Homesick

It is Monday here in Guongzhou and the rain is falling outside. It has rained just about everyday at some point. Yesterday we had a huge breakthrough. Brodie actually got into the pool and played. It was a kiddie pool, but a body of water none the less. He seemed to really enjoy himself. At one point, he slipped and his face went all the way underwater, he didn't like that at all. He got over that and began to play around again. The thunder forced us in prematurely, but we enjoyed our 40-45 minutes outside anyway. Brodie is really beginning to test us on his boundaries. Last night he was playing with a rubberband and hit me in the head with it. I got onto him about shooting a rubberband at someone's eyes, only to watch him a few minutes later do the same thing to Lorrie. We disciplined him and sat him on his bed for a while. He cried a little and when it was time for bed he really began to act out. I sat down with him and tried to reinforce the discipline and our love for him. It is so hard with such a language barrier to explain to him what he has done wrong, it is very frustrating. It is also hard to balance bonding, loving and yet giving him boundaries to live by. We must love him with everything we have, but he also needs to begin learning right from wrong. We believe he didn't receive any discipline at the orphanage, so he has never had anyone to tell him what to do and not do. We went to bed last night frustrated and totally exhausted. Having a 6 year old little boy 24 hours a day for 7 days will begin to wear on you, especially when we can't understand his language. I have noticed that he is constantly watching me and even mimicking my actions. Today in the bus we both had a drink in our hands and everytime I took a drink, he took a drink. He had to get some glasses today just like me. This morning we went to Shaimen Island and had his TB test checked. Everything was negative and we are cleared on our medical now. Simon took our papers to the consulate today and now he is officially "OUR SON." We also had some time to do some shopping on the island today. We got a lot of great treasures to take back home. We are concerned and praying for my dad back home. He burned his hands yesterday and spend a good bit of time at the doctor. He is in a lot of pain. Please join us in prayer for him as we pray for God's healing touch. We are also thankful for our friend Jerry Stamps. He is cutting our grass for us while we are away. He is such a great man of God. Thanks Jerry. We go on our Pearl River Dinner Cruise tonight. They are serving Chinese food on the cruise so for Lorrie it will just be a fasting cruise. We love everyone and we are terribly homesick. We are counting down the days. Someone please send over a Milo burger UPS overnight.

A day at the mall

A smile in the water, somewhat shocking.

These are all the precious children that are being adopted by other lifeline families