"Give me Your eyes for just one second, give me Your eyes so I can see everything that I keep missing, give me Your love for humanity. Give me Your arms for the broken hearted...give me Your heart for the ones forgotten..." (Brandon Heath)
That has been my prayer through this trip, and today it kept ringing in my head as I played with a girl who seems to always be forgotten...
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It's funny because I've gotten to the point where I sit down on this bed to blog, and it's not so hard anymore. I'm actually kind of used to it, and don't mind it so much, even though it literally feels like a board.
I asked Elisa if she liked the firm beds and she said, "Yes. I can't sleep on them if they're too soft." Haha.
Today we brought all of our donations over--all the activities we had for the older kids, and all the donations we had such as clothes, shoes, socks, blankets, formula and cleft lip bottles. The orphanage was very grateful.
Today we were able to play with the older kids. We had about 2 1/2 suitcases full of activities, so we went at it.
First we started with playdough just to get them going on something while we unpacked.
You know how there's always that one kid who's left out? Well that seems to happen a lot with this one girl. I mentioned yesterday that the nannies in one room didn't even know her name. I'm not sure how old she is, but she seems older, possibly the oldest. She has some sort of muscle problem... She spends most of her time hunched over, almost folded in two, unless someone is talking to her. I think it takes a lot for her to sit up and use her arms, as well. Well, this girl was sitting at the table, all the kids around her making things and going crazy, and she just did nothing. She just sits there. So I quickly grabbed a thing of playdough and took it out for her. She loved squishing it in her hands and moving it back and forth between them. I sat with her and rubbed her back while she played.
I spent most of my time with this girl today. My eyes swelled with tears as I watched her play, and seem pretty happy. I know that when we leave her, the children will not pay any attention to her. I know the nannies do love each and every child, but with everything they have on their hands, and all the crazy older kids they have to take care of, I know she will be left in the backround again. And she will, only because she does not fuss. My heart breaks for her... She really needs a family who is able to give her one-one-one care. But I think she is too old to be adopted... So sadly, she will be in the SWI her whole life. My heart is heavy for this girl, as I know she needs the Love we have. I tried to spend my time with her today, letting her know I care. Letting her know people do care for her, and she IS of worth. She is God's creation... She shouldn't have to live like this.
I was happy to see that even when I was needed, and got up from my chair, others from our team were able to sit down and love on her. I hope she realizes the love we do have for her.
Eventually the time came for picture frames. Tammy had already pre-made them, but we let the kids decorate them with stickers and such. I sat with the girl and unpeeled foam stickers for her to put on her frame.
While some were doing that, others were getting their face painted. The kids loved getting their face painted... Some of the kids even painted a few of our team's faces as well ;) the girl I was sitting with lit up when Mackenna came and painted a flower on her face. :)
We brought everyone outside for bubbles and chalk. They loved doing that, too. The older girl made a little hopscotch square (or whatever you call it) and played hopscotch with the little kids.
After that we brought out noise makers, whistles, glasses, and balloons and had a parade with the kids. We sang songs and marched around the outside area of the orphanage.
As I was watching the kids running around playing today, tears began to form in my eyes (again! I know, I know... I'm such an emotional child). But here I see how happy these kids are. All we had out were bubbles, chalk, and jump ropes--things that most kids in the States have everyday--and they were so excited! The simplest things entertained them. I mean, even thinking back to the first day when we brought out our table cloth and all the kids went "oooo!" in excitement. They're so easily entertained. To see the joy in their eyes as they played with things most kids take for granted, it just got to me. It changes your whole perspective on how you view things. It's really amazing.
Back inside we brought the kids in to color on some bandannas to wear. I traced the girl's hand (the one with the muscle disorder-wish I knew her name) and then let her color on her bandanna by herself for a bit. Christy also brought shirts for us, and we traced a few of the kids' hand prints on the front. It was a very cute idea.
While that was going on kids were also getting balloon animals and flowers and such. Shawn and katie were our wonderful balloon creators.
