Fundraising Success!

Wow! Our fundraiser was a huge success!!! Thanks to our amazing family and friends we raised $2100 to bring Sweet T home! Praise the Lord! And not only did we raise a lot of money, we had FUN! The soups were great, the friends were great, the weather was great, everything was just great! God did a beautiful job in orchestrating a beautiful event for us.

We have decided to start the dossier process over. We both feel at peace about this decision. Thank you for your prayers. Our prayer is to have our I800A done by Christmas. (Fingerprinting) All of our kids medicals are now up to date so our homestudy should be completed very soon.

We are still selling T-shirts for those who are interested! Our cookbooks should be done the week before Thanksgiving. We are working hard! The recipes in there are amazing. I cannot wait to have the book in my hands. You may also donate for Sweet T's puzzle by visiting our Go Fund Me page. For every $5 you donate, we will put your name on a puzzle piece for Sweet T to have forever.

Thank you for all the prayers!

What's goin' on 'round these parts you ask?

First of all, thank you for asking! ;-) Let's update on Peter first.

PETER READ TWO STORIES THIS WEEK!!

I'm just a bit excited! This is huge news for a young man that was told he could not learn and did not amount to much. He has been home almost 10 months, had no language skills whatsoever, and we started from the beginning. I cannot tell you how it thrills my heart to know that he is learning so well. Instead of saying, "I can't do it" all the time now, I have heard "I can do it!" several times this week. He still apologizes when he makes a mistake in school and it frustrates me but I get frustrated only because I know he is doubting himself and believing the lies he's heard over the years. Well guess what? My boy is smart!!! We aren't believing your lies anymore satan! 

Sweet T news (dude I almost typed her name here! oops!) I talked with our fabulous caseworker Elyse this afternoon and we received some news. Some good and some ok. We have been working very hard to process our paperwork quickly so we could reuse our dossier. We had been told by someone that it would save us loads of money and tons of time. Well, for us, it's been crazy. Non stop crazy. Our homestudy case worker Jenna was super woman and worked her tail off for us. One of the issues is that Abi needs a well check visit. Her Dr. changed clinics to somewhere that does not take our insurance and the boys Dr. cannot see her until December. Hmm...still working out some details on this. It doesn't seem like a big deal but it sort of is because we do not want to pay $100 for a check up. But $100 is pennies in the long run. So, we need that done. And then we will be able to schedule our I800 fingerprints. That is a 70 day wait right now. January 14th, which is when our dossier expires is 73 days away. Hmmm...and there is nothing they can do to move it up. Yep, this would be the biggest deal in reusing our dossier. Elyse shared with us today that it does not seem likely that Sweet T will be moved from the special needs list. Why is this a big deal? Because you cannot reuse your dossier for special needs children. (new C*ina law) So, now we must decide how we are going to proceed. We feel strongly that this is our daughter. We still cannot lock her in. If we decide to proceed with reusing the dossier, it could prolong it more. We would appreciate prayers for wisdom.

Tomorrow is our biggest fundraiser! Again, we will not be doing many fundraisers this time around so come and join us!! Remember, you can still order t-shirts! Thank you for all your prayers, love and support! We love you all!

Shirts!!

Hi all! We are selling these t-shirts to help bring Sweet T home! As I said, we are not doing a lot of fundraising and this is a fairly easy one! They are $15 each and we have all sizes. (not colors!) If you are interested, please email me, comment on here, or reach me somehow. Payment is due at the time of purchase. We will make the order at the end of November (to give everyone plenty of time) and you should have your shirts within the next week. I love these, don't you??

Update and Fundraising News!

Hello family and friends! We have not updated in a while. Life has been crazy around here, but a good crazy! We spent two weeks in CO! We were blessed by my sil's parents and were able to stay in their home on top of a beautiful mountain for FREE! We have started Peter's "Operation Mouth" process which requires a visit to Dallas every two weeks. Abi and Andrew have both been actively involved in our local children's theater in different ways. (Love Artsview!!) Peter has started flag football and it's so cute..I mean..awesome. ;-) Hunting season is upon us and the kids and dad have been preparing a lot so they can provide meat for our family. And during all this, we have been working on adoption paperwork. Here is where we stand with adoption as of now:

To reuse our dossier, we must have our homestudy and I800A complete. The homestudy was a quick update, medicals and Texas has a new law requiring fingerprinting for those 14 and over in the household for background checks. (sigh) We have done our update, our medicals will be completed Monday and we will be fingerprinted on Tuesday. Jenna, our amazing caseworker for our homestudy, will then furiously work to get that completed and send it to Lifeline. Lifeline will then hurriedly schedule fingerprinting (on a national level) for our I800A. In the meantime, we will be calling our officer for the fingerprinting begging for a quick appointment. Why the rush? Our dossier expiration date is January 14th! We have heard the wait time for all the fingerprinting is 70 days. We do not have that so we are going to be begging. ;-) China needs to receive all this information by that date. When that happens, Lifeline will then asked for Sweet T to be moved to the Special Focus list because the new law in China is that you cannot reuse your dossier for a Special Needs child. So...we need prayers!! We covet your prayers!!! Now on to fundraising....

We will be hosting our big fundraiser on Saturday Nov. 2nd! We are SO excited! We will have multiple vendors set up for Christmas shopping, a bounce house and train for the kids, a soup competition, a bake off, cake walk, movie, popcorn, live music and more! This event is FREE except for $1 entree for the cake walk. We are not hosting this event to just raise money. Yes, that is a plus to this event but we also want to thank everyone for their support and to involve you all in Sweet T's life. If God leads you to give, that would be great! If not, please continue to pray for us! This event will take place at my dad and stepmom's house 900 Stonelake Rd. (please enter from Hamby Rd. not 1845) from 4:30-??? My sister says it's a true party when there is not an end time!

We have also started our puzzle fundraiser for Sweet T! Just as we did for Peter, every $5 you donate to bringing her home, we will write your name on the back of a puzzle piece. It will hang in her room as a forever reminder of how loved she is and how much we prayed for her before she arrived. You may hand us donations, mail them or enter them at our GoFundMe page. Here is the link: http://www.gofundme.com/4z4q40

We cannot thank you enough for all your prayers, support and love! You will never know how much it means to us! We love you all!

Here We Go Again!

We are so excited to announce that our new puppy was born on September 10th! We will not get to see her, actually pick her out, for about three weeks but we are thrilled!! The kids have been waiting forever. Having three dogs will be a challenge, but we are up for it!

