother who was a missionary in Albania for 10 years. So neat to meet them. We also met another Christian homeschooling family and a family from Lancaster. What a small world. It is wonderful to meet others who are on the same journey we are on. So many stories. I would love to have time to get to know them all. After a yummy buffet breakfast at the China Hotel Marriott Emily and I headed to the visa medical appointment for Sophie. We went to the appointment with our guide and a mom who is a missionary with her husband. They adopted their son in the summer but are here to get their visa so they can head to the states this summer. It was nice to have company on the way. We also meet up with a mom and her older daughter and their new adopted son/ brother. We had talked with them via email and the phone back at home. He is 14 and in a wheelchair and has an amazing smile. We look forward to hopefully getting to know them better. They are on the same flight home with us. We hope to have dinner with them either here or in Hong Kong. They live about an hour away from us back at home. Sophie did pretty well with the eye and ear and heart check but did not like me putting her down to be measured or to have her leg length difference checked. Her pitiful “mama” “mama “broke my heart. The worse part was the TB blood draw. They literally take the child from you and draw their blood and the parents or guides are not allowed in. It is so difficult. She came out screaming but quickly settled down with a few cookies and lots of snuggles. Praying the test is negative so we do not have to go back on Monday for a chest X-ray. We then joined Conner and Christian back at the hotel. They had been exploring the beautiful park across the street. The park was all fixed up for Chinese New Year. Amazing displays for the year of the dog. We will be heading back over to the park this afternoon. We enjoyed a light snack like lunch at the Hong Kong restaurant. Yummy garlic broccoli and garlic chicken wings, fries and beef noodles. We then took a cab to Shamain Island. It is a beautiful island with European buildings, gorgeous people sculptures, and quaint gift shops. Conner and Emily took the cutest photos of Sophie. She wanted to be out of the front pack so she could walk. Emily and I held her hands. She was loving life. I wanted to get a photo of her in a line of children sculptures. We have Wyatt in a photo here in 2013 and another of him in 2015. I don’t believe we have a photo of Hudson here. When I put her near the sculptures she panicked and started hitting and screaming and falling apart for the next 30 to 45 minutes. I carried her through the crowded park and found a quieter spot where she could scream and where it drew less attention. It was so difficult to not be able to reassure her. It was so difficult to see the confused Chinese faces as our little girl wanted nothing to do with us. It looked like we had abducted her and I was waiting for the police to come and question us. Oh to understand what she is experiencing. I can only imagine the confusion she is experiencing. Please keep praying for her. It could be a long 15 and 1/2 hour flight home. After she calmed down she just sucked her little thumb and fell asleep. We took advantage of her sleeping to get a few souvenirs for the family back at home. We also like to give our kids a gift from their country on their birthdays. So we stocked up on some gifts for Hudson and Wyatt while we were there. Back to the hotel for pizza ( yes again). We are all too ready for home cooking. I miss Mexican and salads and Conners grilled chicken. We have 4 more nights here and one night in Hong Kong and one night on the plane and we will be back home. Really looking forward to home but not looking forward to the jet lag. The jet lag with Hudson was super difficult. Please pray. Thank you. Before heading off to bed we greeted the rest of the CCAI families when they got here. It was a fun reunion. Christian was super excited to see Kai, Jay and Grady. Glad there have been some friends for him on this trip. Today Conner and Christian are touring the Old Chen House and a budist temple. Emily and I may join them but we are not sure yet. Tomorrow we have a quiet day until the Pearl River cruise in the evening. We are looking forward to seeing all the building lit up at night. Thanks for your prayers and for following our journey. Yesterday was another difficult day. We met some other adoptive families at breakfast. One of the families has an Albanian father and a mother who was a missionary in Albania for 10 years. So neat to meet them. We also met another Christian homeschooling family and a family from Lancaster. What a small world. It is wonderful to meet others who are on the same journey we are on. So many stories. I would love to have time to get to know them all. After a yummy buffet breakfast at the China Hotel Marriott Emily and I headed to the visa medical appointment for Sophie. We went to the appointment with our guide and a mom who is a missionary with her husband. They adopted their son in the summer but are here to get their visa so they can head to the states this summer. It was nice to have company on the way. We also meet up with a mom and her older daughter and their new adopted son/ brother. We had talked with them via email and the phone back at home. He is 14 and in a wheelchair and has an amazing smile. We look forward to hopefully getting to know them better. They are on the same flight home with us. We hope to have dinner with them either here or in Hong Kong. They live about an hour away from us back at home. Sophie did pretty well with the eye and ear and heart check but did not like me putting her down to be measured or to have her leg length difference checked. Her pitiful “mama” “mama “broke my heart. The worse part was the TB blood draw. They literally take the child from you and draw their blood and the parents or guides are not allowed in. It is so difficult. She came out screaming but quickly settled down with a few cookies and lots of snuggles. Praying the test is negative so we do not have to go back on Monday for a chest X-ray. We then joined Conner and Christian back at the hotel. They had been exploring the beautiful park across the street. The park was all fixed up for Chinese New