Flip-Flops, Sweet Tea, and Me: Visit to the Orphanage

So far today has been a better day--keep the prayers coming, please! Today we went to visit Madison's orphanage. After her reaction on Gotcha Day we decided that I would stay back at the hotel & David would go see the orphanage. However, we both also wanted to go see the place where she was abandoned. Since it was close to the orphanage, we had to do them both in the same trip (it is an hour away from our hotel). So that meant that Madison & I had to also go to the orphanage . At breakfast, our guide explained to Madison that we were only going to visit & take a few pictures and that she wasn't going in...she said ok. So we started out on our 1.5 hour drive on the wonderful streets of Guangzhou :). Madison was playing & singing in the car the whole way...until we pulled up to the gate. As soon as she saw the entrance and we started to turn, in I looked over & she had this look of fear on her face. She immediately started screaming, kicking & shaking her head NO! It was awful. Kelley was trying to tell her that she wasn't going in and that she was staying in the car with baba (daddy), but she was still scared!

I got out of the car & went in to see the place that Madison had spent the first 2 yrs of her life and the last 5 days before we got her. I don't know if I really have the words to explain what I saw. All I can say was that it was sad & sterile. Rooms lined with metal cribs and small beds. They have 150 kids there and 95% of them have special needs. The cribs & beds don't even have mattresses--just a thin piece of wood that they sleep on with a tiny pillow and blanket to cover up with. I now wish that I would have just let David go in and I stay in the van because I don't think I will ever forget the images I saw today. In that moment, I was so thankful that she went to stay in a foster home 2 years ago. I had our guide ask why they picked Madison to go into foster care. She said that Madison got sick a lot when she was there, so they wanted her to go to foster care where she could have more one-on-one attention.

When I got back to the van, Madison was sitting next to David watching "Ni Hoa, Kia-Lan!" David said that as soon as the driver turned the van around she calmed down, and that's when David started distracting her with the show...thank the Lord for iphones! We then headed to the corner of 95th street where Madison was left when she was 3 months old. It was a dirty street with a small, narrow alley beside it. We got out and took a few pictures of the place, as well as a photo of us holding Madison at the very spot where she was abandoned. I noticed there was an apartment right above that corner, & I can't help but wonder if that is where her parents live & if that is why they choose those steps in that corner to leave her.

We then began the drive back home and Madison still looked a bit scared, but she did end up falling asleep laying next to David. Once at the hotel we let her play in a little indoor play area. Madison really doesn't know how to "play" well. She gets a little wild acting, sort of like she did yesterday in the room. But we let her play and then came back to the room where David finally had to discipline her, which was hard to do...but she did calm down and that's a good thing. For us, we just feel like we need to set some firm boundaries. This is tough because we also want to giver her everything because we know what all she has been through. There is a balance somewhere in between, so please pray that the three of us can find it!

Right now we are in the room coloring and playing with playdoh trying to make it to dinner. Dinner means bedtime isn't far away, which is good. If it wasn't for the language barrier things would be much easier, so please pray that Madison starts picking things up quickly and remembering the words we are trying to teach her. In all, we are doing pretty good but language is the biggest challenge.

Tomorrow we are going to the zoo and to get the results of the TB test. Please pray for a great nights sleep, a negative TB test, and our overall sanity and well being! Thanks!

Melissa

PS. MORGAN AND MCKINLEY IF YOU ARE READING THIS KNOW WE LOVE AND MISS YOU SO MUCH!!!