I bet you thought we would be announcing something else, right? Well, if you did..you were right!

We are adopting again! 

Well, we have started the process to adopt again. Because we do not take the normal route of adoption, (choose an agency, have most of your paperwork done, then chose a child) we are announcing this earlier than most families would. Think along the lines of first 3 weeks of pregnancy. Yes, that early. The reason we are doing this is for prayers. We need them.

Backstory: We have known for quiet awhile that we wanted to adopt again. Most of you are probably aware that we wanted to adopt two on our first trip but we never felt "right" about any of the children and were not comfortable as the situation progressed. So, we held off but kept it in the back of our mind. We know now that this was God. Having Peter come home by himself was the best decision for all of us. We receive about 5-10 notifications a day from different advocacy sites but have stopped looking because it hurts that we cannot get them all. I joined a group on FB that our adoption agency has for support. On the first day that I looked at it, the very first post was about a little girl that needed a family and the title was "Be still my heart." Well, I looked. Looked again. And again. Showed Eric. Looked again. Started to fall in love. Eric started to fall in love. Requested her file. And we prayed. HARD! We wanted to make the right decision. This was all during the visits to Children's for Peter. We were being thrown so much and I wondered if Eric would not want to purse adoption because of all this. Would it be to hard? I actually spent an hour on the phone with a friend grieving this. Then Eric said these words: "It's never convenient to adopt. Let's go for it." Oh my word! Be still my heart! I fell in love with him all over again. We contacted Lifeline, told them our decision and that's where we are.

Where we are: Sweet T (as we will be calling her) is on the Special Needs list. We have no problem with that because so was Peter. But this is causing a bit of a slow down for us in locking Sweet T for our family. If C*ina had placed her on the Special Focus list, we would be able to reuse our dossier from Peter and lock her in right now. But C*ina has been placing more kids (girls specifically) on the Special Needs list. Because of this we cannot lock her file until our new dossier is completed. A dossier can take about 4-6 months. Our agency is trying to have her moved but there are no promises. And if they move her, our dossier may have expired by this time. (we are pretty sure we are looking at no longer than a three week window) We have already contacted our home study social worker and they are hurriedly updating our home study. To continue with the rest of the paperwork, we must make our first payment which is not exactly small but God can do it! As soon as that is done, (please pray for this week!) we will have our medicals done, (again) and start processing the rest of the paperwork. Because we cannot lock her file, we will not be sharing much information on Sweet T. We will tell you that she is younger, (God can work a miracle on this stubborn mama! HA!) is the most precious little Chinese version of Abi and Grace ( our friends daughter and what our Abi prayed for) that we have ever seen, and has a smile that lights up a room. If we have shared video, pictures, or information with you, we ask you to please keep that private. (we have showed family) Lifeline and C*ina are pretty adamant about keeping a file private until the file is locked. This also means that another family that is farther along in the process could get her file and start the process. This hurts to type but we know God has a plan either way. If Sweet T is not to be ours, then God has the perfect child for us. We are praying that it is her because we are so in love. Yes, we will grieve. Adopting is a bit like a pregnancy; you fall more in love with the child every day, you dream about this child, you make plans. You cannot simply forget. We have lost a child and know the grief that goes with it. The difference with adoption is the grieving period. There is hardly any wait time before you must decide if you will pursue another child or stop. All adoption paperwork must be dated at certain times so you can lose months of work, plus thousands of dollars, if you do not decide quickly. That is hard but again, God has this!

Questions you may have:
Why? We expect this question. Why in the world would you want five kids? Why would you go back to C*ina when there are so many kids here? Why would you spend the money again? Let me answer  these for you.
Why? Because God has commanded us to. We are to be the clay; He is the potter. We are to mold to His will, not the world's. What we are doing does not make sense to the world. That's ok. It doesn't make sense to us sometimes. But He has specifically commanded all of us to care for the Fatherless orphans. Over the years this command has looked different to us. At this moment, it is to adopt and make them our family.
Why 5 kids? Why not?? Since when did children become 'leeches', 'problems', and 'annoyances?' Children are a gift from the Lord!! Yes, our children are not perfect but we are adore them. They are so much fun! They bring us such joy. Yes, there is heartache but life has heartaches. Eric and I have always wanted a large family. And here's the shocker: We may not stop at 5! *Gasp* It's all about where God calls us! We cannot be fruitful and multiply due to medical issues so we are thankful for the mommies who have been fruitful, made a hard decision, and allow us to participate in this wonderful journey! We are not the typical, normal American family who needs the latest and greatest. Do we want the latest and greatest? Yep. But do we need it? Nope. These kids need families more than we need the best clothes, cars, house, and material items. Yes, supporting five kids will not be easy but it's doable with Our Lord!
Why C*ina? This is where our hearts are. When we were there, Eric and Chelsea twice and the rest of us once, we all left a part of hearts there. But we are not to be guided by our hearts; we are to be guided by the Lord. And the Lord specifically led us here again. Yes, there are kids here but there are kids there too! Does that mean we do not care about the orphans here? No!! We are all called to different places for different reasons.
Why spend the $$ again and where is the money coming from: Again, the Lord has led us to this so He will provide. We saw this happen with Peter. Yes, we will be fundraising. We do our very best to make sure the fundraising is fun and that you also get something out of it. We do our best not to bombard you. We know God will supply the funds however possible. We have seen Him do this multiple times and we know He will again. If He leads us to this decision, He will guide every step of the way. We have faith that He will provide all of the funds needed to bring Sweet T home. We have told the kids if they want to go, they will have to raise their own funds also. Look for Abi's fundraisers to begin soon. (ha!) She's been preparing them for awhile. The boys are on the fence. Peter does not want to spend his money or work for it so he may stay home. He did not like the "20 minute plane ride" (hahahaha!) home when "he could not play outside" so that's another con for him. He found out he could stay with his grandparents (who "buy him stuff and are cool") and Caden so we look for him to stay home. Andrew hates the plane ride, loves China, but really hates the plane ride. ;-) So we look for him to stay home also. We will not just leave one child at home. It's either 2 staying home or they all go. We could use prayers in that area. We are not even close to this point yet but the thought is hard!
How are the kids taking the news? Very well! Abi is beyond excited! She has wanted a little sister forever and she cannot wait to have her "little doll" (as she calls her) home! (I'll let her live in her fantasy world for a while! LOL Kidding! I love having a little sister!) Chelsea is excited and was expecting it. Andrew and Peter are good with the news. We weren't sure at first how either boy felt so Eric and I talked to them individually. Once we convinced Peter that she wouldn't take his video games, he handled it better. ha! Andrew is just a typical teen boy(nonchalant in his emotions) and told us he would be honest with us about every decision. He assured us that he is excited about it. I am sure that this princess will have them wrapped around her finger before we know it! We are really talking it up to Peter about being her big brother!