Elyssa and I were looking at pictures they had hanging on the wall. In one of them, they had the tutus on that I made them last year. It made me happy to see that they got more use out of them then just the time we played with them. :)
It's funny how when we came in, the kids were all so calm and sitting in their chairs. But by the end of the day, they were running around like crazy, "attacking" people and showing off to us. Those poor nannies probably want to kill us. :P
We sat them down around the table again and we sang a few songs with them. Then in return they sang for us as well. It was good, and it calmed them down a little bit before we had to leave.
We came back to the hotel and had an hour break before lunch. I just sat around, charged a few electronics, and downloaded my pictures to my computer.
The assistant director picked us up for lunch and shopping. On our way over there, I witnessed my first accident in China. Out of my 3 previous trips, a total of almost 2 months all together, all the honking, all the times we've almost been run over, all the times I've seen the vehicle I was in just barely get by the one next to it, I have never seen any accidents. Until now. I was shocked, and yet not at all surprised. And the funny thing is, it wasn't even that bad of a "crash". The two front end of the cars were barely touching each other. It was just something interesting to note.
We went to McDonalds, and I must say... It was delicious. ;) Elyssa, Mackenna, and I treated ourselves to a McFlurry. It tasted like home--even though I never eat McDonalds at home. Haha. Our waiter at McDonalds was so cute--she was so bubbly, and always giggling. When we wouldn't understand each other she'd become very embarrassed and giggle. I asked if I could get my picture with her, and she got embarrassed. She later came back and took pictures of our whole table. She was really fun.
The directors met us and took us out shopping. First we stopped at an embroidery shop. They're known for their embroidery in Chenzhou, apparently. The pieces in there were just beautiful. It looked amazing, and hard to make.
Next stop was a pearl/jade/jewelry store. There weren't too many people in our group that interested in buying anything today. Most of the stuff we looked at will be cheaper in Beijing at the Silk market.
We then went to the store where we would buy our donation for the orphanage. The team couldn't really do much. We sat around talking to one another. I got the chance to talk to Lori some, and she's a funny lady. She's got such a great sense of humor and always has stories to tell. Its funny as the week goes on how I keep sitting next to different team members, and I get to know each of them better, and figure out their personalities. They're just all so great :)
Because there wasn't much for us to be doing, the majority of us went back to the hotel or shopping. Elyssa and I went back to our room. I blogged some, and Elyssa...well, she said she was going to blog but she's messing around figuring out her iPhoto, tagging people in pictures. She's terrible at procrastinating ;)
We went to dinner at the dumpling place tonight. In China, for such a large group of people as us, usually they have separate rooms for us to go into. Some only have one table, some have two. This restaurant had two. Halfway through our meal we had a very over zealous man come to the other table and was happy to test out his English on us. Such as, "HELLO! How are you?!" And "cheers!" And to Carmen and Mackenna, "very beautiful girls!" Haha. He was a little drunk.
When we left the restaurant it was starting to sprinkle... I just got out of the shower and its POURING rain again. Thunder and lightning, too. But I don't mind. It kind of drowns out some of the honking we hear from the street (we're on the 14th floor, and STILL hear constant honking. All through the night. Ha!).
We're about to go to do devotions, and then I'll be heading to bed.
Tomorrow is our last day at the orphanage. :( Please pray for us all, as it will be a very emotional day. We have all fallen in love with the kids (Elyssa and I have fallen in love with them, AGAIN), and it will be hard to say our goodbyes.
I think we are planning to have a party with the older kids. We're getting balloons, streamers, music, and a CAKE. Hopefully that'll be a lot of fun and not so much chaos. Haha.
Please keep us in your prayers! Thanks guys:)
That has been my prayer through this trip, and today it kept ringing in my head as I played with a girl who seems to always be forgotten...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's funny because I've gotten to the point where I sit down on this bed to blog, and it's not so hard anymore. I'm actually kind of used to it, and don't mind it so much, even though it literally feels like a board.
I asked Elisa if she liked the firm beds and she said, "Yes. I can't sleep on them if they're too soft." Haha.
