We arrived in Shanghai yesterday a little after noon. We
had a good flight, but was ready to reach our final destination before
our flight home. Two of the WONDERFUL volunteers from the Shanghai
Healing Home, Mary Ann and Norma, picked us up at the airport.
YES.....it took TWO vehicles to transport all of our luggage and us to
the hotel!!!!
Last night, we took a walk around the area where our hotel is. It was a beautiful evening, and we found a restaurant that had outdoor dining. Our meal was good, and we REALLY loved the AMERICAN music that was playing in the background. :)
Today was a BIG day for us. In fact, today was the SOLE reason we made the trip to Shanghai....to visit the Shanghai Healing Home- Eiley Joy's home for all but a month of her life before we adopted her. Another one of the sweet volunteers from SHH, Birgit, came to pick us up and take us there. Roger and I had talked about whether or not we thought it was a good idea to take Eiley Joy back. Birgit had even offered to care for her while we visited and toured. We decided, though, that we just didn't feel right about visiting WITHOUT her, and that we just needed to take her, and deal with any setbacks that might occur.
This visit was SO important to me, but I don't think I realized how overwrought with emotion I would be. I'm tearing up even as I write this. There I was.....at the place Eiley Joy had known as home as long as she could remember. And when we went in, and I saw the reactions of all the ayis when they saw her, I knew just how VERY much she had been loved during her time there. Eiley Joy smiled and giggled as they all hugged her, kissed her, and passed her around. I also realized very quickly that, despite the fact that SHH isn't a home with a mama and daddy, it IS a place where they TRY to make it as much like a real home as possible.
We spent almost two hours at SHH. It is actually made up of two houses, the infant house and toddler house. It is located smack dab in the middle of a residential neighborhood. We saw SO many precious children who are waiting for families, and YES......we DID see a few that we would REALLY love to being home with us. There is a precious little girl there who will never be able to be made paper ready to be adopted (a story in itself.) She is five years old, and is one of the prettiest little girls I've ever laid eyes on. I keep thinking.....where there's a will there's a way. Who knows????? :)
As I said earlier, we really weren't sure what the repercussions might be with taking Eiley Joy with us back to SHH, but we found out there were none. She LOVED her time there, but when it was time to go, she reached out her arms for me to take her. I told Roger tonight that I know we have loved her from the time she was placed in our arms. Actually, we have loved her from the moment we received her file and KNEW she was meant to be our third daughter. But, something about our visit today just made me look at her in a whole different light, and feel even MORE blessed that God has entrusted her to our care.
Last night, we took a walk around the area where our hotel is. It was a beautiful evening, and we found a restaurant that had outdoor dining. Our meal was good, and we REALLY loved the AMERICAN music that was playing in the background. :)
Today was a BIG day for us. In fact, today was the SOLE reason we made the trip to Shanghai....to visit the Shanghai Healing Home- Eiley Joy's home for all but a month of her life before we adopted her. Another one of the sweet volunteers from SHH, Birgit, came to pick us up and take us there. Roger and I had talked about whether or not we thought it was a good idea to take Eiley Joy back. Birgit had even offered to care for her while we visited and toured. We decided, though, that we just didn't feel right about visiting WITHOUT her, and that we just needed to take her, and deal with any setbacks that might occur.
This visit was SO important to me, but I don't think I realized how overwrought with emotion I would be. I'm tearing up even as I write this. There I was.....at the place Eiley Joy had known as home as long as she could remember. And when we went in, and I saw the reactions of all the ayis when they saw her, I knew just how VERY much she had been loved during her time there. Eiley Joy smiled and giggled as they all hugged her, kissed her, and passed her around. I also realized very quickly that, despite the fact that SHH isn't a home with a mama and daddy, it IS a place where they TRY to make it as much like a real home as possible.
We spent almost two hours at SHH. It is actually made up of two houses, the infant house and toddler house. It is located smack dab in the middle of a residential neighborhood. We saw SO many precious children who are waiting for families, and YES......we DID see a few that we would REALLY love to being home with us. There is a precious little girl there who will never be able to be made paper ready to be adopted (a story in itself.) She is five years old, and is one of the prettiest little girls I've ever laid eyes on. I keep thinking.....where there's a will there's a way. Who knows????? :)
As I said earlier, we really weren't sure what the repercussions might be with taking Eiley Joy with us back to SHH, but we found out there were none. She LOVED her time there, but when it was time to go, she reached out her arms for me to take her. I told Roger tonight that I know we have loved her from the time she was placed in our arms. Actually, we have loved her from the moment we received her file and KNEW she was meant to be our third daughter. But, something about our visit today just made me look at her in a whole different light, and feel even MORE blessed that God has entrusted her to our care.
I would like to share more about SHH, but my internet connection is
about to go off, so I will end for now. I will have one more blog entry
about our trip here (we had dinner tonight with another SHH volunteer
and her family---an AWESOME evening), and then the next entry will be
about coming home. Our flight leaves at 4:30 PM tomorrow (Sunday
afternoon here), and we will be arriving in the good ole USA at the
Dallas/Ft. Worth airport around 4:30 PM Sunday afternoon home time. We
will have to go through immigration and customs. I think our layover is
almost three hours, and then we are due to arrive in Nashville at 10:05
PM Sunday night. Evan and Shea are coming to pick us up at the airport.
PLEASE pray for good travels for us, including SLEEPING children at
least part of the time, and a quick and easy transition through
immigration and customs.
It has been a good trip, and we are coming home with a PRIZE!!!!!
Vicki :)
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