A quick update on where we are in the process.
T took John to the dentist yesterday and she was told that they are pretty sure he has never had any work done on his teeth. There is a lot of bacteria in his mouth and this could lead- if not checked- to heart disease. That seems strange to me.
The hygienist was excited about all the work needed and they gave him some gas to relax him for the long procedure- he is going back this morning at 9 for stage 2. The dentist family has a history of CLP so she is familiar with the issues and excited to work with John.
On the 15th of March we are going to Children's to spend the day with a group of doctors who will see him, each with their own specialty. I think it is something in the order of 8 doctors in a row. This will be good so we can get an idea of what needs to be done and in what order.
Many unknowns for us and him along the way, but God is faithful to have us meet the right people at the right time, so we will just trust in His leading.
John is doing well ad adjusting to being in a noisy family. We will probably enroll him in school very soon so he can get his feet wet with verbal English. It seems he has a good grasp on everything else.
I'll keep you posted as things progress
2/23/10
2/17/10
Do you Hear God calling you?
Please read this link and look at your life and examine if God is calling you to something like this ministry. We must be about our Father's business and for some that may be doing something very different than they are currently doing.
2/13/10
The Father and His children
For obvious reasons it is hard for me to determine which blog to post this under, but for one of those obvious reasons I chose to put it on this one.
Behold, what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called the sons of God. This is why the world does not know us. It is because it does not know God, and we are His sons.
--I John 3:1-2
"We know that we were born into sin, and even now we feel the inner corruption that remains with us. It is no wonder, then, that we amazed by our adoption as sons into God s family. But the Scripture says that we are called "the sons of God." What a high relationship is that of a son, and what privileges it brings! What care and tenderness the son expects from his father, and what love the father feels towards the son! But all that-- and even more than that-- we now have through Christ.
It is easy to say that "we are now the sons of God," but it is not so easy to feel. How is it with your heart today? Are you in the lowest depths of sorrow? Does corruption rise within your spirit and grace seem like a poor spark trampled under foot? Does your faith almost fail you? Don't be afraid! It is not your graces or your feelings on which you are to live; you must live simply by faith in Christ. With all these things against us, it is now--in the very depths of our sorrow, wherever we may be-- now, as much in the valley as on the mountain "now are we the sons of God."
"Ah, but," you say, "look at me! My graces do not shine brightly; my righteousness does not shine with great glory." But read the next part: "It does not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He appears we will be like Him." The Holy Spirit will purify our minds, and divine power will refine our bodies. Then, we will see Him as He is."
Morning & Evening, by Charles H. Spurgeon
Revised and edited by William C. Neff, ©2003-2009
This single M&E could be the springboard of a very long post, or numerous posts, but I will try to keep it short.
I am not sure that John yet feels like he is a son, nor do I think he even knows the blessing, privilege and responsibility that comes from being a son. He is starting to understand what it means to be a brother, which is fun to watch. With that said I am not sure that I have fully accepted him as much as I do my bio's- which I think will take time- we have much to work on. Unlike our heavenly Father my love is not unconditional and it takes me a while to get in the groove, but it will come. It actually took me a while with Grant and Garrett as well, but it didn't take but a minute with Kimmy- something about a little girl and her daddy.
With each of our bio's it was different and it will be different with John as well. This is a great excerpt from morning and evening and if you are able you should read that section of this post again and think about all the ramifications it has for you today.
May we know the Father's love for us as His very blessed children.
Behold, what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called the sons of God. This is why the world does not know us. It is because it does not know God, and we are His sons.
--I John 3:1-2
"We know that we were born into sin, and even now we feel the inner corruption that remains with us. It is no wonder, then, that we amazed by our adoption as sons into God s family. But the Scripture says that we are called "the sons of God." What a high relationship is that of a son, and what privileges it brings! What care and tenderness the son expects from his father, and what love the father feels towards the son! But all that-- and even more than that-- we now have through Christ.
