I am writing this from the airport in Tokyo. I made it safely here and have two more flights till I reach home in St. Louis sometime this evening. I can't believe I'm sitting here waiting for my plane and that six months has already passed. My last night at the Home was as perfect as could be. Because it was also Ted's birthday, a bunch of the older kids that are in college or living elsewhere on the island came home to celebrate. It was a celebration even bigger than Chinese New Year. So many gifts, so much food and laughter, such a great testament to how much Ted has blessed the children and how much they love him.
So my last day was filled with celebration and thanksgiving. Jhong Hau was home and he took me on a scooter ride up to the tea fields on the other side of the mountain. Every turn he made, he leaned back and asked if I was scared. :) He also didn't have a helmet for me, so he told me not to tell my father because he might be angry at him. :)
After devotions, I gave cards/letters that I had made out to all the kids and got to watch more birthday festivities for Ted. The littlest girls put on a song/dance combo for him and the night ended with a ton of pictures and everyone spanking Ted's bottom- a birthday tradition at the Home.
Of course, I cried when saying goodbye to Show Hwa and to Meredith, but they were tears of joy as well as sadness. One of the older girls, Chyou Rho made me a card and gave me a milk tea for my ride to the airport the next morning. Such a sweet girl!
I have been so blessed by my experience here in Taiwan. Memories I will cherish forever and heart changes that I pray will last as I figure out the next steps for my life. Leaving the Home, I can say with a full heart that some day I will be back there again.
Looking forward to seeing all of my friends and family in a few hours and in the upcoming weeks!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
David's Birthday!!!
I didn't have time to write yesterday, but yesterday was David's 1st birthday!!!!! Oh, what a wonderful blessing and joy he has been to me. If I could take these little babies home, I would! We celebrated by having all the babies come to a special party for David, where as the guest of honor, he got to sit in the middle of the circle and wear a really cool paper hat. Shr Mama made him a little blueberry muffin and we lit one candle for him to blow out. We sang and he made a wish! We also made a wish for him, which was to be home with his family as soon as possible. Their paper work is going so slowly and there has been lots of mix-ups with it being sent back to Taiwan, so please be praying for God's guidance and hand to move the papers where they need to be quickly. Here is a video of David's party. Enjoy. :)
Thursday, March 3, 2011
PRAY!
Please pray that God would change Chiou's and En Chr and Yu Ping's birth moms' hearts. That God would give them wisdom and a selfless heart to give their children up, so that the babies can have a better life and go to a home where they can be loved and provided for. Pray for God's will and protection over these two babies and girl. Pray against pride and wrong motives to take their babies back. Pray that God's love would cover everything.
Thank you, God for these wonderful babies whom you love so much. Thank you for their smiles and the breath you have given them. I praise you for the work you are doing here in Taiwan at The Home of God's Love. We know you are sovereign and that you want only good for these babies. Please change their birth mothers' hearts, so that they may still be adopted into wonderful, loving families that will teach them about you and your love. I trust that you are working and thank you for getting to be a part of these children's lives. In Jesus' powerful name. Amen.
We also got two new babies today. Chen Hwei Jen is four and a half months and Ou Dz An is five days!
Thank you, God for these wonderful babies whom you love so much. Thank you for their smiles and the breath you have given them. I praise you for the work you are doing here in Taiwan at The Home of God's Love. We know you are sovereign and that you want only good for these babies. Please change their birth mothers' hearts, so that they may still be adopted into wonderful, loving families that will teach them about you and your love. I trust that you are working and thank you for getting to be a part of these children's lives. In Jesus' powerful name. Amen.
We also got two new babies today. Chen Hwei Jen is four and a half months and Ou Dz An is five days!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Nearing the End
I have two weeks left here at The Home of God's Love. I think it really just hit me tonight that when I leave here I won't wake up the next morning and get to peek in on Ethan Matthew and get his first smile of the morning or see David Jeremiah's sleepy, confused morning face. I am not yet ready to leave the people that I love here- the babies, Show Hwa, Ted and Bev, Anna, Meredith, and all the older kids. I haven't been keeping track of how many days I have left, mostly because the only reason I will be happy to leave is to get to see my family and friends in America, not because I want to leave here. I wish I could have both my family/friends in America and the babies/kids/friends here in Taiwan in the same place. Gwo Hwei told me yesterday that I only have fourteen days left. He told me that when I leave his heart is going to cry. Isn't that so sweet? He's been a really good friend while I've been here. And he is such a good helper, feeding and holding the babies when he stops by. There are so many great people and kids here that I wish I could still have as a part of my every day life. I wish I could get to see all the babies I've helped care for grow up. I wish I could continue being an older sister to all the girls on the other side of the orphanage. Ya Wen told me the other day that she is going to cry when I leave, too. It broke my heart. Bah......no more talking about it. Such great people, such great memories I'll cherish forever.
To stay on a sad note......Baby Chiou (Timothy Joel) is being taken back by his birth mom. This is the second baby for his adoptive parents to lose (Baby Shih was the first), so please be praying for comfort and encouragement for them as the find out the news and continue back at square one with their adoption process. I am really sad that Timothy won't be going to them because they seemed like wonderful, wonderful people. Sometimes when adoptive parents lose a baby because the birth parents take him back, they keep the same name they had picked out for the next baby the are allocated. When Timothy's parents found out that Baby Shih (Elisha) was being taken back and that they were now allocated Chiou, they wanted to choose a new name so that they could keep praying for Elisha.
Happier news......We are getting two new babies this Thursday! One is a newborn, and the other is a four month old. Also, all they other babies are doing well. Ethan Luke rolled over for the first time, En Chr got a hair cut, David is able to put some weight through his legs and stand up with help, Rylyn is working on more teeth and eating better, Ethan Matthew has been less fussy and much more giggly, Mia and Maleeya are growing soooooo much, Brecken and Tristan are doing better with tummy time, James is still super cute, and David Jeremiah is smiling more and wanting more conversation.
Other good news......Meredith and I have enjoyed two wonderful days off in the past two weeks. Last week, we went into town with Anna and got new glasses and helped her run errands. Then, Meredith and I ate lunch at a new little restaurant by the lake. They serve really good waffles! This week, we went into Luodong and ate at a Chinese place and then got bings, Meredith's first! Later that day, we went on a walk with Jong Hau around the lake and then I got to play basketball with him and some of the other kids. I also got to hang out a little bit with Ya Wen and some of the littler girls. One of my favorite moments of the day was when Yu Ping, Ying Ju, and the social worker's daughter ran up to me calling, "Jie Jie (older sister)!" because they wanted to play. Best day off yet!
I need to get to bed, since I'm on early morning shift and it's almost midnight here. Thanks for caring about me and my time here. Thanks for your prayers!
Prayer requests:
- God to watch over Baby Chiou as he goes back with his birth mom
- That Rylyn's adoption would go through, that the case worker would be able to find her birth mom, so that the paperwork process can continue.
- For James' diaper rash
- Rest for Bev and healing for a lump on her eye
- For eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart that can see God's heart and love here
-Strength to finish my time here with even more love each day for the babies and people I with whom I work
- God to be preparing my heart to come back to America and ending my time here in joy and thanksgiving
To stay on a sad note......Baby Chiou (Timothy Joel) is being taken back by his birth mom. This is the second baby for his adoptive parents to lose (Baby Shih was the first), so please be praying for comfort and encouragement for them as the find out the news and continue back at square one with their adoption process. I am really sad that Timothy won't be going to them because they seemed like wonderful, wonderful people. Sometimes when adoptive parents lose a baby because the birth parents take him back, they keep the same name they had picked out for the next baby the are allocated. When Timothy's parents found out that Baby Shih (Elisha) was being taken back and that they were now allocated Chiou, they wanted to choose a new name so that they could keep praying for Elisha.
