Trying to get my head around What to Expect

There is two weeks left before we go and the anxiety is beginning to set in. The anticipation and the fear of what is to come. I read through the team preparation guide of what to expect in the orphanage and it is a bit frightening. If you have ever felt uncomfortable about going to a hospital or a nursing home this is far worse. I don't know if I can summarize what is said in this guide. Some things that struck me are the detachment and "self-soothing". When our oldest daughter was a baby she would sometimes bang her head into the wall or floor and that is going to be hard, Especially if I can't do anything to make them stop. In other words they use that for comfort and they don't know how to get or don't want comfort from other people. The other thing that concerns me is freezing or being overwhelmed, not only for me but Heather as well. I know that she will need to take some breaks to keep from being overwhelmed. There are also testimonies of the crisis of faith that this can put on you. "How can a loving God allow this to happen?". Pain is a hard thing to understand. It is necessary. It protects us (fire is hot so we pull away). I know that we can put someone you love through pain and they will not understand that you do it for their good(giving a child a shot). Pain has value. We put ourselves through pain. We pay for things we want with pain (working out, studying, work). Unfortunately, I can't say I understand what good can come out of this pain, and this is where I have to take it on faith... There was a good verse from Paul in this section that I will end this post with.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (New International Version)

16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

~Lee