Two Families—Opposite Sides of the World

First of all, if you want to look at any pictures full size, just click on Photo Gallery on the right, then go to My Gallery. The images are spread across 3 albums (#1 being the first batch, #3 being the last batch, including the farewell). I can’t figure out why sometimes the photos will enlarge when you click on them, and sometimes not.

During Madina’s first week with us, Deborah Young, a photographer in Cornelius, kindly donated her services and took pictures of all the children. We had a portrait sitting and wonderful picture of our little short-term family. Then, a couple weeks after Madina left us, we received an email photo that someone took as she got off the plane at the Kabul airport. The picture is of her family—Mom, Dad, and twin brother (baby sister wasn’t there I guess). What struck me was how much her Dad resembles Joe! They have the same hairdo, height and body shape... very interesting.

Many people have asked and no, I don’t think I’ll ever see her again. All I can say is that if it’s in God’s plan, then it will happen. I also don’t know if we can correspond. There isn’t a Fed Ex, UPS service that can deliver a package at the door of the orphanage. Afghanistan is a country at war and many things get stolen or never make it to their intended destination for whatever reason. I spoke to the interpreters about this and was told I can send a care package to one of them that lives in Islamabad, Pakistan. She will make sure someone drives it safely across the border to Kabul. This was very important to me because in packing her suitcase (and limited to 50 lbs.) we made certain she had the winter clothing and other humanitarian relief supplies first. There were so many of her dolls, puzzles, books and other toys that just weren’t a priority and we couldn’t pack them. Also, I designed a photo book and had it printed and bound for her. I just received it last week. I took over 1,800 pictures while she was here. I just couldn’t help it... she was so darn cute! I had a hard time choosing, but my book ended up 96 pages. It is beautiful and she has no idea that it’s coming. I couldn’t figure out how to communicate that to her. Anyway, my care package is now ready to send to Pakistan this week! I hope there is someway I will know if she receives it.

There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by where I haven’t thought about her, wondering what she is doing. I wonder if she thinks about us. I wonder if she misses me. I wonder if we accomplished our mission in showing her the unconditional love of Jesus Christ. I wonder does she see hope for her future now. Only God knows and that is good enough for me.

To her family on the opposite side of the world, thank you for sharing your precious little girl with us, complete strangers in your eyes. Know that she is deeply loved and prayed over by many. She was a blessing to us and we will never forget her. Ever.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for calling us to host a child from Afghanistan this summer and sending the perfect little sweetie to our family. Thank you for giving us this experience to love and care for this child in our home. You know how much we want to be parents and you gave us a little preview of what’s to come when we get our little Ruby in China. We pray that Madina knows that you are good and that she is loved not just by us, but by You and Jesus, your son, our Lord. We pray she will know hope and strive for a better future. Please bless her and keep her safe always. It is in Your Name we pray. Amen.

A Tearful Goodbye

It was Tuesday, August 5, 2008, and six weeks had flown by. I was dreading this day all summer long. However, I forced myself to compartmentalize the thought of her leaving me and wouldn’t let myself think about it too long while she was here. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute with her... after all, she gave me my dream of being a mama! I did do something I shouldn’t have though. You see, I want my baby girl from China so bad, that I took this opportunity to treat and love Madina as if she were my adopted daughter. I put all my emotions of becoming a mama into her presence. I knew it wasn’t true in my mind, but I couldn’t hold back my desperate heart. And oh, have I been paying for it ever since she left me. I have grieved like I never expected.

Well, the day we took her to the airport was a day I wasn’t prepared for. All 21 Afghani kids and 2 interpreters flew out of Charlotte around 1:00 pm. We met at the airport around 11:00 and it took a long time to get all the kids and luggage checked in. During this time, all us families and kids were hugging and crying and saying our goodbyes. There were so many people there! It was unbelievably hard to let them go back to that country in the middle of a war. I know we all felt helpless; it even made me angry inside. It was unfair, but it was life. There were lots of tears from both the children and host families. It was surprising to see such emotion coming from these kids; some had to be pulled through security. They clearly did not want to go back. They sobbed so hard and when the girls hugged me, it was so tight that they wouldn’t let go. It was painful. I couldn’t stop crying either and by the time we left, I was completely emotionally drained. It would take me a week just to start feeling myself again.