Happier news......We are getting two new babies this Thursday! One is a newborn, and the other is a four month old. Also, all they other babies are doing well. Ethan Luke rolled over for the first time, En Chr got a hair cut, David is able to put some weight through his legs and stand up with help, Rylyn is working on more teeth and eating better, Ethan Matthew has been less fussy and much more giggly, Mia and Maleeya are growing soooooo much, Brecken and Tristan are doing better with tummy time, James is still super cute, and David Jeremiah is smiling more and wanting more conversation.
Other good news......Meredith and I have enjoyed two wonderful days off in the past two weeks. Last week, we went into town with Anna and got new glasses and helped her run errands. Then, Meredith and I ate lunch at a new little restaurant by the lake. They serve really good waffles! This week, we went into Luodong and ate at a Chinese place and then got bings, Meredith's first! Later that day, we went on a walk with Jong Hau around the lake and then I got to play basketball with him and some of the other kids. I also got to hang out a little bit with Ya Wen and some of the littler girls. One of my favorite moments of the day was when Yu Ping, Ying Ju, and the social worker's daughter ran up to me calling, "Jie Jie (older sister)!" because they wanted to play. Best day off yet!
I need to get to bed, since I'm on early morning shift and it's almost midnight here. Thanks for caring about me and my time here. Thanks for your prayers!
Prayer requests:
- God to watch over Baby Chiou as he goes back with his birth mom
- That Rylyn's adoption would go through, that the case worker would be able to find her birth mom, so that the paperwork process can continue.
- For James' diaper rash
- Rest for Bev and healing for a lump on her eye
- For eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart that can see God's heart and love here
-Strength to finish my time here with even more love each day for the babies and people I with whom I work
- God to be preparing my heart to come back to America and ending my time here in joy and thanksgiving
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Coming and Going
We have a new little one in our midst as of today. His name is Chen Jie, not to be confused with our other baby Chen Jie En. :) He is a baby from another Home that does adoptions on the island. The woman who runs that operation is named Deana Pawn, and Ted sometimes helps her out with paper work on some of her adoptions. This time Ted is finishing the adoption, so the baby came to stay with us until the rest of the adoption is finished. His adoptive name is James, and he is a sweetie. He is six months old and was all smiles when he arrived. He has had some troubled getting settled down at nap and bed time, but is doing well for his first day here. He reminds me a lot of Kwen in some ways and of Elijah in others. It's funny how any baby I meet I am not going to compare it to the little ones I've taken care of here.
As it seems to happend around here, when one comes another one goes or vice versa. We got the sad new today that Baby Chiou's (Timothy Joel's) birth mom wants to take him back. If Ted and Bev can't talk her out of her decision, this will be the second baby that Timothy's adoptive parents have lost (Baby Shih was the first). Although it's good that the birth mom loves the baby, it is hard because when a baby gets taken back, I always wonder if it will get the care it needs and am saddened that it will most likely be raised to worship idols.
Please pray for Baby Chiou's birth mom that she will come to know the Lord and that she will have a soft heart to give him up to his loving, God-fearing family in the States.
Also, I am now into Ezekiel in the OT. The idea of God's people being unfaithful to Him and His anger/hurt over their prostitution seems to be the theme, as well as his restoration and unfailing love for those that turn back and seek and love him. It's been interesting to ponder on. It is pretty much the meat of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, so it is pretty important to God's heart. I am still hoping to at least finish the Old Testament while I am here. If not, I have a long plane ride home to get some reading done!
As it seems to happend around here, when one comes another one goes or vice versa. We got the sad new today that Baby Chiou's (Timothy Joel's) birth mom wants to take him back. If Ted and Bev can't talk her out of her decision, this will be the second baby that Timothy's adoptive parents have lost (Baby Shih was the first). Although it's good that the birth mom loves the baby, it is hard because when a baby gets taken back, I always wonder if it will get the care it needs and am saddened that it will most likely be raised to worship idols.
Please pray for Baby Chiou's birth mom that she will come to know the Lord and that she will have a soft heart to give him up to his loving, God-fearing family in the States.
Also, I am now into Ezekiel in the OT. The idea of God's people being unfaithful to Him and His anger/hurt over their prostitution seems to be the theme, as well as his restoration and unfailing love for those that turn back and seek and love him. It's been interesting to ponder on. It is pretty much the meat of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, so it is pretty important to God's heart. I am still hoping to at least finish the Old Testament while I am here. If not, I have a long plane ride home to get some reading done!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Cherish Every Moment
I have been so bad about keeping this up the past two months! Here's the rundown, short and sweet style:
- My parents and brother left almost a week ago and made it home safely. It was such a joy to have them here and be able to show them what my life has looked like, as well as experience old and new parts of Taiwan with them. Besides going to Taroko, we were able to go into Taipei for a day, go to Su'ao a fishing village for an afternoon, drive up to the tea fields in the mountains behind the Home, shop in the Luodong market, and play with lots of wonderful babies. I think my mom wanted to take a few of them home! :)
- Jennifer left the same day as my parents, so the help is down to Meredith and me plus Show Hwa during the week days. Bev took over the night shift where Jennifer had been working. It really doesn't seem like the work load is any different. We actually have been getting to go to bed earlier than before!
- We have eleven babies right now. David, En Chr, Rylyn, Ethan Matthew, Brecken, Tristan, Feng (now David Jeremiah), Lin (now Ethan Luke), Chen (now Maleeya), Chiou (Timothy), and Hwang (Mia). I think Chiou and Mia are the two new ones that I haven't ever written about on the blog. They are both about three weeks old. We got them when they were just a few days old. Chiou was the baby we brought back from our Taroko trip. If you are good about paying attention to the babies we have....which I'll be impressed because I've made it very confusing :)....you will notice that two babies are gone. Chi baby, the Vietnamese baby, whose English name was Ethan Luke, was taken back by the grandparents of the husband to the birth mom. So Chi's adoptive parents were then allocated Lin, which is now why his name is also Ethan Luke. I know, confusing, right? The other baby that is no longer at the Home is baby Shih. He was also taken back by his birth mom. We are really praying for both of those babies, especially Shih. My mom fell in love with Shih when she was here, probably because she has a soft spot for screaming babies. :) He was very fussy, just ask Tyler. His mom is a single mom that has a child in high school, 3rd grade, and a two year old, and now she has Shih, as well. Please pray for his well-being and for the mother to find strength, patience, and Jesus.
- Rylyn and the twins had their courtdates. Please pray that the rest of the process would go smoothly for them and that their adoptive parents would have encouragement and patience in the hardest waiting stage in the adoption.
- I have decided to keep my original plans and come home on March 14th. I am hoping to work at a summer camp this summer and then go to grad school in the fall to get my masters in social work or something that will prepare me to work with a non-profit/mission organization. There are still lots of things up in the air about all of this, so please be praying for God's sovereignty and guidance...that he would make things especially clear and that he would give me the will to follow through.
- My church has asked me to skype into their chapel service for the grade school kids this week. I am really excited to talk to them and answer their questions. Please pray that God would speak through me and that our interent would work on Thursday morning, since it has been so finicky lately.
