The other thing she is loving is swinging like a monkey. She can only reach the bars at the tops of slides...but is desperately watching other kids on the "monkey bars" and wants to be lifted up to be able to hang from the bars!
In other "family" thoughts...we've had good visits from David, Tim's best friend on his way back to Beijing where he teaches at a Middle School. He is so great. I feel like he is one of my great friends, and we really miss him after just a few short days of visiting. He was so great with Lucy, and he is the most "present" person I've ever met. Whether we were at the park, going grocery shopping, talking theology, or catching up on details of work....he is "there", present, interacting, and making you feel comfortable and cared about. He is certainly gifted, and I found myself praying that he would be "granted" a family of his own soon. Anyway, I saw a slightly different side of Lucy as they played. Nice to be an observer.
Lucy has a Mango Lassi moustache!
Tim's parents came for a long weekend (it had been a year) and gave us a date night, a few hours here and there alone to think and shop, and most importantly, more great and unique interactions with Lucy. We were reminded how precious it is to have family live close, and wished that our families were not spread out all over the country. Not only do we need more free date nights, or Chinese taught to her by native speakers, but we all need the community it brings. We NEED family!!
Oh my gosh, I forgot I had this one of Granddaddy and Lucy coloring!! He's 85!
Lucy did a good job of calling them "grandmommy" and "granddaddy" while they were here....(already established by older cousin Caleb, so we didn't get a choice on that one!)...not to be confused with my mom who is Grandma, or "Gamma". While my mom is missing out on the summer visit, (we did go see her in May) she sent Lucy some awesome Giant coloring and sticker books and Pooh crayons!! Truly a Giant Hit!! I sure wish my mom could see her more in person, that they could bring joy to each other more frequently. That everyone would know MORE love.
Anna, Kevin and Caleb come in just a few weeks, it will have been a year since we've seen them! Good grief, we've got to travel more!!
My sister Joanna is the only one close by that we get to see fairly regularly. We got good news from Joanna just this Friday: her MRI follow up looks clean. She had a Meningioma (a tumor on the lining of her brain, the meninges) several years ago....gosh, is it 10 or 11 years now? Anyway, it was removed, and it has caused her much physical pain (thus emotional pain as well) this entire time (doctors are stumped). She has MRI's to check for re-occurence, and this round showed good news. We're so thankful for not only this good news, but the amazing things God is doing in her recent life.
I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—
Joel 2:25
This has been my prayer and a promise I believe for her....I know she wouldn't mind if you read her new blog: www.proclaimanddeclare.blogspot.com
Then I think of a drama at work this weekend. I can't share much of the story, but in short, my co-worker was purposefully punched in the face by a scared/angry (??) teenaged boy. It broke her glasses, and required several male security guards about 30 min to get the situation "handled". I cried off and on for nearly and hour. Partly for my friend, partly for the boy...(what has happened in his life to get him to this point so soon?!)....for the crying baby I was trying to console in the midst of the drama....for my own sweet Lucy who was happily playing at home with her beloved Daddy. How does it come to this? How do we go from perfect newborns to "this"???
Then of course, as all conversations and dilemmas lead me round to these days.....the orphans. There are too many for my brain to comprehend, so I mostly focus on those I "know" at the New Day Foster Home. I nearly had a meltdown, as I saw little Asa, a new 5 day old that was just admitted to the home last week. I want him. Sign me up, buy me a ticket, pack my bags, I'm coming to get him. Protocols and paperwork can wait.....I'm coming. I want to get to him NOW, not in 2 years when I finish all the paperwork, or am approved by the Chinese government. I want him to know a permanent mommy now, not struggle with different (albeit loving) temporary parents, and him have to struggle to fit into someone's arms and home when he's two. It's just not right. None of it is of course....I can only pray and offer myself as one tiny tiny piece of letting His Kingdom come...
I am not really supposed to re-post kids' photos without special permission. But go to www.newdaycreations.com (or use the new day foster home link on the left) and take a quick peek at Asa. (He's still on the front page under "new arrivals" as of this writing). Then, if you feel able, head over to the Chip-in button on the left of my blog to contribute to the matching fund (ending soon) to help take care of Asa and all his buddies and buddettes! I am sooooooooooooo thrilled that we are almost 50% of the goal, which you remember will be tripled by two separate matching donors!!
God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing.
Psalm 68:6
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Psalm 147:3
In Summary.....Family Matters!!!
Yes, you most definitely had something to say. Thanks for sharing what's on your heart. I went to look at Asa - he DOES have a lot of hair! :)
ReplyDeleteYep, it'll be nine years this fall. Some doctors are stumped why I still have problems and others get it. Hopefully there will be more research and understanding soon for those of us whose lives have been changed. :)
Joanna
Love you friend. We are blessed to have you as a part of our extended family :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a joy to know that you had time with family and friends that are so loved! (The photo of Granddaddy coloring is SO dear! It makes my heart so happy and I don't even know him!) It is such a blessing to have those relationships--if only they lived closer! Thankfully you got out on a date night, even if only once ... you sound a lot like us, going out once a year. We too live just far enough away from my family and WAY FAR from Jeff's family that we do not have the luxury of built in babysitting.
ReplyDeleteAND I SO very much want for you guys to pursue Asa! I wasn't sure if your comment indicated that you may be preparing your paperwork for him in particular ... or if you would be praying for him and his forever family. Praying is HUGE of course ... but I wish for the journey, the call, the family being built. I ask for the moon. :-)
It is SO hard to know that these children will spend the first 2-4 years of life without their forever mommies and daddies. That hurts--because even for the few that are in dear places like ND, it's still not their special home with their special moms and dads. I wish the process was faster. I wish that those who truly had deep hearts for the least of these would be granted the ability to reach out and care for them, as well as pray for them ... but sometimes after praying and praying for them, it would be so rewarding to physically experience the transforming journey and the deepness of "Belonging"--What a gift to enlarge our hearts to include someone who longs to "Be"-- who "Belongs."
Oh, I feel an interesting post brewing on that word! My conversations via email with you always tend to get my brain working :-)
Hugs from here Sarah! You have a blessed heart and I'm so glad to have met you!