Fun Times...

Peace y'all!

Ketchup on pizza???

Celebrating Bao Shi Han's (Krystal) 15th birthday, which is Feb. 3rd.

Say, "Chineeeeeese"!

We had such a great time with our precious Chinese exchange students. This opportunity landed smack dab in the middle of our crazy summer last year and the Lord has used it to do incredible things for us. It's such an amazing opportunity to show the love of Christ to children who may have never heard that name before. It fills up a place in my soul... I wish I could explain it, but I don't have the words. When you have 2 people staying with you (who call you "mom") for an extended time period, it's only natural that you become somewhat attached to them. The first night was... interesting. I wondered if they even spoke ANY English. Alex and I looked at each other as we headed to the car from the airport that night and just wondered if we'd make it through the next 2 weeks. I was longing to have our sweet Rita and Michelle back instead. It seemed somewhat bleak, but by the time we got home things had gotten warmer and they were very sweet. It was late, so no one was up. I quietly showed them up their room and they were very happy. I showed them their bathroom and the closet for them to hang up their clothes. They showered me with gifts and seemed very comfortable at that point. We came down and had a quick cup of tea and then it was off to bed. The next morning was great. The kids were very welcoming to them and curious about who they were... asking lots of questions and getting lots of giggles. I took them to school and they asked if they could call me "mom". I said, "Of course!"

The way it goes is that they are here to learn better English, or at least, put into practice what they have been learning in China since they were very small. I dropped them off at their school each morning at 8:30 and they have class most days until noon. Then they go shopping, go to theme parks, go bowling, and other field trips with the rest of the group (there was a total of 10 kids this time, all from China). Then we picked them up at 5:30 each evening, except for the days they go to the theme parks, which get them home pretty late. On Sunday's they spend the entire day with us. Each day they would come home with candy and gifts for each of us. They were so sweet and affectionate. They always wanted lots of hugs and were happy to get back home to us, telling me, "mom, I miss you today." They told Matt several times, "You good Dad," and gave him TONS of candy (which is his love language BTW.) I mean, it's just an all around amazing experience.

Krystal was not feeling well by then end of week 1. I (along with her Chinese leader, Kathryn) took her to the doctor last Monday. She had been running a low grade fever and complaining of a sore throat. Kathryn and I hit it off. She lives in Hong Kong. I was hestitant to tell her about our adoption for fear that she might be offended, but I couldn't resist. I showed her a picture and she told me all about China's one child policy. She was so engaging. She invited us to stay with her in Hong Kong and told me she would show us around town. I tried telling her that our agency plans all of that for us and she said, "No. It too expensive that way. I show you." :) We swapped email addresses and I thanked her and told her I'd be in touch. We may not even fly into Hong Kong.
While at the doctor's office, Krystal was napping in a chair while Kathryn was snapping pictures of everything. It was quite funny. I asked her about medical care in China. She said you wait in a long line outside for a very long time and then the doctor calls you in, checks you out, and sends you out the door in like 5 minutes. She loved our pediatrician too. She wanted her picture taken with him as well. He was tickled and took great time talking to them and making them feel loved. It turned out that Krystal was fine. Just a virus of some sort. She perked up as soon as he said that and that was that. A little nap and some tylenol and she was good to go!

There is so much more to this story, but I gotta run. Stay tuned...

Blessings,
Rebecca

Psalm 62:5

"My Soul, wait in silence for God only, For my HOPE is from Him."

I LOVE THIS SONG! I heard it in the car a while back on our Christian radio station and just fell in love with the words, which speak so clearly the things on my heart and mind. If I could encourage you in any way, big or small today, it would be to tell you to find a Christian radio station and listen to it any time you want some noise in your life. That's a great thing to ponder... the noise in my life. What/Who am I listening to? Is it uplifting? Is it glorifying to the Lord? What is it teaching me? There is so much on the TV and radio these days that is just flat out depressing. It's all about SEX, fortune, fame... If all that was filling the void in our lives, why is Hollywood so messed up? Why do they all seem so angry and lonely? Even in the midst of the worst days of our lives, we have this to hold onto... That our God will NEVER leave us nor forsake us. "He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and HE set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm." I will NEVER stop singing His praise. To Him alone be the glory.

