Friday

How to even put today into words?

Mandarin and English words danced musically together this morning in "the dental office" as petitions were lifted to the Father.

I spent the next three hours in the toddler playroom. Some of the most darling children in the world spent the morning hours there…

One little girl has been loving my beads on a string necklace that Kylie made sure I packed. She enjoyed pushing the beads up one side of the necklace and then giggled and smiled as they slid back down.

Today I won over a little guy who had been timid the day before. I lifted him time and time again to the top of the slide and held my arms out as he came down full speed, shrieking with excitement the whole way.

While "little miss thing" hasn't let me hold her yet, I sat in amazement at her prancing around the playroom in her little leopard print shawl, remembering how close to the end of her life she was just a few months ago.

"Mr. Smiles" is ever so close to taking his first steps and time and time again he'd let me pull him to a standing position and take my hands away. I could see on his face the concentration of trying to figure out how to put one foot out so he could come grab the car out of my hand. And then he'd lose his balance, laugh as it it was the most hilarious thing, and crash to his bottom, willing to stand and try again. The effort of it all must have exhausted him because shortly after he fell asleep in my arms.

When the younger set of the morning preschool group came back in, one little guy was clearly distressed ~ a friend is leaving this weekend to meet his forever family and it got my little buddy feeling lonely. I was given the chance to take him back to his room and get the photo album that recently arrived from his soon to be forever family. His mood lifted as we flipped through the pages, looking at his Mama and Baba and siblings and finding ways to communicate without language about the activities they were doing in the photos. We also spent some time coloring in his Cars coloring book and he was a quick study on the names of all the characters.

Lunch was a noisy affair with much of the staff and interns sharing a meal together in the cafeteria.

Backyard school in the afternoon gave me the chance to meet several of the older kids who are in foster care. They blew me away with their English skills and their friendliness to an unfamiliar face. Two of the boys also recognized Daniel in my photo albums.

Following the backyard school, I got to see Daniel's foster mother; she knew who I was the moment she laid eyes on me and opened her arms to embrace me immediately. While she was disappointed that he wasn't here with me, she drank in the recent pictures I had to show her.

Then it was upstairs to the baby room where I got to visit with two who will be admitted to the hospital Monday for surgery. And I got to hold one special little girl who holds a very special place in my heart. While some days she is less responsive, this afternoon she was quite alert and cracked a huge smile when I delivered a kiss from someone else who loves her from afar.

This is truly a special place and I am so thankful for the opportunity to be here and witness how love can transform even the hardest situation.