Prayers:
Funds-Please pray that God will provide the funds just when they are needed. He is never late. He is always right on time!
Sanity-LOL We've done this and we know it's consuming. It's hurry, wait, hurry, wait. We also are in the first year still with Peter and do not want to miss these exciting moments with him. (like right now as he is walking around with his shirt unbuttoned so I can see his muscles. My word)
Locking of the file-We want God's will in this but we also know we are to pray our hearts desire. Right now, it's Sweet T! We are not sure how this process will end up, but we know Who guides it.

Thank you for reading all of this if you did! This is mainly a documentation for Sweet T when she asks for her "birth with us" story. We do ask you to please be excited for us. We are excited! It's a new child!! Yes, it's like a second pregnancy but every child is to be celebrated! We love you all and are so excited to start this adventure with you again!!!

8 months...somewhat normal...

Well, almost 8 months. It's so hard to believe it's been eight months since we traveled to China to bring Peter to his forever home. A wise friend told me that at eight months you start to feel normal again or in better words, to be a bit more adjusted to your new normal. And you know what...she was right! Yes, we still have bad days, but all kids have bad days. Are his bad days like my bio kids? Yep, except my bio kids were smaller when they had them and did not have a bad past to add to the mix.

What has been going on in the last eight months? A LOT! Let's hit the main parts:
-Peter performed onstage in his first musical! He had a speaking role, danced and sang.
-He has learned to spell some words and to read a few at the same time
-He can now count by 10's very well and almost has the 2's and 5's downs.
-He has told all of us that he likes us.
-Peter has made several good friends and has what he considers a "best" friend.
-He hosted his first party and he was a great host.
-He has started speech therapy and loves his Mrs. Mallary. He cannot wait for Mrs. Mallary days.
-We visited Children's in Dallas and have a bit of a plan, along with some answers, for the future.
-He is enjoying reading time with mom and will even snuggle up on the couch with mom.
 -The dogs seem to truly like him now.
 -The fits are farther apart. They are hard but we can talk through most of them now.
 -Peter is starting to believe that he is smart.
 -He attended Pine Cove Base camp at our church and had a great time. He prayed out loud several times.
-He attended an overnight 456 retreat with our church and fell in love with horses!
-He has been expressing emotions to us which is a big thing.
-Peter has now met most of his extended family and did great at the meetings. They were all big parties. 
-His English has gotten so good!!
-He and his siblings are forming good, solid bonds!

and the best one of all:

HE ASKED JESUS INTO HIS HEART!!

He came to Eric and I one morning and told us he had asked Jesus to live in his heart and he would be in Heaven with us. We think he fully understands this because we have talked about it a great deal. Just this morning he spoke up in front of 30 kids and asked for prayers for a friends dad. He is working hard at learning the Bible and to apply it to his life.

What he has coming up: so you know how to pray and stuff!

-Flag football evaluations on Tuesday. He doesn't know a soul but since they pray there and talk about Jesus, he wants to play "Jesus football." How adorable is that?! He may also play with our local homeschool group, depending on the times and how much he likes it.

-He will be taking a homeschool class at our local children's theater that will involve writing. They will give him grace, of course, but this class will make him think. He's not always fond of that but they do such a great job of making it fun that he will not even notice.

-We start back to our co-op classes on Wednesday and he will be more active in them this year. Because mommy wants him to be. 

 -We will be adding more to school this week because he can handle some of it now. We will be working on maps and some history. He still does not like things that do not look like a 'normal' school but is getting better with playing games to learn, etc.

So that is what our life looks like now. It's not easy; it's hard. But life is hard. And I'm glad that God chose this life path for us. I wish I could share everything on here because it's amazing to see God at work. Some of it is very personal and some you just cannot put into words. But to see the hand of God at work is such an amazing thing. We say it over and over again that Peter has brought silly back into our family. That statement in the best description of what he has done. There are tears, there are hurts, there are days that all I can say is "Jesus!" but I would do it all over again (and I am sure that I will!) to have this young man as part of our lives. He is a such a precious gift to us and I am glad that we were chose to be his parents! Now I must prepare to be invaded by him and his friend tonight so..

For your viewing pleasure.....make sure you scroll to the very last picture for the cutest one!

 Pine Cove

 First sleepover!

 Zoo trip with all the cousins (on my side)

 Scary, aren't they?

 First to us tooth to lose!

 Peter and his Pine Cove counselor

 I have a picture of Andrew and Jared just like this! I love it!

First time playing in a water hose outside

 Pop!

 Rockin' C Ranch Retreat!

 First 4th of July! It was comical!

 I told you! Progress! I do not have many of him and Andrew together because they are always beating each other up. I am told this is 'normal' for brothers? They do find if funny!

Oh and did I mention that he got a Mohawk?? Adorable!!

Grief....

   Grief is a 5 letter word about loss which applies to so many different areas in life; loss of a loved one, loss of a job, loss of life as you know it, etc. Grief explains a feeling that seems to consume me lately.. Well, along with weary but that's another post for another day. :-)

   It has hit me lately that Peter was an orphan for 10 years. Ten years...That's a long time. Ten years of never knowing what a family really is, what true love is, or who Jesus is. He was taunted, teased, beat down by words, told he was not smart, and many other things that we can never imagine. I was raised in a divorced home but I always felt loved. I experienced a rough moment during my childhood but I had loving parents to get me through it. When things got rough for Peter, he had no one to turn to. Yes, there were adults there but they were to busy obeying the government and raising more kids. When he fell and scraped his knee, there was no one there to kiss it and tell him it would be all better. When a fellow student was mean to him, he had no daddy to teach him how to stand up for himself. All he could do was be in survival mode, never expressing how he felt because people may make fun of him and never putting down his defenses because you cannot be weak in this environment. Ten years of this....

