Thursday, May 30, 2013

China Update #9

Good morning to you! It's Thursday eveninghere.

This morning Andrew and I awoke with a gameplan. We were determined to make Operation Breakfast a success since meal times are kinda tricky.  We decided to tag team our trips to the hotel buffet and bring food back to the room for Levi.  We're still figuring out what he likes to eat.  Rice and noodles are generally his favorite.  But his caretaker had said he also ate steamed egg, congee (picture a rice pudding/watery oatmeal dish made from rice) and bun. But he hasn't been interested in any of those items.  I brought him a mixture of food and hoped he'd be happy with something.  The plan went off pretty well: let's just say I'm glad we didn't take him into the restaurant.  The first little bit in the morning while he's groggy he's pretty mild but then it's like he realizes where he is and feels the need to begin testing the boundaries.

This morning I stopped saying "boo" (no). He seems to think its funny when we say it and doesn't oblige at all.  So instead as he squirted his milk container (like a juice box) all over his lap I just calmly told him that wasn't a good idea and asked him to hand it to me.  Obviously I said that all in English.  And even though he couldn't understand my words he responded much better.  He actually handed me the milk.  I continued throughout the morning to use gentle words to correct the behavior and didn't have any super tense moments.  Thankfully he is also easily distracted

The zoo was really great!  There was a ton of monkeys.  Levi loved saying "hello monkeys!" in English.  It was a great bonding experience as we were able to enjoy and laugh at the animal antics together.  A few times we even let go of his hand.  There was a small playground and after a few times on the slide with daddy we let him do it by himself...and he didn't run off! Victory! As we walked along looking at the animals Levi started asking our guide tons of questions about the animals.  His questions were really good ones.  It really showed us that a good bit of his acting out is probably also just frustration of not being able to communicate.

After the zoo we returned to the hotel and gave him a quick lunch then tucked him for a nap.  Once again, the transition into bed was very smooth - we are SO thankful that he is eating and sleeping well as those are the two areas that are often very difficult for adoptive families.  After a good nap we played for a bit and headed out for a short walk near some shops.  We bought him his first pair of shoes that are truly his and they are bright orange- which totally fits his personality.  There was literally a crowd of 8-10 people watching us through the shop window.  It's amazing the freedom people here feel to stare.  This city draws very few American tourists and now that we have Levi with us we are even more of a curiosity.  On the first day I asked our guide about the Chinese perception of American adoptive families.  She said that largely when she is with a group and someone stops them they will ask if the child is biological of the family because they don't look Chinese.  She said knowledge about adoption is not widespread.  When she explains the situation they usually give a thumbs up to say its a good thing to adopt.  So we figure mostly people are staring out of confusion.

We went back to the hotel room and played for a bit until we met our guide in the lobby for some more paperwork.  I'm sure glad she knows what it's all about cause we are clueless.  We just sign and thumbprint wherever she says.

We met another family for a walk in the park then ate dinner at the hotel restaurant.  Dinner went exceptionally well.  Levi tried several new foods including dumplings which he was eating off of April's plate - pretty sure he ate 4 of them! He's taking after his Aunt Anna.  The end of dinner got a little rough but all in all it was great.

This evening we were finally able to introduce Levi to Wade and Chloe.  Everyone was excited! Levi even ended the conversation with a "we love you" to Chloe. We are so excited for them to be home together!!

Since he napped this afternoon Levi took a few minutes to fall asleep. As he lay in the bed across the room I heard a little whimper.  Laying down next to him he began to cry.  In our hearts we immediately knew that in the dark and quiet room he had begun to think about life back at the orphanage.  We lay with him and held him for about 10min.  The crying never got intense - just quiet tears.  He eventually moved my arm and motioned for us to get up.  At that point we lay down in the other bed and just prayed silently that sleep would come for our sweet boy quickly.  And that with sleep would come with sweet and comforting dreams.  Thankfully he fell asleep soon after. We expect this to happen again and probably with more intensity at other times.  You can be praying for his heart.

Well, Andrew and I are about ready to call it a night.  Best day yet I'd say! Thanks for all your prayers!

Tomorrow evening we fly to Guangzhou. I think the flight is maybe 2hrs.  We are very excited to get there!

