Guangdong Time
Matthew
14 years ago
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Looking back...
I was reminded today of my trip to Ecuador and how and why it changed me so....This video was part of one of my first posts and watching it again today brought raw emotion...for children, for orphans, for the least of these, for all He has called us to as Christians....when I think of the song to this video and think of it in regard to adoption here are my thoughts....God's heart is for the orphan...it takes courage for them just to live day to day and they don't even know what courage they have because it is all they know---and we are scared. We are scared adoption would be too hard. We are afraid adoption is going to 'upset' our perfect life and our perfect plans, what if we get a child that is 'hard' or has problems, what if we can't handle it? What if we don't have enough room, or enough money or we are too old? What if our plates are full....We think, what if it takes away from our kids? We are scared and they are the ones with courage...we have ALOT to learn from those without...and alot to learn about our God who says, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. For the Lord your God is with you...He will never leave you nor forsake you" Deuteronomy 31:6 also, "God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength but with your testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). God calls us to defend the orphan, whatever that looks like...we are to be His hands and feet. Period. Have courage and step out of your comfort zone to see what God has in store for you....
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Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Testing
Trying to figure this thing out for those who want to receive posts via email..testing,testing, 1,2,3
Monday, July 26, 2010
My Idea of Summer...
is BeAchTiMe:) We spent the last several days in Florida and we had so much fun...
On another note...I did have some time to think about all we have done this summer and how different next summer will be...there are SO many things that we were thinking of that she probably has never done or seen....not only will we FINALLY have our Alice, but it is going to be so wonderful to see a whole new world through her eyes...there will be many firsts for us all and I cannot wait to share it all with her....please pray that our LOA will come soon. We are on day 52 of the wait for it and I admit that I am beginning to get a little antsy. It is in God's hands and I trust him, but sometimes you just can't help but want control and have it NOW!!! Once we get it, we will have a better idea of what month we might get to travel. Not too much longer....also, I did get word that our package made it to our agency's contact in China. Once translated, it should make its' way to her orphanage...it got there faster than I expected, so maybe it won't be too long and we will get an update.
Come on LOA...
On another note...I did have some time to think about all we have done this summer and how different next summer will be...there are SO many things that we were thinking of that she probably has never done or seen....not only will we FINALLY have our Alice, but it is going to be so wonderful to see a whole new world through her eyes...there will be many firsts for us all and I cannot wait to share it all with her....please pray that our LOA will come soon. We are on day 52 of the wait for it and I admit that I am beginning to get a little antsy. It is in God's hands and I trust him, but sometimes you just can't help but want control and have it NOW!!! Once we get it, we will have a better idea of what month we might get to travel. Not too much longer....also, I did get word that our package made it to our agency's contact in China. Once translated, it should make its' way to her orphanage...it got there faster than I expected, so maybe it won't be too long and we will get an update.
Come on LOA...
Monday, July 19, 2010
Care Package #2
We FINALLY got another care package sent off....still not sure how many kids are there, though they say it is very small...I sent lots of stuff for all of the kids, like sunglasses, colors and coloring books, chalk, fun boy and girl underwear, suckers, etc, then several things for her-a few dresses (for her to share with her best buddies), some Hello Kitty stuff, and a folder that had some laminated pictures of our family and some pictures and notes the boys had written that they wanted to send her...so precious.....more cameras and some candy for the nannies.....for some reason, we just have trouble with care packages...this time, they said it was going to be over $200 to mail through DHL or FedEx, so I went home took some heavy stuff out, went back the next day and it was going to be over $300!!! It was ridiculous...mind you, I had already been to the Post Office (the little branch they just opened on our side of town) and she was SO rude, I just had to gather my stuff and walk away! This is the short version, but I ended up going (5th place/attempt to mail it) to the Post Office downtown, we stuffed it into the $14.95 flat rate box and it shipped for $55:) What a relief! The negative to that is, it will literally take weeks for her to get it, if it ever gets there. Last time we used DHL and it was there in about 3 days...it was still over a month before we heard anything back because it had to be translated before going to the orphanage, and they took a little while responding, then their response had to be translated before we got it....so, I am not anticipating hearing anything for at least a few months....and hopefully it won't be that much longer until we are on our way to get her.
We are on day 46 of our wait for LOA...I know 3 families who have gotten theirs in 30 something days, but it could take 3 months....I am hoping it is sooner than later, of course, but there is no rhyme or reason, it could be any time:) I just keep reminding myself...my God knows the timing and his timing is perfect, even when I want it yesterday:) She will be in our arms soon...I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...
