City of Grace

Note - Thank you for allowing me to post out of order yesterday.  I appreciate being able to process  a difficult day despite it being "out of order" in my journaling.

Sunday we visited the City of Grace - Lifeline's Foster Center that they opened back in July in response to the poor conditions at Suixi.  13 children who had minimal medical problems but who were failing to thrive at Suixi were moved to the Foster center.

And I can assure you -THEY ARE THRIVING!

They are loved and cared for by a handful of nannies - a few of the nannies have become believers in the process.

They kids were happy and interactive and for the first time on the trip, the guard of my heart started to come down.

For the first time I wrestled with should I adopt.  Should we adopt?

I met a little girl who was about 5 years old who quickly became my little buddy.  She and I played with duplos and played ball and laughed.  Even after we had gone out for lunch and the kids had napped, she found me with her stack of duplos and we began to play again.

I saw a little boy who had some delays but reminded me of my sweet nephew "T" just the way he had mischief in his eyes.  He was such a little helper - holding the door for everyone when we went out for play time and again when it was time to come in.  (We played in a dry fountain area - which was brilliant as it was walled so it kept the kids corralled - until the janitor ladies started cleaning the fountain.  They don't care who is in the fountain!  They are going to hose it down and if you don't want to get wet you better get out.)

We left the Foster center around lunch time and went to a local noodle place.  It was very good.  We walked to a local coffee shop and just visited until it was time for the kids to get up from their naps.  We went back and spent the rest of the afternoon there and left around dinner time.

Dinner was ....

Chinese food!   We had a variety of things again on the lazy Susan.  We didn't have to wash our dishes as they came shrink wrapped.  I guess if the dishes are wrapped in plastic you're good to go! (Although the local Chinese people still cleaned their dishes with the hot tea - go figure!)

We had a lot of veggies which was nice.  We had what I can only describe as carmelized sweet potato monkey bread.  It wasn't monkey bread but you pulled it apart like monkey bread.  You had to dip it in water to cool it down and still pray you didn't blister the roof of your mouth or burn off all your taste buds.  (I don't know how the Chinese can get things SO HOT!). I don't quite remember what else we had (the Chinese food is all running together at this point) but it was good.

It was a good day overall but I am still wondering what my take away from this trip will be.  While I have met some darling children and while there are a couple that have stolen a piece of my heart and who I can't get out of my mind, I am still very much wrestling with if our family is called to adopt.

If so, then what?

But if not, then what?


I just ask for you to continue to pray for the orphans.  Prsy that they would know they love of their Heavenly Father.  He knows them by name, knows the number of (often short) hairs on their head, and has created them for a purpose.  It is hard to understand that purpose - especially for those who are (un)adopted, but I know and trust that God has a plan for each little life.

Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red and yellow, black and white
THEY ARE PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT
Jesus love the little children of the world!