It Happens Every Time

I do it every time. I plan for the trip to China. I think about everything I need. I prepare myself for the physical and emotional exhaustion that comes and I think I know what to expect and that I have a handle on things.

And then I get here. A a thousand little moments are packed in to every single day. Love. Heartbreak. Joy. Tears. Laughter. Over and over and over. All day, every day. And it is amazing. It is hard and exhausting and emotionally draining. But it is good.

Today we delivered packages to children who have families.

We snuggled babies and played with older kids.

We cuddled a little boy who wasn't doing very well physically. We also were able to advocate for better care for him. I wish I could tell you what all the medical team did for children today. I'll have to see if one of them will write a post for the Superkids blog about the different ways they help children. It is so much more than just assessing them. There is caregiver training and some ingenious, spur of the moment resourcefulness that improves the quality of life for so many children.

Tomorrow we travel to another orphanage to see more children and do it all over again.

Reflections

I am sitting in a hotel room in Shanghai, China. My mind travels back to the first time I was here, that time with Keith, and that time to add a little daughter to our family. What an amazing experience that was. We did not experience China the way I get to on Superkids trips because we were on our own a lot more and our focus was on our new little daughter and what she needed.

This is now my fourth time to be in Shanghai. Certain things are becoming more familiar. Things that made me nervous the first time I traveled with Superkids are now just par for the course. I remember fearing how I would respond to seeing the children. I was so fearful that I would be too emotional or not be able to connect with them Now I know that, on hard days, I can hold it together until I get back to the hotel. I know that it is almost always possible to connect with every child if you are just tuned in to them.

There are certain children that I have seen every time I have been to Shanghai Children's Home. Of course, it makes me sad to see them there year after year. But I'm also very excited to see them again! And one little boy whom we have seen every year now has a family doing the paperwork to bring him home! Hoe wonderful is that!?

I need to run down for breakfast now. Pray for me as you think about it!

And I'm Off!!

I'm going to just share the Superkids Charity post for today here. It pretty much says what I want to say.

I tossed around the idea of not posting here while I'm gone and telling you all to follow along on the Superkids blog. But I think I need my own space to post too. So I'm planning to post as often as I can here. I'll also be posting a daily photo on my photography blog, so you might want to check in there as well.

Will you all please pray for me and for my sweet family as we are separated? That part is always so hard!

There is always a surreal feeling as everything comes together right before I leave. I get to this point of thinking that I've done what I can do and it is all in God's hands. That is not a bad place to be!

This Girl, This Beautiful Girl...

Seven years ago today in a little room in the Baby House #2 in Uralsk, Kazakhstan we met this little girl for the first time. We had imagined the moment. In our dreams we always just KNEW our daughter immediately. In our dreams it was LOVE at first sight. (By way of explanation, we traveled without a referral and met children available for adoption and chose which child we wanted to adopt)

Our first official family visit photos.

Reality? We just KNEW our daughter immediately and it was LOVE at first sight. Only she was so much more beautiful and amazing than we had dared to dream! She only had a tiny bit of whispy blond hair and the biggest brown eyes! I like to tell her that she was the most beautiful baby in the whole world, and I know because I've pretty much flown the whole way around the world!

One of the first pictures we sent to family and friends

Annika with Kate, our facilitator. She did everything for us! We called her "the in-country team".

This girl, this beautiful girl has only become more precious to us as the years have rolled by. Today we celebrate her in every way.

She is still beautiful, but she is so much more than beautiful! She is independent and confident, I envy her ability to make new friends! She is a born leader (her brothers may occasionally say bossy), she is smart and is an eager student. She has a tender little heart that can't stand to see humans or animals suffer. She loves to be a girly girl and dress up and wear pink and all of the girly things. She is also brave and not to be left behind when her brothers are climbing trees and play football.

Her favorite things to do (according to her):

Climb trees
Art
Play with Timber and Bella (dog and cat)
Read
Make things with beads

Her eighth birthday will be while I'm in China, so we are celebrating early. With friends, and cake, and gifts...

We are so thankful you are a Martin, sweet girl!

'The Countdown

I am leaving for China in 9 days. My thoughts run something like this right now...

I need to save that list of questions to my...

Now how much did my suitcase weigh...

Wait I never ordered that...

I've got to go save that list of questions...

Chocolate covered coffee beans!!!!

Hand sanitizer (check) tissues (check) shampoo (check)...

CIPRO!!!!

That list of questions...

Now how much did my suitcase...

Medication Refills!!!!

I wonder if I could wear the same skirt every day so I have more room... (just kidding)

Starbucks Via!!!!

Wait, what was I...

And so on and so forth. All day, every day. In some ways it is a good thing that we are down to 9 days!

Together Called 2015

Wow! I really did expect to love Together Called. I love the whole idea of providing refreshment and inspiration for Christian adoptive couples. But I didn't know we would enjoy it as much as we did! I think next year we will go all in and stay overnight too. It was that great!

From the worship leaders to the main speaker to the breakout sessions to the wonderful food and beautiful atmosphere it was truly a refreshing time. And that doesn't even take into account that every single couple there "gets" adoptive parenting.

The main speaker was Randy Bohlender. His wife was unable to be there due to a "surprise" adoption situation coming up for their family, but what he shared was so refreshing and challenging. One thing I'll be mulling over for a while is the question: "Who am I?" He challenged us to describe ourselves without including what we do. That is pretty hard to do! But our value to and identity in God is not based on what we do, but on who we are.

We attended a breakout session on caring for the caregiver which was a wonderful reminder that an empty vessel can't keeping pouring out blessings on our children. We also attended a superb breakout session on parenting biological and adopted siblings. Between the testimony of the adult adoptee dad and the video interview of the session leader's children it was just beautiful! And yes, it had me a bit teary a good portion of the time!

If you have heard of Together Called and wondered if it is worth the time and effort to attend, I would have to say it certainly is! What is not to love about spending time away as a couple being renewed and refreshed?

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Most of the time we lead a pretty slow-paced life. This week has been a huge exception to that rule!

Monday- I had an appointment to get my eyes checked. This is something I have to do pretty regularly thanks to some of the medicines I'm on. Unfortunately my left eye has gotten dramatically worse in the past year. So the optometrist wanted to schedule a few more tests.

Tuesday- I went to New York City for a meeting. (Now doesn't that sound all important! Off to the big city for a meeting!) My friend, Esther went with me for the day. I'm glad that I proved to myself that I can navigate the trip! It was a good but exhausting day.

Wednesday- Piano lessons for the tribe. Then a chiropractor appointment in the afternoon because I'm trying to be sure my back is in shape for going to China.

Thursday- Another appointment for my eyes. Sigh. Supper out with my sweet husband.

Friday- I spent part of the day with Nancy from Ordinary Miracles Photography. She has been my photography mentor from the day I decided to buy a "nice" camera. It was so very super duper fun to meet her in person! And to get some photography tips. And to try out a couple of her lenses. Nancy is in the area from Arizona, so it isn't like she lives just around the corner!

153mm

16mm

Saturday- Keith and I plan to attend a retreat for adoptive couples called Together Called- but I'll have to tell you more about that next week!