We are on day 46 of our wait for LOA...I know 3 families who have gotten theirs in 30 something days, but it could take 3 months....I am hoping it is sooner than later, of course, but there is no rhyme or reason, it could be any time:) I just keep reminding myself...my God knows the timing and his timing is perfect, even when I want it yesterday:) She will be in our arms soon...I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
PLEASE READ....
Here is a post about the "Changing Face of Orphan Care and the Orphan Crisis in China."....based on a session with Amy Eldridge with Love Without Boundaries....very interesting!!!
Thank you, Lord, that you protected our Alice and she is coming home...
Thank you, Lord, that you protected our Alice and she is coming home...
Friday, July 9, 2010
Guan Xu Waits...
I got an email today and this is what it said....
"We have had Guan Xu listed on our site since late January and she still waits. Every day that passes brings her closer to the day that she will be told she is too old to be adopted. What does that mean to her? It means she will never have a family. She has waited her entire life for a family and it now comes down to just four months left for her dream to come true. If she is not adopted by November 18, 2010 Chinese law will prohibit her from being adopted. There is no changing the Chinese law. On November 18 her fate is sealed. Either she has a family or she never will.
Please pass the word around. Maybe someone at your church or office is interested in adopting. Maybe the neighbor down the street. Or maybe you!"
So I went to the site and found out more info on her..
"Guan Xu is a pretty young girl who has been waiting for a family of her own for a long time. She is 13 years old, and will turn 14 in November; at that time she will no longer be eligible for adoption. Xu was abandoned as a newborn, and has been living with a foster family since 2001. She is a carrier of HepB, but has no other health concerns, and has been a healthy child. She attends school, although her foster parents must encourage her to do her homework. She respects her teachers, and gets along well with her classmates. She helps her foster mother around the house, and with the care of the younger brother of the family. She is in charge of caring for her own laundry and is learning to cook. Xu is a sweet girl, who has been with her foster family for a long time...she understands what it means to be part of a family. Unfortunately, this family is not hers. She has just a short time to find her forever family...will your family be the one?"
If you are interested in seeing her picture, please send me an email or message me...she is precious and needs a family--NOW...
"God sets the lonely in families"...Psalm 68:6
"We have had Guan Xu listed on our site since late January and she still waits. Every day that passes brings her closer to the day that she will be told she is too old to be adopted. What does that mean to her? It means she will never have a family. She has waited her entire life for a family and it now comes down to just four months left for her dream to come true. If she is not adopted by November 18, 2010 Chinese law will prohibit her from being adopted. There is no changing the Chinese law. On November 18 her fate is sealed. Either she has a family or she never will.
Please pass the word around. Maybe someone at your church or office is interested in adopting. Maybe the neighbor down the street. Or maybe you!"
So I went to the site and found out more info on her..
"Guan Xu is a pretty young girl who has been waiting for a family of her own for a long time. She is 13 years old, and will turn 14 in November; at that time she will no longer be eligible for adoption. Xu was abandoned as a newborn, and has been living with a foster family since 2001. She is a carrier of HepB, but has no other health concerns, and has been a healthy child. She attends school, although her foster parents must encourage her to do her homework. She respects her teachers, and gets along well with her classmates. She helps her foster mother around the house, and with the care of the younger brother of the family. She is in charge of caring for her own laundry and is learning to cook. Xu is a sweet girl, who has been with her foster family for a long time...she understands what it means to be part of a family. Unfortunately, this family is not hers. She has just a short time to find her forever family...will your family be the one?"
If you are interested in seeing her picture, please send me an email or message me...she is precious and needs a family--NOW...
"God sets the lonely in families"...Psalm 68:6
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Warning: Long Post!!!;)
I am actually posting this 7/8/10 at 1:45 am...I started it at midnight the 6th. The fact that i am up way past my bedtime may explain why I am soo chatty:) Enjoy!
