Following Where He Leads...: Daniel

The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace. Ps 29:11

It is now Monday early afternoon, naptime. All three kids are asleep, and Jas is with the rest of our travelgroup and our guide doing paperwork. The rest of our travelgroup (5 other families) has just arrived from other provinces and we’ll finish off the rest of our trip, appointments and paperwork together.

During our free-day yesterday, we decided to venture out and visit the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall. The Hall was built in the 1930’s, in honor of the leader, who had just passed away in1925. It is big, and beautiful, and is still being used to hold meetings and concerts, and such. We purchased a DVD of the “12 Girls Band” concert that was held at the hall, and have already had fun watching some of it!

We went swimming again yesterday afternoon. It’s getting to be a ritual every afternoon – and we’re all having fun! Daniel is getting more and more comfortable in the water, dipping his head back and also sticking his face in the water a little (mimicking his daddy). And Elisabeth and Noah had big milestones yesterday, shedding their 20” rings and only using their floaties at the end of our time in the pool. (We’ll see if they try it again today!)

This morning we had to go with our travelgroup for all of our children to have Visa pictures taken, and then physical examinations. Daniel did not enjoy ANY of this – and made sure EVERYONE knew it! He pitched such a fit (just having his picture taken?!?!) that he actually turned BLUE in the face. It was very scary! I’ve heard of children doing this, but I’ve never seen it before! He then did it again during the medical exam. But as soon as we were done with the exam…he was his smiley, charming self again! Daniel seems more and more precious every day…and more and more strong-willed! He is very opinionated and when decides he wants something (or doesn’t want something), he wants it to be so, and right away!

Actually, our fun morning started even before the pictures and exam…at breakfast Daniel started pitching a fit about something (I never knew the reason) and ended up dumping his bowl of congee and scrambled eggs on my capris. It wasn’t as pleasant as it sounds! He is definitely the most strong-willed of our three!

For the past year and a half, Noah has been Elisabeth’s little shadow, copying everything she says and does – if Elisabeth wants the strawberry kind then Noah wants the strawberry kind. Well, the mantle has been passed. Noah is coming into his own, and he now has his own little shadow! Daniel wants to do whatever Noah is doing (if Noah is not holding our hands, then Daniel doesn’t want to hold our hands). It is so precious to see him running down the hall to try to catch up with Noah. (And Daniel usually holds his arms up and pumps them back and forth while he is running – precious!)

We are all ready to come home! Ready to be back in our house, in our beds. Elisabeth and Noah have been waking up real early, usually before 6 a.m., and it is starting to take a toll on their behavior. And perhaps sleep is part of Daniel’s behavior problem as well, because he is not getting as much sleep as his schedule said that he’s used to. With E and N (and Jas and I!) awake that early, we try to be quiet, but it’s hard with all five of us in one hotel room.

Please pray that Daniel will continue to adjust to us well…that he’ll know he’s safe with us and that he can trust us (that’s probably hard for him to do when we have to take him to things like that Physical Exam this morning!). And pray that Jas and I will have wisdom about how best to handle Daniel when he misbehaves (parenting a two-year old can be hard enough, but when you add in the adoption and attachment layers, and being post-institutionalized – well, I’m just glad the Lord promises to give wisdom when asked (James 1:5)). Please also pray that the Lord’s grace and mercy will cover us as we head into these last few days of the trip, so ready to be home!

In Him,

Joli