Sunday, January 17, 2016

Day 4: Crossing the line into change

Have you ever stood next to a sign that read "Please wait here" and there was a line on the floor that you were to stand behind? We all have had that experience of waiting until it's our turn whether we are at an amusement park, post office, restaurant, etc.. This adoption process has gone quicker than we expected, but we have still had to wait for 11 months to embrace a little girl that we connected with the moment we saw her picture. All day today (Sunday, Jan. 17) we have been right on the line ready to cross into a life changing moment. I have had several huge
life-changers in my  (ahem) 48 years (or if you have seen "Inside Out", core memories) like when I was 13 and accepted Christ as my Savior (the ultimate life-changer) when I went to college, when I got married to David Faile, when I had a miscarriage,  when I birthed my 3 biological babies, when I almost died in 2003, and when we adopted Toby 25 months ago. Today, I get to cross that line again and add another life changing event to my list. It feels so surreal to be here in China and to know that our little one is on her way now to meet us for the first time is unbelievable.
We woke up on Sunday pretty early again (5:15 am) and Toby wanted to know if we were going to church.  We told him that China doesn't have as many churches as America and we would just have our service together in the room. He could not understand why people would not want to go to church. I love that he loves hearing stories about Jesus.
  We went to breakfast, met some other adoptive families and hung out in the room again.  Toby was actually tired and took a good nap. (Praise the Lord) During his nap, I had time to regroup and meditate on God's Word. I read about the beatitudes.  How appropriate for this day!
The sun peaked it's head out so we finally got to enjoy some blue skies for a change. When Toby woke up, we walked around our area and went to McDonalds. Toby feels some fear on the streets with the traffic and crowds, but he still tries to get away and lead. I bought a Monkey for him to wear and that tail really helps us reel him in. If you have ever had a Deaf child that runs away and you are in dangerous traffic  , you would completely understand why we bought the monkey. (:
We had some time to play on the playground and workout before we headed out for dinner. We went to some local places for Chinese noodles and fried rice. While walking on the crowded sidewalks, we saw two scenarios that impacted us all. We saw a crippled man all twisted up, half dressed laying on the sidewalk with a tin cup. Toby asked a million questions about the man. He even said as he was clutching my hand tightly that he wanted Dad to give him money.  Of course we did. I don't know his story, but he could have been in an orphanage somewhere and aged out of it and was forced to be on the street. Our hearts broke as we thought about the "what if" Many children with special needs age out of the system and then have no chance of being adopted.  My Toby could have been that boy.   We also saw another lady with a 4 yr old boy sitting on the sidewalk begging. The boy was just running around her as she was sitting. It broke our hearts. Toby had such a solemn look on his face as we talked about that man on the sidewalk and the mom/son with no home.   The one thing that Toby kept asking us was " why didn't a family find (adopt) him?" ( in regards to the homeless man).  That is a tough one to answer.
Tomorrow's post should be pretty big. Be prepared !! It's Gotcha Day and Talia's 5th birthday!

For you Luke 


Toby must be turning American. He didn't know what this was.







1 comment:

  1. Now I understand the bathroom situation!!! I always wondered what does it look like? I heard people talking about it but no idea. Thank you! My mum went to China to visit my brother, his wife and two children. They lived in China for a year for work related.

    I wish I had been in contact with them but I wasn't. Now we are in touch once in awhile. Family is important and it takes time!!


    I think you are doing a wonderful job as a mum, to adopt two more children and to go through what you have gone through! Keep up the wonderful job and faith!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

    ReplyDelete