Year. Amazing displays for the year of the dog. We will be heading back over to the park this afternoon. We enjoyed a light snack like lunch at the Hong Kong restaurant. Yummy garlic broccoli and garlic chicken wings, fries and beef noodles. We then took a cab to Shamain Island. It is a beautiful island with European buildings, gorgeous people sculptures, and quaint gift shops. Conner and Emily took the cutest photos of Sophie. She wanted to be out of the front pack so she could walk. Emily and I held her hands. She was loving life. I wanted to get a photo of her in a line of children sculptures. We have Wyatt in a photo here in 2013 and another of him in 2015. I don’t believe we have a photo of Hudson here. When I put her near the sculptures she panicked and started hitting and screaming and falling apart for the next 30 to 45 minutes. I carried her through the crowded park and found a quieter spot where she could scream and where it drew less attention. It was so difficult to not be able to reassure her. It was so difficult to see the confused Chinese faces as our little girl wanted nothing to do with us. It looked like we had abducted her and I was waiting for the police to come and question us. Oh to understand what she is experiencing. I can only imagine the confusion she is experiencing. Please keep praying for her. It could be a long 15 and 1/2 hour flight home. After she calmed down she just sucked her little thumb and fell asleep. We took advantage of her sleeping to get a few souvenirs for the family back at home. We also like to give our kids a gift from their country on their birthdays. So we stocked up on some gifts for Hudson and Wyatt while we were there. Back to the hotel for pizza ( yes again). We are all too ready for home cooking. I miss Mexican and salads and Conners grilled chicken. We have 4 more nights here and one night in Hong Kong and one night on the plane and we will be back home. Really looking forward to home but not looking forward to the jet lag. The jet lag with Hudson was super difficult. Please pray. Thank you. Before heading off to bed we greeted the rest of the CCAI families when they got here. It was a fun reunion. Christian was super excited to see Kai, Jay and Grady. Glad there have been some friends for him on this trip. Today Conner and Christian are touring the Old Chen House and a budist temple. Emily and I may join them but we are not sure yet. Tomorrow we have a quiet day until the Pearl River cruise in the evening. We are looking forward to seeing all the building lit up at night. Thanks for your prayers and for following our journey. Yesterday morning we headed to a local aquarium. We were told by our guides that at this aquarium while taking a picture in front of a fish tank that one of the huge fish jumped out and it took two staff to get it back in the tank. She showed us the video of him out of the tank. Too funny, only in China! They had tank after tank of huge fish and colorful fish. We also went to see a sea lion show and walked through a stingray and shark tunnel. There were even huge sea turtles that you could reach out in touch....although we didn’t! There was also a touch tank with horseshoe crabs. The most interesting part was a place where you pay $1.59 for a baby bottle filled with some liquid fish food. You then sit by the edge of the pond and a wide mouthed fish comes to drink the bottle. Christian and Emily had more than 20 fish trying to be fed. For sale in the gift shops were tiny red earned slider turtles inside of a plastic clear duck shaped container that was hooked to a keychain. We felt sorry for these little souvenir turtles. Again only in China!
We arrived back at the hotel and enjoyed a room service lunch while we finished packing. Because our consulate appointment is a day ahead of the group we had to travel alone but Christian is especially happy that he will see his good friends again in a few days in Guangzhou! It was sad to say goodbye to Rita and Tina, our guides. They were so kind, helpful and shared so many stories with us. We were blessed to have them as our guides. Please pray for their salvation. We were able to share some Christian tracks written in Mandarin with them. May they put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. We headed off to the airport at 2:30 and made it to our gate with plenty of time to spare. We were even able to check all 6 suitcases because they base it on total weight not number of bags. That was a real blessing to travel light through the airport. We ended up being given Prioity boarding and Christian was the first one on the plane. Due to air traffic congestion at the airport our flight was delayed by 30 minutes. Sophie was a real trooper and snuggled with me at take off and promptly fell asleep. She and I napped for an hour of the 2 hour flight, quite a blessing. At the airport we noticed a woman who was crying and providentially she was seated directly behind Conner. The Holy Spirit prompted me to write her a note and give her one of the Mandarin tracks. She received it and thanked me. Please pray for her as well to place her faith in Jesus. We were greeted at the airport by another CCAI representative named Grace. She gave us water and brought us to our new hotel about one hour from the airport. After signing in with our passports and having our photos taken by the hotel staff due to police regulations we were take to our adjoining rooms. The first room smelled like smoke so we headed to some new rooms which are just fine. After settling in for the next 6 nights we finally had Conner run out tho McDonalds for ice cream and fries. We so desperately need to get back to home cooking. There is a Burger King in our hotel along with a Starbucks and several restaurants. The McDonald’s is right next door. Conner tried to share the gospel with a prostitute after she propositioned him. Oh it is such a dark world in need of Jesus. Please pray for opportunities to share the living water with those we meet on this journey. Please pray for several of the new adoptive families who don’t know Christ. It is our prayer that we would be a bold witness for Jesus and that we would shine so brightly that those we meet would ask us for the reason we live with such hope. Thank you for praying for the souls of those we meet. Tomorrow we join a local family who live in China and who have adopted a child. We join them for our visa medical appointment. Please pray for Sophie. Today will be hard for her as they examine her and as they draw her blood. She likely will be traumatized again. Please pray that I will be able to comfort her. Thank you! As I write this we will be home in less than one week. It is exciting to be on the final leg of our journey. Keep commenting and keep sending emails it is so encouraging to hear from everyone back at home. Thanks to all of you who have reached out it has been so good to hear from you. Many blessings to you all!  