Some good listening for today can also be found at davidjeremiah.org. He is the pastor of Shadow Mountain Church in San Diego and one of my VERY favorite Bible teachers. Check out His topic from today about fear! SO VERY GOOD!

Blessings,
Rebecca

I Don't Even Know How To Title This Post...

I know this is an adoption blog and those of you following along are really just interested in that. Like me, you want to connect with other people going through this process. But like me, you've probably also bumped into some blogs along the way that left you going, "hmmmm..."

Well, I've been deep in thought these past few days over a blog that someone sent to me. It was a really funny post that this girl wrote last week and my husband and I had a good laugh together, relating to much of what was said. I love people who aren't ashamed to just be REAL. Ya know? The blogs I follow along on are from the Christian perspective and this girl SEEMED to share those views too. She speaks very openly and honestly about her love for Jesus and others. Her blog has a very LOVING theme. It's ALL ABOUT LOVE. Who wouldn't want to join that club, right? So, I went into her archives and checked it out in further detail. She has an amazing testimony. I am always in awe of people who have lived a very hard life and who have found their way to the feet of Jesus. God is so good, isn't He? This gal has clearly been to hell and back and now all she wants to do is to love others and encourage them. She also has over 10,000 page views per day and over 6,000 members. Wow.

Flash back...
When I was growing up, Oprah was my hero. I thought this woman was incredible. Didn't we all? She overcame so many huge obstacles in her life and used her fame to help others. Such a generous soul.
You may remember in the late 90's how her show turned super-spiritual... I was like, "Yeah! You go girl!" She was proclaiming the name of Jesus openly and in front of millions of viewers daily. I was so excited.
Then something happened. It started to take a turn and it became more watered down, more new age, more... acceptable. Somewhere along the line, Oprah got off course and shared with her viewers that she no longer believed that Jesus was the only way. My heart sank for her. Since then she has become even bigger. She is in many ways, larger than life. I will always be grateful to her, because without her show, I would've never said yes to adoption 7 years ago. She opened my eyes to the crisis in China and I am forever thankful to her for that.
Shortly thereafter there was a surprise show for her. Many of her girlfriends got together and did a tribute to her. They had Josh Groban on to sing, "You Raise Me Up". Did y'all see this show? They were singing along with him to HER. I remember something in me thinking, "gosh, that sounds like something I'd more likely be singing to Jesus than to a friend"... Then I found out that "Selah" wrote the song. "Selah" is one of my favorite Christian groups. The song WAS written to Jesus. And here these ladies are, up there crooning to Oprah about how she raises them up to walk on water and how they are strong when on her  shoulders... UGH. They had begun to worship the creature instead of the Creator, just like many of her followers. So, that was it for me. I was done. I can't say that I've watched an episode since. It completely turned me off. That, and her new enlightening ideas of how to "get to heaven" that people were, and still are,  praising her for. While under the notion of preaching "love" she has been leading millions of people astray... DAILY. Do ya'll know that we are held accountable for the things we teach others? James 3 speaks about this.

Back to my point... This blog I'm referring to has left me with that same aweful pit in my stomach. While proclaiming the name of Jesus, she has gone and profained His truth on a very contoversial issue... to thousands of followers. There were over 650 responses to her post, most of which were extremely loving, but spoken from both sides of the coin. I am SO PROUD of the Godly people who responded with the truth in love. And telling the truth, as we believers know, isn't always received in love because we live in a day and age where if you don't support people in their decisions, good or bad, then you are considered "un-loving" and sometimes even a "hater". The folks who don't agree with the Bible on this issue, have accused the loving deliverers of the Good News as being "un-loving". So not fair, but oh well. "Fair" is one of our "human" terms that I'm sure was coined AFTER the fall. Doubtful it was ever used in the Garden... That is until the serpent came around. Just something to consider. My thoughts, not scripture.