Love,

A & R

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

China Update #8

Ni Hao everyone! So, this morning started out with a bang...we took a 4 year old to a history museum. Enough said, right? We were all excited for the zoo - thankfully we hadn't figured out how to say "zoo" in Chinese so Levi was clueless- but we woke up to rain so when we met our guide she said "I think we go to museum today because raining."  Really though, he did marvelous, all things considered.  Thankfully there was a stroller available that he was happy to sit in for a good portion of the time.  Plus a super cool treat was getting to see a live traditional music performance.  Things did get pretty rough at the end while I did some shopping in the gift store and Andrew was keeping track of Levi.  The tricky part in public is that we're not ready to let go of his hand for fear he might run off, yet having his hand held constantly is quite frustrating to him.

I'll interject at this point, one thing was made clear today, the enemy would like to corrupt and even steal the bond of unity between Andrew and I.  You know, walking through new, emotional and challenging situations with your spouse can really draw a couple together in a profound way.  Throughout this whole trip and particularly the last few days we have been such a team in this and a constant encouragement to one another.  Yet today we fund that unity threatened when faced with a couple challenging moments.  I'm praising God because we both quickly realized the frustration we felt was not really for the other person and that we must stand together.  The remainder of the afternoon was excellent but I'd just ask that you be praying on that point for us.

So, back to our day....we came back to the hotel room around lunchtime and Levi had some noodles (kinda like ramen- very popular here).  Andrew and I ate something....maybe an apple or a cliff bar, I can't remember. Meals have been pretty much non-existent for the two of us the last 3 days.  It seems to be the most challenging time for Levi so eating in the room is the best option.

This afternoon was great.  We decided that we'd focus on losing privileges as a discipline tool.  For example, Levi kept standing on the desk chair so the chair was set aside.  Legos were thrown so it was time to put the Legos away.  I'm not sure how much it's sinking in but it's stopping the immediate behavior (most of which is dangerous) so we'll go with it for now.  We had lots of sweet playtime together and opportunities for positive reinforcement.  Today he learned the sign and word for "more" and "eat".  He has learned the words "good boy" and "hello".  He repeats English words and short phrases often.  And he's learned to sit at the table while eating. We are really thinking learning English is going to come quite quickly.

We spotted a McDonalds on the way home from the museum today right by the exit of our favorite park so we decided to try it for dinner.  The park is more like a series of sidewalk trails that meander about a half mile or so in length.  Another of the adoptive families joined us which really made us a sight to behold.  We walked through the park and seriously people gawked at us.  In fact we had our picture taken several times - a couple times incognito and even once professionally with some kind of movie star looking woman.  I asked her to email me the picture but we'll see if she understood me.

Let me just say McDonalds has never tasted so good in my life....and if you know me well, you know I do not eat there of my own free will.  Levi LOVES French fries!! And ketchup...he and his sister are going to get along very well in that! He even ate a couple chicken nuggets.  We'll have this boy transitioned to a healthy fast food diet in no-time! ;)  The meal was by far the smoothest we've had yet with Levi.  Afterwards we even had an ice cream treat.  Levi seemed to love the taste of it but he had no clue it was going to be freezing cold until I out the first spoonful in his mouth. Poor guy!  In China, drinks are not served cold typically so he is not accustomed to the temperature.  In addition, his cleft palate maybe sensitive to extreme temperatures.  We'll have to have ice cream training sessions once we get home.  I'm sure Wade and Chloe will help participate in that!

Once again he was thoroughly worn out because after bath and "Goodnight Moon" he snuggled into bed and fell right asleep.

Andrew ran out to Walmart - which is not totally Americanized because they close at 8pm- to get a stroller and few other items.  So it was my first night putting Levi to bed by myself and he did wonderfully!

Thank you so much for your prayers and words of encouragement! It is seriously so normalizing to hear from home.  We've actually been able to pick up a wifi signal in our room this afternoon so we really enjoyed reading comments and such.

Love to you all!

R & A

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

China Update #7

Good morning from China! It's Wednesday morning here and I just wanted to share a brief update about yesterday.  As me sweet sister in law, Anna, reminded me this morning of the lyrics of the song I referenced in my last post "the sun comes up its a new day dawning....it's time to sing Your song again". And that's what we're going to do this morning.

