Today we went to visit Amanda at Starfish Foster Home. What an amazing lady! Her babies are so blessed to have her in their lives. Amanda is so humble. I told her how many people were looking forward to my visit, how many were jealous that I was meeting her...she just can't believe that. She doesn't feel like she is doing anything that extraordinary. But she is! So many people would look at a similar situation and say, "Oh, I wish I could do something." Amanda is doing it!! Please take a minute to visit her site and see how you may be able to help her. www.thestarfishfosterhome.org Amanda does not get any help from the government. She is supported entirely by donations. And we're not talking minimal needs, she pays for rent for 2 apartments to house the babies, all of the nannies' salaries, food, diapers, medicine, and even medical care. She goes through 120 diapers a DAY just to give you an idea of the scale we are talking about. She typically picks the babies who have the most need in the orphanages so she really has her hands full. Today we saw at least 10 babies with cleft palates, 4 with heart conditions, 2 with spina bifida, and at least 12 more. It was a wonderful morning for us all. BUT not just because we met Amanda (although that alone was wonderful!) Anna took a bottle from Daddy and then fell asleep in his arms! HUGE! She then slept peacefully in his arms for an hour. It was so wonderful to look over and see her sleeping there. We've definitely come a long way in only 4 days! This afternoon she was walking back and forth between Shawn and me. It was so cute to see her turn around and walk back to Daddy with her arms up high and a smile on her face. Thanks for all the prayers for that! God is good.
This evening the big girls went to the pool with Daddy while Anna and I hung out in the room. I did manage to get down there for a few pictures before they were finished. They have really enjoyed the pool this week but we are looking forward to Guangzhou and warm weather. Tomorrow we leave Xian and head south. We are hoping to go to Anna's hometown on our way to the airport. Will you please pray with us that we can do this? We didn't get to visit her orphanage and we would really like to see her hometown. We would like to be able to give her some details of her early months one day when she starts asking questions. Thanks for all the e-mails you have sent. I am reading every single one and love them! I am sorry I can't answer them all individually.