It is easy to say that "we are now the sons of God," but it is not so easy to feel. How is it with your heart today? Are you in the lowest depths of sorrow? Does corruption rise within your spirit and grace seem like a poor spark trampled under foot? Does your faith almost fail you? Don't be afraid! It is not your graces or your feelings on which you are to live; you must live simply by faith in Christ. With all these things against us, it is now--in the very depths of our sorrow, wherever we may be-- now, as much in the valley as on the mountain "now are we the sons of God."
"Ah, but," you say, "look at me! My graces do not shine brightly; my righteousness does not shine with great glory." But read the next part: "It does not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He appears we will be like Him." The Holy Spirit will purify our minds, and divine power will refine our bodies. Then, we will see Him as He is."
Morning & Evening, by Charles H. Spurgeon
Revised and edited by William C. Neff, ©2003-2009
This single M&E could be the springboard of a very long post, or numerous posts, but I will try to keep it short.
I am not sure that John yet feels like he is a son, nor do I think he even knows the blessing, privilege and responsibility that comes from being a son. He is starting to understand what it means to be a brother, which is fun to watch. With that said I am not sure that I have fully accepted him as much as I do my bio's- which I think will take time- we have much to work on. Unlike our heavenly Father my love is not unconditional and it takes me a while to get in the groove, but it will come. It actually took me a while with Grant and Garrett as well, but it didn't take but a minute with Kimmy- something about a little girl and her daddy.
With each of our bio's it was different and it will be different with John as well. This is a great excerpt from morning and evening and if you are able you should read that section of this post again and think about all the ramifications it has for you today.
May we know the Father's love for us as His very blessed children.
2/11/10
Circus Act
I am back full swing into work, after 20 days away there are plenty of emails and phone calls to catch up on. The kids are either working or in school, so that leaves T with John together most of the time.
She is trying to get him into a routine doing things like unloading the dishwasher and helping around the house. All this is probably pretty new to him, as I can only imagine that life in the orphanage was much different than it is here, but he must integrate into life in our family.
Many kids are in the house, so it will not be too long and he will be seeing people for the 3-4th time and hopefully get used to talking with them- right now he has to be coerced into engaging in pretty much any communication unless it is with his friends on the computer. T is going to start giving him a time limit.
Yesterday Kimmy and Garrett were going to work on a puzzle before dinner and I had not yet come home. They invited John to participate and he reluctantly came to the table, but then Grant, unknowingly, came to his rescue. Remember John and Grant are kind of alike- though there is 16" of height difference- in that they both would rather not say anything. Grant ordered some throwing knives last week and he has a little target set up in the back yard. He decided to go out and throw and as soon as John saw an opportunity to get away from either doing the puzzle or being around the 2 chatter boxes, or both, he was quickly out the door and throwing with Grant. That may not be what the social worker would want to hear, but this is the life of our family:) Are we training a future circus performer?
Teresa is trying to get appts. set up, insurance updated, and a myriad of other paperwork issues taken care of, while still trying to catch up on letters and bills and housework after her being gone for 20 days as well. We are trying to decide what to do on the school front and so we have some calls to make and people to consult to make sure we make the best decision for all parties involved.
Another pretty boring day, but I guess we need some boredom on some front.
She is trying to get him into a routine doing things like unloading the dishwasher and helping around the house. All this is probably pretty new to him, as I can only imagine that life in the orphanage was much different than it is here, but he must integrate into life in our family.
Many kids are in the house, so it will not be too long and he will be seeing people for the 3-4th time and hopefully get used to talking with them- right now he has to be coerced into engaging in pretty much any communication unless it is with his friends on the computer. T is going to start giving him a time limit.
Yesterday Kimmy and Garrett were going to work on a puzzle before dinner and I had not yet come home. They invited John to participate and he reluctantly came to the table, but then Grant, unknowingly, came to his rescue. Remember John and Grant are kind of alike- though there is 16" of height difference- in that they both would rather not say anything. Grant ordered some throwing knives last week and he has a little target set up in the back yard. He decided to go out and throw and as soon as John saw an opportunity to get away from either doing the puzzle or being around the 2 chatter boxes, or both, he was quickly out the door and throwing with Grant. That may not be what the social worker would want to hear, but this is the life of our family:) Are we training a future circus performer?