Yesterday was filled with hugs and kisses and even an English "I love you" from Levi.  He's understanding his name and he's using sign language to ask for help rather than whining and stomping.  He's sleeping and eating like a champ.  He's singing the Barney "clean up" song as he helps put away his toys.  He's building Legos and drawing and listening to books.  He's saying "gentle" and understands the meaning.  And he's going freely to both Andrew and I.  He's understanding when one of us leaves the room for a moment and not fearful.  This is a SMART kid!!

Intermixed with all those awesome steps were some hurdles too.  It's apparent that there were probably not many behavior expectations in the orphanage.  And he was perhaps a bit of a class clown.  His behaviors are not terribly atypical of a young 4yr old but the language barrier makes it difficult to correct using other words beside "boo" (no).  He often acts out to elicit a laugh- which of course we're not giving but it doesn't seem to phase him.

Anyway, last night dinner was pretty rough- we ended up abandoning ship after prying chopsticks out of his hands and headed for the hotel.  It was very emotional for us.

I want to share what I wrote in my journal yesterday morning...the Lord is so faithful to prepare us for what lies ahead and His Word never returns void:

"They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on Your wonderful works.  They will tell of the power of Your awesome works, and I will proclaim Your great deeds." Psalm 145:3-6

Let us embrace what You have for us here in Your present presence today.  the past and the future - even another place, like home- are not in Your present presence.  let us embrace this circumstance before us and live fully in it.  All else is outside of where You've allowed us to be present.  Yet You are there- across all time, as farms the farthest reaches of the earth and heavens - and YOU ARE TRUSTWORTHY.  I leave all of the otherwise places in Your hands.  Thank You for this present reality.


Please pray that we will obey the Word given to us.  That we will allow every thought and emotion to be taken captive to the authority of Christ. That The Lord would grow the love in our hearts for Levi.  That we will praise Him for the steps we are making and consider the hurdles gifts from Him too even though we can't quite see or understand their value yet.

We love you all and are so strengthened knowing you are standing with us in this journey from across the globe!!

P.S. For any of you wondering about the toddler split pants - it's not an orphanage thing - it's a China thing.  And apparently, when you gotta go...it's ok to go.

Love,
R & A

China Update #6 - Gotcha Day!

Today was Gotcha Day...for some of you that conjures up images of orphaned children running into the arms of their forever families, beyond ecstatic to be leaving their former life for a life of bliss and perfect love.  Well, more than one piece of that is untrue - almost all of it actually.  

Here is how it went down for us today:

We boarded the van with 2 other families at 9:30am and headed for the Civil Affairs Office.  We didn't really know what to expect so we settled into the available seats while our guide, Celine, took care of our paperwork.  So we're just sitting there for about 3 minutes nervously looking at each other when in walks Levi and Reece with their caretaker.  We were totally thrown off to be seeing them at that moment.  We thought there would be some kind of warning that they were on their way in. This also seemed to be a surprise to Celine.  No time to turn to the page in my Simple Chinese for Adoptive Families and read my initial greeting to him.  Levi seemed altogether surprised and confused as well.  Mind you, I don't think he's ever left his orphanage so he just took a fairly long car ride then walked into this big fancy building and is trying to explore the place when these 2 Americans come up to him and start saying non-sensical words to him.  If there was ever an awkward moment, this was it! But if there was one thing we had expected and prepared ourselves for it was awkwardness.  We shared his little backpack of toys with him and after several minutes he began to warm up to us a bit.  He would play with us for a bit then get interested in what someone else was doing (by this time there were probably 6-8 families there all receiving their children at the same time) then he'd come back to us.  Finally after about an hour the paperwork was finished and it was time for the caretakers to leave.  We had been forewarned that this was often where children began to grieve.  At first, it was just a small whimper and Levi gladly let me hold him.  But within 3 minutes it had evolved into all out sobs.  As I sat in the chair he tried with all his 43 pounds to get out of my lap and to the door the caretaker had gone through.  This was hard. But at this point, no family in the room was having an easy time of it.  After struggling for a few more minutes Levi reached out for Andrew so even though we knew it was crucial for the first bonds to be made with mom I decided to let dad take a turn because I was having trouble keeping him in my arms.  After several minutes of Andrew walking and rocking him he began to calm down until he eventually rested peacefully in Andrew's arms.  This turned out to be a sweet sweet blessing.  

