Quiet Miracles

I don't talk much about XiaoXian and the condition it was in before LWB showed up. For starters, I wasn't there and I don't know the whole story - I just get bits and pieces from the internet. And also - this story about XiaoXian isn't really my story to tell at all, it belongs to Maggie Mao and the rest of the kids who are from there.

I am going to share with you a part of it now, because it helps illustrate my point - foster care is a quiet miracle.

For the background story, I'm going to just cut and paste a big portion of the LWB blog here:

"One of our facilitators had visited this rural orphanage, which is on the border of the Henan and Anhui provinces, and he immediately contacted us to see if we could help. This orphanage’s well had basically run dry, and so the only water they could use was muddy, and unfortunately because of this, many of the babies had fallen ill. They also did not have any air conditioners, even though the temperatures were very hot, and they had old wooden cribs that were unsafe. The orphanage’s small kitchen area did not have a refrigerator to keep food cool, and they did not have a sterilizer for baby bottles. Also, their washer and dryer no longer worked, so the aunties had to clean diapers and then drape them over a coal stove to dry.
Our facilitator told us that the staff was SO very kind, and that the children were receiving love, but this rural town was very poor and so there just weren’t enough funds to meet all of the orphanage’s needs."

In other words, XiaoXian was in really tough shape. LWB went straight to work; getting donations, acquiring appliances and safe cribs, getting medical care for the kids, and digging a new well. LWB could have stopped there, a lot of organizations would have. But LWB isn't like others, they think bigger and when they thought about those XiaoXian kids, they knew that air conditioners are great - but a Mom and Dad are better. LWB gathered together the funds to place 20+ kids into foster care. No small feat, when the initial costs of placing one child into a foster home can approach $250.

I have seen with my own eyes what foster care does for these kids. Having a Mom and Dad, living in a real house with brothers and sisters, playing outside, helping to fix dinner, meeting the neighbors. We take so much of this for granted, and some kids don't know these things until they are well into their toddler years or older. Foster care takes "institutionalized" kids and turns them into "plain old kids". It gives these kids a chance at a real childhood.

Foster care is not flashy, it's not a heart or cleft surgery with quick results. Foster care is a quiet miracle.

I wish I could tell you that XiaoXian was a "one-off", that orphanages in China are all well funded and supplied. Unfortunately, in a lot of cases, the orphanage directors and nannies are long on love and short on resources. It breaks my heart to know that there are more orphanages out there just like XiaoXian that we are unable to help because we don't have the money.

A generous sponsor has come forward and agreed to match all donations to foster care up to $36,000 given between February 15 and March 15th. Let's not waste this chance to perform more quiet miracles in China. Please donate any amount to LWB's foster care fund by March 15th.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for supporting our cause.
Mary
XiaoXian Foster Care Assistant Coordinator

**the picture at the top is of Maggie Mao before foster care - here's her after:

An update on our LWB babies

**Our Teratoma Yahoo group is not allowing me to post photos. Here are the updates on the two babies with teratomas that you so generously sponsored!**

Ruby is currently in foster care and is doing very well. She is a very good eater. She will be undergoing some exams soon to make sure she does not have cancer (this is a regular exam for teratoma babies). Thank you so much for making a difference in Ruby's life!”

Also a quick update on baby Margaret, she is in Shanghai and will have her teratoma removed tomorrow! I have been told "She is a quiet little girl and smiles a lot. Her surgery date is set for tomorrow. Please keep Margaret in your thoughts as she undergoes surgery. Thank you so much for your support!"

Shattered

My heart shattered into a million pieces yesterday.

I found Maggie's "finding ad" that the orphanage placed in the newspaper. And right there next to her, was our sponsored foster kid. Among all the newborns was this toddler, a kid with special needs who was loved by a family for 17 months before they were unable to care for her anymore.
17 months.

Shattered.

How do you heal up your heart that breaks every time it sees a sick kid or an orphan? How do you patch up the cracks when you find out the history and pain of the little ones you love?

I decided that there's only one thing I can do. I have to give those little pieces of my heart away. Give my heart back to the kids.

As I've been looking for my purpose in life, Love Without Boundaries has been popping up here and there. We support them, and sponsor our foster kid, and retweet cute pictures on Twitter, and hit up my Facebook friends for cash, but it never occurred to me that LWB could help me give my "heart pieces" away in a more true and meaningful way. A few weeks ago, I applied for a volunteer position with LWB, and yesterday afternoon brought some great news.

I am now the LWB Foster Care Assistant for XiaoXian, and my heart feels better today.

I Belong To You

When you were placed in my arms on that grey January day two years ago, I finally became what I always wanted to be - a mommy.








I knew from the first moment I saw your face on the computer 6 months earlier that you were meant to be mine, and that I was yours. The stars lined up, it was my fate, God led me to you - it doesn't matter how you phrase it, we were meant to be together. You fit perfectly into our lives and made us into a family.








On Mother's Day, I also have to remember that you had mothers before me, who loved you and cared for you just as much as I do. Your first mother, who loved you more than anything - but had to give you a chance at life and the surgery you so desperately needed. The a-yi's at the orphanage who took you in, fed you and made you healthy enough to go to the hospital, where another group of mothers nursed you back to health. The mothers at Love Without Boundaries who saw a need at your orphanage and started a Foster Care program. And then finally, your foster mother - who took you into her home and loved and cared for you until I came for you.

I am honored to be the last in this long line of mothers, your forever mother.

Know this little one, you are mine and I am yours.
I belong to you.

My Cute New Laptop

Here's a pic of my new Mini 10. Isn't she a little cutie? The old Nokia that I used to use and a standard size laptop (and a cute kid) are also in the picture.

Mother's Day Gift 2009

This was in Maggie's backpack today. It's so sweet, brought a tear, it did. And look - she can sign her own name!

New Pics of Maggie

Here's what we've been up to this April. I'm also posting these on Facebook, but since some of you won't get with the program (Mom), I will also post them here.

We've been dancing and eating and getting spoiled by Angie!