A Beautiful Day :) (the orphanage visit post from 3/30)

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 Yesterday was a beautiful day. When we got up the skies were blue, the sun was shining, and it was not as cold as it had been. We knew this would be a hard day, but were thankful for the opportunity to see the place Betsy had lived the first five years of her life. We met Teresa in the lobby at 9:00am. She said it would take 30 minutes to get to the orphanage. I thought she had told me earlier that it would take an hour, so I was glad to know it wouldn't take that long. When we got to the orphanage we pulled up to a black iron gate, and there was a guard shack too. The driver honked his horn and the gate opened. We drove through and around a circular driveway to the front of the building. When we parked we saw Betsy's nana and a couple of other orphanage workers coming out to greet us.  We opened the doors to get out and Betsy's nana reached out her arms to get Betsy out. She picked her up and said something to her, and she started to cry. I thought...this is not good! I asked Teresa what she said and she kind of laughed and said her nana asked her if she wanted to stay. Teresa said Betsy told her no...she wanted her mama! I took her, held her tightly, and everything was ok. I know she was just kidding with her, but Betsy didn't think it was funny(neither did her daddy!!). We were not sure how much of the orphanage we would get to see. Teresa told me earlier that the orphanage was very private, and we might only get to see what was on the first floor where there were no children. As we walked inside Betsy's nana said we could go to the second floor to see her classroom and her bedroom. We were told we couldn't take any pictures while we were inside the building. We followed her nana upstairs to her classroom. When we walked into the room all of her friends were sitting in chairs in a circle. They were so excited to see her! There were four boys and two girls. I will never forget their sweet faces. We asked the teachers if we could pass out the suckers we brought for them. They said it would be fine. Betsy gave all of her friends a sucker. They loved the suckers!! As I looked at these precious children my heart was breaking. These children were not only Betsy's friends, but her family too. They did everything together. I thought what will happen to them? This is where I lost it! I went around to each of them, looked into their eyes, touched their faces, and prayed in my heart that one day they would each know the love of a family. When it was time to leave they all waved goodbye. We walked down the hallway and got to see the room where Betsy slept everyday and night. It was a sweet little room with about ten beds( a little smaller than a twin bed) some lockers for their clothes, and a bed for their nana. There were mattresses, blankets, and pillows on the beds. There were windows and you could see the playground outside. After we looked around we went downstairs to a conference room. Betsy's nana asked if we had any questions for her. I had a few that I had thought of since we got her. Most of the questions I had were answered the day we got her. After we talked a few minutes she said she would show us the cafeteria where the children eat their meals each day. Before we walked out into the hall I gave her some gifts we had brought for the orphanage. She thanked me and smiled. I took her hands, looked her in the face, and said thank you for loving my baby. She continued smiling and thanked me for loving her too, and giving her a family. It was a very tender moment. We all cried some more and then went down the hall to the cafeteria. She showed us the table that Betsy sat at everyday to eat her meals. Next, we walked outside to the back of the building. We took several pictures, and walked around to the front. As we walked around to the front of the building we saw all of Betsy's friends playing outside. They were so excited to see her one more time. We took a few more pictures and it was time to go. We got in the van and as we drove away the children were smiling, waving, and saying Miao Miao, Miao Miao. It was a hard day, but a blessed and beautiful day. A day only our awesome, amazing God could plan:)