Winnie (China Part 5)

Here's where I run into a problem on these posts.

Some of the days run together. Not just that, but Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday all had similar schedules.

Hindsight: I should have been a lot more disciplined in journaling. Scribbling out a few sentences was the best I could do.

Regardless, instead of showing you each of those days individually, I want to give you a greater grasp of the whole picture.

What better way than to share with you each of my precious kiddos?

Since she was first off the bus and always the first one ready to go, I'll start with Winnie.

To put it simply, this child has captured my heart.

Look at that sass.

Winnie is always full of laughter and smiles.

And she has quite a precious singing voice.

 She captured the hearts of everyone at camp. She and Jenna had a special bond, too. I loved watching Winnie try to mimmic Jenna's facial expressions.

Winnie also loved craft time.

Winnie's portrait of the two of us and then her picture of me. Please notice how big my feet are in both of those. Good eye, kid.

 She was quite the concentrated artist.

 Those sweet, excited squeals made my heart melt.

 What a girly girl. The hair. The makeup. The jewelry. Totes rocking it.

 Sweet little giggles.

 Snuggling at bedtime.

 And she is quite the voracious eater.

I love this child so very much. She blessed my time at camp tremendously. She was so funny in her encouragement to Juju trying to entice her to hurry along to mealtime because she was hungry. 

She had a mind of her own, and when it was time to do something, she would scoot herself along on her walker. 

When she was amused, her whole body seemed to cry out in a fit of giggles. 

She is such a sweet little cuddler, and I would just feel her melt into me when she got sleepy. 

She is smart as a whip, and frequently sung me songs and recited poetry she learned in school. She could also count to 50 in English. I'd say that's quite a feat since I could barely utter seven things in Mandarin by the time I got home. (I counted. 7 was generous.) She also frequently said, "Thank you" in English accompanied by a huge smile.

When she got weary, I would carry her. What a picture. Isn't that what my Father does for me? 

Wo Ai Ni, my sweet Winnie.

Fake Chinese Doughnuts (China Part 4)

After a short's night sleep on a Hello Kitty comforter, we woke up ready for our campers.

Pal, let me just be super vulnerable here.

Monday was not my best day.

I didn't expect a luxurious bed. I didn't expect decent food. I didn't even expect for my orphans to instantly love me. Shoot, I didn't expect to have orphanS... just one.

For all of my expectations, or lack thereof, nothing could have prepared me for Monday.

The pictures are few and far between because, like I said, Monday was not my best.

 Here's breakfast. There was a lot of pretending that went on. I had to pretend that whatever was on those cucumbers was balsamic dressing. I had to pretend whatever piece of bread that is on the top right was a fake doughnut. I had to pretend the cake-like substance was pound cake. (Street food was wayyy better.)

Here's our dorm AKA The Castle. We had lots of toilet issues. And by "we" I mean just our room. Typical.

Then the bus pulled up. We were so giddy, the kids could hardly get off the bus. There was lots of announcing, "Everyone, please take three big steps back." I know how parents must feel when their kids get home from camp. 

And then I find out I have two kids, not one like I was expecting. 

Okay, I'm flexible. I can TOTALLY handle giving out some extra love.

So my first one gets off the bus. Precious Winnie. She has to potty. Okay, I'll send the translator with her while I wait for the other. (Hindsight: how did I ever think I could explain what was going on to my second child without a translator?) 

My second child, Juju, is the last one on the bus. Except she won't get off the bus. Long story short, six of us pry her off the doors so the bus can leave. Alrighty, an EGR situation here (Extra Grace Required). I can do this. 

Only this child won't talk to me. She won't let me touch her. She won't even look at me. Thinking maybe she's just a little shy, I try my best to gently coax her into responding to me without hitting me. Thankfully, one of the staff members with excellent Chinese helps me encourage her along.

Unprepared for this response? You betcha.

Now greatly aware of the fact that our family will be moving at our own pace during the week, I embark on getting us on to lunch.

2 1/2 hours later we get there. Juju won't stop crying and wimpering. It was pitiful, really. I had no clue what to do to make it better.

By the time we actually get to lunch, I am in tears. A complete and total wreck. I couldn't fathom how I was supposed to take care of two children who individually needed quite a bit of attention and care as well as form a meaningful relationship with my translator. I was at a loss for what to do for this scared child. Is this how new moms feel when their second child comes along?

 Here's Winnie and my translator, Jane. You can see Juju in the background.

Thankfully another sweet staff member ordered drinks for me and my kids to help with, what we turned into, a long walk back to the dorms. Lesson learned early, juice is the way to my kids' hearts.

We had our family photo taken in our t-shirts, somehow managed to get to the pool with both kids and a staff member to translate (I could dedicate an entire post to the swimming pool/locker room experience), and then immediately turned around for dinner. That was all we did that day because that was all we could manage.