I only have a little less than a month left here. Time in the last few months has slowed down compared to the first three that flew by. I am really trying to cherish every moment I have with the wonderful people and babies here. I want to be able to clse my eyes and see everything just as it is here when I get home. I think I will be ready to come home to see friends and family, but I don't like to think about leaving this place yet. It has been a place of solace and peace for me. I have learned a lot about love, service, and truth. I am so grateful to God for bringing me here and am looking forward to meeting with Him and learning even more in my last month. Thank you to all of you who continue to pray for me and those here in Taiwan.
- My parents and brother left almost a week ago and made it home safely. It was such a joy to have them here and be able to show them what my life has looked like, as well as experience old and new parts of Taiwan with them. Besides going to Taroko, we were able to go into Taipei for a day, go to Su'ao a fishing village for an afternoon, drive up to the tea fields in the mountains behind the Home, shop in the Luodong market, and play with lots of wonderful babies. I think my mom wanted to take a few of them home! :)
- Jennifer left the same day as my parents, so the help is down to Meredith and me plus Show Hwa during the week days. Bev took over the night shift where Jennifer had been working. It really doesn't seem like the work load is any different. We actually have been getting to go to bed earlier than before!
- We have eleven babies right now. David, En Chr, Rylyn, Ethan Matthew, Brecken, Tristan, Feng (now David Jeremiah), Lin (now Ethan Luke), Chen (now Maleeya), Chiou (Timothy), and Hwang (Mia). I think Chiou and Mia are the two new ones that I haven't ever written about on the blog. They are both about three weeks old. We got them when they were just a few days old. Chiou was the baby we brought back from our Taroko trip. If you are good about paying attention to the babies we have....which I'll be impressed because I've made it very confusing :)....you will notice that two babies are gone. Chi baby, the Vietnamese baby, whose English name was Ethan Luke, was taken back by the grandparents of the husband to the birth mom. So Chi's adoptive parents were then allocated Lin, which is now why his name is also Ethan Luke. I know, confusing, right? The other baby that is no longer at the Home is baby Shih. He was also taken back by his birth mom. We are really praying for both of those babies, especially Shih. My mom fell in love with Shih when she was here, probably because she has a soft spot for screaming babies. :) He was very fussy, just ask Tyler. His mom is a single mom that has a child in high school, 3rd grade, and a two year old, and now she has Shih, as well. Please pray for his well-being and for the mother to find strength, patience, and Jesus.
- Rylyn and the twins had their courtdates. Please pray that the rest of the process would go smoothly for them and that their adoptive parents would have encouragement and patience in the hardest waiting stage in the adoption.
- I have decided to keep my original plans and come home on March 14th. I am hoping to work at a summer camp this summer and then go to grad school in the fall to get my masters in social work or something that will prepare me to work with a non-profit/mission organization. There are still lots of things up in the air about all of this, so please be praying for God's sovereignty and guidance...that he would make things especially clear and that he would give me the will to follow through.
- My church has asked me to skype into their chapel service for the grade school kids this week. I am really excited to talk to them and answer their questions. Please pray that God would speak through me and that our interent would work on Thursday morning, since it has been so finicky lately.
I only have a little less than a month left here. Time in the last few months has slowed down compared to the first three that flew by. I am really trying to cherish every moment I have with the wonderful people and babies here. I want to be able to clse my eyes and see everything just as it is here when I get home. I think I will be ready to come home to see friends and family, but I don't like to think about leaving this place yet. It has been a place of solace and peace for me. I have learned a lot about love, service, and truth. I am so grateful to God for bringing me here and am looking forward to meeting with Him and learning even more in my last month. Thank you to all of you who continue to pray for me and those here in Taiwan.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Family Time!!
This was supposed to be posted yesterday, but the internet was acting up, so pretend like it's yesterday when reading it! :)
My parents and brother made it here safely. There was some delays because of weather and some changing of flights, but they finally all made it yesterday. My parents got in really late on Friday night. I was able to go with Ted to pick them up at the airport, which was so special. Nothing like seeing your family after 5 months! Tyler's flight from New Jersey got delayed by about 5 hours, so he missed his connecting flight in Tokyo, but was put up in a nice hotel and flew out the next day. He arrived yesterday evening. We've had a lot of fun catching up and just being in each other's company. It's so good just to have them to talk to. They've now experienced a full day on the job, and I think are really liking it. Being here is so different from anything else they've ever experienced, so it's fun for them to be in a new environment. They love the babies and are doing a GREAT job with them. Tyler said the only one he is scared of is a new baby girl we got the day my parents arrived. She is only five days old and is sooooooo tiny!!!! Only 5.6lbs!
Tomorrow Ted is taking us to Taroko Gorge, a beautiful national park. It will be a day full of beautiful scenery, great food, and lots of walking! On our way home, we get to pick up a new baby at the train station. I'm really excited to see this process first hand, since normally, I wouldn't get to go pick up a new baby.
And now for today......
We experienced the Gorge and it was beautiful! No words can describe the view of lingering fog settling on the tops of the towering mountains- so GREAT!! There wasn't much walking today, but we definitely ate our weight in food!
The day started off with feeding a few babies before we got out the door at 8:00am. Then, Ted got us don bings, egg and onion filled crepes topped with soy sauce, for a delicious breakfast on the train. We took the train to Hua Lien, about a fifty minute ride, and then rented a car to drive up to the National Park. Before we started driving, Ted took us on a quick stop next door to the car rental place for some history lessons on old Chinese furniture and rice tools and to get some mochi balls. Mochi balls are a ball of pounded sticky rice filled with different flavors. My mom and dad had peanut mochi balls, which were filled with peanut powder, Ted and I had coconut filled ones, and Tyler was brave and tried the green bean mochi ball. I had a bite of his and it wasn't horrible. It didn't have a whole lot of flavor. The green bean paste on the inside just tasted a little sweet. I really liked my coconut one. The weirdest part is the texture. It's kind of like swallowing gum that sticks to the roof of your mouth, but if you can get past that they are good!
After our mid morning snack, we started our drive up into the mountains. Ted gave us the tour of the welcome center and all the information about the island and the species found there. We watched a informational video about Taroko, especially in English for us. Ted told us before it started to wake him up at the end. :) He takes so many adoptive parents and other American visitors to the Gorge that he could probably quote the movie verbatim. The rest of our time in Taroko consisted of driving on the winding mountain passes and getting out to walk a short while or see the cliffs, pagodas, or bridges. We ate another delicious meal for lunch at a beautiful pagoda with waterfalls running down underneath. Ted and I had fried rice and the rest of my family had fried noodles. Ted also bought us honeydew melon, pink dragon fruit, bell fruit (it's kind of like a pear apple), bananas, and plums. Sooooooo good!
Besides viewing the breathtaking scenery, which of course warranted a picture every five steps, we also walked across a swinging bridge. I had been on it the last time I was in Taiwan and really enjoyed it again, as I enjoy heights, but I think it's something both my mom and Tyler felt they could have done without. Along the way, we also stopped at a Presbyterian church started by Chi-Oang, the first aborigine Christian in Taiwan in 1925. She was from a tribal family in the mountians of Taroko and is know as the Mother of Taiwan Aboriginal Faith. Her faith and courage led many people to know the Lord. She would often conduct church services in a cave near the church because propagation of any religion at that time was illegal. We got to walk down into the cave and stand where they used to have services. We also stopped by another little church that also has a hostel connected with it. This was the hostel out group stayed in for a few nights last time I was here.
