Love
Wednesday, October 18th
This morning was sweet. And joyful. But also hard. Really hard.
You see, this morning we were able to visit the orphanage where Luke has lived since he was a newborn. All previous interactions with orphanage staff, the Gotcha Day and Adoption Day, took place in a government office. A visit to the orphanage is not guaranteed, and in many cases the adoptive family never gets to see where their child was living. Some families don't even want to go for various reasons. However, we have been praying for this place and the people who work there for a long time, so when we had the opportunity to go, we were excited. With the visit today, we saw those prayers had truly been answered. Luke had clearly been well taken care of and loved immensely.
Luke's orphanage, Hope Haven, which is part of the Social Welfare Institute in Xianyang is about 45 minutes away from Xi'an where we are staying. When we arrived at the orphanage, we were inundated with nannies who wanted to see and hold Luke. He was clearly a nanny favorite (OK, I may be biased. They might get that excited for every child). However, when the Grandma-like-nanny who had been mentioned to us on Gotcha Day entered the room, Luke's eyes lit up. They were inseparable for the rest of the visit.
We went on to see where Luke played, ate, and slept. We saw the friends in his class, and were very pleased to hear that a number of them also had families coming to bring them home soon. The orphanage was clean and well organized (which maybe helps explain Luke's type-A tendencies). Every child had a cubby with their clothes and their own crib to sleep. The walls had beautifully painted pictures that told even more beautiful stories. Maybe most importantly though, they learned. And I mean they learned Truth!
Then it was time to leave. And we heard it. For the first time, we heard Luke cry. He did NOT want to leave his Grandma nanny. Taking him away from her brought so many emotions all at once. I was so thankful that he had someone love him that much, that he felt safe and secure with someone in the midst of being in an orphanage. But it was heart wrenching to watch Luke cry as he left her, knowing that he doesn't fully understand. As Kanhka took Luke away, I embraced this wonderful woman and told her the only words I know in Mandarin, "xiexie. xiexie." ("thank you. thank you") And with those simple words, tears filled both of our eyes. I'll never actually be able to thank her enough for loving my son before I even knew he was mine to love.
He cried for only a minute or two. But then he continued to morn. For the next hour or so he sat quietly in the car, with a face that clearly told all of his emotions inside. He was sad. Very very sad. He is such a strong boy though, and after about an hour, he started to be playful again. We knew this day had the potential to be hard on him, and I don't know for sure that we would bring him if we had to do it again, but at the same time, not brining him means I would have missed seeing his joy with Grandma nanny too.
Psalm 146:9 The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow
This morning was sweet. And joyful. But also hard. Really hard.
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| Hope Haven |
Luke's orphanage, Hope Haven, which is part of the Social Welfare Institute in Xianyang is about 45 minutes away from Xi'an where we are staying. When we arrived at the orphanage, we were inundated with nannies who wanted to see and hold Luke. He was clearly a nanny favorite (OK, I may be biased. They might get that excited for every child). However, when the Grandma-like-nanny who had been mentioned to us on Gotcha Day entered the room, Luke's eyes lit up. They were inseparable for the rest of the visit.
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| Grandma Nanny |
Then it was time to leave. And we heard it. For the first time, we heard Luke cry. He did NOT want to leave his Grandma nanny. Taking him away from her brought so many emotions all at once. I was so thankful that he had someone love him that much, that he felt safe and secure with someone in the midst of being in an orphanage. But it was heart wrenching to watch Luke cry as he left her, knowing that he doesn't fully understand. As Kanhka took Luke away, I embraced this wonderful woman and told her the only words I know in Mandarin, "xiexie. xiexie." ("thank you. thank you") And with those simple words, tears filled both of our eyes. I'll never actually be able to thank her enough for loving my son before I even knew he was mine to love.
He cried for only a minute or two. But then he continued to morn. For the next hour or so he sat quietly in the car, with a face that clearly told all of his emotions inside. He was sad. Very very sad. He is such a strong boy though, and after about an hour, he started to be playful again. We knew this day had the potential to be hard on him, and I don't know for sure that we would bring him if we had to do it again, but at the same time, not brining him means I would have missed seeing his joy with Grandma nanny too.
Psalm 146:9 The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow
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After the orphanage visit, we stopped at the ancient city wall
that surrounds the city of Xi'an.
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Olivia and Kanhka - you both are amazing and Luke is just as blessed to have you both as you are to have him. Praying for everyone and your safe flight home! Can't wait to meet Luke! 😍😍🙏🙏❤️❤️💙💙
ReplyDeletePrecious photo of the two of them. 💗You will treasure that forever! Prayers for his heart and gratefulness he had someone to give him so much love. Y’all are blessed 💗
ReplyDelete