Shaolin Temples

I have fallen a day behind on my blog posts because we got in so late yesterday evening from our visit to the Shaolin Temples which is known as the birth place of martial arts. It was an absolutely exhausting day filled with some amazing and heartbreaking moments. We started implementing some limits on that sweet baby boy of ours. He wasn't too pleased but you know what it was worth it because he is learning so quickly. Today his behavior was greatly improved and we only had one minor temper tantrum moment. He let Mama help him with his messy yogurt drink instead of throwing a fit or pouring it all over himself. He used some good manners by saying Ching Mama or Please Mama when he wanted something instead of whining or grabbing at it. He has also started to learn to come when we call him over at least half the time versus none of the time. We are so proud of him!

So more about the Shaolin Temples. The whole area around the temples is absolutely beautiful. We got to see the most amazing martial arts performance and my brother James was even called up on stage to give the very strong and focused martial arts master the best two punches in the stomach that he could and then hold onto a battering log with about 8 guys to see if they could knock this guy over. That man had some strong stomach muscles. The kids loved the show and it was definitely the high light of the day. After wards we went to have dinner at a local vegetarian Budhist restaurant up in the mountains. The food was delicious and the views were amazing. So that was the good stuff.

Now the very hard stuff. First of all it was boiling hot at the Shaolin Temples and there were stairs to climb everywhere. Aaron and James hauled Levi in his wheelchair up many flights of stairs and then the heat just got to be too much. I stayed with Levi while everyone else went to the top. Everyone was staring at us and we are used to that but it was the people who would come around to stand a foot or two in front of the wheelchair just to stare at my boys legs and feet that really got on my nerves. I ended up turning their wheelchair around to face me whenever we sat down so people could only stare sideways at them. When we finally got back down to the bottom of all those stairs, we had to wait for a trolley bus to take us to the building where the martial arts show was. Since there was nothing else to do but wait we became the sight to see or more our boys became the sight to see. The funny thing is that the rudest people were a group of German tourists. Now I am about 1/3 German myself so I certainly don't have anything against Germans but these particular ones were incredibly rude just standing in front of the wheelchairs and staring at my boys feet. Aaron was hot and exhausted and when anyone got in front of the boys to stare, Aaron would step in between and stare them right in the eyes with a very angry look on his face. Well people moved away pretty quickly when that happened. I had to calm Aaron down or he was going to be practicing some martial arts on some tourists in the park.

We were actually allowed in to see the martial arts show twice. Once with a group of Chinese officials who allowed us to see a private show with them and then the regular show as well. There were a couple people who helped us with the wheelchair so not everyone was rude. The last straw for me though was when we were getting up to leave the show and people were rushing in to get good seats. We were helping Levi and Jacob get settled in their wheelchair and we were literally pushed out of the way so people could get the seats we had just gotten up from. I could not believe that!

The very hardest part of this trip is not the lengths we must go to to get Levi around because almost nothing is handicap accessible except our hotel. What breaks my heart is the thought of what his life would have been like if we hadn't adopted him and what other children who have special needs that make walking difficult will face if no one adopts them. Sometimes God wants your heart to break so that you can be a witness who truly knows what is happening and can spur people to do something to change the situation or at least make a difference to one other child who would be facing these insurmountable obstacles. Levi has a wonderful future ahead of him but my heart hurts for all those children who do not.

Levi is really the sweetest boy who is so incredibly happy to have a family. He radiates love for us. Yesterday he sang us a beautiful song on the bus and he told our guide a very imaginative story that he made up on the spot to entertain us all. Our guide and driver are amazed at his vocabulary and ability to convey his thoughts. They asked him who taught him that and he said no one, he learned it by watching T.V. Levi is a wise old soul in many ways but emotionally he is more like a 8 or 9 year old versus a 13 year old. He has led a very sheltered life and has gone very few places. He has been thrilled to go all the places we have gone and we are blessed to be able to open up the world for him and watch his sense of wonder and joy! People think he is very lucky to have us but I think we are the lucky ones and God has given us a very special gift in Levi. Not an easy gift but a priceless one!

It is time for bed so I will try to catch up on my blog posts tomorrow before we fly to Guangzhou. Today we went to visit the orphanage and got to meet Jacob and Levi's foster aunt and grandma. It was a really good day!