Lily's New Hair Style!

Yesterday and today Emma did Lily's hair! It's still a little short to do much with and any twin ponytails can make her look like she has horns, but, thankfully, all but the pigtails in the first picture look girly!!








In Him,

Cinderella

Two weeks ago this coming Saturday Kevin, Emma, and Ally (the ballerinas in our family) had the opportunity to perform to Steven Curtis Chapman's Cinderella song (a very special song indeed and close to our hearts). The performance took place at our local mall and made this Mama all teary...truly anytime I hear that song I get teary! Maybe it has something to do with knowing my girls will grow up (having an 18 year old will do that to you) or remembering dancing with my Dad at my wedding or that Chapman was inspired by his 3 Chinese daughters.

Or maybe it's all three!

Without further ado...here's the video.

Grandmas: get the tissues! Consider yourselves warned!

PS...if you click on the video it will take you to a fuller screen version of the video. This one cuts off the right side of the video.



In Him,

BTDT

Since being matched with Lily back in April, I've learned boatloads of helpful tips on adoption...the before, during, and after parts...from, no, not books, but blogs. Out in Bloggy Land there are more adoption blogs than you can shake a stick at from people who have either BTDT (been there done that) or who are on the journey to being a BTDT.

It is almost overwhelming to sort through (and then find again if you forget to bookmark) all of the helpful blogs with the most beautiful children!

Today, on the heels of last Sunday's Orphan Sunday (a week late) presentation and in honor of National Adoption Month (November), I thought I'd post a link to my current favorite blog about Chinese Adoption. Stephanie has definitely BTDT! She is in the middle of her 6th adoption from China...there's a family whose making a difference! She has a great sense of humor and refreshing honesty, as well as pages of tips for China Adoption Travel. Not to mention some sweet giveaways right now!

So, for all zero, I mean one, of you who actually read this...here's a link to Ni Hao Y'all (Ni Hao is hello in Chinese).



In Him,

Orphan Sunday

I wish I could explain what has been going through my mind and the weight and upon my heart on this day...Orphan Sunday...and the days leading up to it.

One word comes to mind...Ache.

Oh, I've gone through the motions of my day somewhat mechanically, but all the while the reality of over 100 million children without parents...orphans...is breaking my heart. And as I've walked through my day and loved on my husband and children, one a former orphan, I've ached...for the orphans...and for the church.

I ache for the children who still sit in as orphans in China and across the world to do what my Chinese daughter did today:
wake up to a forever family,
have warm clothes to wear,
have plenty of food to eat,
be kissed and hugged and told you "I love you!" over and over,
have their boo-boo's kissed,
their hearts comforted,
to be sung to sleep,
and cuddled by those who love them,
to be fought over to be loved on and held by family and friends,
to do "normal" childhood things like attend a birthday party,
to have their picture taken...and saved,
to be smiled at and cheered for,
to hear the name of Jesus and be told Jesus loves her...
to be loved by imperfect people who serve a perfect God.

Today, on Orphan Sunday, I ask you: What are you doing with James 1:27? What will you do?

Will you consider adopting?
Will you help pay for another family's adoption?
Will you sponsor an orphan and contribute to their monthly needs?
Will you help pay for an orphan's surgery and medical needs?
Will you contribute to the needs of an orphanage?
Will you help provide nourishment to an orphan?
Will you go to an orphanage and minister...short or long term?
Will you contribute funds for the education of orphans?

Over 130 million children wait. What will you do?

In Him,

Pollution

We had heard about the smog in China before going. You know that chemically-laden grey fog produced by the factories happily unhindered by the EPA. On our first full day in Hong Kong we saw the pollution cloud first hand, as it obscured our would-be picturesque view from Victoria’s Peak. “The wind brings it from the factories in mainland China,” our tour guide informed us. That day it was blowing in the wrong direction. Had it been a wind from another direction…the view would have been clear.

Once in Guangzhou, a city of numerous factories, it became difficult to tell whether the gray sky was filled with rain clouds or smog…or both. It was always there. After a while, we didn’t really even notice it that much anymore. We had unconsciously accepted it and the result: a limited view. Because of our obscured view, we were short-sighted and had blurred vision.

It wasn’t until we returned home that we realized how significant the pollution and its impact was. Kevin, Emma and I would marvel every time we stepped outside at how clear and crisp everything appeared. We could see to the end of our street! Were those treetops? And the sky! How blue and clear and sharp…the colors of the sunset! Unspeakable!

My mind has drifted back to the fast-acting and thorough impact of China’s pollution upon us many times over the last 2 or 3 weeks. James 1:27 keeps turning over in my mind…

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.

Religion that is pure and faultless is this: to care for widows and orphans in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by idols.

Yes, I typed it twice…honestly, in my brain, it is just on repeat. And then the following statement comes to mind…

The opposite of polluted is pure.

How can we keep ourselves pure?

James commands us to keep ourselves from being polluted by the world. It is a choice this verse tells me. I must decide to not be polluted by the world. I must pursue it, hunger after it. James 1:27 links purity with an action…the care of widows and orphans in their distress.

Why?

I think it is because, when we do, we: 1)See how much we have contrasted with the little we falsely think we have. 2)We see our idols of comfort, wealth, self for what they are…firewood. 3) We are challenged at our core to live our lives for what Jesus says matters in light of eternity.

I can’t fully explain the dynamic, but I have experienced the joy of caring for orphans. It makes me want to cast off with all my might every sin that entangles and throw every bit of my resources to their care. As I buy shoes, I think…this would support an orphan for a month. As I pay to fix my car, I think this is an orphan’s surgery. As I snuggle my babies, my heart breaks for the little ones who at this very moment have no mommy to sing over them. And it makes me hate sin and the pollution of this world and pray that the wind of the Spirit would blow over my heart and purify me. And to beg that I would not spend even one day satisfied with “gray skies.”

You see, while I was in smog-filled China, God gave me a glimpse of His clear, blue sky.

He showed me that all this time I have lived in the pollution of the world even though the air in my neck-of-the-woods is EPA clean. The western world…and might I say western Christianity…is so comfort driven. Nice house, full tummies, feel-good faith. The smog of the temporal blinding the joy of cross-centered life. Much like our experience when we got home, I didn’t realize the impact until I was removed from it. Then I could see more clearly and be astonished by the difference.

The unsettling difference is bumping around in my soul.

As we believers look after, visit, help, and care for widows and orphans through adoption, visiting and serving, and regularly giving to their physical, medical, spiritual needs we purify ourselves. The pollution of the world is blown away by the wind of the Spirit. We can see the world for what it is and our vision extends straight into the Father’s heart.

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2: 15-17

In Him,