Today we brought all of our donations over--all the activities we had for the older kids, and all the donations we had such as clothes, shoes, socks, blankets, formula and cleft lip bottles. The orphanage was very grateful.
Today we were able to play with the older kids. We had about 2 1/2 suitcases full of activities, so we went at it.
First we started with playdough just to get them going on something while we unpacked.
You know how there's always that one kid who's left out? Well that seems to happen a lot with this one girl. I mentioned yesterday that the nannies in one room didn't even know her name. I'm not sure how old she is, but she seems older, possibly the oldest. She has some sort of muscle problem... She spends most of her time hunched over, almost folded in two, unless someone is talking to her. I think it takes a lot for her to sit up and use her arms, as well. Well, this girl was sitting at the table, all the kids around her making things and going crazy, and she just did nothing. She just sits there. So I quickly grabbed a thing of playdough and took it out for her. She loved squishing it in her hands and moving it back and forth between them. I sat with her and rubbed her back while she played.
I spent most of my time with this girl today. My eyes swelled with tears as I watched her play, and seem pretty happy. I know that when we leave her, the children will not pay any attention to her. I know the nannies do love each and every child, but with everything they have on their hands, and all the crazy older kids they have to take care of, I know she will be left in the backround again. And she will, only because she does not fuss. My heart breaks for her... She really needs a family who is able to give her one-one-one care. But I think she is too old to be adopted... So sadly, she will be in the SWI her whole life. My heart is heavy for this girl, as I know she needs the Love we have. I tried to spend my time with her today, letting her know I care. Letting her know people do care for her, and she IS of worth. She is God's creation... She shouldn't have to live like this.
I was happy to see that even when I was needed, and got up from my chair, others from our team were able to sit down and love on her. I hope she realizes the love we do have for her.
Eventually the time came for picture frames. Tammy had already pre-made them, but we let the kids decorate them with stickers and such. I sat with the girl and unpeeled foam stickers for her to put on her frame.
While some were doing that, others were getting their face painted. The kids loved getting their face painted... Some of the kids even painted a few of our team's faces as well ;) the girl I was sitting with lit up when Mackenna came and painted a flower on her face. :)
We brought everyone outside for bubbles and chalk. They loved doing that, too. The older girl made a little hopscotch square (or whatever you call it) and played hopscotch with the little kids.
After that we brought out noise makers, whistles, glasses, and balloons and had a parade with the kids. We sang songs and marched around the outside area of the orphanage.
As I was watching the kids running around playing today, tears began to form in my eyes (again! I know, I know... I'm such an emotional child). But here I see how happy these kids are. All we had out were bubbles, chalk, and jump ropes--things that most kids in the States have everyday--and they were so excited! The simplest things entertained them. I mean, even thinking back to the first day when we brought out our table cloth and all the kids went "oooo!" in excitement. They're so easily entertained. To see the joy in their eyes as they played with things most kids take for granted, it just got to me. It changes your whole perspective on how you view things. It's really amazing.
Back inside we brought the kids in to color on some bandannas to wear. I traced the girl's hand (the one with the muscle disorder-wish I knew her name) and then let her color on her bandanna by herself for a bit. Christy also brought shirts for us, and we traced a few of the kids' hand prints on the front. It was a very cute idea.
While that was going on kids were also getting balloon animals and flowers and such. Shawn and katie were our wonderful balloon creators.
Elyssa and I were looking at pictures they had hanging on the wall. In one of them, they had the tutus on that I made them last year. It made me happy to see that they got more use out of them then just the time we played with them. :)
It's funny how when we came in, the kids were all so calm and sitting in their chairs. But by the end of the day, they were running around like crazy, "attacking" people and showing off to us. Those poor nannies probably want to kill us. :P
We sat them down around the table again and we sang a few songs with them. Then in return they sang for us as well. It was good, and it calmed them down a little bit before we had to leave.
We came back to the hotel and had an hour break before lunch. I just sat around, charged a few electronics, and downloaded my pictures to my computer.