You want to know the very worst part about her post in my opinion? There are many "Christians" who don't have a clue about what the Bible says. There are so many churches these days, watering down the gospel and making it more about what feels good and more comfortable for all us sinners.
Friends, if our ideas, feelings, opinions don't line up with scripture, guess which one of us is incorrect??? It really doesn't matter what we think, does it? God is sovereign! We aren't ever going to have ALL the answers to life's mysteries. We have to trust HIM. We have to surrender to HIM. Is this always easy? Heck no. Right now He is asking me to do something that is very contrary to my human-ness and it's SO VERY HARD. I don't want to. But if I don't obey him, who am I hurting? It's the same way we have to parent our children. God knows what's best for us because He sees the big picture. He has experience. We know what's best for our children. We see the big picture. If your child looked at you and said, "But mommy, I want to touch the burner on the stove." Or, "I want to smoke pot." Or, "I want to play in the middle of oncoming traffic." We would say "no" because we understand the outcome. We LOVE them. Are we being unloving because we disagree with their desires? No. Not anymore than God is unloving for saying no to us for the things HE knows are not good for us, contrary to what we may think or feel.

There were many "Christians" who commented that they were so happy that this gal said what she did because it gave them the freedom to be ok with how they feel too. That's what I'm stewing on. It has literally eaten me up inside for 2 days. So this is my release. I need to take it to the Lord, I know. I have been.

I look at the people all around me; the people who haven't chosen Christ, and I anguish for them. My heart literally aches for them to grab hold of Jesus. I long more than ANYTHING IN THIS WORLD for people to know the AGAPE of the Savior. There is no joy in sin. Happiness? For a season, yes. But never JOY.

Is there someone in your life who needs Christ? Pray for them. Diligently. There are MANY in mine.

Do you know Jesus personally?

He has a plan for our lives. His ways are not our ways. His path is narrow and only a few take it, but it is open to all of us if we're willing to take it. NO ONE who chooses Christ will be turned away.

Blessings,
Rebecca

Will You Be a Trader?

Fried Rice!

Meet "Julia" (red jacket) & "Crystal" (gray sweater). AKA, our Chinese foreign exchange students.  Alex and I picked them up from the airport at 11:40 PM on Tuesday night, which means that we didn't get home until around 1:00 AM. They are very sweet. Crystal speaks pretty good English, Julia does not. The first thing Crystal said to me in the car was ,"Your son very cute." Alex just rolled his eyes and tried not to smile. Poor guy. Rita (one of our exchange students from last summer) came into his room one night, leaned over him as he was laying in bed, and said, "I love you!". Then she bolted out of his room. He had very little contact with them because of this. It makes him so uncomfortable. It's funny that history seems to be repeating itself... In more ways than one. I have this exact picture of Rita and Michelle, making fried rice at my stove top. It made me miss them so much.
Crystal and Julia are very mannerly and generous. They brought us gifts from China and bought my kids (and Matt) a bunch of candy and a chocolate covered apple at Downtown Disney yesterday. They always ask if they can help with anything and are so sweet to miss Ansley, who follows them around with her iTouch, translating the things she wants to say to them. She gets so excited when it works. Thank goodness for technology! When they were making the fried rice last night, Crystal asked for sugar. I said, "really?" And she thought about it for a second and then got out the translater. It turns out, she was looking for pepper. :) Good thing we cleared that up! Today they are at Universal Studios for the day. I don't get them until 8:00 PM, but I promised them that we would make some more Chinese food tomorrow night. I know they're suppose to have the entire American experience and eat American food, but I enjoy making things they know & like too. I think I may try dumplings tomorrow night.

Blessings,
Rebecca

I-800 A Forms & Exchange Students

We have arrived to another stage in this long adoption process; the I-800 A forms. Apparently this is an application that we must fill out and send to the CIS (citizenship and immigration services) in order to be approved to adopt internationally. This process will take 2-3 months. In the meantime, we begin the dossier (pronounced "doss-ee-ay") which is a collection of approximately 13 documents submitted to the CCCWA (Chinese Center for Children's Welfare & Adoption) for permission to adopt a child from China. I hear this is taking around 4 months??? I'm so confused, but what they heck... She'll hopefully be home by Halloween, Lord willing;) Does anybody ever understand all of these steps???

On to some fun news...
Our Chinese exchange students arrive at 11:30 PM tonight. I have to go to the airport to pick them up. We are hosting 2 girls, ages 13 & 14. I've been praying that we are a blessing to them, but also that we will enjoy them as much as we enjoyed our last students. They have quite a busy schedule. They come here for a more hands-on lesson in English, so they actually have classes several days that they are here and a test on the last day. They also get to go on a lot of fun outings. They are going to Epcot, Sea World, the outlet mall, the beach... They have all sorts of things on their schedule. The school they meet at every day is literally a 30 second drive from my kids' school. They get dropped off at 8:30 AM every morning and I pick them up at 5:30 PM most evenings, except for their long amusement park days. They eat breakfast & dinner with us each day and hang out all day with us on Sunday's. I love this because we get to take them to church with us. Please pray that a seed might be sown in their hearts this week.

