Gladdie--Day 3--Dirty Clothes

Gladdie seems to be the most vulnerable to grief in the morning. I think it's because she wakes up, having forgotten about her circumstances while she sleeps, and has to remember them all over again. And with the remembering, come the emotions. So...this morning was a tough one.

Gladys came to us wearing a sweet outfit that her "first" mother dressed her in. She wore it all day Gotcha day, and all day yesterday, having refused to take it off. Well, after being worn for 2 days, the outfit was in need of a wash. I decided to lay out a cute outfit for her to wear today and launder her Gotcha outfit as soon as laundry services became available.

Well.

Things didn't go quite as well as planned. You see, Miss Gladdie equates that Gotcha outfit with her "mama." If the outfit goes away, then so does "mama." It's pretty much that simple (but not). Needless to say, she refused my cute outfit in favor of her stinky, dirty one.

I tried a little Foster Cline love and logic on her, to no avail. I tried to show her how stinky her socks were, to no avail. I thought I compromised to let her wear her pants but my shirt. No such luck.

She was in tears at this point. And so was I. I was overwhelmed with the loss that she has experienced, and I broke down right along with her.

She was mourning the foster mother that she knew and loved so well. I was mourning the fact that this precious child was separated from, not just ONE, but TWO different families. Oh, the injustice of it all!

So, rather than get myself into a power struggle over clothes, I swallowed what pride I had taken in dressing Gladdie in a cute outfit, and I wept as I dressed her in her dirty clothes again.

The Lord quite clearly showed me that this is what happens to His saints. When we accept salvation through Christ, He takes our dirty laundry from us and dresses us in beautiful robes of grace and righteousness. So often, though, we prefer the dirty, old clothes over the robes of righteousness. We think we're missing out on something by not wearing the dirty clothes. We are comfortable in the dirty clothes and don't want to be taken out of our comfort zone by the new robes. And yet, Christ accepts us back each and every time, and calmly, and maybe with some weeping, re-dresses us in our new clothes.

The rest of the day was quite a blur. We had to fly to Guangzhou in southern China today to begin completing the American side of Gladdie's adoption. A Chinese holiday coming up on Monday forces us to move everything up by 2 days.

Goodbye selfie at the airport with our Chinese guide, Michael. 

Gladdie flew in her first plane like a boss. It's like she didn't even notice we weren't on the ground any more. Hopefully this bodes well for the 12 hour flight home.


Killing some time at the airport

Checking out Gracie's stuffed animals


Taking pictures with the iPad

Taking pictures w/ Gracie's iPod

But first... let's take a selfie....


Playing with JieJie before the flight to Guangzhou

We arrived in GZ around 3 local time and checked back into our favorite Chinese hotel...The Garden. We've stayed here for 3 out of 4 adoptions and we just love it. Never have we stayed in such a swanky place. But, I have to say, with all the emotional turbulence that comes with adoption, where we stay in-country should be a peaceful experience.

Checking in at the Garden Hotel




We took the 4 Gs to McDonald's for an easy dinner. Miss Gladdie loved dunking her nuggets in sweet 'n' sour sauce.

Comfort food

Now we're getting ready for bed and a big day tomorrow...medical exam.

Good night from Guangzhou. I have to go do some laundry.

Comments

Unknown said…
Love you mommy,you are in the arms of God.
Unknown said…
Love you mommy,you are in the arms of God.
Unknown said…
Thank you for another wonderful Blog. And thanks also for pictures. My eyes are watering. McDonalds and I-pads, I-pods.--The girls look pretty comfortable.

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