Needless to say, I went back to the room that night after tucking them in and cried some more. I was not expecting this kind of day. I had to ask for extra patience and love because I knew the week was going to be long.  I had no clue what I had gotten myself into. In complete and total honesty, I was ready to go home.

Then I heard:

I don't call the equipped, I equip the called.

I could persevere. What choice did I have? Tuesday was going to be a new day.

See, I told you total lack of photos.

Mulan Signed Up For This (China Part 3)

After my two hour drive to Auburn, our two hour drive to Atlanta, our two hour flight to Detroit, our three hour layover, our twelve hour flight to Beijing, and our twenty minute taxi ride to the hotel, we were finally able to stumble our way into bed after a very exhausting day.

 Due to the thirteen hour time difference, we actually lost a day. We left on Thursday morning and got to Beijing late Friday night/Saturday morning. How that all works is still a mystery to me. But thanks to being heavily medicated on Dramamine, I had no problem adjusting to the time change.

Saturday began our whirwind tour of China.

First, the Great Wall.

 You have no idea how hard it is to climb the Great Wall. Uneven steps. Unbearable heat. Steep inclines. You look down so much you start to get dizzy.

 Clearly, you can't tell how hard it is.

 The other nationalities at camp were very perplexed by our chacos.

 And this is how we got down from the Great Wall. Total Cool Runnings style.

 First legit Chinese meal. And the only time we had dumplings.

 Chopsticks really are difficult to use when you're hungry.

 The tea shop.

 We never could find a good place to stop and get out at the Bird's Nest, so we just drove around it like 20 times.

 Wafujing Street.

After a good night's sleep, we boarded a train for 10 hours to our camp city.

The train station was a cultural experience. We were the ONLY white people there and tons of people stared at us. It was like they were seeing unicorns and telling each other, "They do exist!"

 Once in our sleeper cars we played Pass The Pigs. I always got out like five rolls in.

 You have no clue the body language and charades that took place to get us these noodles.

 And as if a ten hour train ride weren't enough, we got stuck at the train station for an extra hour because there was some mix up on where to pick us up. I was ready to walk to the nearest hotel and call it a night because I was so exhausted. We finally got to camp at 1am. Bless it.

This Was Before We Were Friends (China Part 2)

Before I go any further, I should probably give you a point of reference for who was with us.

Meet the FBO team. Left to right is Natalie, Me, Jenna, James, Blake, and Tori is the one in the front.

Besides Jenna being my bible study leader, none of us knew each other before meeting each other at the airport except for seeing each other from a distance at FBO. So this is our first photo together. AKA the time when we weren't really friends.

Let's be real, there was a lot of potential for this trip to be awkward.

Instead, we were incredibly blessed to become fast friends. We quickly figured out that everyone was extremely funny in his or her own way and brought something different to the trip. And just in case one of us didn't realize we were totally MFEO (made for each other), we climbed the Great Wall together, had a 10 hour train ride to bond, and regularly talked about the bathroom situation all before we got to camp.

Meet Tori. She's an occupational therapist in the making and the lightest packer I've ever met. Besides bonding over movie quotes (I knew I should have yelled "Yo Tie Dye Girl!" the first time we met) and having the same love language, Tori brought plenty of spunk to this trip. And we owe our trip to Disneyland to her since it was her idea. She was so wonderful with her two orphan boys as well as engaging with the other kids. She was always a source of encouragement and knew just when I needed a hug to get through. And she ate butter straight out of the packet on the plane ride home because she missed it so much. Just wanted everyone to know that little bit of information.

Meet Natalie. She's an English Education major, so naturally we bonded from the beginning. Our translators were roommates and stayed with our kids, so we got to spend extra time together. I would have gone absolutely crazy if it weren't for her stepping in when I needed help. Her patience with even the most difficult kids was so refreshing and I loved watching her love on them. She also has some mean vocal skills, which were put to good use karaoking with the translators one night. Not only that, but she can make the funniest noises I've ever heard (Chewbacca excited to go to Disney was my favorite). And she has the greatest poker face I've ever seen, granted this is coming from someone who wears her every emotion and thought on her face.

Meet James. He's in Health Administration but should really be majoring in Fatherhood. All of the female translators had a crush on him and our team affectionately referred to him as Dad of the Year. James likes to call women "doves" and write in his diary. Only not really. Maybe? Sometimes his humor was so dry it took us all an awkward silence and shifty eyes to catch on to his jokes. But he has such a kind heart and not only took care of his kids, but everyone else's. When my little girl developed a crush on him, he was sweet enough to sit with her at meals and tuck her into bed at night. And this all from the guy who had never changed a diaper before this week and still isn't comfortable talking about poop.