I had also visited the church and the places where Ted took us in the mountains the last time I was here, but this time it was really neat because my family got to see in person the places and scenery they had only been able to see in my pictures. I felt like they were getting to experience what I experienced three years ago. I really like being able to share this with them.
After all our stops, we headed out of the park, but not before Ted stopped to get us an ice cream treat! (Oh, the never-ending food!) We headed back to the train station, but.... that's right, MORE food. Ted wanted my family to try the pineapple cakes Taiwan is famous for, and he decided to throw in a few more mochi balls (strawberry this time). We got to the train station with plenty of time to get some drinks at the 7 Eleven and meet the social worker who had the baby for us. His name is Chiou Bau Lo and he is nine days old. I got to hold him the whole way home on the train as he slept!
We got back to the Home and, with still full bellies, forwent dinner and jumped right back into feeding and loving on our babies. It was a great day! Pictures will be coming....
My parents and brother made it here safely. There was some delays because of weather and some changing of flights, but they finally all made it yesterday. My parents got in really late on Friday night. I was able to go with Ted to pick them up at the airport, which was so special. Nothing like seeing your family after 5 months! Tyler's flight from New Jersey got delayed by about 5 hours, so he missed his connecting flight in Tokyo, but was put up in a nice hotel and flew out the next day. He arrived yesterday evening. We've had a lot of fun catching up and just being in each other's company. It's so good just to have them to talk to. They've now experienced a full day on the job, and I think are really liking it. Being here is so different from anything else they've ever experienced, so it's fun for them to be in a new environment. They love the babies and are doing a GREAT job with them. Tyler said the only one he is scared of is a new baby girl we got the day my parents arrived. She is only five days old and is sooooooo tiny!!!! Only 5.6lbs!
Tomorrow Ted is taking us to Taroko Gorge, a beautiful national park. It will be a day full of beautiful scenery, great food, and lots of walking! On our way home, we get to pick up a new baby at the train station. I'm really excited to see this process first hand, since normally, I wouldn't get to go pick up a new baby.
And now for today......
We experienced the Gorge and it was beautiful! No words can describe the view of lingering fog settling on the tops of the towering mountains- so GREAT!! There wasn't much walking today, but we definitely ate our weight in food!
The day started off with feeding a few babies before we got out the door at 8:00am. Then, Ted got us don bings, egg and onion filled crepes topped with soy sauce, for a delicious breakfast on the train. We took the train to Hua Lien, about a fifty minute ride, and then rented a car to drive up to the National Park. Before we started driving, Ted took us on a quick stop next door to the car rental place for some history lessons on old Chinese furniture and rice tools and to get some mochi balls. Mochi balls are a ball of pounded sticky rice filled with different flavors. My mom and dad had peanut mochi balls, which were filled with peanut powder, Ted and I had coconut filled ones, and Tyler was brave and tried the green bean mochi ball. I had a bite of his and it wasn't horrible. It didn't have a whole lot of flavor. The green bean paste on the inside just tasted a little sweet. I really liked my coconut one. The weirdest part is the texture. It's kind of like swallowing gum that sticks to the roof of your mouth, but if you can get past that they are good!
After our mid morning snack, we started our drive up into the mountains. Ted gave us the tour of the welcome center and all the information about the island and the species found there. We watched a informational video about Taroko, especially in English for us. Ted told us before it started to wake him up at the end. :) He takes so many adoptive parents and other American visitors to the Gorge that he could probably quote the movie verbatim. The rest of our time in Taroko consisted of driving on the winding mountain passes and getting out to walk a short while or see the cliffs, pagodas, or bridges. We ate another delicious meal for lunch at a beautiful pagoda with waterfalls running down underneath. Ted and I had fried rice and the rest of my family had fried noodles. Ted also bought us honeydew melon, pink dragon fruit, bell fruit (it's kind of like a pear apple), bananas, and plums. Sooooooo good!
Besides viewing the breathtaking scenery, which of course warranted a picture every five steps, we also walked across a swinging bridge. I had been on it the last time I was in Taiwan and really enjoyed it again, as I enjoy heights, but I think it's something both my mom and Tyler felt they could have done without. Along the way, we also stopped at a Presbyterian church started by Chi-Oang, the first aborigine Christian in Taiwan in 1925. She was from a tribal family in the mountians of Taroko and is know as the Mother of Taiwan Aboriginal Faith. Her faith and courage led many people to know the Lord. She would often conduct church services in a cave near the church because propagation of any religion at that time was illegal. We got to walk down into the cave and stand where they used to have services. We also stopped by another little church that also has a hostel connected with it. This was the hostel out group stayed in for a few nights last time I was here.
I had also visited the church and the places where Ted took us in the mountains the last time I was here, but this time it was really neat because my family got to see in person the places and scenery they had only been able to see in my pictures. I felt like they were getting to experience what I experienced three years ago. I really like being able to share this with them.
After all our stops, we headed out of the park, but not before Ted stopped to get us an ice cream treat! (Oh, the never-ending food!) We headed back to the train station, but.... that's right, MORE food. Ted wanted my family to try the pineapple cakes Taiwan is famous for, and he decided to throw in a few more mochi balls (strawberry this time). We got to the train station with plenty of time to get some drinks at the 7 Eleven and meet the social worker who had the baby for us. His name is Chiou Bau Lo and he is nine days old. I got to hold him the whole way home on the train as he slept!
We got back to the Home and, with still full bellies, forwent dinner and jumped right back into feeding and loving on our babies. It was a great day! Pictures will be coming....
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Caleb, Logan, and Fun!
Here's some long awaited pictures.
Here's some of me and Caleb. He was the first baby I ever held when I got to the Home. He has a very special place in my heart! He is now happily home with his parents.
Here are some of Logan. He leaves tomorrow with his parents!
I also thought you guys might enjoy some group picture shots.
Here's some of me and Caleb. He was the first baby I ever held when I got to the Home. He has a very special place in my heart! He is now happily home with his parents.
 |
| Sweet, sweet boy! |
 |
| Caleb and I playing soon after I got to Taiwan. |
 |
| When Caleb was little, he was really fussy. Sometimes the only way for him to fall asleep was to take a nap with him! |
 |
| Caleb stealing Logan's pacifier. |
 |
| This was taken a day or two before he left. |
Here are some of Logan. He leaves tomorrow with his parents!
 |
| :) This is Logan surprised to be getting his picture taken! |
 |
| Best smile award! |
 |
| I'm going to America!? |
 |
| The original nine minus Eugene. |
 |
| Little baby feet! |
 |
| Jennifer and me during play time. |
 |
| Meredith and me playing with the babies. As you can see there are a lot of new baby faces. This was just taken yesterday, Jan. 24, 2011. |
 |
| The new set of babies, including Logan, minus Rylyn, En Chr, and David. |
Monday, January 24, 2011
Monday, Jan. 24
Hi everyone! All of the babies are doing well and currently napping. Today, we are celebrating Anna's birthday! In case some of you may have forgotten, she is the Skiles trusted friend and co-worker. She came to Taiwan to help when she was in her twenties and never went home. That's not completely true. She has been home many times, but has been living here, taking care of all money issues and being the second mom to the older kids now for thirty some years. She is so wonderful and I'm so happy to be here to wish her a happy birthday. Someone gave her pizza for her birthday that she's been generous to share, and later we will get to have Jell-o cake (a white cake you poke holes in and fill with jell-o)!
