Another day is over and we are getting closer to going home. It has been a great trip and we have met some awesome families here in China that have been obedient to the call of Adoption for their family. It has made us feel so blessed to be a part of the adoption world. I pray that awareness will sweep across our nation to bring these children into forever families whether they live in the US or in another country. That is my prayer. If everyone could just see the look on a child's face when visiting an orphanage. I can't get the image out of my head. There was a child on the top floor of Talia's orphanage looking down at us with such a hopeless look on his face wanting it to be his family coming for him. There was another little boy limping down the hallway with his walker with that same solemn look. There were 20 children in Talia's classroom so excited to get a Dum Dum lollipop from us. So heartbreaking and so convicting! I know David and I are not spring chickens, ( I actually need a major adjustment for a painful lower back. Recommendations? ) and many think we were crazy to consider adopting Toby let alone a Second adoption. I admit...We..are cRaZy !!!!! We are crazy for orphans that NEED the love of a family! GUILTY! We pray that maybe just maybe someone reading our story will be inspired to consider adoption or foster care. Married or single. ..if you are eligible, do it! It will be hard, but so so worth it!
Since we are finally on track with our sleep and jet lag is over, we slept in until 8am!! Man, that felt good! We had an option to eat breakfast in a different location..the 30th floor of the hotel. Wow, what a view! It was very enjoyable and the kids enjoyed it.
We met our group to go to Shamian Island, but before that, we walked around in the gardens outside the hotel. We have a real waterfall in the garden! It is amazing! We thought we would dodge the raindrops today, but as soon as we arrived at the island, the rain started...Did I mention that it was still very chilly on top of that? I would much rather have very cold and snow then chilly and rain anyday! Misery! Well, we went to Lucy's restaurant (American owned) and ate a grilled cheese sandwich and sweet tea! Hallelujah! We had to ask for the sweetener for the tea, but it was really good! We discovered that Tali is a ketchup hoarder. Two days ago, we went to Burger King and we had some leftover ketchup packets. She stuffed them in her pockets and then hid them in her suitcase. Today we found her sucking out the ketchup secretly on the bus. Our girl LOVES Ketchup. Bethany and Talia have something in common. When the server brought the bottle of ketchup to the table, Talia's eyes lit up. (: So cute!
We were able to visit a Christian gift shop in China that donates their profits to the orphans in China. Of course we wanted to support this so we were able to find a few items that caught our eye. I started to tear up when I heard "Shout to the Lord" playing on the CD player. These sweet ladies were such a blessing that we had to take a picture with them. (See below) They asked me to spread the word about their shop and I said I would!
Soaked and cold, we headed back to the bus to go back to the hotel. Can you believe that we met a guy from the same city that we live? It really is such a small world. We had many common friends and alot to talk about!
After bathtime, delicious pizza from Oggies, and playtime, the kids fell asleep. David and I took turns working out, catching up on my skincare business (Yes, it is so cool that I can still work and be in China..I'm blessed) and started organizing our stuff to start packing for our trip home.
Tomorrow is our last full day here and pray the rain will go away...a little sunshine would even be better!
Tonight we also met our guide and she gave us our final documents to carry back to America. Our process is complete here in China as of today!!!! I feel like I should be getting another degree after all the paperwork that I have been doing since February. I graduated from the Adoption Academy with honors! Honored that God allowed all this to happen to the Faile family! Blessings to all of you, especially those that donated money or time to make this happen for us and for Talia.
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