Ian's 9th Birthday - Pokemon Go comes to China...well sort of...

It has been a long while since writing.  Time has been short as we have really tried to pour into language while building relationships with friends and loving on our kids.  Whew!  We became very very tired but alas... we just got back from a month in beautiful, sunny Thailand and are feeling a bit refreshed.

Pokemon Go came to Thailand two nights before we left.  Ian has had an affection for pokemon that started at the Homeschool Resource Center back in Brandon, Fl a few years ago.  This took it to a new level.  I think Brian said Ian walked 7 km one night just trying to find pokemons. Great way to get him moving! haha  

Pokemon Go doesn't exist in our big country.  The Great Firewall blocks Google Maps.  Our little guy was sad to leave Thailand mostly because of Pokemon Go - haha.  So, no surprise when we returned he asked if he could have a Pokemon Go party.  I am not the least bit crafty.  That is why I am so so thankful for Pinterest and Etsy.  I found these great instant downloads here on Etsy for only $3.99.  Then took it to a local print shop who printed it all for less than $5. Score! :) 

The hardest part was this "tablecloth."  We have this great website here called "Taobao."  It truly has just about everything imaginable for sell.  Sadly, you may not always get what you order... I ordered red and white plastic tablecloths and the package came.  And...it wasn't my stuff.  :( Instead, wedding supplies.  Never seen a Pokemon Go wedding... So, Brian and I created our own version from paper. :) 

Aili did a great job creating a sign for her little brother too. :) 

Ian asked for only a few friends to celebrate with him this year.  We are beyond thankful for the gift of friendship the Lord has given our children while here.  While we miss our friends in America dearly and those who have moved out of our current city immensely, we continue to give glory to God for all the blessings He has poured out on us through these special relationships. 

Now for the fun!  First off, each child made Pikachu hats. :) Aren't they cute??

Followed by make your own Pokeball pizzas. Sort of... I figured most of the kids wouldn't care for olives and I honestly didn't know where to buy them , so we used pork sausage which didn't turn as dark as I thought it might...but you can still see it right?  Just imagine the light colored meat as the dark ring and line. :)

 While I baked the pizzas Brian taught the kids how to make Pikachu origami thanks to a fun site here on YouTube that walked them through the steps.

 Brian and I also had a treat - Dr. Pepper!!  It can be found and it is overpriced but worth it for such a time as this.  :) Celebrating our precious little guy.  Funny... when we found out we were pregnant with Ian I was worried, thinking I had no idea what to do with a boy!  So thankful for the gift he is. Love our Snuggle Puppy to the moon and back!

 Ok...on with the party...
We bought ping pong balls and planned to use the super special sharpie markers a friend sent from 'Merica to make our own pokeballs, but the red ran out after the first pokeball.  One must become a specialist at improv 'round these parts... Regular markers and paint came out and the pokeball creation continued!  I will say... Sharpies are the way to go.  Even Crayola markers are just too washable for this craft.

Finally.. we were ready for the cupcakes for our birthday boy.  Side note...we are dog sitting the cutest dog right now.  They are called "Teddy Bear" dogs and truly like a real live teddy bear. :) We are all a little crazy about this precious little doggie.  

 Not sure if it applies to all little boys, but Legos whether real or not are the absolute BEST gifts. :)  I know what he will be doing the next couple evenings. :)

 Nine?  Really NINE?  That is almost double digits!!  Goodness, if only time could sllllloooooooowwwwwww down.

 After all our guests left, dishes cleaned... we went to our fave noodle shop.  Meisi's posture says it all.  :)

Thankful for the day to celebrate our little man.  We are thankful for friends who joined us in doing so.  Ian's real birthday is 8/28, so I can be in denial about him growing bigger for a few more days... 

Easter Rock hunt

Not a typpo...

For realz...

We did an Easter Rock Hunt this year with the kids in our little club.  

A creative, sweet friend (Leigh Ann) shared this idea with me a couple years ago.

First you must find rocks. 