There are at least 100 things I want to blog about but ultimately when the time comes that I can actually sit and do this, I can't blog about everything...so I usually blog about whatever is currently going on, even if I have missed lots of good stuff in between...so, today, what is on my mind mostly is what we went over in Bible study tonight--I usually have waaaayyy to many words to hit all that I am thinking about so I go with posting none...but I just cannot do that tonight --so here goes....I warned you!!...we have been doing Breaking Free (the new edition) by Beth Moore and tonight, alot of what she talked about really hit home with me...my experience is a common one, I believe for alot of Christians...I grew up in church and lots of the Bible and church became 'what you did' not really because of your personal relationship with God but for whatever reason--you just get numb to church talk, church songs, Bible verses...you hear them and they go in one ear and out the other...I lived a morally good life, but the relationship was missing. I did not love God with all that I had...I rode the fence just enough so that I could fit in with the 'world' without getting harassed to badly and was good so I fit in quite nicely at church....I wasn't spending any alone time reading my Bible, or talking to God...but I was soo 'good'---mostly did and said all the right things to look like a good Christian. And I did love God or so I thought I did. (she said in the lesson tonight..."One of the biggest and least addressed obstacles to truly loving God--is thinking you already do, when, truth be told, you really don't"). WOW. The older I got, and knowing that my life should mirror my Savior's, I began praying and saying, Lord, I know I am supposed to be like you and I want to be like you and you do ______ and you say __________ but I am just not feeling it, so what is wrong with me?? Basically, I was going through the motions and I loved God in my churchy, cliche way, but I was not truly LOVING GOD with all of my heart and soul..I was not in love with Him and I did not love Him above all other things....so anyway, I have had some wonderful time with the Lord lately and have found myself several times lately just saying to Him...I just love you...I just love you SO much.....(they were much more than these little sentences could do justice) these have been different and unlike times I have had before....well, tonight was about *seriously* loving the Lord...she said there were times when she would just say, God, I love you and that God just impressed upon her one night to say to Him.."I love you, too", because if it weren't for His love for us, we would not be able to love Him at all..."We love because He first loved us!!" 1 John 4:19--to you that may not sound very profound but tonight, for me, it was...I cannot love him on my own...love is from God...there is NO good thing in me...SO, because of his great love for measly little old me, I can say..."Lord, I LOVE you, too:)" I think, as she said, the first thing is just to be real...if you are going thru the motions-just be real--tell him that you want Him to be the love of your life and that you know that He isn't...the Bible says in 1 John 5:14,15 that if "we ask anything according to His will, He hears us and if we know that He hears when we ask, we know that we have the requests we have asked of him". It is God's will for us to LOVE him with everything we have, so if we go to him honestly and lay it all out, admit that we haven't really loved Him and ask for Him to give us that love that He talks about in His word, HE WILL ANSWER....
Just had to get that out...and it may not make a lick of sense to anyone who reads it, but HE is SO good, people!!!!!! Loving Him doesn't mean there are no hard times ahead, but it means you can say with CONFIDENCE, bring it on, my God is MIGHTY!!! I may just shout right here!!!
On a different note....other current consuming thoughts are about this awesome little orange book...IT is a MUST READ:
Don't be alarmed, I have plenty to say about this book....just can't do it tonight...I have to sleep at some point so I can be a decent mommy tomorrow, but there WILL be more to come....
God is moving and it is awesome...ok, I have to stop...another day, another post....
On a very LIGHT note...the remainder of my 'holiday post'...
This is how I spent alot of the past week...with our new camera, breaking it in good...(I posted this because it looks like there might be a hint of an arm muscle in this shot..haha)
Charlie asked me "Mom, will you post some of me on your blog...like some of me doing tricks and getting air??" Now, how could I refuse him???
Max got up this week and it was awesome...he was such a trooper and just kept trying and he GOT IT!!....
Weird pic, I know...this would be Max in the air...'Uncle Dave' was throwing him a little high...HE LOVED IT!!
Davis and Lucy cheesing it up...
Davis and Lucy on the 4th, ready for church...
Lucy being Lucy...she is so great...thank the Lord she is mine:)
Lucy and her partner in crime, Max...
The boat that gets the job done....we fill it up for sure, but it is so much fun!! (Regan is taking the pic, she was with us too)
A little fishing time...
A little river time...
A little snuggle time...
And now for a little laughing time...compliments of me....
I am not nearly the risk-taker I used to be....
I love to ride and relax on the boat....have a little time to myself to think and ponder things...I love to cheer everyone on as they ski and wakeboard, swim...whatever is going on....not a huge fan of losing my life to a mysterious creatures that lurk in muddy water, but that is ok.... I am, however, a competitor at heart...I do love a challenge and once in a while I just get an itching to make sure I could do something "if I wanted to"--plus, my kids were chanting "Here we go, mama, here we go, clap, clap"....it has been 10 years (at the very least) since I have skied. Was I scared??...um, yes...I was scared my feet were going to get ripped off at my ankles, that the ski would hit me in the head and I would have to go to the emergency room (I am accident prone...even more now that I am grown up)...and more than anything I was scared for my pride's sake that I couldn't get up on the skiis...so anyway....my range of emotions were very evident...and, of course, there was NO WAY I was going to do it unless someone had a camera so that I could prove it...so here goes....these pictures are NOT pretty but they are hilarious and I HAD to let you all get the good laugh that we all got around here....I don't remember making so many faces, but I guess it is true....
