NEW HOPE FOSTER HOME - BEIJING
O lord, do good to those who are good, whose hearts are in tune with you. (Psalms 125:4 NLT)
We got the greatest privilege today! We spent a couple of hours this morning at New Hope, the medical needs foster home that Jedidiah has lived at since February 4, 2013...the last 14 months of his life. He came there when he was 6 1/2 months old to get his cleft palette repair and ear tubes put in. We found out today the surgeons who performed his surgery were from a visiting medical team from Pennsylvania. We had no idea!
New Hope is an amazing place! As soon as we walked through the front door, the love and joy that fill every crevice bombarded us as well. The staff were so happy to greet us and to see Wen Liang (Jedidiah). Two little boys came out to meet us. They wanted us to pick them up...it was easy to do that and to love on them. Both of them were super affectionate and completely adorable! Immediately someone got his nanny, one of the three women that took care of him for the last 14 months. She was so sweet and Jedidiah went right to her. They had prepared us ahead of time that he would most likely do this. He was very attached to these three women who have cared for him. We, along with our 4 kids at home, have prayed every day during the entire adoption process that the child God had for us was being loved. When Jedidiah reached out to her in pure love, I felt like I was witnessing our answer to those many, many prayers. It was a beautiful moment for me and I was excited to be able to share with Ella, Jonah, Elijah, and Lila how incredible it was to see him with her.
Mike Shook, who is Robin Hill's assistant, one of the directors at New Hope, hosted us and showed us around the foster home. Mike was an awesome host to us! Such a great guy! (Before continuing, we have a huge 'God-story' about the Hills (Joyce Hill, Robin's wife is the co-director with him). This couple, and their faithfulness to the call God put on their lives to rescue orphans in China in need of medical care, played a huge role in our adoption journey. If you want to hear more about that story, please see Adoption Story Part 2 on this blog. In January 2012, 10 months before we even started the adoption process, I prayed God would give us a child from New Hope. To be experiencing God's goodness, knowing how He answered that prayer and to be at New Hope today was beyond special for us!) We saw the rooms where Jedidiah spent most of his time. In the playroom, it was fun to see him play with his nanny. We met the other little girl who Jedidiah's nanny took care of (each nanny has 2 kids they are responsible for). She is a cutey! We met his preschool teacher, Jenni. Jenni is from Louisiana, so it was easy, obviously, to communicate with her. It was fun hearing about Jedidiah from her perspective. She confirmed some of the character traits we have seen in him and told us some new things about him that we haven't discovered yet.
The last thing we did at New Hope was get a scrapbook of Jedidiah that they made for him. It chronicles all of his 14 months there, which is the majority of his life. A COMPLETELY PRICELESS gift! There are pictures in there of him, special milestones, like his 1st birthday party, craft projects he completed, and notes that different caretakers wrote to him - New Hope has a lot of visiting helpers that come in for a couple of weeks or so and spend time with the children and help in the preschool. Those notes are really precious. Actually, the whole scrapbook is! Something we NEVER expected to receive!
We were beyond blessed today to get to spend time with Jedidiah at New Hope meeting all of these very wonderful people who have cared for him until we could bring him home. God is here in China...we felt Him clearly today in this very precious place with these very precious people who are His hands and feet to many beautiful orphans in China!
Jedidiah's Nanny
The room he ate his meals in
All the strollers are parked just inside the door they take to all the fun outdoor toys
Jedidiah in his crib
The sweet little girl who was his buddy
The sinks where he took baths
His playroom, the bunny room
Brad and I with Jenni, his preschool teacher
A really special picture for me with his nanny
Jedidiah having fun in the playroom
The preschool room
Brad and I with Mike Shook
Jedidiah with Jenni, his preschool teacher
One of the outdoor playgrounds
The card above his bedroom door...priceless...it says it all!
In front of New Hope
Some pages from his scrapbook
THE GREAT WALL
What can I say about this extraordinary structure?! It was completely breathtaking, as you would imagine! We were at the Mutianyu section, which was constructed during the Ming Dynasty over 600 years ago. We rode up on a chair lift and we came down on a toboggan slide...super fun! Here are our photos of the Great Wall experience:
A fruit stand by the Great Wall
A street of little shops before the Great Wall
Brad and Jedidiah ready to get on the chair lift
Breathtaking views from the chair lift
At the Great Wall (a little tough to see in the background because of the mountain mist)
A great view of the Wall
One of my FAVORITE photos of father and son!
Brad sitting on top of one of the watchtowers
Jedidiah exploring the Great Wall
The toboggan slide!
After the Great Wall, we had lunch at a 'western' restaurant. It is owned by Americans and they make all of their food on site. It was very delicious and a really cute restaurant. AND we could see the Great Wall from our table!
The Schoolhouse Restaurant
Brad loving his burger and fries!
Our waitress coloring with Jedidiah
The courtyard of the restaurant
GETTING TO KNOW JEDIDIAH
We found out right away that Jedidiah is very bright. He is very inquisitive, always trying to figure out how things work. He already learned some sign language at New Hope and uses it pretty consistently. He is diligent about trying to learn the signs we are teaching him. He can initially be rather shy with a new person, but he comes out of his shell pretty quickly. He is an active little boy who is on the move! He doesn't have a lot of time for cuddling or kisses for sure, but he is starting to warm up to the idea of these things!
Jedidiah loves his picture book of his family
Look who found ba-ba's shoes
We have discovered his strong will. It was funny...today at New Hope they confirmed that he is just not acting out to us and the newness of the situation - he had a strong will there as well. He has thrown several major fits with us, where he arches his back while screaming and is fairly inconsolable...one of these times took place for 45 minutes on the 3 hour airplane ride from Guangzhou to Beijing!
So, anytime Jedidiah has something and he thinks you might take it from him, he puts it on his head. He does this with lots of things, from toys, to bottles, to lotion...you name it, he puts it on his head. We are thinking this was the way he kept from sharing at the foster home.
Despite these tough times, he has melted our hearts. He is often ready with a smile, a big belly laugh when we tickle him, loves playing peek-a-boo and hide-n-seek, and dances any time he hears music...He is super adorable!
We will be home for Easter!!
We do want to ask for prayer for our flight home tomorrow - Saturday. It is a 13 hour flight. We leave Beijing at 4:50pm in the afternoon, which is 3:50am Sun Prairie time. We get into Chicago around 4:30pm Saturday and then quickly have to get through customs to make our 6pm flight from Chicago to Madison. We are scheduled to get into Madison at 6:52pm on Saturday night.
PLEASE PRAY:
We do want to ask for prayer for our flight home tomorrow - Saturday. It is a 13 hour flight. We leave Beijing at 4:50pm in the afternoon, which is 3:50am Sun Prairie time. We get into Chicago around 4:30pm Saturday and then quickly have to get through customs to make our 6pm flight from Chicago to Madison. We are scheduled to get into Madison at 6:52pm on Saturday night.
PLEASE PRAY:
- Jedidiah will have a peaceful flight
- Brad and I will have wisdom in dealing with anything that happens
- Great endurance for all of us on such a long flight
- Our jet lag as we return and get back into life
- Our family as we all meet one another and begin the transition of welcoming this new brother into our hearts and lives
THANK YOU SO MUCH for following our journey with Jedidiah in China. It has been so special for us to write these posts and share these amazing two weeks with all of you! We will write some more from home in the next couple of weeks, but we are signing off from China.
“ ‘ “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’ (Numbers 6:24-26 NIV)