I think what made this so hard was the fact that Madina was excited and happy to go home. She was looking forward to seeing her brother, sister and parents, who work in the Kabul Orphanage. She was missing them and that’s understandable. She’s in a different situation than many of the other girls who were orphans or didn’t have loving families to take care of them. She was the only girl there that did not cry. At the airport, she hung around her friends and really didn’t want much to do with Joe and I. She wouldn’t really look at me. I wasn’t expecting this because all the other girls whom I got to know and love, let me know how they felt about me. Madina did a brief, unemotional, hug and pat... “goodbye mommy, I love you” and walked away. We watched her every second through the security line and until she disappeared on the other side. That was it. As quickly as she popped into my life, she was gone again.

Walt Disney World

This was the best day ever! We were blessed with an amazing opportunity to get to take her to Disney. Madina really didn’t know what Disney World was except for the castle. She’d never even heard of Mickey Mouse—but she knew who Cinderella was and she knew that Cinderella lived in the castle! We had been counting down the days until we would go. She would ask many times during the same day how much longer. I don’t think we communicated time very well.

We had another big communicating problem the night before Disney and it broke my heart. After dinner, Madina was all smiles and knew after we slept that night, we would go to the castle in the morning. So, she took my hand and we went into my bedroom to her suitcase. We sat on the floor, she opened it up and started pulling outfits out. I thought, “OK, we are going to pick out what we’re wearing tomorrow for the big day... this is great”. Well, then she began making 2 stacks on the floor—one was for “Yes Disney” outfits and the other for “No Disney” outfits. I then thought, “OK, this is serious business and we have to narrow down the options before we make a rash decision... this is good”. So, after everything was out of her little suitcase and stacked neatly in 2 piles, Madina took the “Yes Disney” pile and put the whole thing back in the suitcase. This is wear I got very confused. I told her to pick one to wear tomorrow. Her face was completely puzzled, so I thought I’d help out and talk her into one. She still didn’t get it. Then she made the “sleep” sign and pointed to the clothes. I thought, yes after we sleep, we will go. This went on until I finally figured out what she was thinking all along. Poor thing, she thought we were going to pack our suitcases and go STAY at the castle for the week. She said, “No Cinderella sleep?”. Oh I felt bad to break the news that we were going for 1 day only and coming back to Nana’s house to sleep. She was so cute and innocent. It was very precious.

The next morning was a huge deal getting ready. She decked out her hair with just the right matching clips. She wore her favorite pink outfit, Hello Kitty necklace, watch and sunglasses. She even wore her sparkly silver glitter shoes for this big event. She was so exited on the drive (about 40 minutes). She kept asking “Castle this way?” which Mom and I thought was hilarious. Dad and Shawn worked, so it was just us 3 girls for the day. We took the car, shuttle, boat and train just to reach the Disney grounds. Those were huge experiences in itself for Madina. It was very hot and crowed, but that didn’t matter because Madina got to see the castle she had only dreamed of! We were disappointed that we couldn’t take her inside. She didn’t understand why. However, we did see the “real” Cinderella and Madina couldn’t take her eyes off her. We saw many princesses in full costume... It was awesome to see her face! It was such a great day to do all things “girlie” with Madina. On the trip down to Florida, Madina watched both Toy Story movies and loved Buzz Lightyear. That was the first ride we went on and she absolutely loved it! Mom and I kept thinking that we’re standing forever in these lines and she has no idea why or what to expect. She never complained about waiting once. Even when we waited 1.5 hours for the Dumbo ride (believe me, it was so not worth the wait). We did the Snow White, Peter Pan, Alladin, It’s a Small World, Story Time with Belle (Beauty & the Beast), Cinderella’s Carousel, and more. We had a yummy lunch of pizza and salad. Later we had snacks of popcorn and ice cream from Mrs. Potts Cupboard. We let her eat anything she wanted. Oh, and I can’t forget all the endless gift shops! Nana bought her a princess crown that lights up, among other things. It was a full day for us as we left the park exhausted. Madina was so happy (just look at her face in the pictures) and we give thanks to the Lord for a safe and fun day with her! This is something she will never-ever forget, neither will we. Thanks be to God, Amen!