Since, Meredith has come I have been in much better spirits about working long hours. I don't know what the switch was, but she seems to help make the long hours of taking care of babies seem more fun. She is so good about keeping the focus on loving the babies all day long. And since she spent the last two years in Spain, the babies are now singing fun songs in Spanish as well as English and Chinese. Our babies are so smart! :)
My parents and brother arrive this Friday! I'm so excited to go and pick them up at the airport! Hopefully, they'll love it here as much as I do!
Prayer requests:
- I've been thinking about extending my stay here for another six months. There are many pros and cons to going in home in March and to staying for awhile longer. Please pray for clarity, guidance, trust and obedience.
- Safe travels for my family, and that time with them would be rejuvenating and joy-filled!
- Blessing for Show Hwa and her family. I just love her a lot!
- Safety and protection over the older kids as they will be going home to spend some time with their parents or relatives over Chinese New Year.
- For God to move the hearts of Baby Chi's birth parents.
- Shing Yu's adjustment to her new family and for strength, patience, and comfort for her adoptive parents.
- Freedom from oppression and God's healing and salvation for the older girl here as well as Bev's granddaughter.
- For God to show me His son and His salvation for me.
Thanks, everyone! Love and miss you all!
-
Since, Meredith has come I have been in much better spirits about working long hours. I don't know what the switch was, but she seems to help make the long hours of taking care of babies seem more fun. She is so good about keeping the focus on loving the babies all day long. And since she spent the last two years in Spain, the babies are now singing fun songs in Spanish as well as English and Chinese. Our babies are so smart! :)
My parents and brother arrive this Friday! I'm so excited to go and pick them up at the airport! Hopefully, they'll love it here as much as I do!
Prayer requests:
- I've been thinking about extending my stay here for another six months. There are many pros and cons to going in home in March and to staying for awhile longer. Please pray for clarity, guidance, trust and obedience.
- Safe travels for my family, and that time with them would be rejuvenating and joy-filled!
- Blessing for Show Hwa and her family. I just love her a lot!
- Safety and protection over the older kids as they will be going home to spend some time with their parents or relatives over Chinese New Year.
- For God to move the hearts of Baby Chi's birth parents.
- Shing Yu's adjustment to her new family and for strength, patience, and comfort for her adoptive parents.
- Freedom from oppression and God's healing and salvation for the older girl here as well as Bev's granddaughter.
- For God to show me His son and His salvation for me.
Thanks, everyone! Love and miss you all!
-
Monday, January 17, 2011
"Home" sick
Hi everyone! I wanted to update you all on how life is going over here. Currently, I am sick...again. This time it feels like strep throat. I haven't been able to shake a fever, headache, earache, or sore throat. My fever will break, but will come back again in a few hours. Please pray for my quick recovery, as while I am sick the other volunteers have to pick up my clack and work longer hours with less help.
While being sick this time, it has really made me miss home. I miss having the comfort of my own house and being surrounded by people that know me and love me. My "family" here is great, but not the same as my family back home.
Please also be praying for Baby Shih and Ethan Matthew. They are both having tummy issues and have been really upset during the days. The twins, Brecken and Tristan, have not been eating very well, and seem to have some tummy problems, as well. And finally, please also be praying for Ethan Luke, or as I call him "Chi Bow Bow."
Caleb's family and Gabrielle made it safely back to the States. Meredith, the new volunteer is settling in nicely. She is so great!! We are all thanking God for sending her beautiful (and crazy :) ) spirit here!
Logan's family comes this Wednesday to pick him up! His process has seemed to take a long time, so we are all thankful they will be here soon.
My parents and brother get here on the 28th!! I can't wait to show them what my life has looked like for the past four months and for them to experience everything I love about being here.
I forgot to mention earlier, please also be praying for one of the older girls here who is really struggling with demon possession and for one of the Aiye's who just found out she has stomach cancer.
Thanks for being prayer warriors for me and for taking an interest in my life here in Taiwan. Love you all!
While being sick this time, it has really made me miss home. I miss having the comfort of my own house and being surrounded by people that know me and love me. My "family" here is great, but not the same as my family back home.
Please also be praying for Baby Shih and Ethan Matthew. They are both having tummy issues and have been really upset during the days. The twins, Brecken and Tristan, have not been eating very well, and seem to have some tummy problems, as well. And finally, please also be praying for Ethan Luke, or as I call him "Chi Bow Bow."
Caleb's family and Gabrielle made it safely back to the States. Meredith, the new volunteer is settling in nicely. She is so great!! We are all thanking God for sending her beautiful (and crazy :) ) spirit here!
Logan's family comes this Wednesday to pick him up! His process has seemed to take a long time, so we are all thankful they will be here soon.
My parents and brother get here on the 28th!! I can't wait to show them what my life has looked like for the past four months and for them to experience everything I love about being here.
I forgot to mention earlier, please also be praying for one of the older girls here who is really struggling with demon possession and for one of the Aiye's who just found out she has stomach cancer.
Thanks for being prayer warriors for me and for taking an interest in my life here in Taiwan. Love you all!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Happy 2011!!
Hi, everyone! It's been way too long since I updated you all on life at the Home. I brought in the New Year changing Baby Brecken's dirty diaper while he screamed his head off. :) I hope you all had memorable New Year's Eves, as well. As usual, lots has been going on here and constantly changing. In order not to write you a novel, I'm just going to bullet point the last few weeks.
- Emily and Jonathan, Jennifer's sister and boyfriend have been here for the past two weeks, enjoying time with Jennifer and taking care of the babies. It's been fun getting to know them and so nice having a few extra hands to help hold and feed the babies. They fly out tomorrow morning to return to the States.
- Caleb's parents arrived last Tuesday, surprise greeted by Ted and Caleb at the airport. They didn't know Caleb was going with Ted to pick them up. I was a little sad that I didn't get to see the Morgans' first reaction to meeting their baby, but his mom said it wasn't a teary eye sort of meeting. Caleb was screaming in the car seat and Ted said, "He's yours!" :) Nothing like getting thrown into parenthood with a kicking and screaming 6 month old! They have been so great and are doing so well adjusting to now be a mommy and daddy. They are Wycliffe missionaries in Tanzania doing Bible translation for people there that don't yet have the Bible in their language. Rachel and Jonathan shared during devotions tonight about their life and work. It took them 1 year to translate Genesis, and 3 years to translate the gospel of Mark! Some of the people groups their organization works with don't even have a written language yet! They have to analyze their language and come up with an alphabet for them before ever beginning translations. I have loved learning about their work and am going to look further into Bible translating as a possible future career! They fly back to the States on Tuesday where they will finish their furlough before heading home.
- Also leaving on Tuesday is Gabrielle. Everyone is really sad to see her go home. She has really done a great job forming friendships with the older kids and of course loving the babies. Her and I got to spend lots of nights doing the eleven o'clock feeding the week before last and we got to spend a day together in Lo Tung on our day off this past week. God really did some good work with putting us here at the same time. I have learned a lot from her and will miss her sweet spirit and bubbly personality.
- Whenever one person leaves, the next person comes. That's what it seems like here. Meredith, the newest volunteer arrived on Friday. She is 23 and another midwest girl. She has been great and has already jumped right into our schedule. She will be volunteering for a whole year, doing some language study in the summer months. I am excited to get to know her and share the next two months with her. God has already been good in blessing me through her as she let me go to bed early tonight, so I could catch up on some things (like writing this blog).