Teresa is trying to get appts. set up, insurance updated, and a myriad of other paperwork issues taken care of, while still trying to catch up on letters and bills and housework after her being gone for 20 days as well. We are trying to decide what to do on the school front and so we have some calls to make and people to consult to make sure we make the best decision for all parties involved.
Another pretty boring day, but I guess we need some boredom on some front.
2/9/10
Family Life
John and Teresa got the bikes out of the garage and went for a bike ride. Then a few of the guys and Garrett and John went to the golf course and chipped and putted. John's first attempt at golfing.
For dinner the family got together and we all helped make fried rice and stir fried beef and then sat down and ate with chop sticks- no forks allowed. It is interesting that John doesn't really like to use chop sticks and he doesn't like tea.??? I then wrote on a pad of paper English words and had him write the Chinese word for it and we practiced a bit of Chinese and he English.
Then we gave him a bit of a break and he spent some time on the computer- I think visiting with some friends in Chinese- it's difficult to tell what he is doing since it is all in Chinese.
After that I had Grant look up some Algebra problems on the computer and then give them to John- trying to figure out where he is. Algebra I was no problem for him, but we gave him an Algebra II quiz and he didn't do as well on that one. At least we know he can do math above his grade level.
SOrt of a boring post but wanted you to know what we were up to.
For dinner the family got together and we all helped make fried rice and stir fried beef and then sat down and ate with chop sticks- no forks allowed. It is interesting that John doesn't really like to use chop sticks and he doesn't like tea.??? I then wrote on a pad of paper English words and had him write the Chinese word for it and we practiced a bit of Chinese and he English.
Then we gave him a bit of a break and he spent some time on the computer- I think visiting with some friends in Chinese- it's difficult to tell what he is doing since it is all in Chinese.
After that I had Grant look up some Algebra problems on the computer and then give them to John- trying to figure out where he is. Algebra I was no problem for him, but we gave him an Algebra II quiz and he didn't do as well on that one. At least we know he can do math above his grade level.
SOrt of a boring post but wanted you to know what we were up to.
2/8/10
First Church Service
My postings will be diminished as the days go on because it will soon be that we are just participating in life as usual rather than watching God do some amazing miracles each day.
Yesterday I spoke about the process and shared some of the miracles of what has taken place along the way. Here is a link to it if you are inclined to listen to me ramble about it. SKH has cleaned the audio up a bit, so at least you won't have to listen to all the "umm's".
There are a few things that I want to encourage you with. Yesterday was our first day back with our church family at GBC and that went very well. We had a potluck after the morning services- scheduled for this time every month- and so there were some who were able to talk with John one on one. Before we went up to that John was able to talk to 2 sisters- 1 is currently a student at GA and the other is an alumni- who speak fluent Chinese. This was really great for John as they encouraged him with the fact that just a few months ago- for the current student- she was speaking English not too much better than he is right now and she is doing fine.
In the evening service he was actually trying to sing along with the music and so he is getting the Gospel and singing it, in English. God uses all kinds of ways to bring His children into His family.
At the end of the day he told Teresa that he wants to go to school soon, so we will be working on a plan to try to make that happen. He will need to be tested to see where he really is, but we might be surprised at how much he actually knows. It seems like he knows quite a bit if it is written out for him. He just has a hard time with understanding what we are saying and then communicating it back to us. The girls said that the faced the same challenge, as they learned a lot in English class but they just didn't hear or speak it very much until they got here. The older sister was actually having a hard time starting the conversation with him in Chinese because she speaks English so much now and it has only been 2 years for her.
God has a plan for this son of ours and I have no idea what that might look like- but He does. We want to be good stewards of what He gives and pray that John would be drawn into the Kingdom of His marvelous light and that sometime down the road God would chose to use a "small, weak, special needs", Chinese young man to make the big, strong, powerful people of the world scratch their heads in wonder at where this kind of thing comes from. I am praying that God would do exceedingly, abundantly more than I can ask or think in John's life. I am thinking pretty big so it will be fun to see what He does.