Meet Blake. The Pre-Med guy of the trip and the one who kept us all sane and relatively normal. Out of all of us loud-mouths, poor Blake didn't have a lot of chances to interject. But when he did... oh man. If nothing else we knew we were funny when we heard his giggles. And he is the most fun person to ride Disney rides with. His camp family seriously looked like a Chinese family vacation. Stinking precious. He was so good with his boys, even when one had to leave the movie theater screaming in terror at Madagascar. He not only took great care of his kids, but constantly checked on and encouraged his translator. Poor thing got violently ill while we were there, but he kept persevering like a champ. Plus, how else would we have kept tabs on James without him?

Meet Jenna. She's my Auburn mom and likes to call me special. But really, she is the reason I was even on the trip and has turned my flicker of interest in orphans into a full blown forest fire. There were moments on the trip that I looked at her and realized there was no way I would be able to navigate China without her. I am amazed that she even puts up with me, but I sure am thankful that she does! I needed her encouragement on the first day of camp when I was crying that I couldn't do it and I needed her strength when I was bawling my eyes out because I had to put my kids on the bus on the last day of camp. I'm so excited to learn under her again this year and spend time with her family.

This story begins with wishful thinking, a group of ladies, and a pan of brownies... (China Part 1)

I should probably start at the very beginning. So here it is.

We're an unlikely band of misfits, otherwise known as Jenna's Tuesday Night Girls. And this is where it begins...

Bible study with Jenna brought about more than any one of us could have expected. Fellowship. Learning. Prayer. Encouragement. Challenges. Laughter. Occasional tears. Weeks of I-didn't-do-the-study-this-week-because-it-was-on-fasting and I-ran-after-the-Taco-Truck-again. In other words, true and deep community. All around a pan of freshly baked brownies.

For all the fun we had, we were also up to some challenges. Weekly plans. Life plans. Summer plans were a major concern even from our first August meeting. Each of us needed some clarity in one, if not all three, of those categories. Which is when China was brought up...

Jenna has four kids, and two of those are adopted from China. They're precious and just downright spunky. She likes to tell us she's left her heart in China and every two years or so she has to go back and visit it. So when she gently encouraged us to think about a short-term trip to work with special needs orphans in China, we all gave it some thought. Or at least I did.

We studied James in the spring. Underlined in red is this verse: "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world" James 2:27.

That was it. I knew I had to go.

I Love The Flowers And The Trees, I Want To Say It In Chinese (Start Here)

I don't even know where to start this. I got back from China a few days ago and I don't think I'll ever be the same. I was so challenged, encouraged, stretched, blessed, broken, and filled all in twelve days. I completely understand when Jenna says her heart is in China and she has to go visit it as much as she can.

I've never blogged such a long trip before, so just bear with me as I do my best to organize my thoughts and photos in the most sensible way possible. I'm not going to upload all 800+ photos I took, but there are about 200 on facebook plus the rest of the team's. It's going to take me some time to get through this since I'm still processing everything that has happened.

If nothing else, I hope you're affected to take action whether that's through prayer, donating, volunteering, or even adopting. 

Let's bring them hope.

Lights Will Guide You Home

 Last night I got to experience one of my favorite things in the world: seeing Coldplay live. I just can't speak highly enough of their shows, if you leave and don't feel like you got your money's worth, then you probably were at the wrong concert. 

We were handed these after clearing security scanning in. We all got different colors and were only told, "It's part of the show." Kendall got nervous that we they were supposed to go somewhere beside your wrist and we all looked like idiots with them in the wrong spot. (They were supposed to go on your wrist, by the way.) Dad deduced that there was a battery inside of the plastic shell. Meanwhile, I flipped the thing over and found a website, which I promptly looked up and spoiled the fun of the show.

 Huge thank you to Daddy who scored us the most perfect seats we could have asked for, except maybe for the first five rows on the floor. But we couldn't have jumped around that much, so these were perfect!

And here's when we figured out what the wristbands really did. I wish I had a picture that did it justice. Imagine everyone having their phones out, in perfect unison, and all different glowing colors.

 They weren't glow in the dark wristbands, they were battery/radio operated to be in sync with the show. So they didn't just glow the entire time, mostly during songs from the Mylo Xyloto album.

 Maybe a better idea of what it looked like. The concert was sold out, and people even had seats behind the stage.

You can count on Coldplay bringing out fun things during the show. Butterfly confetti included.

 And whatever this is. But they were placed throughout the arena during Paradise.

 And what would a Coldplay concert be without an acoustic set placed on the opposite end of the arena? (This was another point at which section 115 had to sit down because we were tired and the songs were slow. Kendall and I were surprised at how many families were there, but it was nice having normal people sitting around us.)

It was a wonderful evening and I was so glad we were able to go to Atlanta for the show! I was a little disappointed Rihanna didn't make a special appearance to sing in Princess of China and I didn't see Gwyneth, Beyonce, or Jay-Z out in the audience, but hey, those just would have been major perks.