We are finishing up day three as a family of 6 and we've already seen the beginnings of the beautiful transformation that He will bring about over time.
As you might imagine, day 1 was pretty difficult. Pierce has spent all his life in an institution and has little ability to connect or interact in healthy ways. In the morning we spent about 2 hours at the civil affairs office signing papers after our initial meeting with him. He wept, screamed, and shouted over and over again "I want to go home. Mama, please let me go home." He was terrified of us and desperate to return "home". Once we left the office to return to the hotel he screamed at the top of his lungs all the way up the elevator and for the next hour in our room.
Eventually he began to calm down. We ate noodles in our room and spent 4 hours at the hotel pool. Pierce loved swimming! Throughout the afternoon we got many smiles and much laughter out of the little guy. He continued to ask about going home but the question wasn't accompanied with the tears any longer. The day ended well as we sang songs and prayed as a family. Each night we sing this song together inserting a different family members' name for each verse: "Pierce, Pierce, Pierce, you are very special. With your black hair and your brown eyes God made you very special." By night 2 Pierce had begun trying to sing along and as I type this post, he is singing it to himself in the bed next to me while looking at books. We look forward to the day that as a result of the Father's love he knows for certain the truth of those words.
Sheldon was somewhat confused by hearing Pierce's constant pleading to go home. Finally he asked us, "why don't you let him go home? He says he wants to go home." It was really confusing for the little guy. We did the best we could in explaining to him that it is good for Pierce to have a family and that he will grow to love us all. He still seemed a bit skeptical.
Day 2 began with a trip back to the civil affairs office where Pierce was to see some of the workers of the orphanage again. It was a night and day difference from the previous day. Instead of screaming and crying as they left or as we left, he calmly said goodbye to them and happily held our hand down the stairs and into a taxi. The tense, nervously shaking body we had held on day 1 was now calm and relaxed. Already trust was being built.
We continue to shower him with love, smiles, gentleness, and prayer, and know that the Holy Spirit will renew, fill, and redeem the hurts and voids of his past.
As one might expect, he has numerous behavioral issues that are quite difficult to see and deal with. In other words, we have a long way to go. But whether it's his "Wo ai ni" (I love you) response to us telling him we love him, or his "please" and "thank you", or the returned smile, or the joy he shows occasionally after obeying us....we already see glimpses of what's to come. Each night we go to bed exhausted because of the need to constantly watch his every move (he's a very active child, with very active hands, and isn't used to boundaries and expectations). But each night we can sense progress has been made.
We continue to praise God for bringing him to us and know that He will continue to supply all we need.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Didn't see that coming!-- Eric
It's great to be back home! Our 28 hour journey went extremely smooth and we arrived back in Shiyan just in time for the first sunny day with no rain the city has had in 12 days. We're enjoying catching up with dear friends and making new ones. The overwhelming feeling we all have is that this truly feels like home- and for that we are thankful.
A new family has moved into the Pritchard's old apartment. They have a 12 year old boy and 8 year old girl. Although we're missing the Pritchards a great deal, it's been good getting to know this wonderful family. We're so thankful the boys have some friends to roam the campus with.
During our 10 weeks in America Sheldon grew 1 1/4 inches. The little guy is thriving in every way! However, something totally unexpected and shocking has happened. Sheldon forgot how to speak Chinese....completely! At first he had a hard time even understanding what people were saying- which shocked and appalled those whom he had spoken with regularly last semester. They would speak to him and he would look confused and say, "I'm sorry, I don't understand." It seems that after a couple of days of hearing it he can understand most things that people say now but he only replies in English. We even had a student tell him basic vocabulary such as hand, foot, hair, eyes, etc., and asked him to repeat it. He sounded like me speaking Chinese! His pronunciation and tone was completely off. You'd think it would jar his memory and he'd access that part of his brain again but so far it's as though he's never spoken Chinese prior to this. This is sad for us. We really wanted him to retain his native language. We're going to be very deliberate and determined to keep up his "Chinese lessons" once we return from getting Pierce.
Our train leaves in 6 hours! We will have him in our arms Sunday evening American time.