   But the saddest of it all..he didn't even have Jesus to turn to. According to Chinese law, you are not allowed to talk to children under the age of 18 about Christ. You can be the hands and feet of Jesus (Thank you BMH!) and kids can ask you but you cannot initiate the conversation. Peter had no idea that His Creator loved him so much that He made him, died for him, rose for him, and is eagerly anticipating his return to Heaven. What a sad situation! Jesus is the only One who gets me through life. I have no idea what I would do without Him. I am getting a glimpse of the emptiness and confusion I would have if I had to endure this through Peter.

   I am grieved by the fact that this sweet boy knew none of this. I am grieved by the fact that Peter has to learn what a family is and that we will always love him. I am grieved by the fact hat he's never had friends who like him for him. I am grieved by the fact that there are so many more children over there just like Peter who will never have what he now has.

   This is new for all of us. Yes, Eric, Andrew, Abi and I are experiencing some grief. But when I feel grief over the fact that my life is not so 'easy' now, I ask God to remind me of what Peter has gone through. Life is not supposed to be easy and all about me. That's not what the Bible promises.  What it does promise is that Our Savoir will be by our side throughout each moment. Our lives are supposed to bring Him glory and how can that happen when people only see a life of ease? So yes, life is pretty difficult right now. BUT what a joyous thing to see God at work. It's not always right away, it's not always when I think I need it but it's always at the right time, which is His time.

   I rejoice that Peter is able to experience a family and love now. But I look forward to the day when he receives Christ as his own so we can rejoice over the fact we will have eternity together with Christ! That is true joy!

*FYI..Peter talks daily about Jesus. There is much confusion for him on the subject of Christ. He does not understand Who God is. He does not understand why he's just now hearing about this and questions it a lot. I have told him that it's ok not to have Jesus in his heart right now because he is trying to figure out who Jesus is but one day Jesus will come and knock on his heart and whisper the sacred question.."May I enter?" And that's when it will really matter..

I Dare You...

I dare you to read this post and not take action...

 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

Orphans- Well, the first thing you can do is pretty obvious...you can adopt or foster! Adoption and fostering can happen in many different ways. You can adopt because you cannot have children, you want to add more to your family, you are crazy, (!) and the best reason, because the Lord calls you to do it. You can adopt internationally, locally or decide not to adopt but to foster different children who need a safe and loving family. You can spend $40k or nothing at all. But to look after the orphans doesn't mean you must adopt or foster. There are many other ways to do this. You can come help a family as they raise money to bring their child home, you can come alongside a family and take them meals when life gets crazy, you can help babysit when the parents need a moment to breathe, you can pray with the parents for their children and the biggest of them all: You can understand. You can understand that this new life is just that; new. It's not always easy, it's different, and most people just do not get it. They want you to be the same person/family as you were before. That cannot happen. You are experiencing life and seeing life in a new way. Dare I say, you are catching glimpses of God that you would never see unless you were doing this. But you can also catch these glimpses when you are a part of it. Become a part of this change and see if you are not changed..for the better. Your eyes are open to things you never imagined. All because you decided to follow part of what James 1:27 says. I recently read an article about a family who started an adoption ministry at their church. Get this: They were not adoptive parents. They saw the need to be the hands and feet of Jesus. This ministry has grown in leaps and bounds and now have a paid staff member. Incredible.. A blurb on fostering; This is not an easy road. It's a road filled with heartache because you have no idea how long these children will be in your care. A day or forever. But you love them for the time you are granted.  When CPS decides it's time for this child to be moved, it's heartbreaking. No matter how hard this child is, they are a part of your family. Be sensitive to the parents when this happens. Do not make comments on how much easier their life will be with one less child. They carry these children in their heart forever. Most of the time they will be given no updates whatsoever on the children. Can you imagine having a child in your life for a year then it's gone? Yes, they sign up for this but it still hurts.

And let's not forget about the widows 

Widows-Ah, the widows of this world. Most of us picture a sweet old lady sitting in her chair just doing..nothing. She has no life and is waiting on us to rescue her. Beeeep!! That is wrong! Not all widows are people who cannot get around and not all of them are ladies. Thanks to the wonderful movie "Up," we all had an "AHA!" moment where we realized that men are widows also. Now, some of you are out there saying, "I just do not know any widows." Well, I am here to tell you that they are pretty to easy to find. Talk a walk down your street. I had no idea there were 3 widowed women on my street, along with one man. Offer to mow their yard, walk their dog, or just visit with them. Having someone to talk to is such a treasure. Take some coffee and cookies down to their house and give them the best gift; a listening ear. You may even gain a new friend! She may even want to join you in a zumba class! He may want to train for a 5k with you. I know a lot of spunky golden oldies who are not letting life pass them by! I am pretty sure that you have a nursing home in your area. A majority of the residents there are widows. Maybe you can take flowers on Valentines Day to them. How sad to receive special gifts for years then, bam!, nothing! How about a retirement community?  Go and have dinner with these wonderful people. What a wonderful gift they give us when they tell us their past. They lived through times we have only read about. Well, if they are an older widow. Yes, it's shocking, there are younger widows. I truly believe that this word can now encompass those who are divorced. I may be wrong in saying that. But I do not believe you will be punished for helping the divorcee, so I'm not going to worry about it to much. They, too, are alone now. Some with kids to raise on their own. This is not an easy life to live. Sometimes you are judged because of the divorce. You are judged when you decide to move on. It's not easy. Divorce is an ugly, ugly word and reality. It's not fun for anyone involved. But unfortunately, it's a reality that we have. (I say this with the understanding that you all surely know I am not for divorce. Ever. God can work miracles. But divorce is alive and well in our communities and we can't ignore it. Do not embrace the idea; embrace the person) Come along beside this person as they are experience a new reality. Offer to help the newly divorced mom with her yard work that her husband always did. Offer to help the newly divorced dad fix his daughters hair. And most importantly, do not shun them from the church! (or 'your out of church' clique. Don't act like you do not know what I am talking about) They need the church more than ever at this point! Yes, a sin has been committed but a sin was also committed when you ate one to many M&M's while watching that sinful show on television. So save the judgement and show some love. Just because you love on a person does not mean you accept the sin. I recently read a great statement that said you do not have to compromise your personal convictions to be compassionate. Amen!

So, are you ready to live this verse out? Are you ready to leave your comfort zone and embrace the uncomfortable for the sake of Christ? I surely hope so because your life will never be the same. Thank you Jesus!

Growing Up

When you have a new baby, it seems time goes quickly but you do have a little time to adjust to each new stage. There is always some preparation. Not so much with the older child adoption....

 Peter had his first sleepover last night! He asked to spend the night with meme and we allowed it since Andrew went also. He also asked to go to nini's tonight but I think once a week is good! He did great and had a good time!

