Joshna's here!!!

Our daughter is with us!  She is precious--what else can I say?  Last night was a bit much for her, so she was full of apprehension at what was happening. Overnight I let myself worry about everything that could possibly go wrong today (Wednesday, July 13th) when we picked her up from Christ Faith Home. Thankfully, God was merciful and helped us all be in good spirits!  It went amazingly well!  (Thank you for all of the prayers for this!)  She was in school when we arrived (all children over three years go to the little kids class where they learn the Roman alphabet.  She was learning her capital and lower case letters!!!  We took her out of class to go upstairs to be with her younger friends who are under the age of three.  It was just in time for lunch (rice and chicken). Joshna let us feed her (she put the spoon in my hand immediately and pointed to her dish--she knew exactly what she wanted me to do!).  After lunch was nap time, so I spent a little time sitting with the house mothers while they ate.  They offered me some food, so I said I would have just a bite to taste it.  Since the women eat by gathering a soupy dish with a ball of rice, one of them made it for me.  I reached out to take it with my hand, but the woman smiled and just lifted my chin and put the food in my mouth for me.  The others all began to laugh.  She did it again before I had a chance to say anything, followed by another woman who put a wonderful beet dish in my mouth.  These were not small wads of food, and I was beginning to become very full. Thankfully they could tell, and they did not offer again.  One of the women said she wanted to come home with us to be our cook (at least that is what I gathered from the very broken English).  The others said we should take her home with us.  It must be very hard for these women to know the young children have the opportunity to go to the US and have a different future.  Because of the caste system it is hard for any of the women in that room to marry and have a family.  They are each others family, as well as any children who remain in the orphanage for an extended time.  Words cannot describe the love I have for them and what they do for these children!  They raised my baby girl during her very crucial formative years.  I am forever grateful!

Since Joshna was napping, we all decided to have a quick rest too.  Josh, the main caretaker of the facilities and women, is a kind man around our age.  His eyes seemed to communicate a very familiar feel, as if we have met before.  His home (or perhaps an apartment for the orphanage) is a few blocks away from the orphanage, so he took us there to lie down on bunk beds.  It was nice to be able to rest while our social worker was out running errands to finalize paperwork for us.

After returning to the orphanage 1 1/2 hours later, we were able to meet with the director (who had been out all day) and ask questions.  We signed a couple of pieces of paper, they brought Joshna to us, she and Ellie were given silver ankle bangles as gifts to remember her, her caretaker (Sarasu) came to say goodbye to her, we had a cup of hot tea, and we were on our way back to the hotel in order to change hotels again! Joshna cried a little saying goodbye, but by the time the car left the orphanage she was just watching everything around her.

Once back to the orphanage, we were able to play together in the room by ourselves before we checked out.  This gave us a great bonding time, and Joshna warmed up to us quickly.  She wanted her sister to play with her, so she would take Ellie's hand and drag her wherever she wanted to go!  It's funny, Joshna is very quick to point to what she wants and shove our hands or arms away when she does not want something.  She is very opinionated, just like her sister!  There are actually so many similarities in them and in our entire family.  It will be an interesting week ahead to see more of her personality come through.  

She, Chip, and Ellie are all snuggled in bed sleeping right now (I have been awake since 3 am).  The one  thing we needed to do before going to bed tonight was to have a lice treatment.  Joshna was not a fan of that and screamed during her bath.  Afterward, she wanted nothing to do with me!  She gave me a mean look and then went to give Chip a huge hug, as if to say, "Ha!  See if I ever hug you again!"  It's funny how children are so universal in their actions!  We then went soon to bed (although Joshna wanted to stay up and play with a light-up ball we had given her...woops!).  She still did not want to go to sleep until Chip returned from his shower and went to sleep with her.  Hopefully some candy bribery will do the trick to help her forget her lice treatment!

I should go, since there in only another 30 minutes or so before she might wake up again. I can't wait to update more later!