So after lunch, our driver picked some of the kids up and brought them here to a park across from our hotel. It was very cold today but we still had fun - we got in a circle and kicked a soccer ball back and forth. And we played with the bouncy balls there too. It was mostly just the older kids that came in the afternoon. But they also brought the 6 year old boy I mentioned earlier whose name is Su-un (not sure how you spell it but it's much easier to say than most of the names so far). I'm so glad they brought him to the park. He and I had so much fun - he kept grabbing my hand and arm and wanting me to walk with him. You'll see in the attached picture how he was holding on to me - melted my heart! And I let him take pictures with my camera and he was so happy to be doing that. Needless to say, I have a lot of pictures of my forehead, the ground and other random items. But he was having fun so that's all that mattered. I'm attaching a picture that he took of me and him - I showed him how I do that and he picked it right up and did it too. Most of the time, our heads were not fully in the picture but this one was pretty good. Isn't he so adorable? My goodness, I want to bring him home. He is a joy! Unfortunately, I found out today that single women cannot adopt at all from China. That is so sad. There are 20 million orphans here and they have all these strict rules on adoption. Lily said even a new rule about body mass - so basically you can't adopt if you are over a certain weight. I'm gonna be praying that China changes some of their policies to make it easier for kids to be adopted here. Lily asked me at dinner if I could adopt Su-un and I told her I would love to but I'm single. She said "you get married and then you adopt from China!" Sounds like a plan to me:) We'll have to wait and see what God's plan is though. All in His timing. In the meantime, I get to go around the world and love on His precious little ones. What a joy and honor. It's also hard because everywhere I go - I fall in love with the children and leave part of my heart there when I leave and go home. I love all the children here but there are 2 in particular that I have fallen in love with and would love to bring home and be a mother to - Su-un and Jordan. Jordan is the toddler I've been talking about a lot - she had the IV put in and her head shaved the other day. I haven't gotten to see her for 2 days - I am looking forward to checking in on her tomorrow. And we are going to bring the beanie babies - I am going to pick out one for her. Maybe she'll warm up to me tomorrow and actually let me hold her. We'll see.
My favorite part of today was this next part - about 4:30, we were really cold and ready to take the kids indoors. So... we took them across the street to the place we had lunch - it was awesome. Way better than KFC - and so much more like a family meal. There were about 7 kids with us, us 7 plus Lily, one lady from the orphanage and our bus driver and we got a room with a round table and had a delicious meal together. We had SOOO much food - eggplant, green beans with pork, breaded chicken, beef with green peppers, beef on a bone with potatoes (kind of like pot roast), a mushroom dish with cabbage, sweet and sour pork, tofu with seaweed, salad (which we didn't eat to be safe) and pepsi! The kids ate a ton - we could not believe how much they were able to eat. Come to find out - they had never been out to a restaurant like that before. They were so happy and so enjoying the food. Su-un sat next to me and he ate quite a bit for a little guy too. And the best part was that every time he would take a drink of his pepsi - he would cheers glasses with me. There is a photo here of us doing that - it was so much fun. I loved it! He is a little talker - he is always saying something. The nice thing about the round table was that we could talk to the kids during the meal and Lily could translate what they were saying and what we wanted to say to them. Su-un said "thanking you very much" in English and the way he pronounced it was so cute. I got a great video of that which I will post on facebook when I get home. Too cute! The kids told Lily to tell us thank you and that they were so happy we came to see them and took them for such a great meal. We had her tell them that we were glad they could come with us. At one point, we were asking the kids how to say some words in chinese and one of the girls said "if we tell them how to say it in Chinese, they will forget when they get home". We all laughed. I told her to tell them - we may forget the Chinese words but we will not forget them. They all said "thank you" in English and smiled really big. They said they hope we come back every year. Su-un gave me a kiss on my cheek - I think Lily told him too - but nevertheless - it was so cute. Yup, he has my heart.
After dinner, was sat at the table for quite a while talking with the kids. A few of the girls were eating and eating and eating. We were afraid they were going to get sick. Lily said they said they were loving the meat - they don't get meat like that very often - so they were really enjoying it and not wanting to waste any. We told them not to worry, we would take the leftovers back for the other kids. In fact, Su-un told Lily after he tried the beef and potatoes - that he wanted to take it home and share with the other kids. So sweet that he was thinking of them and wanting to share. They really all look out for each other there. It was a delicious meal. And so neat to see their joy in us spending time with them and doing that with them. I truly feel that we have made them feel special this week - that they truly matter. And that is exactly why we came. They are precious, beautiful children.
When we got back to the hotel, we hopped online and looked at the photos on visitingorphans.org from the last team who came here two years ago. All of the kids in the pictures were the same kids there now, except for 2 or 3 we didn't recognize. The kids and staff speak often of that former team - they really made an impact - I will make sure to contact them when I get home to let them know that. They have not been forgotten. In fact, today - Lily took about 80 of our best pictures that I put on a disc for her to get printed to give to the kids. And she had some saved from the last team and printed those out for them too. I know they will love that. I think we can give them to them tomorrow. I tried to pick pictures out so that every single kids was in at least one. I hope that we didn't miss anyone. If we did - we will take more to get developed to make sure.
I am already thinking how hard it will be to say goodbye. Part of my heart was left in Costa Rica in March and part of it is definitely being left here this week. I hope to return next year to see these kids again. And we do see that they are being well cared for and loved here by the amazing orphanage staff. They are very loving and this orphanage feels very much like a big family. That really makes me glad to know - it's even harder to leave a place when you do not feel like the kids are being cared for. But here, thankfully, that is not the case so I know they are in good hands. But I also know I would love to see a lot of them adopted into loving families because I know so many of these kids long for that. And that is most definitely the way God originally intended for it to be.
I long for the day when I can adopt. Every time I go to visit orphans, the deeper that desire gets. I know the Lord is working on me, continuing to prepare me for the day when that desire will become a reality. And I know that in His perfect timing, that will happen because I know it was Him who put that desire in my heart. It is a fallen world - and sadly, there are many, many orphans who have been abandoned and rejected by their parents. But the Lord has not forgotten them - He uses hearts like mine and yours - who are willing to be opened up to these precious children and who will go and care for them and who will be willing to open up their hearts and their homes to adopt them in to our families. What a perfect picture of the father heart of God.
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