Today he stayed with a friend for the first time! What meant the most to me is the friend begged for him to stay!! He had such a fun time. His friend Colin taught him to play a new game and Colin told me he did very well!

He's had quiet a few fun days and being home is now boring... Oh well. Entertaining himself is good! He did entertain himself the other day and built this!

Prayers & Bribes

While doing school one day, Peter lost his eraser. As soon as he realized it was missing, he asked to pray. We prayed, looked, didn't find it, but continued with school. After school, he asked to pray again. We did (mom was praying silently in her head that we would find it also) and then we found it! Peter immediately broke out in singing "Jesus Loves Me." I love it! He is seeing that God answers prayers and nothing is to small to pray about.

This morning I stayed in bed a bit long because I was not feeling 100%. Peter came in to ask what was wrong and he asked to pray for me. He then launched right into a prayer! I love that he knows already that you can go to God with anything.

Now onto the bribe...we are still having some issues with Peter not being nice to Abi, making ugly noises when we ask him to do something, and a few other things. Peter has been asking for a rip stick for quiet awhile. He's been saving for one but it will take him a while to get there. We made a deal with him that if he was nice for 14 days, mom and dad would pay for the rest of the rip stick. We made a sheet of paper to hang on the wall and will mark off each day. If he messes up, we will start over. We are hoping he sees the bigger picture in this which is that when we make the right choice, there is a reward. (Choosing Jesus gives you the best eternal reward!) We also want him to see that there is grace and forgiveness so that is why we are starting over if he messes up. We hope this leads to discussions that God does the same for us.

And then he prayed for good behavior!! Please pray for Peter as he launches on this journey to an obedient heart.

Some Peter Funnies

-Yesterday while stopped at a red light, Peter noticed a convertible and he loves convertibles. We were right next to her so he rolled down his window. Here is the conversation:
Peter: Hello. How are-a you?
Lady: Good
Peter: Cool. (while making car sounds and motions)
Mom: He thinks your car is cool. (sometimes a mom must interpret)
Lady: Thank you
Peter: You're a-welcome. Good bye
Lady: Good bye
We drove off. Andrew and Abi were mortified at first but by the end they couldn't stop laughing.

-Today we took the kids to a surprise. (To eat in Tyler and visit Fresh) We asked each of the kids to guess where we were going.
Andrew: Putt-Putt!
Abi: Movies-the $1 of course! (HA!)
Andrew: No, bowling!
Peter: Banana! 2 bananas! Gun machine! (this could be a computer, games, or Jamison) Hamburger!
 Guess who was right?! Random man!

-On the way home, Peter asked what we were doing tomorrow. We reminded him that it was church day (Bible) and then he said, "Tomorrow Bible, the next tomorrow school. Oh my goodness!" Andrew quickly said, "I feel you buddy." HA!

-While sitting at the computer dreaming about vacation Peter tooted twice. He told Abi two banana's so he had to toot twice. Not sure how the other 35 came out since he only had 2 bananas.

It has been neat to see how much Peter understands lately. He understood when we called my brother Christopher yesterday that when mommy counted down we were all going to sing Happy Birthday. He understood the guessing game today and actually guessed many more places (Chelsea's work, Meme's house, Ninin's house, (he quickly corrected himself and told himself no, after Bible tomorrow) Sam's house, Eric's house. gun machines, and Jamison's house) He is also saying "I like-a that" or "I love-a that" a lot. It's very cute when he does. His favorite saying is "Oh my goodness!"

Life is always interesting!

Happy Two Months Peter!!

Yikes! I was reading a fellow adoptive mom's blog and realized that it's been two months since Peter became a part of our forever family! Okay, maybe it was two months yesterday but my days seem to run together.

I cannot believe how far we have come. Most of the time it feels he has always been a part of our family and others, well, he will speak Chinese and I remember.

This is our first official day with Peter

 We were all a bit nervous and not sure what in the world this journey would be like. We are two months in and we still aren't sure! But it's worth it. Every fit, every ugly eye, every laugh, every communication problem, all of it, worth it! Now we have this silly, fun, dramatic boy that makes us laugh (and cry at times) and we can't imagine life without him!

I'm Spiderman! He tells me this several times a day.

Yep, he's an all American boy all right!

How can you not love this picture?! He will often greet me when I am on my last lap of walking the neighborhood. This is one of the mornings. So adorable!

Mommy's Heart

If you are a parent, you will know what I am writing about. If you are a mom, you will feel it in your gut. ;-) A mommy's heart hurts badly when her kids hurt. Even if the child has hurt you or disappointed you, you still hurt for them. It's part of the mommy-ness. It's especially hard when you cannot fix the hurt and/or know you do not need to fix the hurt because it will help the child grow or learn a lesson that God wants them to learn. Or they're an adult child. But that's a whole 'nother post!

It's very hard to be a kid and make friends. It's really hard to be a 10 yr. old Chinese boy trying to make friends in America. It's a blessing that we have incredible friends who have incredible kids but it's still hard. Peter had been looking very forward to something, actually twice, and was so sad and disappointed over the results. It was no ones fault but it hurt him so it hurt me. And because he is not sure how to process his emotions yet, he acted out. I tried to be considerate of this but I also cannot let him act this way. Yesterday was a very emotionally charged afternoon. When he acts this way, Abi takes it very personally, even if he is doing nothing to her, and tries to help. Peter does not want her help so she also gets hurt in the process. To say that this mom was a bit overwrought  by 4:00 yesterday is an understatement.

Yet God was still there. In the midst, I saw Him. I saw a big brother step up and play with him without being asked. I saw a big brother making sure that he was included even though he doesn't understand his new brother at times. I saw a husband step up and let me sit silently in the car and then listened when I was ready. I saw a big/same age sister still laughing at Peter as she watched him out of the corner of her eye. I saw this same sister helping him outside later with a swing. I had a friend be the arms of Jesus and hug me, even when she had no idea what was going on. This same friend made a delicious dinner and their family made me laugh often. I saw her boys make Peter feel welcome and having fun with him. I had another friend assure me that this will pass and he will be going out with friends before we know it. I saw two my kids cuddle up with their dog and bury their head in her because she offers comfort and no words. Sometimes we all need that, don't we?