Here I am, in the water...saying to myself 'keep it cool, Jen, you can do it...."
This is right before take off...apparently the worry was setting in and I must've forgotten she had the zoom lens...
Up, but not soo sure....
Playing it cool, and thinking of how I could land without getting by feet torn off as mentioned above....
The look of accomplishment, after a brief freak out while the boat was coming to get me (thinking that I looked like shark bait to the creatures below got the best of me...yes I know there are no sharks in the river...got ahold of myself and made it to the boat...)
My foot kicked something...Charles says it was the ski handle but it felt like an alligator tail....I lost it....my kids weren't quite sure about me but that is not a first....
Poor Lucy started boo-hooing the moment I put the skies on..(how to you spell skiies??)...she cried through the whole ordeal...she was worried about me and didn't like it one bit that I was out there...by the time it was over...here was her puffy little sweet face:) I am loved!!
Goodnight ya'll....:) I am smiling--hope you are too....
There are at least 100 things I want to blog about but ultimately when the time comes that I can actually sit and do this, I can't blog about everything...so I usually blog about whatever is currently going on, even if I have missed lots of good stuff in between...so, today, what is on my mind mostly is what we went over in Bible study tonight--I usually have waaaayyy to many words to hit all that I am thinking about so I go with posting none...but I just cannot do that tonight --so here goes....I warned you!!...we have been doing Breaking Free (the new edition) by Beth Moore and tonight, alot of what she talked about really hit home with me...my experience is a common one, I believe for alot of Christians...I grew up in church and lots of the Bible and church became 'what you did' not really because of your personal relationship with God but for whatever reason--you just get numb to church talk, church songs, Bible verses...you hear them and they go in one ear and out the other...I lived a morally good life, but the relationship was missing. I did not love God with all that I had...I rode the fence just enough so that I could fit in with the 'world' without getting harassed to badly and was good so I fit in quite nicely at church....I wasn't spending any alone time reading my Bible, or talking to God...but I was soo 'good'---mostly did and said all the right things to look like a good Christian. And I did love God or so I thought I did. (she said in the lesson tonight..."One of the biggest and least addressed obstacles to truly loving God--is thinking you already do, when, truth be told, you really don't"). WOW. The older I got, and knowing that my life should mirror my Savior's, I began praying and saying, Lord, I know I am supposed to be like you and I want to be like you and you do ______ and you say __________ but I am just not feeling it, so what is wrong with me?? Basically, I was going through the motions and I loved God in my churchy, cliche way, but I was not truly LOVING GOD with all of my heart and soul..I was not in love with Him and I did not love Him above all other things....so anyway, I have had some wonderful time with the Lord lately and have found myself several times lately just saying to Him...I just love you...I just love you SO much.....(they were much more than these little sentences could do justice) these have been different and unlike times I have had before....well, tonight was about *seriously* loving the Lord...she said there were times when she would just say, God, I love you and that God just impressed upon her one night to say to Him.."I love you, too", because if it weren't for His love for us, we would not be able to love Him at all..."We love because He first loved us!!" 1 John 4:19--to you that may not sound very profound but tonight, for me, it was...I cannot love him on my own...love is from God...there is NO good thing in me...SO, because of his great love for measly little old me, I can say..."Lord, I LOVE you, too:)" I think, as she said, the first thing is just to be real...if you are going thru the motions-just be real--tell him that you want Him to be the love of your life and that you know that He isn't...the Bible says in 1 John 5:14,15 that if "we ask anything according to His will, He hears us and if we know that He hears when we ask, we know that we have the requests we have asked of him". It is God's will for us to LOVE him with everything we have, so if we go to him honestly and lay it all out, admit that we haven't really loved Him and ask for Him to give us that love that He talks about in His word, HE WILL ANSWER....
Just had to get that out...and it may not make a lick of sense to anyone who reads it, but HE is SO good, people!!!!!! Loving Him doesn't mean there are no hard times ahead, but it means you can say with CONFIDENCE, bring it on, my God is MIGHTY!!! I may just shout right here!!!
On a different note....other current consuming thoughts are about this awesome little orange book...IT is a MUST READ:
Don't be alarmed, I have plenty to say about this book....just can't do it tonight...I have to sleep at some point so I can be a decent mommy tomorrow, but there WILL be more to come....
God is moving and it is awesome...ok, I have to stop...another day, another post....
On a very LIGHT note...the remainder of my 'holiday post'...
This is how I spent alot of the past week...with our new camera, breaking it in good...(I posted this because it looks like there might be a hint of an arm muscle in this shot..haha)
Charlie asked me "Mom, will you post some of me on your blog...like some of me doing tricks and getting air??" Now, how could I refuse him???