Blessings,
Rebecca

Planning Ahead... A Home Schooling Post

I have home schooled my children a couple of times over the past 8 years. Each time we did it, it was for very specific reasons and those reasons varied for each child. What we learned along the way was that home schooling is a gift. It's free to anyone who chooses to accept it. But for some children, home schooling isn't the best gift. We discovered this with our eldest. He is a natural leader. He is strong-willed and loves a good competition. Working along side his younger sister did nothing to boost his drive. I was not a good student. I just barely graduated from high school. (That's a post for another day:) So for ME to choose to home school my kids was a huge leap of faith and it was very hard for me. Teaching is actually one of my spiritual gifts...really, shepherding is. Which some think is the same, but I disagree. To get up in front of a group of people and teach a lesson on something I'm not passionate about would be a failure for sure. BUT, to shepherd someone... to come along side of them and encourage them in the love of Jesus... THAT is what I love to do. So we did great with Bible. I could go on and on with my children (and I do) about the Lord and how He loves them and has great plans for their lives. I used the Precept D4Y material for our Bible time and LOVED it. I also was given the opportunity to lead an entire class of home schooled children through the gospel of John. It was amazing. My daughter can still remember the miracles that Jesus persformed, and most of them in order. It was a sweet year and one that I will treasure forever. But we realized in the middle of our son's 4th grade year (he's now in 6th) that he was depressed. He hated being home schooled. He liked several of the perks of being home schooled, but he just wasn't being challenged enough and it was like pulling teeth to get him to sit and do the work. He was so bored. I honestly felt like I was doing him a disservice by keeping him home. So we registered him for the charter school across the street and 2 weeks later he was sitting in the classroom. He never looked back. The healthy competition of knowing that you'd better study hard because there are other kids aiming for good grades too, gave him the desire he needed to work hard. Matt and I have never doubted that decision for ONE SECOND. It was the best thing we could have ever done for him. I probably won't ever attempt to home school him again unless it's absolutely necessary. Now with Ansley... She's totally different. She would LOVE to be home schooled again and we may do that again in the future. For now, she is exactly where she needs to be too. She had a slow start with reading, and still struggles with reading comp. We put her in the public school last year (3rd) after having homeschooled her for 1st & 2nd. I felt like she needed to be challenged to push harder. Children will always work harder for someone else and I wanted to see where she was academically in comparison to other kids her age. Her first quarter in the 3rd grade was HARD. But, she managed to get all B's and a couple of C's. The math they were doing was OUTRAGEOUSLY CHALLENGING. Thank heavens she had wonderful teachers. They took extra time with her and really poured into her like nothing I've ever seen before. This is a public (charter) school we are talking about and ALL 3 of her teachers were Christians. She ended up getting straight A's the last quarter and received the President's Award. God knew exactly what she needed... what WE needed. What an amazing experience. And it was a great way for our kids to see what public school is like. The kids there definitely came from all sorts of backgrounds. I was scared of the big, bad public school. I went to some myself as a kid. I know all too well what goes on there. I also had the amazing privelege of going to a small Christian school for 8th-12th grades. I appreciated it so much because I felt safe and loved. But I have to admit, it's a big, bad world out there. We have to equip our kids. We found out that "Greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world." Our kids got to see folly in a way that they never had before. Especially our son. One of his teachers (last year) was just barely out of college. She looked like one of the students. She would play songs like, "Dynamite" for them while they were doing their work and she would talk about her obsession with a certain NBA basketball player. One minute she was their big buddy and the next she was trying to be an authority figure. It was eye opening for our son and gave us much to chew on in conversations. (which we have alot of. He is a big talker and I love that.) His peers were allowed to have cell phones and would text like crazy with each other, which made him fell left out. (Our son still does not have a cell phone). They were all allowed on Facebook. I'm not even on Facebook, so why would I want my tween on there??? He signed up 3 different times without us knowing! You can just imagine how that went down... not so good with this mama and papa. Boy, was that a tough time. But it's like I always tell my children, "We are always in prayer that your sins will find you out". Why? Because our children do sin. Daily. And we want to walk beside them and show them the right way. "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of EVERY child; the rod of discipline will remove it far from him". We love our children and we want for them to see how the world lives and then see the consequences for how the world lives and hope that they can make a decision for themselves to choose the ways of the Lord, even though it's not always the coolest choice. Alex's friends last year (We're still talking 5th graders here) all had girlfriends and their parents would drop them all off at the skate center on Friday nights and they would hold hands (and who knows what else) and plaster it all over Facebook. For the end of the year party, there was a "lock in" from dusk till dawn. Yeah, I don't think so. But I did tell him that I would take him and sit in the wee corner with my book and he'd never know I was there. Not all night long, but at least for a couple of hours. Alex is a well-liked kid. He is handsome and athletic... not very shy or self-conscious, so this wouldn't have made him embarrassed at all. He thought about it and then said, "You know mom, I don't even want to go." And that was that. Graduation was the next day and he hasn't kept in touch with one kid from that school. Not one. Our kids are all at a wonderful (small) Christian school now and totally LOVE IT. He was able to glimpse and even partake in what the world has to offer for a short time, and he understands like never before what a lie it is. He is at peace this year. He has shown so much growth. We are SO proud of him.