Yesterday I spoke about the process and shared some of the miracles of what has taken place along the way. Here is a link to it if you are inclined to listen to me ramble about it. SKH has cleaned the audio up a bit, so at least you won't have to listen to all the "umm's".
There are a few things that I want to encourage you with. Yesterday was our first day back with our church family at GBC and that went very well. We had a potluck after the morning services- scheduled for this time every month- and so there were some who were able to talk with John one on one. Before we went up to that John was able to talk to 2 sisters- 1 is currently a student at GA and the other is an alumni- who speak fluent Chinese. This was really great for John as they encouraged him with the fact that just a few months ago- for the current student- she was speaking English not too much better than he is right now and she is doing fine.
In the evening service he was actually trying to sing along with the music and so he is getting the Gospel and singing it, in English. God uses all kinds of ways to bring His children into His family.
At the end of the day he told Teresa that he wants to go to school soon, so we will be working on a plan to try to make that happen. He will need to be tested to see where he really is, but we might be surprised at how much he actually knows. It seems like he knows quite a bit if it is written out for him. He just has a hard time with understanding what we are saying and then communicating it back to us. The girls said that the faced the same challenge, as they learned a lot in English class but they just didn't hear or speak it very much until they got here. The older sister was actually having a hard time starting the conversation with him in Chinese because she speaks English so much now and it has only been 2 years for her.
God has a plan for this son of ours and I have no idea what that might look like- but He does. We want to be good stewards of what He gives and pray that John would be drawn into the Kingdom of His marvelous light and that sometime down the road God would chose to use a "small, weak, special needs", Chinese young man to make the big, strong, powerful people of the world scratch their heads in wonder at where this kind of thing comes from. I am praying that God would do exceedingly, abundantly more than I can ask or think in John's life. I am thinking pretty big so it will be fun to see what He does.
2/7/10
One stage completed.
I hope my clock is set back to my normal early US schedule, but time will be the teller of whether this is true. We did stay up until 8 last night, so that should help.
Today- Sunday- we have the privilege of being back with our full family in a service to openly worship the King of kings and Lord of all lord. We can celebrate His leading us to this place of adopting John David and changing our lives and his in this horizontal picture of what He has done for us vertically. There are some stages of earthly adoption, much like there are stages in our Christian life.
If the process is his vertical adoption, then John has just been accepted into the family and now there is a long road of sanctification to be conformed to the image of a child of the Family he has been adopted into.
We have completed the transaction of paperwork between 2 nations that don't necessarily see eye to eye on many things, but it has been agreed that John can be a US citizen and a member of our family. That is pretty amazing in itself. But there is a lot of work that needs to happen so he will be recognized, by others, as both a US citizen and a member of our family. The "formal" part has been done, but the inside change that needs to take place for him to be recognized as who he truly is will take time.
I am so thankful that God takes His time on us as He shapes and hammers us into the children He has called us to be. He adopts us into His Family to be productive members of His Kingdom, making us into vessels He can use to do His work, even though He could do it much better on His own.
Please pray for John and our family as we work through the next few months. We need wisdom to know how hard to push and how much to let him go through this process. He is missing all that has been taken out of his life- though in the end he will be much better off. For one who likes change, this is hard for me to accept as less than a poor attitude- so I need to be careful. For T this hits close to home, since she doesn't like change. God has placed us in this place for a purpose and we want to continue to follow where He is leading.
Thanks again for all your prayers and comments along the way. May He continue His working in our lives and in John until we are all complete in Him.
Today- Sunday- we have the privilege of being back with our full family in a service to openly worship the King of kings and Lord of all lord. We can celebrate His leading us to this place of adopting John David and changing our lives and his in this horizontal picture of what He has done for us vertically. There are some stages of earthly adoption, much like there are stages in our Christian life.
If the process is his vertical adoption, then John has just been accepted into the family and now there is a long road of sanctification to be conformed to the image of a child of the Family he has been adopted into.
We have completed the transaction of paperwork between 2 nations that don't necessarily see eye to eye on many things, but it has been agreed that John can be a US citizen and a member of our family. That is pretty amazing in itself. But there is a lot of work that needs to happen so he will be recognized, by others, as both a US citizen and a member of our family. The "formal" part has been done, but the inside change that needs to take place for him to be recognized as who he truly is will take time.