A new family has moved into the Pritchard's old apartment. They have a 12 year old boy and 8 year old girl. Although we're missing the Pritchards a great deal, it's been good getting to know this wonderful family. We're so thankful the boys have some friends to roam the campus with.
During our 10 weeks in America Sheldon grew 1 1/4 inches. The little guy is thriving in every way! However, something totally unexpected and shocking has happened. Sheldon forgot how to speak Chinese....completely! At first he had a hard time even understanding what people were saying- which shocked and appalled those whom he had spoken with regularly last semester. They would speak to him and he would look confused and say, "I'm sorry, I don't understand." It seems that after a couple of days of hearing it he can understand most things that people say now but he only replies in English. We even had a student tell him basic vocabulary such as hand, foot, hair, eyes, etc., and asked him to repeat it. He sounded like me speaking Chinese! His pronunciation and tone was completely off. You'd think it would jar his memory and he'd access that part of his brain again but so far it's as though he's never spoken Chinese prior to this. This is sad for us. We really wanted him to retain his native language. We're going to be very deliberate and determined to keep up his "Chinese lessons" once we return from getting Pierce.
Our train leaves in 6 hours! We will have him in our arms Sunday evening American time.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
One Journey Ends and Another Begins- Eric
After a wonderful summer crisscrossing America visiting family and friends we are about to settle back into life in China. We return to a life and place that has become home for us, although home will be different this year. As planned, Deryk, Tiffany, Hannah, Ayden, and Eli have moved back to America. The "Pritch" portion of team Pritchport will be dearly missed. We're so thankful for the gift of the past two years. They are such a special family and such dear friends. May God bless your new beginning and may He fill your lives with His presence in new and exciting ways! We love you!
Three days after arriving back in Shiyan we will be traveling to Wuhan to get Pierce! This much anticipated moment will be the culmination of so many prayers and tears. On Saturday, September 22, 2012 we first laid eyes on him and named him Pierce- because he pierced our hearts. In the physical, all the doors to adoption were firmly closed and it seemed the answer was absolutely "no." Yet we came to realize that in the spiritual the answer was positively "yes" and we would need to simply wait for His timing and His might to move mountains. As it turns out our "gotcha moment" will be September 22, two years to the day of our first meeting. We've only seen him a handful of times since that moment but he has been a constant presence in our hearts and prayers. His little world is about to get rocked but we know that God will continue to fill his heart with His love and enable him to attach with his new family.
This whole process has been a faith stretching, faith strengthening journey. Our whole family has grown in our reliance and trust in His good, pleasing, and perfect plan. Our God is faithful and our God is powerful! Thank you Father for choosing us for Sheldon and Pierce. And thank you for never leaving us alone but always giving us exactly what we need each step of the way. As we finally and forever scoop Pierce up into our arms we conclude the journey towards adoption as we simultaneously begin a new journey towards bonding as a family of six. Thank you for your many prayers along the way!
Three days after arriving back in Shiyan we will be traveling to Wuhan to get Pierce! This much anticipated moment will be the culmination of so many prayers and tears. On Saturday, September 22, 2012 we first laid eyes on him and named him Pierce- because he pierced our hearts. In the physical, all the doors to adoption were firmly closed and it seemed the answer was absolutely "no." Yet we came to realize that in the spiritual the answer was positively "yes" and we would need to simply wait for His timing and His might to move mountains. As it turns out our "gotcha moment" will be September 22, two years to the day of our first meeting. We've only seen him a handful of times since that moment but he has been a constant presence in our hearts and prayers. His little world is about to get rocked but we know that God will continue to fill his heart with His love and enable him to attach with his new family.
This whole process has been a faith stretching, faith strengthening journey. Our whole family has grown in our reliance and trust in His good, pleasing, and perfect plan. Our God is faithful and our God is powerful! Thank you Father for choosing us for Sheldon and Pierce. And thank you for never leaving us alone but always giving us exactly what we need each step of the way. As we finally and forever scoop Pierce up into our arms we conclude the journey towards adoption as we simultaneously begin a new journey towards bonding as a family of six. Thank you for your many prayers along the way!
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