Yesterday, the meeting with the psychologist in Lima went well, but she was very hesitant about our first meeting and really advised me not to get my hopes up. Well, I didn't, I went to the Lord as did so many of you! I know you did b/c I had complete and utter peace ALL DAY long! The psychologist here in Peru and at her home both said she might completely shut down in the presence of strangers and in fact all other adults besides me and her caregivers watched from a window. And, the best part was that it was play time and they wanted me to play with her, well I thought, I would rather be playing with her than sitting akwardly in a room waiting for them to come place her in my lap. So off came my shoes, and I entered her world! We all played as a group for a while, with other children from her group and as I came in the room she began to notice me, and looked at me a little funny.....as if to say "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?" Then one of her caregivers said give the ball to Mama and she turned to me and said "Mamá" Then she slowly began to warm up to me, then all of suddden started giving me hugs and kisses and calling me "Mamá, Mamá" When asked "Where is Mamá?" she would touch my forehead and say "Mamá aquí".... Mama is here! And, all I could say was, "Yes, Mama is here!" She then even allowed me to feed her, mind you she can feed herself, but this is such an important bonding tool, and she allowed me the first time we ever met to feed her, to take care of her. AMAZING!! Then it was time for her to go to bed.... her caregiver took her upstairs, but it took about 5 minutes because she kept stopping and turning around to say "adios Mamá, adios".
EVERYONE was surprised at how well our first meeting went, no one could believe that a first time meeting with parent and child could go so well! And, all praises are to God alone because it is beacuse of your prayers and His preparing the way that today went so well! And, I have to give thanks to the wonderful caregivers and directors and psychologist of her home for all of the work that they have done to prepare her for this first meeting! Each day in this part of the process can look entirely different, so please continue to pray for bonding to continue and for her to continue making the connection of what a Mama is in her little heart! And, THANK YOU for the prayers that have gotten me to this part of the journey! I am so incredibly blessed by the prayers that have been offered up for us, and God answered so many of them today!
Today EVERY one of these prayers from yesterday's blog were answered-- here they are just as a reminder b/c when I re-read them, I had to come back and add this!
"All I can ask for is that you continue fervently praying the prayer that I have been asking for, and that is that God will prepare our hearts for one another when we meet tomorrow! I believe in praying specifically, so please pray that she will not shut down at our first meeting and that she will warm up to me rather quickly. Please pray that all of the work from the orphange is not in vain, as they have worked very hard to prepare her for me, but there is a huge leap between a picture or video and the real person. Please pray for God's hand and spirit to be evident, and that she will surprise everyone!"
Well, here is what I know you all really want.... a few pictures of our very special day!
