Saturday, August 18, 2012

No news is good news???

We had a great meeting with Duncan today, very relaxed, no pressure.  I had downloaded a couple of football (soccer) apps to my iPhone and iPod Touch and he and I were able to play head to head via bluetooth.  We were both laughing and having a great time trying to out do the other.  Not bragging, but the old man with little to no gaming skills came away victorious.

Another American family is at the orphanage and adopting a boy, Tyler,  a few years younger than Duncan.  We have had a chance to get to know them a bit and share a few meals together.  They are wonderful people and are adopting a great child who will grow and develop rapidly with his new family.  They were sitting with their new son today very close to us playing games on their iPad.  Duncan got bored of the football game and went to watch Tyler play his games.  It wasn't long before they were both playing together, a very basic English spelling game.  It became very clear quickly that Duncan knows a bunch of English words.  So we grabbed my iPhone, which has a much more advanced English/Russian game on it, and put him to the test.  He knows a large number of English words and was ripping through the levels on the game with very little effort. So why doesn't he try to communicate with us in English?   I think he is just shy and doesn't want to try for fear of failing and possibly embarrassing himself.   I know the feeling.  If you could only see me in action in China, very embarrassing.

Our visit was over quickly and he needed to go eat lunch.  Neither the interpreter nor us asked about his decision.  Monday is the deadline, so we will wait.  Unfortunately, he will spend the rest of his day today and all day tomorrow with his groupa who are lobbying hard for him to stay.  He knows what is a stake and is most likely tired of having everyone tell him over and over again what he should do.  We have a 16 year old son at home and are very cognisant of when he gets tired of hearing it from us, usually yawning, eye rolling, and looking every where but at you.  I have seen two out of three from Duncan on several occasions so I know he is overloaded.  He is just needs to verbalize his decision as I am convinced he has already decided.

The orphanage has an exhibit of many of the children's artwork in town, so we stopped by on our way back to the apartment. There were some beautiful pieces on display.  A boy from the orphanage was there giving demonstrations of his artwork which consists of melting crayons onto an iron and then transferring them to paper.  I took a short video of how he does it so you all could enjoy it as much as we did.


This young man was very patient and even helped me, who has zero artistic ability, to produce a piece of art using his technique.  I think the boys will be eager to try this when we get home.  Perhaps they can show their art teacher and spend a couple of classes working on some techniques.  After all,  if I can do it then they will master it quickly.

Tomorrow is a day off, no visits to the orphanage. I want to thank everyone who has been praying hard for Duncan.  It humbles and overwhelms me and I can't thank all of you enough.

9 comments:

  1. Praying hard for all of you - that peace, calm and joy will find you and that the decision will resonate with your soul. Your hearts are wide open for God's will and He knows it. May every good thing come your way on this fantastic journey of faith, love, peace and discovery. Praying without ceasing. Adrienne (Chip's fiancee)

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  3. Praying still. For what it's worth, we have good friends who have adopted from Russia and had a similar situation. I've been asking people to pray on my FB and she saw the post and wrote:

    "Tell the parents to ask him to look in their eyes.... When he is looking in their eyes, have them tell him what he means to them & how they love him. People tried that scare tactic with Vika too, and she said (essentially, it's a translation,from how she put it in Russian) "no way, I see the look in their eyes, it's a different kind of love. They REALLY love me. That's not true, they will keep me." I hope this brings them hope & confidence!"

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  4. Praying the only voice he hears is that of truth and that all the fears, lies, and objections would be silenced in light of that. How cool that Tylers family is there now too. I wish they had a blog! I was so excited to hear he had a family! I've been watching and praying for him for a long time.

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  5. I wish Duncan could talk to Andrew that was adopted a couple months ago. He was worried as well. I'm keeping all of you in my prayers.

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  6. I think one thing that may help is to let him know that he doesn't need to decide if everything he's heard about America is wrong.

    All he needs to decide is if he can trust you guys.

    That might make it a little less overwhelming for him since he'll have a lot more info about your family specifically than about all of America.

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  7. That art is beautiful!! I have 2 typical hands and can't make such beauty like that.

    Praying every day for Duncan. The struggle he faces is REAL even though it may feel silly to us. Ask Andrew, the threats of other kids are real... God, help him!

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  8. Loved seeing K in the video and hear his voice! Praying Duncan will make the right decision and come home with you. Tell him our daughter Ola says hello and would gladly talk to him about life in America. Praying peace for you and strength tomorrow!

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