The assistant director picked us up for lunch and shopping. On our way over there, I witnessed my first accident in China. Out of my 3 previous trips, a total of almost 2 months all together, all the honking, all the times we've almost been run over, all the times I've seen the vehicle I was in just barely get by the one next to it, I have never seen any accidents. Until now. I was shocked, and yet not at all surprised. And the funny thing is, it wasn't even that bad of a "crash". The two front end of the cars were barely touching each other. It was just something interesting to note.
We went to McDonalds, and I must say... It was delicious. ;) Elyssa, Mackenna, and I treated ourselves to a McFlurry. It tasted like home--even though I never eat McDonalds at home. Haha. Our waiter at McDonalds was so cute--she was so bubbly, and always giggling. When we wouldn't understand each other she'd become very embarrassed and giggle. I asked if I could get my picture with her, and she got embarrassed. She later came back and took pictures of our whole table. She was really fun.
The directors met us and took us out shopping. First we stopped at an embroidery shop. They're known for their embroidery in Chenzhou, apparently. The pieces in there were just beautiful. It looked amazing, and hard to make.
Next stop was a pearl/jade/jewelry store. There weren't too many people in our group that interested in buying anything today. Most of the stuff we looked at will be cheaper in Beijing at the Silk market.
We then went to the store where we would buy our donation for the orphanage. The team couldn't really do much. We sat around talking to one another. I got the chance to talk to Lori some, and she's a funny lady. She's got such a great sense of humor and always has stories to tell. Its funny as the week goes on how I keep sitting next to different team members, and I get to know each of them better, and figure out their personalities. They're just all so great :)
Because there wasn't much for us to be doing, the majority of us went back to the hotel or shopping. Elyssa and I went back to our room. I blogged some, and Elyssa...well, she said she was going to blog but she's messing around figuring out her iPhoto, tagging people in pictures. She's terrible at procrastinating ;)
We went to dinner at the dumpling place tonight. In China, for such a large group of people as us, usually they have separate rooms for us to go into. Some only have one table, some have two. This restaurant had two. Halfway through our meal we had a very over zealous man come to the other table and was happy to test out his English on us. Such as, "HELLO! How are you?!" And "cheers!" And to Carmen and Mackenna, "very beautiful girls!" Haha. He was a little drunk.
When we left the restaurant it was starting to sprinkle... I just got out of the shower and its POURING rain again. Thunder and lightning, too. But I don't mind. It kind of drowns out some of the honking we hear from the street (we're on the 14th floor, and STILL hear constant honking. All through the night. Ha!).
We're about to go to do devotions, and then I'll be heading to bed.
Tomorrow is our last day at the orphanage. :( Please pray for us all, as it will be a very emotional day. We have all fallen in love with the kids (Elyssa and I have fallen in love with them, AGAIN), and it will be hard to say our goodbyes.
I think we are planning to have a party with the older kids. We're getting balloons, streamers, music, and a CAKE. Hopefully that'll be a lot of fun and not so much chaos. Haha.
Please keep us in your prayers! Thanks guys:)
Many prayers being said for you, the team, the children, and the staff in Chenzhou. What you have done is nothing short of amazing. These children will always remember the fun they had for the five days you were there. Those are memories that will last a lifetime for you and for them.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how you are going to say goodbye......
Best Wishes to you all and please be safe~
xoxo,
Lisa
Megan, I love reading your blog. Thank you for sharing your precious and caring heart, and experience in working with the kids. Mostly, thank you for doing what you do! I would love to hear more about my little girl...she's the one who had the IV in her arm. Can you tell me how she's doing in general and physically? I would love to hear more about her! Thanks again, Cheryl
ReplyDeleteMegan,
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you, thank you for your comments! I don't know if you are already done with the babies by the time you read this, but I'd love to know what our little girl’s personality is like... any news or photos really... Thanks again,
Prayers for your train ride back and a smooth and fun time in Beijing.
Prayers and Blessings,
Juliet Culp