Max got up this week and it was awesome...he was such a trooper and just kept trying and he GOT IT!!....
Weird pic, I know...this would be Max in the air...'Uncle Dave' was throwing him a little high...HE LOVED IT!!
Davis and Lucy cheesing it up...
Davis and Lucy on the 4th, ready for church...
Lucy being Lucy...she is so great...thank the Lord she is mine:)
Lucy and her partner in crime, Max...
The boat that gets the job done....we fill it up for sure, but it is so much fun!! (Regan is taking the pic, she was with us too)
A little fishing time...
A little river time...
A little snuggle time...
And now for a little laughing time...compliments of me....
I am not nearly the risk-taker I used to be....
I love to ride and relax on the boat....have a little time to myself to think and ponder things...I love to cheer everyone on as they ski and wakeboard, swim...whatever is going on....not a huge fan of losing my life to a mysterious creatures that lurk in muddy water, but that is ok.... I am, however, a competitor at heart...I do love a challenge and once in a while I just get an itching to make sure I could do something "if I wanted to"--plus, my kids were chanting "Here we go, mama, here we go, clap, clap"....it has been 10 years (at the very least) since I have skied. Was I scared??...um, yes...I was scared my feet were going to get ripped off at my ankles, that the ski would hit me in the head and I would have to go to the emergency room (I am accident prone...even more now that I am grown up)...and more than anything I was scared for my pride's sake that I couldn't get up on the skiis...so anyway....my range of emotions were very evident...and, of course, there was NO WAY I was going to do it unless someone had a camera so that I could prove it...so here goes....these pictures are NOT pretty but they are hilarious and I HAD to let you all get the good laugh that we all got around here....I don't remember making so many faces, but I guess it is true....
Here I am, in the water...saying to myself 'keep it cool, Jen, you can do it...."
This is right before take off...apparently the worry was setting in and I must've forgotten she had the zoom lens...
Up, but not soo sure....
Playing it cool, and thinking of how I could land without getting by feet torn off as mentioned above....
The look of accomplishment, after a brief freak out while the boat was coming to get me (thinking that I looked like shark bait to the creatures below got the best of me...yes I know there are no sharks in the river...got ahold of myself and made it to the boat...)
My foot kicked something...Charles says it was the ski handle but it felt like an alligator tail....I lost it....my kids weren't quite sure about me but that is not a first....
Poor Lucy started boo-hooing the moment I put the skies on..(how to you spell skiies??)...she cried through the whole ordeal...she was worried about me and didn't like it one bit that I was out there...by the time it was over...here was her puffy little sweet face:) I am loved!!
Goodnight ya'll....:) I am smiling--hope you are too....
Saturday, July 3, 2010
The River
Boat hair returns...
Max and Dad before Max's first attempt at skiing...
My honey...
Look at these sweet babies...
They are the best of friends...
The day ended with a beautiful sunset...
We had a ball today at the river...
Max and Dad before Max's first attempt at skiing...
My honey...
Look at these sweet babies...
They are the best of friends...
The day ended with a beautiful sunset...
We had a ball today at the river...
Random Pics:)
I know I am lagging on posts, but I am writing down 'the whole story' of our process and just haven't finished it yet...so, it is coming. In the meantime, here are some random shots...
Here is a glimpse of our swimming lessons this past week(thank you, Ashley!)....Little Missy in action--she thinks she is an adult, I believe....all three kids had lessons-it was a HOOT!!!
We finally got our "China camera"....I had my little point and shoot and we had a 'big deal' 35mm camera, but bit the bullet and bought a nice camera to take to China-it was for our anniversary. I must say that it is addictive. I am thinking there will be lots more pictures in our future. UH OH....absolutely can't wait to take pics of Alice with it:)
Lucy Lu
Me and Lucy, sitting on the side together...
Love my Maxi...
Here is Charlie with his "I'm in timeout" face...
Max in action
Enjoy the holiday...we sure will...:)
Here is a glimpse of our swimming lessons this past week(thank you, Ashley!)....Little Missy in action--she thinks she is an adult, I believe....all three kids had lessons-it was a HOOT!!!
We finally got our "China camera"....I had my little point and shoot and we had a 'big deal' 35mm camera, but bit the bullet and bought a nice camera to take to China-it was for our anniversary. I must say that it is addictive. I am thinking there will be lots more pictures in our future. UH OH....absolutely can't wait to take pics of Alice with it:)
Lucy Lu
Me and Lucy, sitting on the side together...
Love my Maxi...
Here is Charlie with his "I'm in timeout" face...
Max in action
Enjoy the holiday...we sure will...:)
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