My laptop is mishbehaving so I only have my iPhone unless I am able to update at lunchtime (as I am now) And then I forgot my password to the blog (D'OH!!) All sorted now.
God still moves me in ways I'm unprepared for, and I'm just hanging in there waiting to see what happens next! I have found great encouragement and inspiration through talking to friends and work colleagues, and now just want something to happen!
I wondered how a child of 6 or 7 could learn english after only knowing Mandarin / Pinyin for so long- maybe a helper / tutor in China once the child is assigned? I posted this idea on a forum and the response was good, and I was assured children learn the language quickly once they're immersed in it (at home). I have a Mandarin language book with some pictures so I'm trying to teach myself Mandarin besides ni-hao. (I don't want to be Kevin Rudd standard, just enough to get basic messages across)
I have read some great information lately that has spoken to me; this from one of my favourite bloggers, Dan, on his single dad laughin blog...
http://www.danoah.com/2010/09/how-much-did-your-kid-cost.html
dan's beautiful son is adopted and he mentions all the stupid questions he gets asked by complete strangers.
And this from straight talk, a blog about special needs adoption.
http://myshelbybaby.blogspot.com/2011/02/because-you-dont-fit-in-anymore.html
And this, which made me cry, was written by Tim Stowell.
Following
We knew our child before they knew us. God knew me before I knew Him.
We loved our child before they knew us. God loved me before I knew Him.
We prepared a place for our child before they knew us. He prepared a place for me before I knew Him.
At some point we went and redeemed our child. At some point He came and redeemed me.
We brought our child home to be in our family forever. He will bring me one day to His home to be with Him forever.
Realizing this I know that God's heart is in adoption. As an adopted child of the King, I can do no less than to model His behavior.
Tim, 25 Jan 2011
I called the no fair rule on that one because it made my mascara run.
Thank you for the comments made by email and to me, I appreciate that people are following and joining us in this much anticipated journey. I am slowly unbending and telling selected people of our plans - it all seems so far away that I feel like a bit of a wally getting excited and sharing, but I am getting that I need to tell people, even though my husband isn't as confident as myself that everything will come together in time. :) The Lord moves in mysterious ways and oh boy his moves have consisted of some bizarre ones lately!!
I am, for example, amazed at how big my heart is, that I "knew" my family was complete except for partners for my children and then grandchildren, but I have this new aching part that wants to be a mummy again to someone who's waiting for a mummy. whereever he is, God has him and I know he's being readied. To meet our noisy chaotic family, he's gonna have to be!
Shalom.
My son came to America from China at the age of 6. He was very quiet for about 3-4 months. During that time he was learning single words to things, "table, dog, mama, daddy, car, house, bed, etc" I used Hooked on Phonics, Pre-K. It has flashcards that show different rooms of the house. We would go through and point out the different things in the rooms, "couch, TV, rug, wall, picture, stove, sink, tub, towel, etc" and I would teach him the English word and he would teach me the Chinese word. He loved teaching and it was a lot of fun. A lady he knew from China is in the states going to school. She called him every weekend to check on him and find out if he had any questions. He would ask her things like "What is that thing mama pushes on the floor that makes a lot of noise?" (vacuum) "How do our clothes get dry without hanging them up?" (dryer) "Why aren't there soldiers everywhere?" (In China there are.) etc. At first he would talk to her for hours at a time. Gradually the time became less. After 3-4 months home he began talking in sentences. One day the lady called and he said, "I am watching movie right now about a fish who is lost. I will talk to you later." lol He has been home 15 months now and is reading, writing and spelling on a Kindergarten level. We think this is amazing for a child who was fluent in speaking, writing and reading Chinese. He does still have some problem, mostly with pronouns, but overall he is speaking very well. I wrote all this to say don't worry about language. It will come. In fact, you will wonder how it came so quickly. Be sure to take lots of video of your child speaking Chinese. You and your child will treasure that one day.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for that; I have had a number of people tell me similar stories so I feel much better.
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