I am so thankful that God takes His time on us as He shapes and hammers us into the children He has called us to be. He adopts us into His Family to be productive members of His Kingdom, making us into vessels He can use to do His work, even though He could do it much better on His own.
Please pray for John and our family as we work through the next few months. We need wisdom to know how hard to push and how much to let him go through this process. He is missing all that has been taken out of his life- though in the end he will be much better off. For one who likes change, this is hard for me to accept as less than a poor attitude- so I need to be careful. For T this hits close to home, since she doesn't like change. God has placed us in this place for a purpose and we want to continue to follow where He is leading.
Thanks again for all your prayers and comments along the way. May He continue His working in our lives and in John until we are all complete in Him.
2/6/10
We Are HOME!!!
flew starting today- 15 hours ago- and landed before we left, which really plays tricks on your mind. We actually landed at 7 this morning but didn't get out of the airport until around 8:30, since we were getting all the paperwork and customs finished, but no issue sand it is nice to be sitting on the couch blogging. The only issue in the flights was from Beijing to Tokyo the weather coming into Tokyo was pretty bumpy and many people were throwing up, which is always fun.
I would say that John is missing China/friends a lot. He is more reserved today than he has been but we think we can get him through that. We have him out shooting hoops with some of the kids and trying to keep him awake. He is not liking it too much right now but when his "clock" adjusts more quickly than if he were to sleep right now.
Tomorrow at church it may be a little tough for him. He is really reluctant to speak and going in with all those people will be hard. If you are there try to say something like, "We are glad to have you here and have been praying for you to get here" and leave it at that. This way he will not have to speak too much.
There are big changes for him in the near future and he needs to adjust to the changes and I will make sure he stays the course but for right now He may just need a bit of space. It will be fun to see how long it takes to be in the grove.
I'll post more later. Thanks for all your prayers. BTW- it looks like I will be sharing about the trip and more of the whole adoption story tomorrow AM in 128.
I would say that John is missing China/friends a lot. He is more reserved today than he has been but we think we can get him through that. We have him out shooting hoops with some of the kids and trying to keep him awake. He is not liking it too much right now but when his "clock" adjusts more quickly than if he were to sleep right now.
Tomorrow at church it may be a little tough for him. He is really reluctant to speak and going in with all those people will be hard. If you are there try to say something like, "We are glad to have you here and have been praying for you to get here" and leave it at that. This way he will not have to speak too much.
There are big changes for him in the near future and he needs to adjust to the changes and I will make sure he stays the course but for right now He may just need a bit of space. It will be fun to see how long it takes to be in the grove.
I'll post more later. Thanks for all your prayers. BTW- it looks like I will be sharing about the trip and more of the whole adoption story tomorrow AM in 128.
2/2/10
Great Expectations
Last night we took the river boat cruise with our new friends from Colorado and a bunch of their agency group families. The night was fun, the weather was perfect-70-ish.
As I look over this kaleidoscope of parents and children I am amazed at how God has uniquely place each child in each family and has prepared each one for the future- whatever that may look like- and some will be very different than others.
I am not going to put any names in here because I don't know many of the people and the names can probably be switched out from month to month. Here is what I am talking about.
There are "old" parents here, and not so old, there are first time parents and veteran parents, there are kids with no "special needs" and some with severe special needs, there are happy, quickly attaching kids and grumpy, miserable kids.
I must confess that the quickness of our process has not allowed much time for me to think about all the possibilities of what might go wrong, and I often mull those kinds of things over in my head before making a final decision. This time I really didn't have time to waste thinking about what might go wrong- and something can always go wrong.
So at the start of our process we just started walking and I figured that God would give us exactly what we needed. With each dollar that went out I was more and more convinced that God was going to allow us to get John, since it didn't seem like good stewardship of God's money to put it all out there and not return with him, but even in that there was some questioning whether God would really allow us to complete the process- and it looks like we are almost there. I tried very hard to not get too attached to the idea to then have those hopes dashed on the rocks of God's providence.
