Scott took the day off, we woke up early, and were ready to make the drive once again! We were so excited to go spend some time with Janice! Since the kids were involved with "Kids Campus" (our VBS) at church, we decided that we should just take her out by ourselves. We had a great time catching up and talking about life on the way there. We really needed the quiet time together!
Janice was at the stables taking care of horses with a great and caring lady that I had met the previous Saturday. It was their last time together for awhile, and she wanted to spend a little more time with her. I thought that was great! She was very kind to us as we watched Janice brush the horse and braid the horses mane. She reminded me she would love to have her back anytime, and made sure I had all of her information in case I wanted to contact her. I could tell she really cared for Janice, and was glad God had put her in Janice's life! As well, I could tell Janice really enjoyed the time with the horses, and we would definitely want to continue that when she came to our home.
They said our goodbyes and we headed out. Janice seemed kinda sad, and I asked her if she needed a tissue. She said she was ok, and we told her that we could definitely come back and visit. We asked her where she'd like to go to lunch - Thai food or P.F. Chang's or wherever? She is clearly a very smart girl as she picked P.F. Chang's!! Along the way, we asked her about her weekend. She had been hiking and had gone to see a movie with her foster sister. She asked about what we might be doing when she came to our home this weekend, so we talked about some plans.
Things definitely seemed a little more tense not having the kids with us and spending our first "alone" time with her, but we knew it was important! On our way into the outdoor mall, we saw our favorite pretzel place, Auntie Anne's. She said she had never tried one of those kinds of pretzels, and we told her we would have to do it soon! When we got to P.F. Chang's, we had to wait for a booth (because I love them and feel like you can talk so much better in them), so things were once again a little quiet, but nerves weren't too bad. Once we sat down, everything opened up wonderfully!!! She sat kinda close to me instead of on the other side of the table. She seemed comfortable. I asked her how she was doing with all of this and told her that I know it's hard to meet all of us and feel comfortable. She said, "no, she was loving it." I asked her how she was feeling about being adopted (since she was clearly talking about it with others, and it was starting to feel like a white elephant in the room). She said she was excited! We told her how we began praying for her in January and what some of the process was like. We talked about how we thought we knew what we wanted (a 4-8 yr. old girl), but when we saw her and heard about her, we were sure God had her picked out just for us! We told her we want to be her forever family and take care of her. She smiled. Scott told her that when we drop her off, we feel sad and like someone is missing! It was very sweet! I asked her if she had any concerns, and she asked about school and what it was like. I told her how awesome our school is, how they don't give too much homework, how the teacher's really care, how she would have chapel each week, and about some of the field trips they do. I told her I knew it would be hard to be new and that I was trying to get her together with a few girls from her grade so she would know a couple of people. She said she's always "new." She said she didn't like always being new. I told her once she was with us, she would be settled. We also talked about going to get her a bike this weekend since we do lots of bike riding, especially on vacation. She said, "oh, I've always wanted my own bike." Made my heart melt. We talked more about orca whales, and about how I wanted to go swimming with the dolphins for my 40th birthday. She knew how much it cost, and I said I hoped we could do it as a family. We talked about anything and everything after that. Scott mentioned that he couldn't wait until Thursday to have her for the weekend. The conversation just moved along easily. Scott mentioned that he thought we should go over to Barnes and Noble and check out the orca books and get her one. She was so excited! One of her teachers worked there and she hoped we would see him. She had told him about us and he was excited for her. I told her I liked him already!
As we walked outside, it felt so natural! We were more comfortable together and talked freely. It was awesome!!! Walls had been broken down in that short time and we were having fun! We sat on the floor and looked at some books and found one that was pretty cool, so we bought it for her. Then we headed out to get some ice cream on the way out. As we drove back to her foster home, she said she couldn't wait for Thursday to come! I think she knew we would be sad leaving her. We finished our ice cream cones in the car and then she said, "let's do it" as she opened the door of the van. We walked her to the door and she thanked us for lunch and the book. We left feeling happy and at peace, and thrilled that it had gone well.
On the way home, we stopped to look at bikes for her, but didn't see anything. I wanted her to pick it out, but wanted to have some good places to look. I began feeling very nauseous, weak, and exhausted again. I rested some on the way. When we got home, I went to rest for a short time and felt a little better. We had a nice family night with my parents - dinner, swimming, and celebrating Austin's upcoming birthday (they love to celebrate whenever possible). I came home feeling excited about the weekend and happy to love on my kiddos! It had been a great day!
No comments:
Post a Comment