- The day off that i had with Gabrielle was full of many adventures. We just decided to go into Lu Tung and explore past the market. It has been my favorite day off so far. We found a few bakeries and tried some delicious pastries, we ordered coffee and tea at a road side stand (something I've been wanting to do since I got here- it helped that the stand we went to had a Chinese/English sign!), shopped around at the little stores we found, checked out the supermarket, and ended the day eating at a pizza place. The joke for the day was that I stepped in a puddle soaking my foot and jeans because I was too busy flirting with some old men who were very excited to see an American girl. I was just trying to be friendly!
- One afternoon, I went down to the lake to read for awhile and met two men and two women riding a four person bike. The bikes are rented out by the lake for people to use. They were waving hello, so I smiled and waved back. The man asked me in Chinese how old I was and was surprised when I answered him back in Chinese. They got a huge kick out of the little Chinese that I can speak. Each of them wanted their picture with me. They thanked me and left, which i thought was the end of it, but then as I was sitting on a bench near the lake, I heard giggling behind me every once in awhile, and turned around to see that the same people were riding their bike in little circles right behind me. They asked me if I wanted to hop on and ride with them around the lake, but I politely told them I was reading. It was a fun interaction.
- The older kids have been so much fun! Wan Ching painted my and Gabrielle's fingernails, and yesterday Tz Wen (12 year old boy) grabbed my hand to play a miniature air hockey game. Also, today the barber came and all of the younger boys got their hair cut. I embarrassed them all by telling them they looked handsome. :)
- We got Logan's first paper which means his parents will be coming to get him in the next couple of weeks!!!! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
-I am continued to be amazed at Bev and Ted and how they run the orphanage. People are constantly coming and going. Bev lives her life having to get to know new people all the time just in time for them to leave and the next person to come. Both her and Ted's generosity and hospitality astound me. I don't think I could live with the constant change and giving of energy to get to know and welcome new people all the time for my whole life. They are such special and faithful people.
God is good.
- Emily and Jonathan, Jennifer's sister and boyfriend have been here for the past two weeks, enjoying time with Jennifer and taking care of the babies. It's been fun getting to know them and so nice having a few extra hands to help hold and feed the babies. They fly out tomorrow morning to return to the States.
- Caleb's parents arrived last Tuesday, surprise greeted by Ted and Caleb at the airport. They didn't know Caleb was going with Ted to pick them up. I was a little sad that I didn't get to see the Morgans' first reaction to meeting their baby, but his mom said it wasn't a teary eye sort of meeting. Caleb was screaming in the car seat and Ted said, "He's yours!" :) Nothing like getting thrown into parenthood with a kicking and screaming 6 month old! They have been so great and are doing so well adjusting to now be a mommy and daddy. They are Wycliffe missionaries in Tanzania doing Bible translation for people there that don't yet have the Bible in their language. Rachel and Jonathan shared during devotions tonight about their life and work. It took them 1 year to translate Genesis, and 3 years to translate the gospel of Mark! Some of the people groups their organization works with don't even have a written language yet! They have to analyze their language and come up with an alphabet for them before ever beginning translations. I have loved learning about their work and am going to look further into Bible translating as a possible future career! They fly back to the States on Tuesday where they will finish their furlough before heading home.
- Also leaving on Tuesday is Gabrielle. Everyone is really sad to see her go home. She has really done a great job forming friendships with the older kids and of course loving the babies. Her and I got to spend lots of nights doing the eleven o'clock feeding the week before last and we got to spend a day together in Lo Tung on our day off this past week. God really did some good work with putting us here at the same time. I have learned a lot from her and will miss her sweet spirit and bubbly personality.
- Whenever one person leaves, the next person comes. That's what it seems like here. Meredith, the newest volunteer arrived on Friday. She is 23 and another midwest girl. She has been great and has already jumped right into our schedule. She will be volunteering for a whole year, doing some language study in the summer months. I am excited to get to know her and share the next two months with her. God has already been good in blessing me through her as she let me go to bed early tonight, so I could catch up on some things (like writing this blog).
- The day off that i had with Gabrielle was full of many adventures. We just decided to go into Lu Tung and explore past the market. It has been my favorite day off so far. We found a few bakeries and tried some delicious pastries, we ordered coffee and tea at a road side stand (something I've been wanting to do since I got here- it helped that the stand we went to had a Chinese/English sign!), shopped around at the little stores we found, checked out the supermarket, and ended the day eating at a pizza place. The joke for the day was that I stepped in a puddle soaking my foot and jeans because I was too busy flirting with some old men who were very excited to see an American girl. I was just trying to be friendly!
- One afternoon, I went down to the lake to read for awhile and met two men and two women riding a four person bike. The bikes are rented out by the lake for people to use. They were waving hello, so I smiled and waved back. The man asked me in Chinese how old I was and was surprised when I answered him back in Chinese. They got a huge kick out of the little Chinese that I can speak. Each of them wanted their picture with me. They thanked me and left, which i thought was the end of it, but then as I was sitting on a bench near the lake, I heard giggling behind me every once in awhile, and turned around to see that the same people were riding their bike in little circles right behind me. They asked me if I wanted to hop on and ride with them around the lake, but I politely told them I was reading. It was a fun interaction.
- The older kids have been so much fun! Wan Ching painted my and Gabrielle's fingernails, and yesterday Tz Wen (12 year old boy) grabbed my hand to play a miniature air hockey game. Also, today the barber came and all of the younger boys got their hair cut. I embarrassed them all by telling them they looked handsome. :)
- We got Logan's first paper which means his parents will be coming to get him in the next couple of weeks!!!! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
-I am continued to be amazed at Bev and Ted and how they run the orphanage. People are constantly coming and going. Bev lives her life having to get to know new people all the time just in time for them to leave and the next person to come. Both her and Ted's generosity and hospitality astound me. I don't think I could live with the constant change and giving of energy to get to know and welcome new people all the time for my whole life. They are such special and faithful people.
God is good.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Love of a Family
Merry Christmas, everyone! I know it's a few days late, but this is the first chance I am getting to really sit down and write. I hope your Christmases were filled with remembering God's gift to you in His son and lots of joyful memories with your family and friends.
Christmas here was wonderful. Although I greatly missed my family back home, the family I have formed with Ted, Bev, and the children here made my Christmas memories extra special this year. On Christmas Eve, Jennifer, Gabrielle, Andria and I all watched "The Christmas Blessing". My mom had sent it to me in my Christmas package. It was a great surprise because every year my family gets a new Christmas movie to watch. And this year I got to bring the tradition to Taiwan. That night, I went to bed to find my first Christmas gift waiting as a surprise on my pillow. It was from Andria. She had gotten me a rope bracelet, a pearl necklace and earrings, a tank top, and random candies from the Silk Market in China. Such a cool present. :)
Christmas morning came, and I was worried it was going to be just like any other day here. Since Thanksgiving had been pretty bitter sweet, I had prepared myself for not really getting to celebrate and set my mind on service. The morning started off like a normal morning here with feedings and changings, but as one baby finished, Bev let us take them over to the other side where the celebration had been going on since 7:30am. It started with Ted reading the Christmas story out of Luke then moves on to gift unwrapping and stockings. Because Christmas fell on a Saturday, a lot of kids who grew up here, but are now in college/living/working in Taipei or around the island were able to come home and take part in all of the festivities, which made for a full house and extra hands to help hold babies!
