Lullaby for Luke

As the Sparrow Fund website so eloquently states, the purpose of our trip was "to love and serve children, caregivers, and orphanage administrators, seeking to communicate in everything we do that they matter, that they are valuable, and that someone outside themselves is for them". In that triad, the caregivers and administrators are often overlooked. People mainly focus on the children, but forget the very important role these providers that stand "in the in-between" (between biological and adoptive families) play in the social, emotional, and developmental outcomes of these children.   The Sparrow Fund has worked hard to build long-standing, trusting relationships with the orphanage administrators.  Because of that relationship, we were invited in to do training with the staff.  The staff is mainly women who do not have high level, formal education, but they work extremely hard, with medical resident training hours (literally q4 overnight call shifts in ...

I've been home two days now and the sensation hasn't left.  This feeling of gratitude...and awe.  China as a country was no different than I had expected.  After all, I've "been there, done that" before.  But the trip. The mission. The people. The place...  I still stand in awe of what an amazing experience this trip was for me.  The unique opportunity to go back to where Luke is from and not only learn more about his first two years of life, but also use my knowledge and skills to help the staff and orphans currently there wasn't lost on me before I left. But the reality was so much BETTER than I could have IMAGINED.   (Luke's "wall photo" from his time at the orphanage.  Before you ask, we didn't know he had been given the English name "Micah" when we named him.  In reality, the orphanage staff do not use these names anyway.  He was Li Min, the characters on the second line)  Since I clearly failed at keeping up the...

Before I get into what everyone really wants to hear about, the orphanage time, here's a quick recap of Saturday and Sunday:  We spent those two days in X'ian, one of the larger cities in China and the capital of this province, adjusting to the time change, bonding as a team, and preparing materials. Some of my favorite bonding experiences included getting feet sucking fish pedicures, eating market squid off of a stick, and biking 10 miles around the entire fortress wall that surrounds the old city of X'ian.  Riding at night, the lights were amazing!  This group has already been such a blessing.  We are small in number, but that has allowed for quick bonding, easy travel, and lots of fun. Squid on a stick The lack of smog allowing for a view of the mountains warranted a picture. Not your typical pedicure! 10-mile ride on top of the ancient city wall. Drum Tower and Bell Tower at night. Today was our first day at the orphanage, and memorie...

He knows.  He comprehends on some level that I’m going back.   He refused to fall asleep last night, afraid once he closed his eyes that mommy would be gone.  He’s been extra clingy lately, and I’m not sure if it’s because we’ve been talking about mommy going back to China, if it’s because we’re approaching his 2 year Gotcha Day anniversary, or maybe it’s just being 4 years old. But last night, knowing I would be gone on a plane to China when he woke up, he wouldn’t let go. His eyes would get heavy and close, but as soon as I tried to sneak away, an arm or a leg could capture me.   Sweet boy, I’m not going for good. You better believe I’ll be coming back home.  But in the over the next 10 days, I get to tell your Ayis how you are growing and flourishing! I get to encourage them that the care they tirelessly provide to the children in their watch makes a difference - that you are proof that children living in institutions don’t have...

It's only appropriate that this post is a little late since all of my children's first year "milestone" pictures were at least a few days, if not weeks, late.  We didn't get to do all of the monthly 1st year photos with Luke - a two, now three year old doesn't change that much on a monthly basis so there really wasn't much point.  (And let's be honest, by month 9 I have historically been dreading the commitment to do them anyway.)  But a full year?  A year in the life of a toddler brings a lot of changes.  And when you look back on a year in the life of toddler that you only met for the first time 365 days ago, it seems like almost everything has changed! School Picture, August 2018 Hope Haven Orphanage, August 2017 While I didn't do monthly pictures, I did feel compelled to make him a "first blackboard" like the other two kids.  Instead of his first year of life, it reflects on his first year with us.  A year that he grew ph...