First Stitches

Since this is our main family blog, I need to write this day down as the fist time one of our kids got stitches.....

ASHLEY!

My calm, careful, non-adventurous , Ashley Mei.

She went for the last mandarin orange in the can, and came out with a major boo boo.

That said, this kid is TOUGH. She didn't have to even be held down, she just laid still, and wimpered while they gave her three shots and 3 stitches. Such a brave kid...I told her she could have anything she wanted afterwards, and she grinned and said, "cake ice cream!!!"

She got it :)

Orphanage One Year Later

A year ago today we spent the day in Foshan City, China at Asher's orphanage. This is where he was brought after he was abandoned and found, just hours after he was born. While we don't share the details of how and where that took place, trust me when I say it is heartbreaking to even try to understand it all.

But he was brought to this orphanage by the police, and cared for there for 23 months. We had a lengthy visit, and through our guide, were able to speak to the director and nannies.  Asher was held by nannies and caregivers for the majority of the time we were in the building. They kept passing him around, but honestly he didn't seem to have a clue who any of them were. He got very animated when we went to his room, probably because he had spent close to 22 hours a day there for so long. He played and relaxed immediately, as if he was grateful to be in familiar surroundings for the first time in days.

At one point we asked the director for any pictures or items we could have of his stay there. She took me alone to a room with a computer and pulled up a few early pictures. She would only allow me to take pictures of the computer screen with my camera, but we treasure these early glimpses of his life and we'll take anything we can get!

I don't see how anyone can visit an orphanage and not be changed. I was on the verge of tears most of our time there. And this facility is actually fairly nice by orphanage standards. But still, it's NO place for a child to be raised. As I walked those halls, I resisted the urge to get angry at the Lord. As in WHY in the WORLD do there have to be places like this? Where are you Lord? Can't you stop this? And as He always does, he gently said to my heart, "I am here. This is where I AM. I am not in the over commercialized shopping malls and money driven hearts of the people where you are from. THIS is where I am."  

And it's true. He is "near to the brokenhearted" (Psalm 34:18) and if we want to be near to God, we have to be near to what His heart beats for. And these precious babies are very near to the heart of God. 

Psalm 68:5

A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation.

One Year Later

One year ago today, we loaded up on a bus bound for the civil affairs office in Guangzhou, China. There is nothing in the WORLD like that bus ride.....seven families about to burst with excitement and nerves, all rolled into one. For most of us it was our second adoption, but the nerves were just the same. The room that day was FULL of families, about 50 total met their children we were told. Before it was our turn, we were able to watch as child after child was taken out from a "holding room" and given to their families. It was like being in the delivery room, and witnessing very intimate moments, but with dozens of eyes watching. There were tears all over the room, from mama's and daddy's and children as well! But the looks of those that had waited so so long for this moment....I will never ever forget it. There are times in life you wish you could freeze time. That was for sure one for me.

Soon, it was our turn! Within a few minutes, we were handed an itty bitty baby boy.....and it was sealed. He would never again be called an orphan. Now, he was a son, a brother, a grandson. With full inherited rights. And all of our lives would be changed forever.

The last year we've watched this little man grow and thrive and soar. He loves loves loves balloons and anything that resembles a ball, and he's beginning to eat like a champ! I cannot imagine the void that we would have in our family, had we not said "yes" to the call from the Lord to bring him home.


Asher Stephen, the Lord has such an amazing plan for your life. He has called you from a far away land, and allowed daddy and I to have the amazing privilege of sheparding your heart and life. Not one single day goes by that the idea of that doesn't send me straight to the throne! The Lord is using your story to change lives. Already! I cannot wait to see how far and wide you go for the Kingdom!!!

(day one)

Today...one.year.home.

1 Samuel 12:16

"Stand firm and watch what the Lord will do before your very eyes!"
PS:
You can read about that day here...


*balloon pics: K&R Photography

One Year Ago Tonight.....

We were leaving on that big airplane for China. I'm not going to lie, even looking through these pictures is emotional for me. I can remember the smell of China just looking at them. I can hear the traffic and the music playing on the streets. For some reason I feel like a part of me is there. I know it sounds crazy. But OH how I MISS that place. A lot of adoptive parents are dying to come home, and for it all to be over. For some reason, this time I wanted to linger. Stay just a little longer. Monday it will be ONE YEAR with our boy!!! Wow how time flies when we're having fun :)

I.AM. EXHAUSTED.

I mean so.tired.


I'm so tired that today in the Publix parking lot I for real contemplated taking a nap in my van and not getting groceries. (what's more important, food or sleep?? hummm....)


Tonight, as I was putting dishes in the dishwasher to run it for the third time today, answering how to spell "favorite" and begging Asher to stop drumming on every.single.service. of our home, I had a moment where I just began to plead with the Lord for rest. (multi-tasking is just a given with 5 children)


It doesn't come easy around here. Mornings come early and nights end really late. There is an endless stream of work to do and never, ever is my "to do" list complete. In my dishes tonight, the Lord and I were conversing.


Lord, is this because I've taken on too much? Said "yes" when I should have said "no?" Spinning my wheels on things of this world and not You? And the word I got, was that no, this is not the case. Honestly, I don't feel over committed,  Lord. I'm not overly involved, my work is not too much. It's just LIFE, that has me worn.out.


He gently reminded me:

“The LORD your God is giving you rest and has granted you this land.” {Joshua 1:3} 

He has given me this land. This home, these amazing little people, and this husband of mine, HE has brought me here.  And a journey is tiring.  God rarely calls us to the "easy."  And part of His calling on my life right now is here.

 And it can be exhausting.

The Lord brought our sweet friends, Matt and Amber, to my mind at the sink. They are serving in Africa with their young girls. "Do you ever think they get tired?" Yes, Lord, I can imagine they do.  Weary? Probably so.  But they are following a call. And tired and weary, they are just a part of the package.

The Lord knew we would get weary. That's why He said, "Come to Me, all who are burdened and weary and I will give you rest."  

That is the real rest we, I, need.  Just a few moments, to rest in Him. To be renewed of His strength. So He can lead us to the NEXT thing He's calling us too. 

And praise the Lord, HE never ever tires. 

 “the LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. God will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.” {Isaiah 40:28}