Shortly after he calmed down we boarded the van which had brought us and headed to Walmart. The Walmart trip was not our idea and at this point we were feeling pretty skeptical about the sanity of it.  But thankfully Levi was totally calm by the time we arrived at Walmart.  He definitely had fun at Walmart.  He got the hang of shopping very quickly and picked out several toys.  The others in our group needed to purchase diapers and formula so we ended up following them around a bit.  Levi was quite curious about everything! And he was ready to explore so although we were anxious to lavish him with our love and gifts he also began to experience the boundaries that love also provides.  At this point we all became familiar with the Chinese word "no" ;)

Finally, we arrived back at the hotel.  Honestly we kinda felt like we were wrangling a bull in a china shop in Walmart. We definitely were enjoying seeing his personality come out but we were really ready to see it in the safety and confines of our hotel room.  

Once in the room we began playing with the toys we had brought and purchased at Walmart.  We spent much of the afternoon doing so.  Although there is a HUGE language barrier, by the end of the afternoon it seemed we were all getting accustomed to not being understood which I suppose is the first step.  And we began to receive hugs and even several minutes of cuddling on the bed together.  

Around 3pm we were going a bit stir crazy so we headed for the park.  Levi walked along holding our hands for over an hour just taking in all the sights and sounds.  As we finished our walk we realized it had probably been quite productive for bonding because he was able to feel the safety of our physical touch without any of the frustrations of the language barrier.  

Shortly after the park we headed to dinner with the other families.  We went in prepped for the possibility of needing to abandon ship mid-meal but they ended up seating us in a  private room which was wonderful!  The meal went great.  Save for the fact that the waitress didn't deliver 2/3 of our food and that's a pretty challenging idea to communicate using hand motions! Levi had his food and he was happy though so it was a win.  

We returned to the room about 8pm and gave Levi a bath before tucking him into bed.  He was asleep within 5 minutes of his head touching the pillow!  

You may have noticed my attention to detail waning as this email has progressed - I've fallen asleep several times while writing it.  We've all had a long, crazy day.  The emotions of today have been super high and super low for all of us.  And I do want to share more of those emotions with you in the future...but not right now ;) All I want to do right now is sleep! 

So thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers.  Day one is over but we've got 12 more days in country to adjust to one another.  For tomorrow, please pray that we continue to make strides toward overcoming the language barrier. Pray also that we can begin to gently correct a few behaviors of Levi's - probably learned behaviors because of growing up in an orphanage- but several we feel cannot wait until we are home or until the language barrier is lessened. We'll start our day tomorrow by returning to the Civil Affairs Office and another office for a bit of paperwork.  Then we'll have the rest of the day free- I'm sure we'll be going back to the park! 

We love you all and treasure your prayers!

Love,
Andrew and Robin

Sunday, May 26, 2013

China Trip Update #5 - Morning of Gotcha Day

Many of you may have read Jesus Calling today - or I suppose you will tomorrow, the 27th:

I want to share this from my journal this morning as our update ~

Psalm 27:8 " When You said 'Seek My face,' 
My heart said to You, 'Your face, Lord, I will seek.'

Lord, this is the day You have ordained for us to meet our 3rd child. Like the other 2 days on which we met our children face to face there is much unknown.  The most (perhaps only) trustworthy parenting advice I have received is to seek You, to walk with the Holy Spirit, depending on His wisdom and discernment and strength every moment. So it is fitting and right that with this 3rd child and new realm of parenting You speak over me those same words.  The truth that You are the wellspring of all knowledge; a strong tower; the peace that passes understanding; comforter of those who mourn; full of patience and long suffering - Your grace is sufficient for us...for this day.  We bless You this morning and whatever, WHATEVER may come to pass we will worship You as the sun sets tonight, confident there will be more than 10,000 reasons (be they revealed or hidden)!! 

China Trip Update #5 - Morning of Gotcha Day

Many of you may have read Jesus Calling today - or I suppose you will tomorrow, the 27th:

I want to share this from my journal this morning as our update ~

Psalm 27:8 " When You said 'Seek My face,' 
My heart said to You, 'Your face, Lord, I will seek.'

