Heartbridge to Evie

This little one changes everything. 

Our two days at her healing home were hard on the heart.  We are endlessly grateful to Robin at New Hope/Heartbridge for the opportunity to spend time with Evie in her safe place, where she was cared for and loved for so long. 

 

Early Saturday AM, we moved from our Beijing hotel to an apartment at Heartbridge. 

When we entered her room, one of the nannies had her on her lap.  She looked up and then instantly started turning her little head away. 

Mark and I just sat near her, getting her used to our presence, watching her interact with her nannies.  Meanwhile, Sophia and Eli loved on her buddies.  Tears filled our eyes as we watched little hearts open wider. 

Finally, we started trying to play with our girl and eventually tried to hold her.  Her screams were instant.  Despite what I knew to be best, the nannies kept taking her back to calm her. They simply didn't want us to think anything bad of her, and I knew we were guests for the weekend, on their turf.

 

This picture truly represents the start of a battle to win Evie's trust.  She's been through so much, and thankfully has bonded with her nannies, which makes her so fearful of strangers.

After a few hours of back and forth, her nurses came in and said we could take her up to the apartment.  So, we carried her away from the room she's known for so long and sat her on my lap on a couch, beginning to show her family.    Eventually the tears slowed, but her fear was clear. 

We just started coloring on the coffee table, and let her watch us. 

Her nurses, Mona and Jona, came in and out teaching us how they've been caring for her.  These two were so sweet, so patient and so loving with both us and Evie. 

She sat totally still most of the time, hardly making eye contact.  Slowly though the kids started to win tiny levels of trust. 

Having two of her siblings there was such a gift for her and for them. 

This time with her was an unexpected gift.  Thankfully, since she wasn't crying near bedtime, they said that she could stay in the apartment with us overnight. 

 

That night ended up being incredibly hard.  She went to sleep easily, but woke up in the middle of the night crying and feverish.  Mark and I took turns holding her as she alternated between crying and dozing.  Tired and filled with emotion, we woke up the next day having to return Evie to her nanny who would escort her to Nanjing with us. 

 

Adoption is intensely beautiful, and intensely hard.  Honestly, these days were filled with lots of raw emotion, where we had to start leading our hearts. Over and over again we reminding ourselves of the long list of ways that God had moved mountains to connect us with this little one.