Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Two less

There are two less orphans in the world tonight!
Maria and Ruthie are doing great .  They came from very different backgrounds. Maria is  adjusting much faster than Ruth.  Ruth watches everyone and takes everything in.  She is sweet  and kind and very smart. She loves to share with Maria .  But she is guarding her heart and let's us in a little at a time.
Maria is soft spoken and so sweet.  She is silly and loves to play. She has bonded very quickly with us and loves to give hugs and kisses.
Please pray for Ruth's heart.  She is starting to cough and is retaining fluid.  
 


Saturday, May 9, 2015

Living

Three years we spent learning how to really live.  This is what Teresa  taught us.  It was not nearly long enough. In this short amount of time our lives took on a different meaning, a different purpose. But in the blink of an eye, she was gone.

She taught us how to live, now she was teaching us how to die.

The moment she died it was as if I was standing before God myself.  He told me that He has her now. It was His turn to hold her. 

I let go, but she took my heart with her to heaven that day.

Life has gone on.  It has been almost two years since that day. The day that our life changed again.

We had learned how to live , how to die and now we are learning how to live again.


This has brought us to China.
We are spending one month in China learning again how to live.
I am the Special Projects Director for Little Hearts Medical and Ed is a Board Member.
Along with Andrea Olson ( executive director) we have come to China to help improve the lives of orphans.

We are spending two weeks in Beijing working with the CCCWA and our partnership , Little Flower along with 5 other medical Foster homes.

The children we have met are precious. Some are too young to know they are orphans. The older children somehow know.
The little ones run to us with their arms in the air to be picked up calling us MaMa, BaBa.
 All the children we have met are special needs, mostly heart children, the ones hardest to place because of so many unknowns.


So today  we are living. We chose joy. We chose to help the forgotten and unwanted.  Every life matters, no matter how short or how long.  
In the face of each of these children I see Jesus.
On July 1,2013, Teresa went to Heaven.
On May 18, 2015, we will adopt our two daughters from China.
What joy! 

Friday, May 8, 2015

The Hot Pot

Last night we had dinner at Ed's favorite place to eat in Beijing, the Hot Pot.
We met Sue , Lily and Andrea and her son Bryce there.
We had a wonderful time catching up with old friends and discussing plans for the future.
Today we visited Agape House and met Maria.   This is a medical Foster home for children with osteogenesis imperfecta. 
She is such a sweet little girl but is very shy. 
She warmed up to us a little and even gave me a kiss.

 

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Little Flower

Yesterday as soon as we arrived in Beijing we headed straight to LF.
Ruth is very shy and wanted nothing to do with us.  She will turn 3 in September but is sooo tiny.  She is very dainty and does not like to have food on her fingers or face.  She loves to eat. 

Today she let me hold her and feed her lunch. So we are making slow progress.
We spent the entire day at LF loving all the children.

Andrea will arrive in China tomorrow and on Friday our team will start the process of meeting with medical Foster homes, the CCCWA and establishing plans for the care of heart children.