Lunch with the Ayi's

A lunch with the ayi’s… as a way to honor and celebrate them for all the wonderful years of service at New Hope’s Shunyi, Beijing home. These ladies have provided love and care for hundreds of children over the years. They have poured their hearts into this home and the mission and passion it set in place 16 years ago…. I am so thankful that in this time of change ( another post will be coming about that later). But I wanted to share pictures from this special lunch and one of my favorite parts was presenting them all with a book which included letters from at least 50 adoptive families thanking them for the love and care they provided their kiddos before they came home. There was laughter and tears and lots of talking about each child as they flipped through the pages… they must have thanked all of us a million times. Here are some of my favorite pictures I will forever remember this day and the love I have for these ladies. 

The start of another journey

The start of another journey... one I have been on many times to a place that holds a piece of my heart. A place that I have come to love those that live there and those little people that come and go and those that have devoted their life to loving those little ones even when they don’t know how long they will have with them. However getting on that plane never seems to get easier when leaving home... I know some think it is crazy that a 28 year old would still have a hard time saying see ya later to her family but our family is different we do life together. My mom and I run a business together so we work closely everyday. I don’t like missing sporting events or big school things for the boys. I know that is weird but I know time becomes more limited as we are all getting older. I know these feelings come from the fact that there is a age gap between me and the littles for sure but I have loved being able to watch them grow up from a different set of eyes. I appreciate the little things. Having a brother who is gone for training really makes you appreciate every moment you have together. I am off to another place and to another set of people who mean so much to me. 10 years ago I started this journey when I got the email saying I was accepted on a trip that would take me half way around the world with a group of people I had never met, little did I know how much that trip would change me and open my eyes. And here I sit 10 years later on another plane taking me back again. But this trip is different as changes are happening and there is still a lot of unknowns. When I booked my tickets in the fall for this trip no one knew what was coming except for one person. The one who knew I needed this piece of closure and made sure I didn’t delay and that I was going to have my chance to say goodbye to a place the way I always want to remember it. While the amazing work for New Hope is not going anywhere the way things have looked are shifting and an amazing home filled with so many amazing people is changing. I know lots have asked exactly what I will be doing over the next couple of weeks and normally I have an answer going into these trips, however this trip is being called the go with the flow. I have gone into each trip with the mindset that I will do whatever is most needed and serve where I can be used best and that is not changing. Sometimes the unknown is hard but where you see the most growth in oneself. So if you have read this far I hope you are ready for an adventure that will be unfolding as the days/weeks go on and I don’t know where that is going to take us but I am sure it will be fun and rocky at times. I am hanging on to the truth that beauty comes from ashes.

~Stephanie