LINK TO OUR JOURNEY TO JILLIANA

LINK TO OUR JOURNEY TO JILLIANA
CLICK ON JILLIANA'S PHOTO TO FOLLOW OUR JOURNEY TO CHINA

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

What I See, What Lily Sees!



I loved your guesses, but you are all wrong.  Yes, Lily does have two loose teeth and this could very well be a picture of the thing that finally brings them out or God Forbid it could be her handy work with a knife.  She is very capable, but that would result in me having to hide all of the knives in the house!

 I have wanted to write this post, but I don’t think that I am very eloquent in my writing and I wanted to be for this post.  If I wait for the day that happens nothing would ever be written.  As it is I don’t even check my post before posting so there are usually a lot of misspellings and errors, but oh well, at least I get it done.

This picture is about the way that I see things and the way that Lily sees things.  I was cutting apples for an apple pie and getting ready to throw the core away when I see these little sad eyes peeking over the counter.   I tell her that I am making an apple pie even though I know she does not know what I am saying. (We try to constantly describe what we are doing so that she hears the language constantly.  It is very tiring by the end of the day to say everything that you are doing but that is another post in itself.)  She still looks at me with those sad eyes.  I am trying so hard to read what she wants.  I ask her, “What do you want Lily?” she points to the apple core.  I think that she wants me to tell her what it is, so I say,  “It is an apple core, we throw it in the trash.”  She gets this horrified look on her face.  I stand there a few seconds trying to figure out what is wrong and then it dawns on me (I am a little slow sometimes) she wants the apple core.  So I give it to her.  She gets a big smile on her face and starts eating it.  She ate the thing until there were just seeds in her hand.  She waited as I cut each apple and ate each core to the seeds.  I had many thoughts going through my mind, How wasteful I am, How hungry was Lily at the orphanage?  How often did she go to bed hungry?  Is this why she always is watching to see who gets the biggest piece of anything?  Is this why she practically grabs the food out of my hands when I give it to her?

I saw the apple core as trash and Lily saw it as an abundance of food.  I always say we have so much to teach Lily but she also has so much to teach us.

11 comments:

Kristi said...

Oh. Wow. That broke my heart a little bit for Lily.
Yes, I do believe that we have much to learn from our children. Much to learn...

Lori Lynn said...

Taht was a very touching post. Lily sees the value where we see none. How great it will be when she learns that she won't have to worry about food any more.

Anonymous said...

So sweet and sad at the same time. We are SO blessed!
~Lisa
Mom to 2 YJ Princesses:)

Laura Bennett said...

Good reminder to me to listen more- watch more- pay attention. Be still. Be aware. Slow down.

Lily is just blossoming. I am loving seeing life through Caelyn, as I am sure you are with Lily. And there are just so many layers to peel back and realize. So much to do and learn.

I love keeping up with you and the fam! And so very glad we got to share time in China together!! You are a blessed family! And bless those you come into contact with.
Thanks for sharing yourselves.

~Laura

Anonymous said...

om goodness! Thank you for sharing.Sad but joyful at the same time.
soraida in Florids

Jennifer Taylor said...

Oh wow, the things we have yet to learn. Your post had Jeff and I both in tears. We are absolutely clueless about so much of their lives up until now. Thank you for posting so that we have more to learn from!

Sue said...

You wrote an amazing post. I agree, things we take for granted, our children will show us how not to take it for granted but to savor it as much as possible.

Sammy said...

Great story!

Anonymous said...

Tears.

Would you mind if I passed this onto TongguMomma as a possible Wordless Wednesday link over at No Hands But Ours blog?

BTW, I'm Hopingfor08 from RQ. Just saw your post on the Fortheloveofkids group and came over to catch up!

Every AP needs to read this post b/c I think often we just don't put enough weight into what it must feel like to them, to have known true hunger, neglect, whatever you want to call it.

I know our DD has felt it. She is so GRATEFUL for everything. My bio. son (who has never known hunger!) was saying the other night, "I'm starving!" I said firmly and trying to be loving, "No, son, you're not. There are kids who are, but you're not. You may feel hungry but you're not starving." I know I may have been too harsh with him, but the truth is the truth.

Anyway, if I could share your blog with TM, email me at cljjs (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Thanks for sharing so beautifully and honestly. Leslie

a Tonggu Momma said...

Beautifully written. Truly.

XiaoXiao said...

This brought tears to my eyes, not so much for what Lily did not have, but for what she now does have: a mother who can read through the gestures and the looks. And what you now have, a daughter who teaches all of us (via your blog!) appreciation.

Thanks for the post.