After a cold night at a negative 5 star hotel which we think use to be a garage/repair shop, we had breakfast and headed back to Grace Place: Thailand to see the kids before they went to school. It has been unusually cold this winter here, so the blankets our church bought them a month ago along with the warm pj’s and socks we just gave them for Christmas have been a great blessing.  It was so cold this morning that the kids didn’t want to eat breakfast, just a snack.  They eat outside.  It was cold enough for us to see our breath this morning.

The kids were noticeably different this morning as they knew it wasn’t a day of playing with the team, but of saying good-bye.  Oh we did play some games, but many of the kids just wanted to hold our hands or have our arms around them and sit with us.  One girl fell down and scraped her knee and the other children ran to Liz nearby to come and help.  Same thing happened later with another girl whom I   picked up and comforted her.  It was observed by the team that the kids saw us as their family and caregivers whom they could come to in time of need.

After a few last photos and all the goodbye hugs, the kids left for school, and we climbed into the trucks with tears in our eyes and blessings in our hearts.  This is something that cannot adequately be shared on a blog or even in person unless the ones hearing it have been here.  The ladies on the team had all heard the stories from the previous team, but now they fully understand. They also understand now how difficult it is to accurately describe to others all that is in their hearts and minds right now.  But it is a wonderful thing to watch the first time people have their world turned upside down as they see the world, the orphans and our God in a new light.

Since it was a heavy morning emotionally, we wanted to do something fun and light with the team, so we took them to the Flying Squirrel zip line through the treetops of the jungle. For an hour we zipped from tree to tree, climbed across rope walls, walked across all sorts of swinging bridges, repelled down a tree and rode a bicycle and a skate board on a plank between trees. We faced our fears and conquered the jungle! This helped us debrief a little before the next set of goodbyes.

After coming down from the mountain back into Chiang Mai, we stopped at the GROW home because our team really wanted to see the kids there one last time.  What a blessing it was.  Several of the GROW children wanted to share with us what our visit meant to them.  Our team members also shared what our time with them meant to us.  Ning and Faa shared too.  The we said goodbyes before heading outside to wait for Tutu.  The kids had colored pictures for us and gave them to each of us. One boy showed us how he had already finished the Lego plane we gave him for Christmas.  Faa said the boys had been working on them all day and it was so quiet in the house. The girls were also so excited about their gifts and had been enjoying them.  The youngest girl was experiencing her first Christmas celebration and the first time she had ever received gifts.  She was so so happy and couldn’t contain herself.

I shared with them how it touched my heart to hear them share the other night about how the GROW home changed their lives.  For the first time in all my visits, some of the kids cried when I hugged them goodbye.  One of the newer girls wouldn’t let go as she released all her tears on my shoulder.  I know she is so grateful for GROW.  She had shared how she is safe now. 

Since we had another heavy time of goodbyes, Tutu helped lighten our mood by taking us to the Pizza Company, Zac’s and mine favorite pizza in the world! The next door was Swenson’s ice cream.  My favorite is the ice cream fondue!!!! Oh yeah, balls of ice cream and fruit to dip in chocolate fondue. Oh why oh why don’t we do this in the States?

The rest of the night was spent packing for we head out in the morning for Cambodia.