China- Week 1

We are at the end of week 1 in China. We have traveled hundreds of miles this week. We have seen over a hundred children in 5 orphanages so far. Each day brings it's own range of emotions. It is not unusual to experience both delight and heart break more than once in a day.

The thing I most want to be able to communicate to people who do not have the privilege of seeing all of these incredible children is the intrinsic, individual value of each of them personally. They are little people with likes and dislikes and their own personality and abilities. They are lumped together in institutions, but they are so precious and valuable in their own right.

I've been sitting here trying to choose a few favorite moments from the week to share with you. It is so hard to choose just a few!

Starting in Shanghai, I'd have to say seeing how well Suzanna looks was a highlight. She is a little girl with OI who did not look so great the last time we saw her. She had broken her hip and had been in bed for over 4 months at that time. She had licked her lips and all around them raw just from the sheer boredom of being alone and unstimulated so much. But this time they carried her into the room and her little eyes were bright and she looked so beautiful!

In Changsha I was anxious to see Levi. I love him so much and we are looking for a family for him right now so I wanted to see again for myself how he is doing. And, oh my, is he ever doing well! He is so, so cute and "typical boyish". To see the little sparkle in his eyes and watch him interact with the other children made my heart smile!

The first orphanage we went to in the Jiangxi province was Yichun. By far my favorite moment of that day was seeing how excited little Courtney was over the helmet Keely brought for her! It was beyond adorable.

Next was Jian. Here I got to watch as Jaxon was told about his family. He loved, loved, loved the photo album they sent and kept touching and kissing their faces in the pictures. Here we also had the opportunity to go visit a group of of older kids with more significant needs whom we have known for several years. They seem to remember us and were all reaching out for touch and attention. Seeing them there and then walking away again was so wonderful and so difficult all at the same time.

I have a little favorite at Xingyu, so it is always pretty safe to assume that the highlight of my time there will be seeing Samson. He is doing well, though his heart condition is significant. The best news about Samson is that his adoption paperwork is almost completed! Please let me know if you are interested in adopting him!

I have to mention a couple of other Xingyu children here. There is a little girl for whom we don't have an advocacy name but she just wrapped her little self around my heart! She was so proud of herself for going up and down this little set of steps there. Her smile just says it all!

And then there was another little girl who was blind. As Janell put her hand on her little chest she wrapped both of her little hands around Janell's hand. She was such a sweetheart!

It has been a week full of so many outstanding moments! I know after I am home these moments will come back to enrich my every day life and, as always, these experiences will forever change me.

Superkids Picture Post

I posted photos of our entire day yesterday in the Superkids blog.  You can see it here.

ENJOY!

So Far In China

Wow! What a trip this has been so far! My flight was delayed in San Francisco so i ended up getting to the hotel at about 1:30 on Monday morning. We had to be ready to leave by 7:30 to go to the Shanghai orphanage. We had such a good day there! The children just never cease to amazing me. They are so innocent, so resilient! I think one of my favorite moments of the day was when Jack walked in and said, "Hello, my name is Jack!" He spoke excellent, articulate English thanks to having been in a foreign run foster home until recently, and was so much fun to visit with.

That evening we flew to Changsha. We got to the hotel there by about 11, but then my VPN wouldn't work and I had some other things to do and by the time everything was done it was 2 AM. Again, we had to leave the hotel by 8:10. Again, the day was full of seeing children who blew me away over and over. We saw so many matched children and it was such a pleasure to take gifts to them from their families and to get updates for their families! And we saw so many children whom we knew or recognized on some level.

We took the high speed train from Changsha to Yichun in the Jiangxi province last night. it was a little earlier night since I had everything that needed to be done all wrapped up by midnight. This morning we leave at 8 for the Yichun orphanage. I find myself getting excited all over again as I think of the children we will see there. The familiar little faces we will see, the new kids we will meet, it is always something that makes me excited.

Our time here will continue to be very busy, busier even than we normally are on these trips. I am borrowing Keely's computer to be able to do this post since mine will not connect to either VPN I have installed. Little things like that are very frustrating when your time is limited.