Jennifer, Andria, and I were able to stay on the older kids' side all morning! First, all of the kids that are currently at the Home got to open their gift from their sponsors. Since the older kids are not adoptable, they have a sponsor family that writes to them and send them gifts for their birthday and Christmas. Most of the sponsor families live in the States or in Taiwan. Each of the kids opened their gift one by one. Then, we moved onto the big gift exchange, including all of the kids, current and past, the staff, and us volunteers. Again, the gifts were unwrapped one at a time. Both the person giving and the person receiving came to the front of the room. The person giving handed the other their gift and after it was opened, they got their picture taken together. It was a very sweet process.
The week before we had all drawn names out of a hat and were given a 200NT (six U.S. dollars) limit to buy a gift for that person. I drew Pei Yu. She is one of the social workers here and is only a couple of years older than me. On one of my lunch breaks, Andria and I biked into the market, and I bought her a scarf. Unfortunately, she was unable to make it on Christmas day, so I didn't get to see her open it. You Cheng, the little boy who thought he had broken his wrist (I wrote about him in an earlier post), drew my name. He is about eleven years old and his teacher, who speaks English and with whom I am friends, said he was a little unsettled when he drew my name because he had no idea what to get the "old, American, girl." He gave me a grey and red plaid scarf and fuzzy ear muffs. A very good gift! I was hoping one of the little kids would get my name. He was so cute and embarrassed handing it to me! :)
I really enjoyed opening the gifts one at a time because I got to see what everyone received and it made the celebration last longer. As I sat with Wan Ching's, one of the high school girls, arm around me and Baby Peng all warm and cuddly wrapped in her blankets and in my arms and Jya Hwei, one of the junior high girls, also sitting on my lap, watching two of the high schoolers exchange gifts and Ted beaming in the background, my eyes filled with tears as I couldn't think of a better place to spend my Christmas. I love the people here and am blessed enough to feel loved in return.
I hope you all had similar stories of love and joy, for without the love of Jesus, the love of family, and the love of friends, what is there worth having?
Other things that have happened in the past week:
- Andria left yesterday. It was so good to have her here and I was sad to see her go. Just having someone that was "mine" in a sense was so nice. She gave me someone to talk to and we shared lots of fun-filled afternoons and nights exploring the market, walking around the lake, and loving the babies. She is now headed to Australia before she goes on to Bangkok for the third leg in her Global MBA program. She put up a blog post about her time here that you might be interested in reading. She gives good insight on what our days were like over Christmas. The address is http://andriarabus.xanga.com/
- Jennifer's boyfriend and sister arrived last night and will be spending two weeks here.
- We got a new baby girl. Her name is Cheng Jie En. This made me very excited because her Chinese name Jie En is very close to my Chinese name which is Ja En. She was born on Christmas day!
- Baby Peng was taken back by her grandmother today. We really didn't want this to happen because her birth father was very violent towards the birth mother and we don't know how he will act towards Peng. We are trusting that God's hand is sovereign in this, and that His love for Baby Peng will follow and protect her wherever she goes.
- I am now into the Psalms. I loved reading Job. It is filled with so many awesome truths about God.
Prayer requests:
-The weather is getting much colder and as a result a lot of the babies have really awful colds. Pray for their health.
- I really want to be more disciplined with my time and my eating in my remaining two and a half months here.
- Safe travels for Caleb's parents and Meredith, the next volunteer coming. They will both be traveling here in the first week of January.
- God's sovereignty in my life as well as all of the lives of the babies and others here.
Christmas here was wonderful. Although I greatly missed my family back home, the family I have formed with Ted, Bev, and the children here made my Christmas memories extra special this year. On Christmas Eve, Jennifer, Gabrielle, Andria and I all watched "The Christmas Blessing". My mom had sent it to me in my Christmas package. It was a great surprise because every year my family gets a new Christmas movie to watch. And this year I got to bring the tradition to Taiwan. That night, I went to bed to find my first Christmas gift waiting as a surprise on my pillow. It was from Andria. She had gotten me a rope bracelet, a pearl necklace and earrings, a tank top, and random candies from the Silk Market in China. Such a cool present. :)
Christmas morning came, and I was worried it was going to be just like any other day here. Since Thanksgiving had been pretty bitter sweet, I had prepared myself for not really getting to celebrate and set my mind on service. The morning started off like a normal morning here with feedings and changings, but as one baby finished, Bev let us take them over to the other side where the celebration had been going on since 7:30am. It started with Ted reading the Christmas story out of Luke then moves on to gift unwrapping and stockings. Because Christmas fell on a Saturday, a lot of kids who grew up here, but are now in college/living/working in Taipei or around the island were able to come home and take part in all of the festivities, which made for a full house and extra hands to help hold babies!
Jennifer, Andria, and I were able to stay on the older kids' side all morning! First, all of the kids that are currently at the Home got to open their gift from their sponsors. Since the older kids are not adoptable, they have a sponsor family that writes to them and send them gifts for their birthday and Christmas. Most of the sponsor families live in the States or in Taiwan. Each of the kids opened their gift one by one. Then, we moved onto the big gift exchange, including all of the kids, current and past, the staff, and us volunteers. Again, the gifts were unwrapped one at a time. Both the person giving and the person receiving came to the front of the room. The person giving handed the other their gift and after it was opened, they got their picture taken together. It was a very sweet process.
The week before we had all drawn names out of a hat and were given a 200NT (six U.S. dollars) limit to buy a gift for that person. I drew Pei Yu. She is one of the social workers here and is only a couple of years older than me. On one of my lunch breaks, Andria and I biked into the market, and I bought her a scarf. Unfortunately, she was unable to make it on Christmas day, so I didn't get to see her open it. You Cheng, the little boy who thought he had broken his wrist (I wrote about him in an earlier post), drew my name. He is about eleven years old and his teacher, who speaks English and with whom I am friends, said he was a little unsettled when he drew my name because he had no idea what to get the "old, American, girl." He gave me a grey and red plaid scarf and fuzzy ear muffs. A very good gift! I was hoping one of the little kids would get my name. He was so cute and embarrassed handing it to me! :)
I really enjoyed opening the gifts one at a time because I got to see what everyone received and it made the celebration last longer. As I sat with Wan Ching's, one of the high school girls, arm around me and Baby Peng all warm and cuddly wrapped in her blankets and in my arms and Jya Hwei, one of the junior high girls, also sitting on my lap, watching two of the high schoolers exchange gifts and Ted beaming in the background, my eyes filled with tears as I couldn't think of a better place to spend my Christmas. I love the people here and am blessed enough to feel loved in return.
I hope you all had similar stories of love and joy, for without the love of Jesus, the love of family, and the love of friends, what is there worth having?
Other things that have happened in the past week:
- Andria left yesterday. It was so good to have her here and I was sad to see her go. Just having someone that was "mine" in a sense was so nice. She gave me someone to talk to and we shared lots of fun-filled afternoons and nights exploring the market, walking around the lake, and loving the babies. She is now headed to Australia before she goes on to Bangkok for the third leg in her Global MBA program. She put up a blog post about her time here that you might be interested in reading. She gives good insight on what our days were like over Christmas. The address is http://andriarabus.xanga.com/
- Jennifer's boyfriend and sister arrived last night and will be spending two weeks here.