Where we live people always stare at us (usually out of curiosity), but that day, even more so, as we were in the bushes next to the road gathering rocks. haha Let's just say they may think the foreigners are not only strange but a little cray cray. :) 

After gathering (and in my case washing because you seriously do not know if this may have been the public restroom rock), write the word "Sin" on them.

We had a TON of sin in our house that night. ;) 

Being the great influence I am, I pressured a sister to help me hide our "sin" before going to club to worship. Do you spy sin??

So, our kids weren't exactly sure they wanted to hunt for rocks, nor look for sin - ha. Ian asked me what was inside the rocks because, ya' know, in Easter eggs there are treats.  Being scientifically minded as I am... I said, "Rock  I guess."  He wasn't really impressed.

However, competition to find practically anything spurs children.  So they ran around searching for the sin rocks we had hidden.  Meisi was so proud to fill her bag up.

The kids carried their rocks up three flights of stairs and it got a little heavy.  Because, that is what sin does, right?  It weighs us down. 

After they lay all their sin down, we placed a red sheet over the rocks to represent Jesus's blood. 

His blood covers our sin.  One of my precious children, who I won't name, continued to try to get their hand under the sheet to play with their "sin."  We do that don't we?  Sometimes we ask for forgiveness but we aren't REALLY sorry or maybe we just enjoy the temporary pleasure of the sin a bit too much. Y'all, we must truly let it go.  Stop waller'n in it!  Truly give it over to Jesus, asking for forgiveness and strength to not look or turn back to it.   

We talked with the kids about how sin separates us from the Lord eternally.  The only way to have relationship with Him is through Jesus.  How the precious blood of Jesus paid the price for our sins.  How we must individually ask Him to forgive us for our sins (we don't get to Him because our parents have a relationship). How we must confess with our mouths He is our Lord and follow Him all the days of our life - talking with Him through prayer and reading His word.  How we need to have a real relationship (one where you spend time together through prayer and getting to know Him through His word). 

Thankfully, Sunday is coming and Jesus didn't stay dead!  He is ALIVE!!  While our brother shared the message we took away the rocks and replaced them with treasure (candy and treats from America that different friends and churches have sent - these days that is a true treasure).  We then covered it with a white sheet.  

After the message we shared how Jesus's tomb was empty.  The white cloth represents how He can cleanse us of our sins but that unlike the tomb - our life is not empty.  Rather it is full, full of sweetness.  Sweetness that is too great to keep to ourselves.  He wants us to share with the world! Then we revealed the sweet treats shared with us.  The kids were excited about their treats and they did such a great job really thinking through questions asked.  

Thank you Leigh Ann for sharing this idea.  An Easter Rock hunt made Easter much more special than just our regular egg hunt. :)  

Also thanks to friends and churches who sent us some of those special treats!!  

What do you do after Easter service?  

Well, in the south it wouldn't be traditional without a small feast right?  

Aili and Brian were very creative and made these cute pastel deviled eggs; to some these may look familiar ;) If anyone has a good translation for deviled eggs in this language - please share!!  The nationals love them but are a bit leary of the name.  :) 

 Thanks to our small club here- we had our own version of a really yummy feast. :)

This time of year, my excitement is rekindled about sharing He is Alive!!  HE is risen!  He is risen indeed!! Do you guys say that back and forth in your families?  In your churches?

Matt Maher's song "Christ is Risen" has that effect on me. I want to yell it out:

"Oh, death - where is your sting? Oh hell, where is your victory?"
Then to the church around the globe...
"Oh, church - come stand in the light
Our God is not dead, He's Alive, HE'S ALIVE!!"

We have reason to celebrate.  Too sweet of news to keep to ourselves.  Church -
"Come awake, Come awake, come and rise up from the grave!"

You can sing (or yell) along by clicking the link below. :)

Kung Fu Panda 3 - to see or not to see?

So, we were invited to see Kung Fu Panda 3.  Of course we wanted to see it - we LOVED 1 and 2 - even own them.  So why would we question seeing 3?  I wasn't until I looked on facebook, on blogs, on reviews...