Over all I am doing so well! I feel (relatively) well. I thank God for this since I really did not know how it would be. I felt pretty bad going in to this trip and God has really given me the strength I need to not only make it through each day, but to be able to enjoy each day. It is such a gift!

Signing Off

I need to leave the house at about 4:00 tomorrow morning. When I am finished with this the computer is going in the bag and I will be completely packed.

I plan to post here as I can, but we will also be posting daily on the Superkids blog, and multiple time a day on the Gladney's Superkids Facebook page. You can also follow us on Periscope. Just download the free app to your apple or android device, search for Superkids, and follow us. We are planning to live stream videos to Periscope, which I think is pretty amazing! The videos will be available for 24 hours after we post them, so you can still watch them if you miss the live streaming.

I ask again for your prayers. Many, many miles will be traveled! Many, many children will be seen! Please just cover the whole trip in prayer for us! Thank you all!

Next stop: Shanghai!

Travel Tips

In two days I'm headed to China. As I've traveled back and forth I've learned a few things about what makes traveling easier. Here are a few of my favorite tips:

1. Travel as lightly as possible. This is a bit of a joke for me since I am normally doing things like hauling a bunch of donations with me. But I still try to pack as lightly as I can. I take a few basic outfits that can mix and match to provide a bit of variety. I try to take fast drying clothes so that I can wash them out in the hotel rooms and they will dry over night.

2. Look at travel time as your vacation time. I love the 13+ hour flight. I just sit there and read or watch a movie while someone brings me drinks and food. They bring me coffee and tea and blankets if I'm chilly. I mean, that is pretty much my dream day! As soon as I get to my seat I settle in. I get out my pillow, take off my shoes, make sure my snacks are easy to access, and pull out my book. It is blissful as long as you are looking at it as a vacation in and of itself!

3. Be flexible. It just isn't all going to happen according to plan. You, and your traveling companions, will be so much happier if you understand this and don't get too upset over changes and delays.

4. Don't let jetlag get the best of you. Get on the local time as quickly as possible. I take melatonin to help me go to sleep when it is bed time. We are always busy all day, so naps aren't really an option. That is really helpful.

5. Take a few comfort items from home. I take chocolate and coffee. I could live without them for 2 weeks, but it helps to have them when I'm feeling stressed and exhausted.

6. Have a plan for communicating with people at home. It might not always work like you want it to, but have a plan. We use FaceTime or WeChat. Most of the time we are able to speak at least once a day. It makes the trip so much easier to be able to stay in touch.

7. Enjoy the experience. Embrace the differences. Cultural differences can be intimidating, but don't spend your time pining for the familiar. Try the food, learn a few words of greeting, step out of your comfort zone. You won't regret it.

Oh The Cuteness!!

On Tuesday we went to the beach with my friend and her daughter. It was fun, and lovely, and totally exhausting.

Yesterday I had two photo shoots. First with my little twin nephews, Lawson and Logan, who are now three months old.

Then I met a friend and we went to shoot photos of children playing on swing sets for advertising purposes. Oh my! We had some of the cutest little models! As I was sorting through photos today I pretty much hit cuteness overload!

Um, yeah. What did I tell you? Cuteness overload right there.

Today Was the Day!

Today was our first Classical Conversations community day! It was a fun day for everyone. I sat in Freeland's Foundations class this morning. I watched as the learned about the fertile crescent, prepositions, the parts of a bean seed, and other things. I can't wait to see how much they learn this year!

I will be in different classes each week since I have students in each level. So I will get to see how it is done in each of their classes.

The boys are also in the Essentials class in the afternoon. I'm excited about this class as it takes them deeper into sentence structure and creative writing (among other things)!

All the way home Annika kept talking about her friend. I asked her what her friend's name was, but she did not know! I guess we have plenty of time to learn names, right?

It was a good day and I'm looking forward to tackling the assignments this coming week. Let the "Timeline" roll on!