Where I've been

Hey All!

I'm sure some of you may be wondering where the ChinaBird has been over the last 4 (ish) months and why the sudden hiatus from writing? First off, lets get one thing straight, sadly I've never been great with blogging - I try and will continue to share my heart, thoughts and happenings here at SFCV, but I'm not perfect. Second, if I'm being 100% honest- I've just been busy! Here's a quick recap of some the things I've missed sharing with you all.


A visit to America's Homeland:

Mid- December to early January I was back in Chicago with family and friends for the Christmas and New Years holidays. As always it was a great time home reconnecting with the ones I love and the ones who raised me and gave me life! To say I was refreshed, would be an understatement! While in the midwest, I was able to take a short drive over to the great state of Indiana to visit one of my old pals, Patrick. Some of you may recall, Patrick was one of our kiddos here at SFCV until he was adopted last year into his Forever Family! Catching up with the Tretheway family and seeing how much Patrick has grown and matured in the 6months that I hadn't seen him was a highlight! We sang, we danced, and shared many many laughs and tears! My heart and soul were greatly strengthened by their welcoming hearts, company, and fellowship. So thankful for these sweet friends and all that they've done to answer the Lord's calling and commands to rescue the orphans. To ready more about the Tretheway family check out their site: https://www.gofundme.com/charliepalooza

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity- Jig!
After a brief 21 hour hiccup in Washington D.C, I was back on my way home! I know I say this in a lot of my posts,  but every time I return home to China from a vacation in the USA, I always seem to hit the ground running, and this past January was no different. I spent the first several weeks back, making changes to our therapy program, prepping for our summer Interns, adding and discharging patients from our therapy program and just re-acclimating to life here in the Village. There's truly nothing like the feeling of coming home! We've had so much happen in our therapy program in the last several months: Graham got a hearing aid; we welcomed Florence, Samuel, Charlie, Iris and Isaac to the program; Maya, Simeon, Anthony and Jason all got new mobility devices, we said goodbye to Grady as he moved back to Fuzhou for a job, we said farewell to Jamie and Max, as they joined their forever families, and last but certainly not least....WE MOVED!
That's right! This past week several of my program dreams came true as we moved into our new home in the Vocation Training Center! This was a huge step for our program, as we now have more space to better serve and treat our kids and provide training and education for our staff!

Travels

Sweet Buddy!

Over my 2.5 year tenure here at SFCV, I've had the opportunity to do a bit of traveling around Asia and within China. This past February I was able to visit a new city: Guangzhou. Commonly known as one of China's great industrial and port cities, Guangzhou is the largest city in South China and home to about 13 million Chinese citizens, including a few kids that currently live with us here at SFCV. My travels to Guangzhou were work related,  as I was asked to accompany Lily (my good friend and our orphanage liaison) on a trip to bring Buddy to meet his Forever Family. Over the years, I've been blessed to see many adoption miracles, but this was an experience like none I had had before. When we arrived in Guangzhou, we took Buddy to the Adoption Registry Center of Guangdong Province, where all adoptive families meet their children who are from Guangdong Province. We arrived before the families and were instructed to wait in a room off to the side. When we entered, my heart was flooded with emotions. There were approximately 10 other children of all ages waiting patiently to meet their forever families in this brightly orange painted room. One boy in particular caught my attention. He looked to be between 8-10 years old and had hydrocephalus with extremely high function. He sat patiently on a purple cushioned couch looking out the window beside him and legs fidgeting uncontrollably.  He face was white and pupils dilated, I could feel his nervousness from across the room. I couldn't help but stare at him and the more I watched his behavior and the way he was contemplating his dreams of a family and of what was about to happen, the more my heart broke and the tears began to swell in my eyes. Several moments later, we could all hear the families as they entered the room beside us. They weren't in view but we could all hear the excitement in their footsteps and voices and they prepared to meet their children. Only a few moments passed before a staff member from the Adoption Registry of Guangdong came into our orange room and all eyes met his as he spoke a name....it was his name! This boy stood, grabbed the handle of his Cars suitcase and walked towards the door. His gait was slow, his breathing was rapid, this was it - this was his moment! He disappeared through the curtain and was greeted by the sweet voices of his new mom and dad.
Later it was Buddy's turn, they called his name and out into the common room we went. We met Buddy's new mom and grandma from South Dakota. It was such a sweet moment, as his mom just held and cuddled him tenderly. I couldn't help but cry.  Amidst all the joys of chatting with Buddy and his new family, I had to take a look around the room for that boy who had caught my attention in the orange room. I looked for him with great focus, and finally to my far right, there he was... sitting on his daddy's knee holding a HotWheels car and wearing a smile ear to ear. I couldn't help but cry more. I don't know this boy, nor do I remember his name, but I know that on that day - his wildest dream came true: he was wanted and had a Forever Family!
That trip changed me and the way I see adoption. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to have witnessed those miracles! After taking Buddy to meet his family, we were able to take in some of the sights of Guangzhou! All I can say is....we biked...a LOT!
A few short weeks later, it was time for yet another visa trip to Hong Kong! Yes, I know what you're all thinking - aren't you getting a work visa? Yes, but not yet - it's complicated and the answer to that is way too long to share here. So that being said, I went back to HK. This time, unlike other trips I was accompanied by one of my besties, Lily. It was a short trip, but filled with lots of fun, shopping, beaches, mountains and friends. I have to say probably one of my favorite trips to HK yet!


SOOOO, that's what's been happening the last few months.... here's a few more pics....more to come soon! :D

Checking D.C off the "To See" list

Graham and his new hearing aid

Samuel

Florence 

Grady and our Therapy Team

Charlie learning to walk up the stairs 

Maya's new Ride 

Biking Guangzhou

Hong Kong's Victoria harbor