As a family blessed by adoption, there are many trials we face.  Many questions we stare in the eyes. Many, dare I say it, fears that creep in.  Fears of what will happen when she asks?  What will happen when she realizes we don't look alike?  What will I say when she asks about her birth parents?  What will we do if she wants to try to find them?

Thankfully, my God did not give me a spirit of fear but of power, love and sound judgement (2 Timothy 1:7).  So, we prayed, decided we should go see it and see what happens.  Asking Him to give us wisdom whenever those questions arise (James 1:5).

Now, to be clear...this is MY families opinion - we are not placing that on you.  Each family is different.  Each situation is different.  So, pray and ask the Lord what to do.  He is not a God of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33)  and even better - He is always faithful and will give you peace. :)

So... my verdict.  The short of it, I really like this movie.  Sure, there were the parts that tugged on my adoptive mama heart.  I appreciate the reality the writers put into the struggles that both the adoptive and birth dad felt internally and for each other.  Also, appreciated the reality of what was most important finally coming to each of them.  What I liked most - the movie had a lot to do with finding out who he was (Po) and the internal struggle to figure that out.  Boy, don't we all do that??  Sit and ponder, "Who am I?"  Going from working professional to stay at home mom, I often asked, "Who Am I?" Moving from USA to big Red Country...countless times I've asked, "Who am I?" Times where I felt others wanted me to become who they wanted.  Maybe even times I wanted to become someone else.  Have you ever pondered that?  Well, Po did too.  You betcha our adoptive kids will ask this.

Did you see "Somewhere Between?"  I wept the ENTIRE movie, from five minutes in until the end. I hear when we go back to the US our kids will feel similar as the girls in that movie.  That our kids won't know if they are American or Asian.  Even our kids who were born in America. Clearly, if American born kids ask this who live overseas (Third Culture Kids) struggle with this, our adopted kids will ask the same. Without spoiling the movie - they did it well!  In my opinion - they answered that so so well! When he figured it out, he used it to help so many others do the same (including his dads) and that was powerful!  haha - In this movie truly powerful.  :)

There was no picking a dad.  No tragedy.  It was beautiful.  Beauty from ashes.  It was almost as though they picked through my dreams of what I would want for Meisi.  Now, I know I am a bit dramatic and could likely have too lovely a picture of what happened.  However, it is my prayer.  My dream.  I want to tell her and will tell her the truth.  We know nothing.  Nothing.  We don't know who her birth parents are.  We don't know why they made that decision to leave her on that cold winter day of her birth or soon after.  Yet, I feel - looking at her personality.  Her love for life,  The ray of light that she is... All things she got from her birth mom and/or dad (cause she has been this way since day one)...  We will tell her we believe that day, her mom chose life for the second time.  She chose life to not abort which is incredibly common in China.  She was born with severe heart disease and that was clear from her purple skin.  So, I imagine that her birth mother looked at her beautiful daughter and made what had to be the hardest decision she has ever made.  That scene in Kung Fu Panda 2 (replayed again in 3) where Po's mom lovingly places him into the basket, then left him as a way to save his life.  Yes, dramatic, but that is what I dream was her story.  Being from such a poor town, her birth parents likely could never afford to do the life saving surgery she needed.  So, they chose life again, making the hardest decision any parent would have to make... to leave their child in hopes of her being found.  They made sure she was.  Placing her in front of the store there on the dirt road... Is it her story?  I don't know.  I may never know this side of Heaven.  However, we pray for her birth parents.  We pray they somehow will hear truth.  That they have a personal relationship with Jesus.  We pray through that the Lord will give them peace to know she is healthy and she is adored.  Loved beyond measure.

When she asks those questions about who she is.  We will talk through it, all of it.  Yes, she is complex - Chinese by birth but American by passport, born sick but healed.  We have this conversation often living here, not exaggerating to say daily.  We even get asked frequently, near daily, where her "real mama" is.  Yes, I am her real mom.  No, her dad isn't Chinese.  She is American.  Living here, these questions are shaping who she knows/believes she is.  Is it hard?  YES!  I pray daily the Lord directs our steps in handling all this well.  Does Kung Fu Panda 3 change it.  No.  Right now being only 4, she didn't seem to understand much of the two dad thing anyway as we asked her about it afterward.  However, when she can, I might even revisit this movie.

