Yesterday we embarked on a 1.5 hour ride to Caleb's 2nd foster home, Haven of Hope, located in Dongguan. Check out their website for more information http://havenofhopechina.com/.
Josh, Jenny, and Caleb
Josh, Jenny, Ben, Juli, and Caleb
We had lunch when we arrived with Jenny and Josh. Jenny is the director of the foster home and Josh teacher at a school right next to the foster home. While at lunch, so many people stopped in to say thier good byes to Caleb. It was so touching to see so many people stop by to show their love for him. He also recognized most of them as they stopped. After lunch we ventured to the foster home. As we've gone on these visits our joke to each other is, don't get too attached to the kids...
The foster home was great! We met the caretakers and two interns (one was from Pound, WI... Like 40 minutes from Peshtigo, how does that happen?) were also there while we visited. We got to see all the children and love on them as we visited. It was so neat to see Caleb interact in his natural environment. Seeing him there gave Juli and I even more encouragement when we get home and his interaction with our kids. He loves to wrestle (Nate don't get too excited), loves to laugh, loves to love, and loves to interact with others. Remember the joke I mentioned above, well it's so difficult not to get attached to these sweet kids. Remember the picture of me with the one child back at Caleb's first foster home, well there was another here that just tugged at my heart. I don't remember his name, but his special need is a strawberry birth mark. Did you read that, a strawberry birth mark. His parents were supersticious so they gave him up... yes supersticious of a mark on the body, how sad.... Well before we knew it our time was up and we had to board the van to make the 1.5 hour treck back to our hotel. Before we left, Jenny gave us a scrapbook of Caleb during his stay at Haven of Hope. Contained in this scrapbook were also letters written to him from each of the caretakers! So special and thoughtful. We are forever grateful to the Haven of Hope staff for the care they provided to Caleb!
One of the play rooms.
A sleping room...
Just precious....
Nap time....
Here is the boy with the Strawberry birthmark.
Playtime...
You are OK buddy....
Let's wrestle...
How can you resist me?
The caretakers and kids.
The interns with Caleb...
A couple pictures of the market as we left.
Well that's all for now... We are heading to get Caleb's TB test read today and then off the Shamien Island to do some shopping....
Stay tuned....
A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.!!! That's all the words I have to say about that. :0)
ReplyDeleteHaven of Hope looks such a WONDERFUL place!!! How very blessed Caleb was to be there. He will have so much less "orphanage baggage" to overcome compared to Elijah. That's HUGE!!!! It's obvious the Lord has had his hand on him. Praise Him!
ReplyDeleteI'm just curious how Caleb reacted to coming/leaving there. Did he think he was going to stay? Or does he have the Mama and Dada thing figured out? :-)
What a thoughtful gift..a scrapbook with letters. Must warm your heart to know how utterly loved Caleb was. Isn't God just the best!!!!
ReplyDeleteSee you soon!
Such a small world! Josh, from Haven of Hope, is the son of my nurse (at my ob/gyn office)!! He looks just like his mother! She told me all about Haven of Hope and his mission there. What a wonderful place and how comforting for you to know how much they loved your son!!! Congratulations on Caleb and enjoy your journey! Our daughter is waiting for us in Zhoukou (just received PA last week) so we'll be visiting Zhengzhou as well.
ReplyDeleteWow! What an amazing place. Who could resist those kiddos? I love every one of them. So happy Caleb came from a happy place and I can't wait to meet him and hear all your stories! By the way, who was from Pound? I used to live there!
ReplyDelete