God is still God, even in the midst of our struggles. We may have to look for Him but He's there. We have to look past the behavior at times in our new children (and our bio kids!)  and see what God sees; a broken, confused, lost lamb that is trying but fails. I know that's what God sees when He looks at me. And I hope that I can react to Peter (and our other children) just as Christ reacts to me; to pick them up gently, brush off the dirt and assure them in a loving voice that I am still here and I still love them, regardless of the behavior. Then help them to learn to to want to change that behavior in a positive way. Because that's what Christ does for all of us.

*A funny from Peter: Last night he was finally able to ride a 4-wheeler. He has wanted to ride one of these since the moment he saw one on the way home from Dallas. He was telling me about it last night and declared his bicycle is not cool anymore so he needs a 4-wheeler. Ha!

The Honest Truth

This is one of those posts that you wonder hmm..should I write it?  But I am committed to being truthful about the entire adoption process and this is part of it. And you know what? It's not even about Peter. It's about others...

Our family has an open policy at our house. We love to have visitors, host people and get togethers, and have the policy you do not have to call us to visit. We still have this policy but our life has changed a bit. We now have a new son. He's not a new baby. This is different. He has lived in a different culture for 10 years of his life, has spoken a different language, and has known a completely different way of life. Ten years. That's a lot of years. Now he's getting used to our way of life. It's not easy. Lots of voices give him a headache because it's chaos in his mind. He's not always sure how to play with other kids because it's a bit different. When he cannot communicate, he gets (understandably) frustrated.  Most importantly, he's trying to figure out what a family is and how we all fit together.

Some people do not get our new life. Some say it out loud and others just look at us weird. People do not understand why we do not have other people over all the time. To be honest, we've had people over more than we had anticipated at this point. It goes ok but when it's time for them to go, they need to go. Peter does not lose it or anything but he's ready for his family to be together again so he can try and communicate more. We do not attend all the functions anymore. It's easier to be home. We do not allow our kids to do everything they used to do. Right now we are focusing on being a family. They knew this going in so it's not like we sprang this on them when we came home. I cannot talk on the phone for long periods of time. If I do, there are constant interruptions. When we are out and about, people do not understand some of the choices that we make or the responses we give Peter. We get more of this than anything else. We want Peter to feel part of our conversations. Can you imagine sitting at a table for an hour and not understanding anything being said? You are basically ignored? What a horrible feeling! And people wonder why orphans are not always so eager to thank us for their new life. (rolls eyes)

So here are my honest, deep feelings on this subject...this is our life right now and I.Love.It. It's not always easy but I am soaking up every bit of it. I am experiencing sadness because I have not done this earlier. We now have boundaries. No means no. If I don't want to answer the phone, I do not. If we do not go, we do not go. It's all ok. We are making memories here. I may be cooking dinner and hear my kids singing worship songs together or watch two boys battle it out with Nerf swords in the living room. I have learned things are things are feelings are more important. Our extended family and friends are important but God has called us to focus on bonding right now. It's so hard when people look at you strangely because of how you are handling situations. Eric and I did a lot of research, read lots of books, and watched lots of seminars before we adopted. We are also living it out. So know that while you may not understand what we are doing, (and sometimes we do not even understand what we are doing)  we are trying to make the best choices for our family. I am not going to be the person who invites you to dinner all the time now or offers her house up to host the party. I am not going to be the first to offer to babysit your children and sometimes I may not even be the first person to call when you have a problem. It's not because I do not care. It's not that at all. When we talk, I cannot give you my full attention and I feel I have short changed you. Know that while we may not always talk, I am praying for you. That will never change.

We can tell when people worry about our other kids. Know what I say to that? Stop. They are good. They know they are loved and this has been one of the best things that has ever happened to them. It's stretching them in ways they could have never imagined and showing them how real God is. Thank you for asking about them but please do not express concern in front of them. You open up a door for them to be all about them. That's now how we are raising them. We spend hours talking to them about this and we are making sure we are aware of their feelings. If they express something to you, talk with them but please make sure you tell us. We do not ask you to stop asking about them but to not worry about them. There is a difference! One of the saddest things to me is that more people ask about A & A more than they ask about Peter. I get that you've known them longer. But know this..we are committed 100% to all four of our children. That has not changed. If anything, it's increased.

Please do not take offense to this post. This is not every single person that we know. And for those who are doing this, we know it's not intentional. This is a new situation. We are still getting used to it ourselves. Every question asked has not been asked with the intention to hurt. It was asked out of love and curiosity. That means a lot to us. This post is to help clarify why things have changed. And please do not stop asking how it's going. Just like any new parent, we love sharing stories! And we love sharing stories about how they are working on getting along! It's great to watch. I'm sure it's not easy when I may be venting about issues we are having on this journey to think that we are truly losing it and have no idea what we are doing. You are probably right! I open the door for a lot of the comments and questions I get. God is working with me on this! We are truly appreciative that so many of you care and that you even want to ask. We are thankful for each and every family member and friend we have. You made this new life possible. (with God leading of course!) The reality is always a bit different. It's not what everyone expects. But you know what? The reality is better. Not easier, but better. Adoption has been one of the greatest decisions our family has ever made.

Now I am off to listen to Peter talk about gun machines, to Andrew tell me about The Twilight Zone, and to hear why Abi's room is boring on Webkinz. Yep, I love my life!

Some Observations

On Friday evening, something happened that made me really think. The Raffray's blessed Abi with a Chinese soup for dinner. Blue and LJ brought it over. Peter was so excited to show him around the house. He even tried to translate for Blue. So cute! :-) He has never had anyone to show off his house to! Every one that comes over already knows our house very well. This was huge for Peter. So now I need to talk to our friends... ha!

Peter has never been her for a birthday. Abi's was the first one. He was so excited all week about it. When he woke up that morning, he poked Abi in the eye. :-/ Not what she was expecting. He had pinched her the night before. 2 things on this: Peter does not know how to handle all his emotions yet. When he gets to over stimulated, he will resort to hurting someone and yelling all the time. We also notice if we do the action back, pinch him, etc., he has no response whatsoever to the pain. His eyes glass over and he will even thank us. Hmm...We are not really sure what to do about this. I did tell him today if he hit Abi again, mommy gets his bike for the day. He was not happy about this. Maybe this will work? We will see...

Peter shared his emotions with me in a positive way!! This was huge considering what I just wrote about! Abi had a friend spend the night on Friday evening and he was sad that he did not have anyone to play with. He sat down and through his broken English and motions, described that he was very sad and everyone else was happy. We talked for awhile, talked with Andrew, and the boys ended up playing together!

