Today was our first day of rest since we left the states last week. Not every day has been a full day since we arrived. But we have had something scheduled or gone into town every day. So this was a welcome day for us, as we hung out around the hotel all day, barely leaving the room. That has its advantages and disadvantages, especially when you have four children camped in two rooms for that long. (Remember that request for intercession yesterday??? Yeah, it is REALLY needed about now.)
The day started early in our room, as Mary Beth woke up early and was fussing. She fussed going to bed last night, then woke up seeing me next to her this morning, and I do not think she was crazy about that. Lauren did not want to stay with her, as they have both battled under the covers by trying to out-kick each other the prior two nights. So that was the only spot open when I got to bed last night. Luckily, she got up, went to the bed with Lauren and Jenn and slept two more hours. (They looked like sardines in this little twin-plus bed as they slept. Those that have been over here are smiling as they know what I am talking about….)
We finally made it to the highlight of the day later in the morning – breakfast at the Swan! It was everything it was claimed to be, and the kids enjoyed every morsel of sweets and bacon when I was not looking that they could. Mary Beth of course gobbled up all the watermelon, bananas, boiled eggs and yogurt that we put in front of her, staying away from most of the western delicacies. (Not sure how long that will last in our house the next few weeks.)
We played in the playroom with some new families later that were from all over the world. Some were speaking languages that were obviously not from the states. The other two families had migrated to California and New York from England and Ireland respectively – and were both on their 2nd adoption as well. It is like catching a fever that you cannot get rid of it seems. (We will see how that fever holds with us over the next couple of years! Our moms are reading this and scratching their heads right now, I am sure…..)
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| Mary Beth gets her official adoptive Barbie mom doll |
Mary Beth and I had our first “father-daughter confrontation” today, and I think both of us lost our battles. She loves to write, and she writes some Chinese characters very well. So once she gets a pen or pencil in her hand, she takes off and writes on whatever is in front of her. Unfortunately, she did not need to be writing on Lauren’s homework that Lauren has so diligently worked on daily this past week. So as I took the pen and paper away from her, she was not pleased with me. I took her in my arms to console and explain to her that this was not proper, and I got nowhere with her. I finally gave in and took her to Jenn in the next room. Within seconds she stopped crying, and within five minutes she was totally out and asleep on the bed. Hopefully I just caught her at the wrong sleepy time, and that was the reason for the outburst. But having been down this road for 12 years and three children already, it will not be the last time it happens. I just hate that she has known me for 3 days and there is a huge barrier between us still that will take time. Love takes time. (Isn’t there an 80’s song that most of us remember by that same name???? I think I actually sung it to myself as I typed it……and no one will admit singing it to themselves when they read it, right??) As I thought earlier, this officially makes me Mary Beth’s dad and the beginning of a wonderful relationship.
On this every uneventful day where we are fortunate where we are ending the day with just one very bruised shoulder on Luke, we did get to meet a neat young man in a store that many have shared we needed to go to. A Gift From China is a store that sells all sorts of local and Chinese-made articles of clothing, bags, pictures and all sorts of goodies to those visiting the island. It is obvious that it is geared towards adoptive families, since their guest book has you put the name of the agency you used on there. Moreover it is a store where all proceeds are sent to orphanages in a nearby city in Guangdong (Xinjiang, I believe) through a non-profit organization called The Good Rock Foundation. The store is one that we will frequent often while here, as it appears there is lots of potential for “outreach” here. With all of the shopping in this area, it is nice to have an opportunity to help a small store benefit those that are less fortunate.
Marco is the young man that was working today. (There are only two workers for this store.) As usual, GDaddy got the conversation going with Marco by the time I worked my way around him. He is a recent graduate of the Guangzhou English Teaching College for Handicapped and loves to practice his English on the customers. In the conversation he shared how he had to overcome polio when he was very young, when he eventually lost the lower portion of his right leg to the disease. He mentioned that he thought he would not be able to go to school, but his family gathered up enough money for him to attend college, so he could have a better opportunity in life. Rarely will you hear stories like this while visiting here. The most we will get out of some folks in these stores is “I make good price for you” when they want you to come in there store. So Marco was a refreshing face to meet, and I will “request” to have more meetings with him before we leave. As a bonus, this store has lots of items reference scripture passages and other related items. So feel free to visit the sites of these two organizations to see what is going on here.
As you can see from the few pictures from today, the kids are bonding well with Mary Beth….almost spoiling her by fighting over who can do what for her. As Jenn and I sat in the playroom tonight talking while our kids had the room to themselves, we mentioned that we are again glad that they wanted to come. Mary Beth seems to be a very active young lady, and she would have been very bored with us. We just hope that we can settle her down a little before the 24+ hour trip next week.
Tomorrow morning is the medical exam, where we hope that we have the proper affidavit paperwork signed to have her vaccinations done once we get home. We have seen parents the past two days where the children are not doing well after all the shots they have received. So hopefully we can just get by with just a checkup in the morning.
Thanks for listening to this not-so-exciting day’s worth of adventures we had. We hope that you are learning a little about this adventure and can sense a little what this is like.
Soli Deo Gloria!
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