I particularly liked the end. Now, don't get me wrong.  I don't believe in chi (or more correctly qi, which is kinda' like "The Force" in that other movie series I really like).  I do believe His Spirit being the force within us.  With the Spirit in us His light can shine through us. Knowing who we are.  Children of the One True King.  Fearfully and Wonderfully Made (Psalm 139:14).  We should let our light shine.  His light shining in us - POWER.  TRUE power.  Power that will defeat any beast or temptation to believe any less.  :) I don't think that was where the producers of this movie were going, but that is where my mind went. :)

14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 

Matthew 5:14-15

Clearly, I liked it, really liked it.  Would I recommend it?  In certain contexts: Yes. But whether you go see it, my friends, is entirely up to you. ;)

Lottie

Lottie Moon.

I clearly remember hearing her name, stories of the "Cookie Lady" as a child and being excited.
I wanted to grow up and be like her - haha (I think I've always had her boldness and maybe the bossy part down pat) .
I've known that name, who she was, and about the Lottie Moon Christmas offering for as long as I can remember.
Growing up in a small town, strong Southern Baptist Church I think my view of Lottie was more like a super hero.  Of course, maybe living a radically obedient life to Christ is like being a super hero??

The church I was raised in - Petrey Memorial Baptist in Hazard, KY had Girls in Action (GAs) and Royal Ambassadors (RAs).
Now, don't get me wrong - I do like some of the new alternatives offered in many churches today. However, my experience with them is that none can even closely compare to the heart for missions GAs and RAs can build in children.
I remember being 8 or 9 years old hearing and reading stories from missionaries and their kids. I remember learning to pray for those suffering for the Lord.  I remember writing letters to them. GAs taught me about countries and continents before any school system did.  Cultures, food and people I never knew existed, I'd hear stories, see pictures...  Recognizing early, being a Christian wasn't easy everywhere like it was in the comfort of my town and church.  I believe the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) was the verse I memorized right after John 3:16. I remember saving my coins to give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and the excitement knowing I was personally doing something (even as a child) to follow Jesus's command to make disciples of all nations.

If you've never heard of Lottie - here is a super brief history (you can read more here.)
She was a single female missionary to China, sent in 1873.
She was bold, I'd call her a little firecracker (truly little - barely over 4 feet tall and about 50 lbs).
She urged (in very strong letters sent home) Southern Baptists to encourage more Christians to join the work and then for the churches to support those sent financially.  The first Christmas offering was in 1888, raising $3315 which sent three more workers to China.  Since the offerings conception -100% of the offering has been used to send full time missionaries.  The name of the offering changed after her death to remember her for starting it.

Each year, people around the globe give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering to help support and send missionaries to dark places.

My family has always given, but often we'd question how much we should give.  Clearly, every amount helps.  Whether it is quarters kids give or checks written by families.  During our first year of marriage our pastor shared in a sermon that his family has a budget for Christmas gifts.  They add all they spend on Christmas gifts, totaling all gifts, then they write a check for that amount to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.  We felt that seemed like a lot but that shepherd reminded us - "If Jesus's final command to us was to make disciples of all nations and there is an organization that already sends missionaries around the world doing this and 100% of said offering will go to send them, shouldn't it be the best gift you give in celebration of His birth?"  As we thought and prayed through it, we decided the Spirit was leading us to do the same.  I wish I could say we have always had a good Christmas budget but in reality, we don't.  So, over the years we've estimated how much we spend and then give more than that.

Today, the Week of Prayer for International Missions begins.  I will be trying to post on facebook each day as a reminder to pray but be sure to check out all the resources available here.  There are resources on family devotionals to do as well.  Maybe your church or your family doesn't have much missions education for your kids, or maybe you do! It is never too early to start this and these devotionals are a great way to do it or add to it.