One of biggest issues we are having right now is Andrew and Abi parenting Peter. Abi moms him and Andrew stays on top of him all the time. I talked to them a bit last night about trying to turn it into play and to also let the burden off their shoulder. It's not their burden to carry. They have the fun job! Today has been a bit better, with a few small reminders. We are very proud of how hard all of them are working on their sibling relationships. This is not easy but all of them are putting forth their best effort. I am also impressed with how they will come to us and talk about it. Please keep praying that happens!

We left the kids for the first time on Saturday! This was not all for us either. We wanted Peter to know mommy and daddy will come back. They stayed with meme and pop for 3.5 hours and he loved it! He was so excited all day. I finally had to leave some friends at our house and take them because he kept asking. We learned he loves matching games. We were thrilled with how much fun he had and that he enjoys staying with grandparents!

Speaking of grandparents, we are off to nini and papa's! More exciting news tomorrow!

The good, the good and yes...the good!

Life around here has been good. Not perfect, not great, but good. Peter has been sleeping all night (from what I know) and I think that has a lot to do with the improved behavior. He still acts out at times, gets frustrated, and throws fits but it's not horrible. But we also know that this could just be a "good" cycle. I pray that it's not and we are an upward swing! We are working on a lot of life skills. We still work on school but he's still learning how to live here and that's more important.

He watched the entire "Jesus" film in his language last week! He seemed to understand it and liked the part where it showed the empty tomb. :-)

Abi's birthday is tomorrow and I am not sure who is more excited, Peter or Abi. He went grocery shopping with me and wanted to buy her everything. Today we spent about 45 minutes discussing birthdays. I know what he wants to buy me for my birthday!

 Speaking of birthdays, we bought Peter his birthday gifts finally. This first picture is not what we bought but he loved this. He received a bicycle! We also bought him a Light Saber and Clone Mask. He likes Star Wars a lot. He started practicing riding his bicycle on Saturday and had it down by Monday! This was a child that wanted us to buy him a bike with training wheels! He learned to turn yesterday and now loves to ride all the time.

 Riding like a pro all the time now. Yes, I know, no helmet. He will not wear it. We are working on this. And please do not tell me to not let him ride his bike. If you do, I will send him to your house for about 2 hours a day. Just keepin' it real people.

Some things we have observed is he does not do well if he's played video games or watched television for to long. We have really limited his electronics time. He's not happy about that but it's been better for him. And us.

 He had his first speaking role in a play at ELO this week. He did wonderful! He said, "Lost Lamb" which was the title. He was so excited. If you watch this, you should be able to hear him. Turn it up and don't leave!

 And that's about all that is going on here. Here are a few other fun pictures!

 Singing "10,000 Reasons"

 Driving at Meme's. He loved it!

 Helping Abi cook. See? Progress!

 First Chick- Fil -A shake! This is the only thing he likes there.

 First bomb pop. He got the bomb pop at the Mexican Market which is also where he yelled "Crazy Gringo!" at a Mexican woman who was yelling at her child.

 We went to the park one day and Peter wanted to walk to his Meme's house. I'm glad I called her because she was not home.

 Mrs. Stacey came to work on Peter's nails last week. He didn't like it at the time but when she came over the next evening, he gave her a big hug all on his own! And his nails looked so much better.

 Playing at the park

Playing at ELO

The New Adoptee and His Friends

Friends...the one thing we prayed about before adopting. We prayed that Peter would have great friends who would help him stay on the path with Jesus and would like him for who he is. Eric, Andrew, Abi and I are surrounded by friends who do exactly this and we prayed that for Peter. We still do. Many of our friends boys were so excited to meet Peter. We, too, were excited. They met, then what? There is a new boy here that everyone has been talking about for months, prayed for, and helped raise funds for. But is it what they thought it would be?

We have been super impressed with how these wonderful the kids he has met have treated him. They have gone out of their way to include him and make him feel welcome. But it's hard being friends with a boy that comes from a different country, different language, different culture, and different life all together. They include him but it can only go so far when you can't speak. Peter is different. It's not bad different. It's just how things are right now. He is prone to fits when he isn't understood or gets frustrated easily when things do not get his way. He finds different things funny than they do. He doesn't get every game they play. He doesn't understand what they are saying. He is scared they will steal his toys and money. He doesn't understand true friendships yet. So they try and it can be confusing for both sides. So where do you go from here?

You keep trying. And that's what we've seen. These boys are not giving up. They keep trying even when it's hard. They do not understand it all but they keep trying and keep including him. That makes this mommy's heart smile. It makes me smile when I hear that a boy in his ELO class asked for Peter to be in his group. It makes me smile when a boy wants to come home after ELO to play with Peter even when he knows that Peter doesn't really get it yet. It makes me smile when a boy tells him mom that he thinks he and Peter will be good friends. It makes me smile when a group of boys yell bye to him when we leave ELO. It makes me smile when a boy at Sunday school works hard to teach him his name so they can be friends. It makes me smile when a boy jumps on a trampoline with him even when Peter plays rough. It makes me smile when I receive a text from another mom saying that her son said Peter is nice. It makes me smile when he sees his friend that he met in China and they have an inside joke between them. It makes me smile when Peter recognizes his friends and wants to tell them hello.

So what you do is get on your knees and thank the Lord for these sweet boys. You thank the Lord for Peter who keeps trying also. Can you imagine the confusion he feels? He had friends in China that he left behind now he's thrust into this world and told all these people want to be his friends. He has anger over some of this but they all keep trying. And for that, this mommy is very thankful. We know it's not easy for any of them but what a blessing it is to know these boy like him despite! We will keep praying that he will keep these friends for life and realize what a blessing they are. We pray that they will realize what a blessing he is to them also. And we thank the Lord He created friendships!

The most beautfiul sight

No News is Good News?

Or that's how the old saying goes anyways! Life hasn't been horrible just...different. My friend said it best when she said that it's not hard, it's exhausting. Yes! That's it. It's not extremely hard, don't get me wrong, it's hard but that's not what it is. I'm just so tired! I am very thankful that today is nice outside so the kids can play outside. We will finish school when it gets dark. ;-) And when it's nice outside, mommy can blog!