As I watch some of the parents interact with their kids I can't help notice that some must have some pretty large expectations of what the process will be like. This in no way is intended to be a slam on anyone. Most of the people around us are rookies, just like us, in this process. Some have bio's and some do not. What will it be like? Will my new child actually like me; will I like them? What if I really love them and they are non committal? What if they are just mean and angry? "I have spent a lot of time and money to make this happen and they don't seem to care about that at all. In fact I have just spent all my life savings and all my vacation and sick pay to make this happen they don't seem to be thankful at all". Those kinds of thoughts surely are running through some minds- not all and maybe not out loud- but watching some body language this seems to be the case.
With our biological children we may not go through those kinds of thoughts, immediately, since we get them when they are tiny and can't reject us right off the bat, so there is time to work through the idea that your kids are angry and they don't like you. Much of the deficiency I see in them I can blame on myself and poor parenting, where with these new kids we may not have earned the level of separation they are giving.
Expectations, for sure, play a large part here. When we are expecting our bio children, we think they are going to be the cutest babies on the planet and they are going to change the entire world, for good. What happens when they arrive strange looking and turn out rebellious? They are still our kids and we still love them, it's just harder to have it all make sense. Good parents are supposed to get good kids- right? Just because we do the right thing doesn't mean that good is always returned. It doesn't take too much Bible reading to see that. Which leads me to my point.
As I watch a couple- none actually pictured in my mind right now- who seems to be very kind, trying to connect with their new child and the child is angry, for some unknown reason, it has to hurt. Thinking about all the planning, time and money that has gone into coming half way around the world to be treated this way by a small child is heart breaking and frustrating. Maybe this is a good reminder of how our Heavenly Father feels so often. The distance He went, the cost He paid, the time He took to make our adoption happen and how often do we act like angry little children? We think we know what is best for us when we don't have a clue. We cross our arms and don't want to talk to our Father, or any one else for that matter. It's a good thing His had perfect expectations of what would happen. It's a good thing He is long suffering with our hard hearts and unloving attitudes. It's a good thing our adoption does not depend on our own goodness any more than our newly adopted children's process depends on them. WE are His kids because HE said so and they are our kids because He allows it to happen.
The expectations are human. Each child is different and every family is also different. I don't want to bring grief to The One Who had such a cost to bring me into His family. I want to help others work through the process, if this is what He has called them to, and be ready to take what He gives. I want to be ready to accept what He gives, but my fleshly desires get in the way and cloud the view.
Trying to be an encouragement to some here who really need it and trying to help you all think through the process that may be coming your way in the future. God is Good- All the Time.
As I look over this kaleidoscope of parents and children I am amazed at how God has uniquely place each child in each family and has prepared each one for the future- whatever that may look like- and some will be very different than others.
I am not going to put any names in here because I don't know many of the people and the names can probably be switched out from month to month. Here is what I am talking about.
There are "old" parents here, and not so old, there are first time parents and veteran parents, there are kids with no "special needs" and some with severe special needs, there are happy, quickly attaching kids and grumpy, miserable kids.
I must confess that the quickness of our process has not allowed much time for me to think about all the possibilities of what might go wrong, and I often mull those kinds of things over in my head before making a final decision. This time I really didn't have time to waste thinking about what might go wrong- and something can always go wrong.
So at the start of our process we just started walking and I figured that God would give us exactly what we needed. With each dollar that went out I was more and more convinced that God was going to allow us to get John, since it didn't seem like good stewardship of God's money to put it all out there and not return with him, but even in that there was some questioning whether God would really allow us to complete the process- and it looks like we are almost there. I tried very hard to not get too attached to the idea to then have those hopes dashed on the rocks of God's providence.
As I watch some of the parents interact with their kids I can't help notice that some must have some pretty large expectations of what the process will be like. This in no way is intended to be a slam on anyone. Most of the people around us are rookies, just like us, in this process. Some have bio's and some do not. What will it be like? Will my new child actually like me; will I like them? What if I really love them and they are non committal? What if they are just mean and angry? "I have spent a lot of time and money to make this happen and they don't seem to care about that at all. In fact I have just spent all my life savings and all my vacation and sick pay to make this happen they don't seem to be thankful at all". Those kinds of thoughts surely are running through some minds- not all and maybe not out loud- but watching some body language this seems to be the case.
