Emotions

Today we made our very early morning plane ride back to Ahmedabad to resolve our passport issues. (Up at 3:45am)

Scott and I are having some mixed emotions about this whole passport process in Ahmedabad. We are mainly nervous for Lyla, and how she will feel returning to the orphanage, and seeing Mr. Pandit.  We just didn’t want her to think we were sending her back.

Thankfully God’s timing of it all went very smooth and perfect!

Our new friend Micah and her sweet daughter Hannah met us at the air port, and we went back to their house and chatted for a while.  Micah made us a delicious omelet, and Lyla is loving playing with Hannah’s toys.  Hannah is five and being so sweet to share her dolls.  We also met Bryan, Micah’s husband.  They also have a very polite seven year old boy, Josiah, but he was in school most of the day, so we met him later on.  Micah reminds us so much of our friend Andrea Warren back home.  They are very active, super prayer warriors, crafty, and they parent very similar.  I have almost called her Andrea several times.  🙂

After getting to know our new friends, who have so graciously opened their home to us and have said we could stay as long as we needed (praise God!), we made the dreaded trip back to the orphanage.  I could tell Scott was anxious and nervous for Lyla…I could read it in his body language and hear him taking deep breaths.  I at this point had peace come over me, and was doing well.  Micah also said a very sweet prayer in the car that brought comfort.

As the perfect timing (I mentioned above) would have it, Lyla fell asleep.  She was exhausted from our long trip and when we arrived at the orphanage she was out of it.  

We did not even spend a minute at the orphanage, Mr Pandit was ready to go.  We were actually a little late getting to him, because the traffic was so bad this morning. (In retrospect…more of God’s timing)

So we quickly got back in Micah’s car….by the way, she is totally chauffeuring us and might I add handling this Indian traffic and driving like a real pro… And we made the trip to the passport office, which is only like 5 minutes away from where Bryan and Micah live.  🙂  However, the orphanage is on the other side of the city.

We arrive at the passport office and Lyla is awake at this point.  She sees Mr. Pandit, but seems fine.  She is especially clingy to Scott and I, but does not seem upset by it.  I think being sleepy helped her.  Mr Pandit reached for her, and she denied him.  He commented on the fact that she was really bonded to us, “She has crossed over to your side.  She no longer come to my side.  She go to your side only.”  And I just beamed with pride, and thought to myself…. Dang straight!  That’s MY girl!

When we enter the doors of the office, Mr. Pandit just enters the room as if he runs the place.  He motions for us to come and we followed him around as he bypassed lines and those waiting.  We later learned from Bryan, that the name Pandit is a name in a very high caste in India, so technically he can do most anything he wants.  He took us behind some glass walls that separated us from the rest of the crowd.  We waited only a few minutes and we went into a small office, where a passport official took her thumb print, and her photo, and scanned all of the necessary papers.

Mr. Pandit said that we will more than likely get the passport next Monday.  (We are hoping this is real time and not Indian time!)  They do have some holidays coming up this week.  one on Wednesday and this weekend, so he said we could have had it Friday…. we will see if it is really here on Monday!  Bryan said we should not expect Monday, and if it happens…Great!  As we were leaving the office, we chatted a little with Mr. Pandit and asked him some more questions about Lyla.  The little village I mentioned before where he said she was born is Bharuch.  We kept asking more questions and I was also asking if I could go back to orphanage and take pictures of my friends children again, as well as some other friends I have connected with via the Internet from Ireland.  

Mr. Pandit said I needed to get permission for pictures, and said tomorrow would be better.  He wants to have us for tea and cookies, and said he would sit and tell us all about the orphanage and Lyla.  We did ask how many kids were there and he said 100.  I was sort of shocked to hear that number, and at the same time, I remember how large the facility was….so they could certainly house that number.

We plan to go back tomorrow without Lyla and investigate our daughter’s former home some more… and hopefully take more pictures of some kiddos!

We made the short trip back to Bryan and Micah’s house and we had lunch together.  Scott and I had a Peanut butter and Jelly sandwich.  I have not had one in weeks….it was so good!  It is funny what you miss, when you are not at home.  

We napped most of the afternoon, as we were wiped out from our early morning flights.  We woke up to visit more with our new friends, and we met Josiah their son, who was now home from school.

Bryan and Micah prepared dinner for us… Spaghetti!  Lyla ate a good bit of it.  She wasn’t extremely fond of it….yet!  It is going to take some time for her to learn new tastes and foods.  And, we certainly don’t mind eating the Indian food with her!

We also met Rashina…she comes and works in their home daily with various tasks around the house.  She is a delight and loves this family very much.  Please pray for her…she is very close to following Jesus!

After a wonderful meal, and more fellowship…I had to do some Scentsy work.  I think it is awesome that I can do my work all the way on the other side of the world.

I am going to head to bed now, but I am really missing my kiddos at home.  I got to face time with the younger two today and they are great.  I am sure the boys are too.  Just can’t wait to hold them in my arms.  Joel is always his typical smiley self, and Katy Pierce talks to us through her baby jabber and some words.  

Love all 5 of my kids!  Blessed beyond words!