Our plane tickets are purchased and we have been busy starting to collect and pack what we'll bring. We bought matching backpacks for the girls on the return trip. Teenage girls do not relish matching their sister's but the ease of spotting them in a crowded airport is priceless and goes beyond fashion sense. We needed a pack durable to withstand the trip, lightweight enough to constantly carry for four or more days, and plentiful pockets for organizing books, toothbrushes, snacks and the like, and to be affordable. Thank goodness for back-to-school sales!
One does not realize how hard it is to predict the unpredictable...... how much stuff will they have to bring back?? Will they only have a favorite sweater? Or have they been given 5 large stuffed animals they just can not live without? How can you even prepare to bring two teenaged girls and their things home when you have never met and are from different cultures? How can we convince them to leave most of "their" clothing behind, as we have some here for them? (the clothes are shared in the orphanage and we would much rather leave what's there for the other children). So we bring backpacks and a duffel bag for the girls and hope for the best.
I can not help but wonder at their feelings presently..... are they excited? worried? anxious? hopeful or wishing it just wouldn't happen? The possibility they have been forgotten or rejected is very real - either by distant family, Ukrainians or foreigners. During this summer we were told the girls thought we would not come for them, that we had changed our mind. I could not fathom this! All this effort to just give up at the hard spot? I was told that it happens commonly. How discouraging and utterly depressing for them! It's like being picked last for the team, but then never to be picked at all! Left standing on the sideline while every one else plays the game of life and leaves them there! It breaks our hearts!
When we finally get to see them, the urge to scoop them up with hugs and kisses will be so strong. We have already talked several times that this gesture of love will most likely be overwhelming. We've been told they will likely be reserved and stand-offish. Understandably so! It's like looking at the biggest gift of your life and not wanting anything to stop the giver from giving it to you. We intend to give the gift, no matter what. God has called us to go and adopt strangers into our family. When you think about it, we know more about these children than we knew of the children born from our own bodies! We did not know their hair color, eye color, likes and dislikes. This is no different. One never knows what they'll get - what an adventure!
Until next time, love your family like it is the last day.
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."
"...live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil for evil or insult with insult, but with blessing... Be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."
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