Lord, this is the day You have ordained for us to meet our 3rd child. Like the other 2 days on which we met our children face to face there is much unknown.  The most (perhaps only) trustworthy parenting advice I have received is to seek You, to walk with the Holy Spirit, depending on His wisdom and discernment and strength every moment. So it is fitting and right that with this 3rd child and new realm of parenting You speak over me those same words.  The truth that You are the wellspring of all knowledge; a strong tower; the peace that passes understanding; comforter of those who mourn; full of patience and long suffering - Your grace is sufficient for us...for this day.  We bless You this morning and whatever, WHATEVER may come to pass we will worship You as the sun sets tonight, confident there will be more than 10,000 reasons (be they revealed or hidden)!! 

China Trip Update #4

Hello loved ones! I feel like I should address this note "dear team" because we are feeling so loved, encouraged and supported by you all.  Your prayers are truly carrying us.

First off, please pray for Andrew - he hasn't had much appetite today and is feeling a bit nauseous this evening.

We have enjoyed a relaxing day exploring the city.  The rain continued well into the afternoon but thankfully our hotel had umbrellas to borrow.  As we walked through the park this morning - in the pouring rain - we felt the peace and refreshing of The Lord.  The park is about a 10 minute walk from our hotel and it is a beautiful oasis in the middle of the bustling city.  Although I don't mind the big city, the thought of being surrounded by concrete with no green spaces for 2 weeks sounds quite miserable.  So for this gorgeous park to be just minutes away is a real blessing. We are looking forward to taking Levi there later this week.

In exactly 12.5 hours we will meet our guide in the lobby and drive about 20 minutes to the Civil Affairs Office to receive Levi.  His caregiver and perhaps another person will have brought him there from the orphanage.  We have no expectations for this first meeting.  We certainly hope and pray there will be smiles and hugs but in reality we know this will most likely be a confusing and sad morning for Levi.  We have all been praying that The Lord would prepare his little heart for this day and we're going to choose to trust Him in that.  Pray that the the language barrier between us would be overcome even in the first interactions.  Honestly, it's kind of odd to think about meeting our son tomorrow and not really being sure what to first say to him.  My heart wants to tell him we love him and that we're going to take care of him (and I have a little book I can attempt to read those statements from in Chinese ;) Pray for wisdom and discernment for us in those moments.  Following that we will go to Walmart to purchase anything we may need. This will be Levi's first time in a store of any kind - much less a mega-store like Walmart.  Pray that the sights and sounds and smells would not be overwhelming.  But instead the shopping trip would communicate our love to him as we provide for his needs and wants.  After that we will come back to the hotel for the afternoon.  Pray that Levi will feel comfortable in this room - we have been praying today for a special anointing by the Holy Spirit - and that truly it would be the presence of The Lord which brings peace and comfort and safety to Levi.  We have some concerns of communicating that this hotel room is not our home and that in a few days we'll go to another hotel and then finally to our home - not sure how and when to communicate that concept.   There are so many other thoughts and ways to pray but these are the main few that come to mind.  We trust the Holy Spirit to guide you as you pray.

Saying thank you doesn't even begin to express how grateful we are for you all.  I cannot imagine how any person could or would walk this journey without a faith family.

We look forward to sharing pictures of our son with you tomorrow!

Love,
Robin & Andrew



China Trip Update #3

Good evening! (Good morning here!) Just wanted to say a quick hello this morning.

We just enjoyed an amazing breakfast buffet at the hotel here! Soon we'll be meeting Celine but I doubt we'll be going to the park because it is pouring down rain again this morning.  We were a bit disappointed by the rain but The Lord gave us a sweet verse this morning even as I was praying for an extra awareness of His presence:

O God, when You went forth before Your people,  When You marched through the wilderness, Selah. The earth quaked;  The heavens also dropped  rain  at the presence of God;  Sinai itself  quaked  at the presence of God, the God of Israel. (Psalms 68:7, 8 NASB)

Join us in praying for Levi today that he will enjoy a wonderful last day with his nannies and friends at the orphanage.  We do pray that his memories of the 4 years he spent there will be good ones.

I'm feeling a bit emotional today- which I'm receiving as a gift from The Lord because I was feeling so out of reality yesterday that I was a bit numb to the world.  But I do want my emotions to be appropriate tomorrow for Levi.  I know with Wade and Chloe they are sometimes confused by my tears - even tears of joy.  I want to be present and not numb or walled up by I want to put Levi's needs first.