With our biological children we may not go through those kinds of thoughts, immediately, since we get them when they are tiny and can't reject us right off the bat, so there is time to work through the idea that your kids are angry and they don't like you. Much of the deficiency I see in them I can blame on myself and poor parenting, where with these new kids we may not have earned the level of separation they are giving.
Expectations, for sure, play a large part here. When we are expecting our bio children, we think they are going to be the cutest babies on the planet and they are going to change the entire world, for good. What happens when they arrive strange looking and turn out rebellious? They are still our kids and we still love them, it's just harder to have it all make sense. Good parents are supposed to get good kids- right? Just because we do the right thing doesn't mean that good is always returned. It doesn't take too much Bible reading to see that. Which leads me to my point.
As I watch a couple- none actually pictured in my mind right now- who seems to be very kind, trying to connect with their new child and the child is angry, for some unknown reason, it has to hurt. Thinking about all the planning, time and money that has gone into coming half way around the world to be treated this way by a small child is heart breaking and frustrating. Maybe this is a good reminder of how our Heavenly Father feels so often. The distance He went, the cost He paid, the time He took to make our adoption happen and how often do we act like angry little children? We think we know what is best for us when we don't have a clue. We cross our arms and don't want to talk to our Father, or any one else for that matter. It's a good thing His had perfect expectations of what would happen. It's a good thing He is long suffering with our hard hearts and unloving attitudes. It's a good thing our adoption does not depend on our own goodness any more than our newly adopted children's process depends on them. WE are His kids because HE said so and they are our kids because He allows it to happen.
The expectations are human. Each child is different and every family is also different. I don't want to bring grief to The One Who had such a cost to bring me into His family. I want to help others work through the process, if this is what He has called them to, and be ready to take what He gives. I want to be ready to accept what He gives, but my fleshly desires get in the way and cloud the view.
Trying to be an encouragement to some here who really need it and trying to help you all think through the process that may be coming your way in the future. God is Good- All the Time.
2/1/10
Shopping in Guangzhou
Yesterday we went into Guangzhou proper and just checked things out. We took a short cab ride- maybe 15 minutes- and our first stop was "Wedding Dress Street".
So after getting to go with Kimmy and the girls wedding dress shopping in the US, this makes that look very tame. In the US we went to what seems to be the 2 places where people look for dresses. In GZ there is literally a street that is about 2 US blocks long with dress shops on both sides and in every little back street that could be connected in any way. Then at one end of that street there is an international wedding shop that is 5-6 stories high and probably close to the size of a regular Nordstrom and the only thing in the entire building is wedding dresses and things connected with weddings. In all those shops we still could not find 1 veil that we thought Kimmy would like. Their style is very ornate- to say the least. Amazingly beautiful, but very ornate.
From there we took another short taxi ride to "Beijing Lu"- this is where many of the locals shop. Craziness. Since it is only 2 weeks until the start of the Chinese New Year, and one of the traditions is that you must have new clothes for the New Year, there were so many people out. Some of the shops you could hardly move around in. It may have been like this at the outlet the on "Black Friday".
We did find some good buys for John- pants for $12 and that included having them hemmed- which took 15 minutes. Because of the currency exchange it makes you feel like you are spending more money than you are, so it helps to make me more thrifty. 100 RMB is about $15usd- so when I give T a 100 it seems like a lot and yet is it less than a $20.
We came back from there- T was pretty spent- and watched TV for just a bit and then set out for dinner. We went off the little island and over to the main city side. That was a bit scary. We were in the market area, where all the locals bring in their frozen fish... It's probably like the docks in the US. WE pretty quickly decided that there was no restaurants we wanted to eat close to that area so we went back and had Thai food next to the hotel.
The island is really torn up. Last night walking I told T that it is probably very beautiful when it is not under so much construction. There is dirt on all the plants and you have to really watch where you walk. The weather is perfect right now.