On Saturday, Eric, Peter, and Andrew went to help my stepmom get their yard cleaned up. My dad hurt his back and will be having surgery this Thursday. So their yard needed some attention. I heard that he did very well which doesn't surprise me. If he has something to focus on and it's outside, that is right up his ally. He was very excited to earn a bit of money. He still will not spend any of it though. ;-) Maybe he's a saver... Time will tell. On Saturday evening D and Caleb C. came over to play video games. Peter was so excited. He now calls Caleb 'Dumbo.' Thanks D! Peter was very excited to tell me he saw Dumbo at church on Sunday. Unfortunately we allowed him to play video games a bit too long and Sunday morning was a bit hard...

This is where I am going to brag on our adoption group Legacy at church. (instead of whining!) I was exhausted mentally on Sunday morning. This group surrounds each family and encourages them in ways that only they can. And this is the best part..not all of them are adoptive parents. There are 4 families in the group who are there to walk beside the families and encourage them. How incredible is that?! Each Sunday I feel so rejuvenated by this group and we cannot give enough thanks to God for them. The video series we are watching right now is exactly what I needed to hear. The encouragement and advice I received was so needed. The prayers offered brought tears to my eyes. The hugs given were just what the Dr. called for. The help offered is appreciated more than they could know. Can you tell that this group is incredible?! If you are an adopted parent, I encourage you to start an adoption group at your church. Ours started small but has grown steadily over the years. It's encouraging to hear how God is working in these families lives and what He's doing in our church body.

We enjoyed some nice relaxing time with at my mom's house after church. It was so nice outside that we visited in the backyard the entire time. I love this weather! We had a sweet Chinese-American woman from church come to our home that evening to help us speak with Peter. And speak he did! She was here for three hours! We learned many things that give us a bit of insight on some of his behavior. (not all!) We are glad to know these things so we can help him with them.

Monday was a good day. A & A had a dentist appointment and Peter did well for having to be there 2 hours! We bought a few games that Peter can learn to play without language (!) and listened to Abi and Peter's concert that evening. Good day! And he's still singing "10,000 Reasons!" And so are we!

Peter riding the tricycle at Nini and Papa's

First field trip! We went to see a group called the Black Violins

Riding the golf cart at Papa's

Spiked hair like daddy and Andrew

Singing his heart out to Jesus!

K-Drama?

The last few days have been pretty good. I never mentioned that Wednesday marked one month for our family of six! Just as I posted the last post, I heard a child screaming for me to come outside quickly. Our two dogs were fighting and our bigger dog had really hurt our little dog. For the record, they've never fought before. Both Abi and Peter had a friend over so all four kids saw it. Abi and Peter were very sad for the rest of the day and worried about Sissy. (our small dog) That evening when I asked Peter if he had a good day (through our translator) he said no. I asked why and he said because Sam and Sissy had gotten hurt. Poor thing! He was so sad. I told him about Valentines Day the next day and this when the bizarre conversation started..

He asked me if Valentines Day was a Korean Drama. Now the only reason I know what a Korean Drama is I just finished reading a fiction Christian book written about the Asian culture by an Asian writer. They call them K-Dramas. They are basically Korean soap operas that are not good at all. How does he know about these?! Then he started to ask about sinners, who's a sinner, why do we go to church. I tried very hard to explain it all to him. A lot of it was lost in translation so I am not sure what he understood. Not being able to converse in our language has to be our hardest obstacle.

Thursday was another good day. He enjoyed his first Valentines Day. He even thanked Abi for breakfast. She made some awesome donuts! Before we went to bed, Peter asked me, again through the translator, if we would love him again tomorrow. He has alluded to this the night before also. I assured him that we would all love him forever. I was so sad to think that he worries about this.

Today has been a good day also! Peter wanted to do school for 2 hours! Two hours! What a difference! Now here is the best news...After we eat breakfast, we have prayer time. We take praises, prayer requests, and everyone takes a turn praying. The last couple of mornings Peter has asked to pray but looks to me to know what to say. Today he prayed all on his own!! His sweet prayer was this: Thank you God for Ninnie, Papa, Mommy, Daddy, Abi, Andrew, Meme, um (at this point I tried to help him but he told me "I got it!") and Pop! Amen." I could have cried! Again, he doesn't really understand it all but this is a huge step. Then this afternoon he had turned on the radio. He loves music. I could hear him humming 'I'll Fly Away' like he had heard it before. When the song '10,000 Reasons' came on, he cranked it up and started singing the song. He knew the entire song! The entire song! I was so thrilled! What a moment!!! I adore worshiping with my children and this moment meant so much to me! I so wish you could all see it but he didn't want me to record it. (understandably!)  We are going to keep praying for this sweet boy to accept the Lord he is singing about!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

So I just wrote a huge, long rant but erased it all. LOL You did not need to hear that. That's not what this blog is for and I refuse to let someone else still my joy! (Be proud Teresa, be proud!)

I've had many of you ask me how I have time to blog. Remember that I brought home a ten year old boy and he lives with siblings. He loves to play outside and he's given a bit of video game time each day. I take those times to blog. I want to be able to look back and see how God has moved and changed us. I didn't blog enough during the process and regret that already. This is our personal journey but I share because our prayer is that someone will be touched by something we share. Maybe you will even want to adopt! ;-)

Peter's had two great days. Granted, today is over yet but so far, so good! Yesterday was the first day that felt like 'normal', well our new normal. That was so nice. Today was ELO and Peter loves ELO. He is already making friends and that makes this mommy smile. That has been a prayer, still is, that Peter would have his own group of friends, along with his siblings. He hugged me goodbye at ELO then headed off to see his friends. He hugged me today at ELO (that beats this handshake I was given last time ;-)!) during break then played soccer with all the boys. He had a great time at CFA afterwards. I am so glad that he's enjoying making new friends, despite not speaking the same language. Today Jamison came home to play with him and Andrew and Abi were both given a chance to be with friends too. Win-win for all. Today Peter showed his truly compassionate side. His friend Sam was hurt during P.E. P.E is the last class for them and it happened in the last 3 minutes. So we were not able to see how he was doing. Peter was so worried. He asked multiple times about him and once we came home, he brought me a phone and asked me to call Sam to check on him. I love that he's making friendships and is showing compassion!

He did say his first Chinese curse word yesterday. :-/ He knew it was wrong and it gave us a chance to share how our words need to be pleasing to the Lord, how we know which words are pleasing to the Lord, etc. Like I've said, every moment is a teaching moment!

Thanks for reading!! Your prayers are truly coveted. This is not an easy journey. I journal it but it cannot all be put into words. I'm so happy that things are going so well but I still do not feel like myself yet. And that's ok. I am right where the Lord wants me. (I hope) It's amazing to see Him in each and every moment.