We love you all!

Blessings,
Robin & Andrew

China Trip Update #2


Hello from Zhengzhou (pronounced JengJoo) China! We arrived in this city, the capital of Levi's province this morning (Friday night US time).  Praise God our flights were long but uneventful! And our baggage made it it too - we spotted the pink suitcase from across the airport!

We spent this afternoon getting settled into our hotel room and resting. The hotel is very nice.  The city itself is very large - 7 million residents! We met our guide, Celine, at 5:30pm. She shared our general itinerary for the upcoming week:

Sunday: free time, hoping the rain will stop so we can go to a nearby park
Monday: Gotcha Day! We will leave our hotel about 9:30am to meet Levi!!!
Tuesday: go back to the official office for some paperwork
Wednesday: we will visit Levi's orphanage
Thursday: there is a zoo in Zhengzhou that we will get to visit
Friday: fly out in the afternoon to Guangzhou where we will spend the 2nd week

She also had some information about Levi that she shared with us like his typical schedule, food likes, personality traits, etc. 

Celine took us to a noodle restaurant for dinner.  It was delicious (albeit not exactly gluten free- you can say a little prayer that I might not experience any effects from eating gluten throughout this trip). We are back at the hotel now using the wifi in the lobby. 

We are really feeling like we are existing in some kind of twilight zone right now.  That is probably largely due to 36 hours of travel with just a few hours of sleep.  Please pray that we will rest well tonight and wake up refreshed and a bit more present. 


We love you all and covet your continued prayers - please pray specifically for Levi as The Lord prepares him to meet us in 36 hours.  Please feel free to email us back if you like...it's good to hear from home.

Love you all,
Robin and Andrew

China Trip Update #1

Hello everyone! We are writing from the Atlanta airport where we await our flight departure in about 1 hour! We just cannot believe that this is actually happening.  The Lord has been beyond faithful to do what He promised in placing the lonely in families (Psalm 68:6).

We will arrive in Levi's province on Saturday morning (Friday evening US time).  Thankfully we will have until Monday morning (Sunday evening US time) to recover from the flights before we meet Levi.

We are SO grateful for your abundant support in every way! You have walked with us in this journey over the last 2 years and we COULD NOT have walked alone.  We know that The Lord has been walking with us in this and in a major way you were the tangible expression of that!

Anyway, we want to keep you updated during our trip.  Hopefully this will be a dependable venue for doing so.  Future update emails may come thru David Scharff (Andrew's brother).  We have probably left people off this email list....our brains are seriously fried. So please forward the emails to anyone who might be interested.

We love you all and will talk to you soon! Please continue to pray for us and Wade & Chloe as The Lord leads.

Love,
Robin and Andrew

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Waiting...

We are maybe halfway through our last waiting step.  Like when you're in line for a roller coaster and you're counting the people ahead of you to determine how many riding groups back before its your turn.  Well, we're one group back.  

Our Travel Approval should be arriving in 1-2 weeks.  At that point we will schedule our trip to China for about 2 weeks later.  So, it looks like we'll be departing at the end of May.  

I'm not sure if its the gluten-filled cupcake I just ate or if my stomach is suddenly in knots  from seeing that reality in print!  Either way, we are feeling an awesome collision of emotions these days.  Joy and elation and that "its finally here" feeling mixed with uncertainty and doubt and "woah! this is real" (just being transparent here).  However, the grace of the Lord is forever sufficient for us.  His strength is made perfect in our weakness.  And He has gone before us and is paving this path.  

The Lord made His leading in this journey abundantly clear from the beginning.  He has provided over and over and we are thoroughly convinced that He will carry us to the end (which is really just the beginning!).  

People have been asking so we wanted to just share with you where we are financially.  Due to traveling at the peak season, our flights will be almost twice what we had been estimating.  So, of our remaining in-country costs, we have about a $6000 need.  Because the Lord made His provision so very clear so early in this process for us we are not concerned about this shortage at all.  Its only a shortage in our eyes.  He knows exactly where that money will come from and will reveal that in His timing.   

We are so grateful for your continued support and encouragement! We love you all and could not do this without you! We'll keep you updated!