Our purpose on this planet is to make disciples of all nations.  To be salt, light and above all else - love!  Will you pray and ask the Lord how he wants you to give?

"Is not the festive season when families and friends exchange gifts in memory of The Gift laid on the altar of the world for the redemption of the human race, the most appropriate time to consecrate a portion from abounding riches and scant poverty to send forth the good tidings of great joy into all the earth?"
Sept. 15, 1887, Lottie Moon, Tungchow

First Thanksgiving in EA

What did you do for Thanksgiving this year?

Anything different?

When we were able to in the states we'd try to be with our extended family for Thanksgiving. However, there are times that wasn't possible and we did our own thing, usually with our precious community wherever we were living.  Whether blood relatives or my sisters and brothers in Christ - we miss y'all.  We miss the laughter over food, sharing life together.  

This year was a bit different for us. 

The big kids international school had school on Thanksgiving.  

I'll admit, at first I thought it a bit weird but wow am I glad the day turned out as it did. 

Turkeys are pricey here so me prepping food for my family would have been an expensive and time consuming undertaking (2 burners and a giant toaster oven as an oven makes cooking big meals really hard). 

Y'all we got to experience something so cool though.

At the international school all the moms from many nations got together and provided a "sampling" of food from around the world.  It was far better than the Food and Wine Festival in Disney and couldn't beat it being FREE!  :)  

It was kinda funny to hear "We are the World" play a few thousand times but in reality - we are the world. :)

No idea who did this but isn't it beautiful??

Oh my goodness - he Korean food was AMAZING.
Of course, Hubs and I have a real affection for Korea but wow - these ladies went above and beyond!
Oh - and how cool that many dressed in cultural attire. :)  LOVE some of these ladies to pieces and so thankful we get to experience life with them.

 Chinese food - again YUMMO!

 Malaysian. :) The fish balls weren't really my favorite but fun to give it a try.

Italian  - spaghetti with meatballs of course!
Brazil - oh so yummy truffle type of treat. This amazing mama made 300 by hand!  Everything she's made has been fantastic!

Of course on Thanksgiving day we had Western food - lots of pumpkin treats. :)

 And lets not forget the yummy casseroles. :)

I had no idea Singapore folks liked gummy type treats so much.
The kids loved these.

 Aili was super excited about the Japanese food.   They even had octopus balls! No, I didn't try it but Aili and the hubs did.  They said it was good.  I just took there word for it. :)

This is Ian's super sweet teacher. We have been incredibly blessed by amazing teachers at the international school.

After this I did my "Black Friday" shopping at IKEA - haha... 

Then we had a real American meal for Thanksgiving...

McDonalds!  lol

The funny thing, I learned the next day - my parents ate the same thing!  They misunderstood the sign at the restaurant where they planned to eat (it was closed).  This left them with no food options aside from McDonalds. 

McDonalds or Turkey, we still had much laughter (this was just after Ian's soda spilled all over his face).

 Meisi thought that was quite funny.

 Some serious discussions - haha, not really - they just respond similarly to my unending picture taking...

 ha...caught her smiling (albeit blurry)...

 The next day we joined a bunch of fellow Americans that we love dearly for a more traditional meal.  Each family brought some dishes - this was the outcome - a HUGE, delicious buffet!  It was AMAZING!  Hours later, we were still picking at the food, playing cards, games, kids playing inside and out, watching Charlie Brown and talking...
My heart (and my belly) was full, cup overflowing.
It is hard to explain just how much good for the soul having something familiar during the holiday. :)
Doesn't make up or replace those we love and miss back home.
It does remind us of how much our Father enjoys blessing us. :)

We didn't really know what to expect for Thanksgiving here will be one we won't forget.  Thankful for beautiful memories made with precious people.

My most precious peeps though...these guys.
Now, getting these precious peeps to all smile at the same time, um, yes, doesn't happen regularly.
The third pic is my fave, how about you? :)

We hope your thanksgiving was spent with people you love. 

Above all else we hope you felt the love of our Amazing God surrounding you and that you do give thanks in everything, praising our Lord whose love endures forever!