The phone just rang in the room and we have to go and get John finger printed this afternoon, since he is over 12- this is a new announcement to us. Oh well, it's always something new here.
We are really trying to get John to talk more- as his normal tendency is to just nod rather than to speak. That won't help him too much in America. I think he understands quite a bit of what we are asking or telling him, but doesn't know exactly what to say in return. We are starting to play some word games at the dinner table, like, "what is this?". Glasses and glass, window and plate- all made of glass- so shouldn't they be the same word?
We are intending on going on a boat ride tonight for dinner with the people from Colorado. I said it would be interesting to see if God allowed us to meet up with them again and we did 2 nights ago. We spent a few hours in their room just visiting about our experience so far. Colorado mom is type A like me and dad is like T. They are close to 50 and have a very pretty 6 year old girl, who is really working them. They have no bio's so there is a lot of new things for both the parents and the daughter to learn. Hopefully we can be of some encouragement to them.
Anyway- enough boring stuff from here. Sorry the crazy exciting, stuff is under the bridge and now I am just rambling about things that are really not very important.
Only a few days left:)
I forgot to say that if you need to email me I can only be reached at chuckweinberg@gmail.com
So after getting to go with Kimmy and the girls wedding dress shopping in the US, this makes that look very tame. In the US we went to what seems to be the 2 places where people look for dresses. In GZ there is literally a street that is about 2 US blocks long with dress shops on both sides and in every little back street that could be connected in any way. Then at one end of that street there is an international wedding shop that is 5-6 stories high and probably close to the size of a regular Nordstrom and the only thing in the entire building is wedding dresses and things connected with weddings. In all those shops we still could not find 1 veil that we thought Kimmy would like. Their style is very ornate- to say the least. Amazingly beautiful, but very ornate.
From there we took another short taxi ride to "Beijing Lu"- this is where many of the locals shop. Craziness. Since it is only 2 weeks until the start of the Chinese New Year, and one of the traditions is that you must have new clothes for the New Year, there were so many people out. Some of the shops you could hardly move around in. It may have been like this at the outlet the on "Black Friday".
We did find some good buys for John- pants for $12 and that included having them hemmed- which took 15 minutes. Because of the currency exchange it makes you feel like you are spending more money than you are, so it helps to make me more thrifty. 100 RMB is about $15usd- so when I give T a 100 it seems like a lot and yet is it less than a $20.
We came back from there- T was pretty spent- and watched TV for just a bit and then set out for dinner. We went off the little island and over to the main city side. That was a bit scary. We were in the market area, where all the locals bring in their frozen fish... It's probably like the docks in the US. WE pretty quickly decided that there was no restaurants we wanted to eat close to that area so we went back and had Thai food next to the hotel.
The island is really torn up. Last night walking I told T that it is probably very beautiful when it is not under so much construction. There is dirt on all the plants and you have to really watch where you walk. The weather is perfect right now.
The phone just rang in the room and we have to go and get John finger printed this afternoon, since he is over 12- this is a new announcement to us. Oh well, it's always something new here.
We are really trying to get John to talk more- as his normal tendency is to just nod rather than to speak. That won't help him too much in America. I think he understands quite a bit of what we are asking or telling him, but doesn't know exactly what to say in return. We are starting to play some word games at the dinner table, like, "what is this?". Glasses and glass, window and plate- all made of glass- so shouldn't they be the same word?
We are intending on going on a boat ride tonight for dinner with the people from Colorado. I said it would be interesting to see if God allowed us to meet up with them again and we did 2 nights ago. We spent a few hours in their room just visiting about our experience so far. Colorado mom is type A like me and dad is like T. They are close to 50 and have a very pretty 6 year old girl, who is really working them. They have no bio's so there is a lot of new things for both the parents and the daughter to learn. Hopefully we can be of some encouragement to them.
Anyway- enough boring stuff from here. Sorry the crazy exciting, stuff is under the bridge and now I am just rambling about things that are really not very important.
Only a few days left:)
I forgot to say that if you need to email me I can only be reached at chuckweinberg@gmail.com
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