Yesterday was the most difficult day of the trip. We went to tour the orphanage also called children’s social welfare where Wyatt lived for the first year of his life and where Sophie lived for her whole life. Hudson may have stayed here for a few days right before we adopted him but I am not sure. The orphanage director is a kind man who clearly cares about the children. He is the one who remembered Wyatt. The hard part is that in this orphanage there are 800 children and this is only one orphanage in a sea of orphanages. Children who desperately need parents. Oh church we have failed! God has called us to care for the least of these. If these were our flesh and blood children we would be running to bring them home. Please remember they are God’s children and as his hands and feet we should be running to get them and bring them home. Oh if you could all just walk the halls of this orphanage and see all the precious forgotten ones. Your heart would be moved with compassion to come and rescue as many as you were allowed. As David Platt said “We do not adopt so that we can rescue we adopt because we were rescued”. May we the church begin rescuing so we can illustrate the gospel to hurting children.
When we arrived at the orphanage there we two handicapped boys around 8-10 years old sitting on chairs in an empty room with a worker standing in the doorway. Oh we all just wanted to go in the room and play with them and love on them but we had to keep moving. Once we got upstairs we arrived at the Lilly Care Center which is a series of rooms that CCAI, our adoption agency, helps to fund the care for the children in those rooms. They usually choose the youngest and the most handicapped children to care for in these rooms. Our precious Sophie lived in these rooms for about 2 years. In September she was moved to foster care. The workers in this room were smiley and interactive with the children. These workers in the Lilly Care room did not seem to know her and she felt comfortable enough to get out of the front pack and sit next to me playing with a few toys. We stayed playing with these little ones for about 20 to 30 minutes. Conner, Emily and Christian got some photos and snuggles and a few smiles from these precious babies. We then went over to the foster home side of the orphanage to see where she has slept and ate for the past 5months. When the children are in foster care they sleep with the foster family and eat all of their meals at the foster home. Oh we were so sad. She did not want to be in that small home. She was afraid and started crying. The foster mom really wanted to hold her but she clearly did not want to even acknowledge her foster mom and she only wanted me and wanted to leave. We stayed long enough to take some photos, see her crib and where she would have eaten her meals and then we left. Her foster mother seemed nice enough but it was clear that Sophie did not feel attached to her or her foster mother to her. The strange thing was while we were visiting this home there were two handicapped boys siting on chairs not talking or interacting. It made us all feel uncomfortable and wonder what kind of care she received there. We then went to the therapy room where she would have spent time each day. The young workers in the therapy room clearly knew her and cared about her. One one the workers was sobbing when we left. So glad we had extra Christmas cards to share with them because they wanted to know about our family. We got some photos of these important people in her life. One of the older woman in this room was so excited to see us. She proudly showed us her phone with a photo of Wyatt on it. They then took us in the classroom and his pictures from over 4 years ago were still hanging up on the wall. We found 3 or 4 photos of him around the room. It was so meaningful to have come back and it made me so sad that we did not bring him with us. He would have melted their hearts. Sophie on the other hand was completely traumatized by this final stop. She clearly did not know if she was angry at me for taking her away from these kind people or upset that I had brought her back. She began hitting me and screaming hysterically for the next 30 minutes. This little girl definitely grieved and I am sure we will see more grief in the days to come. We are glad we understand trauma and grief and loss and can do all we can to make her feel safe and connected. We know that while this change will be difficult children need families. They need someone to tuck them in at night, someone to read them stories and snuggle them when they are afraid. Children need mommies and daddies and big brothers and sisters. We know that Sophie will thrive in our family and we will be there each step of the way to remind her that she is loved and cherished. After leaving the orphanage we went to Wyatt’s finding spot which was right outside the gate to a technology college. The gate is across the small street from the old gate to the orphanage. My tears just flowed as I imagined our Wyatt bundled up at 6 months old and left somewhere where he could be found. Oh so many questions and no answers. Tears for abandoned babies, tears for my own abandoned children, tears for Sophie’s grief, and tears for the precious children who age out everyday never to have a family. This was a very hard day but an important one. I pray that this post and Conner’s photos will encourage many of you to start the adoption process today. Run to rescue because you were rescued by the Great I am. Psalm 68: 6 “ God sets the lonely in families” |
Dawn HainesMother of 11 and writes this blog. Archives
February 2018
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