So... We have tried it all. We started out in a big, fancy private college-prep Christian school for 2 years, where we thought we'd stay forever. Then we home schooled for a year. Then back to the big, fancy private school again for a year. Then home schooled AGAIN for 2 years (year & 1/2 for Alex). Then public school for a year (year & 1/2 for Alex). And now they are at a different smaller Christian school, where we hope to stay. We didn't start out on this journey thinking we'd be all over the place. It sort of seems like we are indecisive people. Actually, we have bathed each of these decisions in prayer. We take school one year at a time and we have done some things that we never thought we would have. Each family has to make their decisions based prayer & on what they believe is best for their family. No one knows whats better for your family than you. I recently read a blog of a home school mom who feels that every mom should home school and she makes no bones about it, that if you choose not to, it's because you are lazy or want more "me time"... As my good friend Jill always says, "There is no room for me in the Trinity". In other words, the Holy Spirit will guide you as to what you should do with your children. Rarely will He tell someone else what you should do with your children without telling you. If you feel called to home school, go for it! If not, then don't. The great thing is that we have the freedom to choose. I am so thankful for that!

AND, having said ALL OF THAT... We have decided to home school Ashlyn. I will share more about my thoughts and plans in future posts. I was given some great advice yesterday from a BTDT mom that I plan on using. If you have any suggestions please feel free to chime in!

Blessings,
Rebecca

Day 3 and Counting...

I am on day 3 of my new intense workout regime and ALL PROTEIN diet. It's been hard, but amazingly rewarding. My head is in the right place and I have a great trainer. His kids go to the same school as ours and they also go to our church. He made me a great deal since he knew every extra penny has been going towards this adoption. I am scheduled for 3 months and then I am hoping to maintain on my own... I know, it's not likely... Maybe he'll offer me another great deal to stay! :) It really isn't that expensive. I love the energy it's given me. He even offered to let Matt come to the guys classes for FREE. So, he starts tomorrow night. It's so important to be in good health. I think it makes all the difference in the world when you're adding extra pressures to your life, to maintain a great fitness and diet routine. We are already pretty healthy eaters. Matt runs marathons and half-marathons anually. He runs on the West Orange Trail that goes right through our neighborhood several times a week. But we are getting older and I feel the need to gain some strength in my very under-used muscles. Fatigue had been starting to set in. I wasn't able to get up as early as I'd like and that just makes for a more "behind" kind of day. I have been able to roll out of bed at 6:00 AM fairly easily this week and start my day off with the Lord. It just makes the entire day more peaceful.

I hope you are also off to a great new year. We have been reflecting on ALL that our Heavenly Father has done for us and are so humbled at His love for us. He loves us so much. His love doesn't depend on the things we do for Him. He doesn't love us less when we make mistakes, or even when we willfully disobey Him. This is the way we humans think. His ways are not our ways. Thank heavens!!! I am really meditating on that today. He loves us all the same and His love is not conditional. I also listened to a GREAT sermon yesterday by James MacDonald on prayer. IT WAS SO EYE OPENING. Go onto Walk in The Word Ministries website and check it out!

