Day 13: A tour of the orphanage

It has been an incredible day...on many levels. We had our usual good day playing with the boys. N was in one of the best moods that he has been in to date. D was his usual sweet self. We had out two hours of play time. D is in love with my chapstick...he put it on numerous times during the visit. N warmed up to Benji a good bit today. We got a lot of laughs out of him today. I had brought a bottle of water with us today and the boys discovered it...and then downed it. They were quite thirsty. Unfortunately they have to drink based on the clock..not thirst.
Then came the most humbling part of this experience yet. We got to go see where the boys sleep and we got to see them eat their lunch. First we went to see N. He beamed when we walked in the room. He was sitting at a table with three other children (there were other table surrounding him) eating his bowl of soup...with a gigantic metal spoon. There was something very sad to me to watch my 18 month old eat his meal with an oversized metal spoon, cut his own meat then drink out of a ceremic mug. He is a good little eater! We got to see where he sleeps before heading to see D have his lunch.
The children were washing their hands and coming out of hte bathroom one by one. Wheh D came out and saw us there...he smiled and smiled. He kept is eyes on us the whole time so much that they asked us to move so he would sit straight in his chair. D's group is a little more "energetic" as it is 3 year olds. But our little boy just sat in his chair and ate his lunch not causing a bit of trouble. They told us he eats slow but he always finishes everything.
We saw 2 familiar faces in his group...faces that we knew we may see but had hoped we wouldn't. There is a long story behind those two faces, but as I saw those two precious children I have never been more sure of anything in my life. I knew in that moment that the Lord brought us to the exact children that he had for us. I will continue to pray for those children to find loving homes as we will for all the children that we have seen. I just know that those were not the children that the Lord had for us.
The 3 year olds were slightly rambuctious (no more than typical for that age group). They were silly and playing...mostly showing out for us. But our sweet little son just sat there as obediently as usual and ate his lunch as he was supposed to. As we were leaving the room our facilitator whispered to us that D was the best out of his whole group in her opinion. This, we already know, but we may be a little biased:)
It was so nice for us to see where the boys have lived for much of their lives, yet a little hard to see those other children who all need homes so very badly. We know that the Lord cares for all orphans and we know in our hearts that he is with each and every one of them every day.
We are on a count down now....just 3 more good-byes and then they are ours forever!!