FYI...... We are done with the home study!!! Just got off the phone with Lifeline. On to immigration!!! Here we come Ashlyn!!!

Blessings,
Rebecca

Happy 2012!

Ever since I had my first baby, almost 13 years ago, I've been saying, "On Monday I'm going to start my diet". There's just something about Monday's... But several have come and gone and I'm still not at my goal weight. I guess I thought the pounds would just fall off by carrying my chunky babies around. No such luck for me. New Year's Day is like the ultimate Monday. I've never really had any resolutions before, but this year I do. One of them is to read more books. Reading is one of my favorite things to do, but I haven't been taking as much time as I'd like or need lately to do it. Here is my first pick of the new year:

I've also decided on my word for the year. It is LOVE. It was an easy pick. I have felt led to pick this word before and chickened out. It means that I have to give up some old habits. I am a mercy person and I am also very forgiving, but when it comes to doing everything in love, I fall short big time. I have a discerning spirit and STRONG personal convictions. Sometimes this can cause me to become opinionated, critical, & judgemental. I try very hard to keep that under control, but I slip up from time to time. Our kids went Christmas shopping at school for gifts for us. (With money that I sent in:) and Ansley just so happened to buy this for me:

It solidified my decision. I hung it up on my bathroom wall, right next to my mirror, which is the first thing I see in the morning. :)

Ok... and then there is our sweet Ashlyn Li Hui McKee! OH MY GOODNESS!!! This is the year y'all! It's really coming!!! She is coming home in 2012! I no longer have to say, "next year..." It's THIS YEAR!!! We are talking a short 8-10 months from now. My desire is to have her home by my birthday, which is in September. We were out on the town today and I looked at the clock. It was 12:09 PM our time, which is 1:09 AM her time. The Chinese New Year is a BIG deal in China. I have a feeling she was up doing whatever they do to celebrate. Oh, please, please, please pray for her heart. We SO want for her to like us. I know that sounds so silly, but I know she's not going to love us right off the bat, but just to have her "like" us would be fine with me. I had a lovely chat with our social worker the other day. I was asking her opinion of our girls bedroom setup. We have planned to let all three of our girls share a room and it has been set up this way since we moved into this house 5 years ago. After reading the "Adoption Parenting" book and talking with a BTDT adoptive mom, I became nervous about this for obvious reasons. I have very keen senses. I keep a close watch on my children and monitor very closely any contact they have with other people. Sleepovers are reserved for only those people we feel very comfortable with. We have had "the talk" many times and I know my kids would alert me to any inappropriate behavior, but you just never know. We also have a video baby monitor set up in that room which will come in handy. I told our SW that I felt like she would be more comfortable sharing a room with the girls since she has been used to sharing a room with others all her life. I feel like putting her in her own room would be isolating and scary for her. She instantly put my mind at ease and said she totally agreed with me and that she just feels in her heart that we will not have to worry about this with Ashlyn. She has been doing this for years and has seen all sorts of crazy stuff. She has adopted several times herself. But she is saying the same things that several other people have said to me and that is that there is just something about Ashlyn's countenance. I can't tell you how many times I have flip-flopped back and forth in my mind, trying to prepare myself for issues like this. I think of the worse case senarios and then I look at her picture and think, "Is that sweet face really capable of doing these things?" I know she is, but I just have a strong feeling she won't. We are still preparing as best as we can for the worst and still hoping for the best. I feel like we'll end up somewhere in the middle. At any rate, we are so excited about what 2012 will bring for our family. I have a feeling that many changes are coming our way.

We had a great time tonight with our family and neighbors. We lit off some fireworks and ate lots of food and played cards and watched football and the Times Square special and wished we were in NYC with my bro and his wife. They live in the Chelsea Village area of Manhattan... Hopefully scoping out a place for us... :) I LOVE NYC!!! I doubt I would ever hang out on TS during New Years though. What craziness! The talent was horrible too. Maybe I'm just getting old. Anyhow, Happy New Year!!!

What's your word for the year???

Blessings,
Rebecca