- We got a new baby girl. Her name is Cheng Jie En. This made me very excited because her Chinese name Jie En is very close to my Chinese name which is Ja En. She was born on Christmas day!
- Baby Peng was taken back by her grandmother today. We really didn't want this to happen because her birth father was very violent towards the birth mother and we don't know how he will act towards Peng. We are trusting that God's hand is sovereign in this, and that His love for Baby Peng will follow and protect her wherever she goes.
- I am now into the Psalms. I loved reading Job. It is filled with so many awesome truths about God.
Prayer requests:
-The weather is getting much colder and as a result a lot of the babies have really awful colds. Pray for their health.
- I really want to be more disciplined with my time and my eating in my remaining two and a half months here.
- Safe travels for Caleb's parents and Meredith, the next volunteer coming. They will both be traveling here in the first week of January.
- God's sovereignty in my life as well as all of the lives of the babies and others here.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Cade and Kwen
So it is almost time for me to go to bed, but I wanted to put up some pictures. I am laying in my top bunk in my little room and outside the window loud fireworks are booming. It kind of sounds like gunfire or bombs going off, but it's just people at the temple trying to ward off demons. This is a sad and familiar sound around here. Here are some pictures of baby Cade, baby Kwen, and our day off last week.
First is Cade.
Next is Kwen.
And lastly, our delicious meal on our day off. Cade's parents took us out to eat at a place called the Potato Bar. It's a western restaurant, but the funny thing is they don't even have potatoes!! They just thought it was a cool English word. :) We had a fun time ordering without any English menu. They had about seven different people trying to help interpret what we wanted- the boss, our waiter, two people who worked at KFC, a random kid from the street, and the boss's son,who is an English teacher in Singapore, was on the phone! Good thing the boss called him because with our first attempt at ordering, they thought we wanted 35 POUNDS of steak!! This is what we actually ate. It was a five course meal. I didn't get a picture of the first course, but it was kind of a fishy lunch meat on top of sprouts with a honey mustard sauce. It was okay and the rest was delicious! And the whole meal for five people only cost around $60!
First is Cade.
 |
| Relaxing in his crib. |
 |
| What a sweet smile! |
 |
| "Jillian, What are you doing? I'm trying to play here!" |
 |
| The day that he left. |
 |
| Kwen when I first got here. Count those arm rolls! :) |
 |
| Napping, cookies, rattle, and pacifier....what more could you possibly want? |
 |
| Gummy's priceless face. |
 |
| King Kwen. |
 |
| HAPPY! |
 |
| All grown up and going home! His grandma, dad, mom, Bev, and me. |
And lastly, our delicious meal on our day off. Cade's parents took us out to eat at a place called the Potato Bar. It's a western restaurant, but the funny thing is they don't even have potatoes!! They just thought it was a cool English word. :) We had a fun time ordering without any English menu. They had about seven different people trying to help interpret what we wanted- the boss, our waiter, two people who worked at KFC, a random kid from the street, and the boss's son,who is an English teacher in Singapore, was on the phone! Good thing the boss called him because with our first attempt at ordering, they thought we wanted 35 POUNDS of steak!! This is what we actually ate. It was a five course meal. I didn't get a picture of the first course, but it was kind of a fishy lunch meat on top of sprouts with a honey mustard sauce. It was okay and the rest was delicious! And the whole meal for five people only cost around $60!
 |
| The first thing they brought out to us. No, not a shot of whiskey, just some sour plum juice. Gross. |
 |
| Course #2- Salad |
 |
| Course #3- Creamy corn soup with pastry shell on top |
 |
| Course #4- Steak, peppers, baby corn, and broccoli |
 |
| Course #5- Dessert, DELICIOUS creme brulee |
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Andria Rabus is cool.
Andria got here on Friday night! It is so great to have her here. She jumped right into movie night, getting the treat of watching Scarecrow and Mrs. King. :) It worked out perfectly having Kwen's family here because Ted was planning on taking them to see Taroko Gorge on Saturday, so Andria got to go with them , too. I was a little jealous :), but am hoping I will get to go with my family when they come to visit. Then today, I had both 7am and 11pm shifts, so Dre and I haven't gotten a good chance to catch up yet, but tomorrow we are planning on going into town to buy some Christmas presents during the babies nap and hopefully watching an episode of Gray's together tomorrow night, a tradition among the Elson girls!
Tomorrow is also Gabrielle's 20th birthday! Even though we can't do a lot for her birthday, we are hoping to have a little celebration.
Sorry, I have been so bad at keeping up and writing short little entries to keep you all up to date. I really don't like writing the long ones, but can't seem to be disciplined in writing smaller ones.
Highlights from the past couple of days:
-We got a new baby on Friday night. His name is Baby Shr. He looks a lot like Caleb- very Asian looking already. I got to feed him quite a bit today. It's always fun and exciting when a new baby arrives.
- I thought I wouldn't make it through today because I was so tired, but God sustained me.
- Eating jellybeans and catching up a little bit with Andria last night.
- The older boys made dinner tonight- fried chicken legs, fried fish paste rolls, eggs and ham, cabbage, egg drop soup, and oranges. SO GOOD!
Prayer Requests:
- The next three months seem really long. Prayer for an attitude to finish my work here, to have a heart that wants to be here to serve.
- That God would fulfill his purposes for the rest of my trip. That I would have eyes to see, ears to hear, and a willing heart to follow and obey Him and to receive his love.
- Communication between everyone- so important!!
- Rest
- Prayer for all of the babies- that they would be loved, that paperwork goes smoothly and quickly. Specifically for the four who have not been allocated, for Logan's papers, and David's papers/courtdate.
- That my time with Andria would be joy-filled and that God would use this time together to encourage us both and provide what we need for this next leg in our journeys overseas.
Thanks, everyone! LOVE!
Tomorrow is also Gabrielle's 20th birthday! Even though we can't do a lot for her birthday, we are hoping to have a little celebration.
Sorry, I have been so bad at keeping up and writing short little entries to keep you all up to date. I really don't like writing the long ones, but can't seem to be disciplined in writing smaller ones.
Highlights from the past couple of days:
-We got a new baby on Friday night. His name is Baby Shr. He looks a lot like Caleb- very Asian looking already. I got to feed him quite a bit today. It's always fun and exciting when a new baby arrives.
- I thought I wouldn't make it through today because I was so tired, but God sustained me.
- Eating jellybeans and catching up a little bit with Andria last night.
- The older boys made dinner tonight- fried chicken legs, fried fish paste rolls, eggs and ham, cabbage, egg drop soup, and oranges. SO GOOD!
Prayer Requests:
- The next three months seem really long. Prayer for an attitude to finish my work here, to have a heart that wants to be here to serve.
- That God would fulfill his purposes for the rest of my trip. That I would have eyes to see, ears to hear, and a willing heart to follow and obey Him and to receive his love.
- Communication between everyone- so important!!
- Rest
- Prayer for all of the babies- that they would be loved, that paperwork goes smoothly and quickly. Specifically for the four who have not been allocated, for Logan's papers, and David's papers/courtdate.
- That my time with Andria would be joy-filled and that God would use this time together to encourage us both and provide what we need for this next leg in our journeys overseas.
Thanks, everyone! LOVE!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
I'll Be Home For Christmas!
Even though that's not true of me, I'm happy to say it is true for two of our little babies! Cade's parents arrived last Friday and Kwen's parents are arriving tonight! Perfect little Christmas presents for their parents. I know both sets of parents feel that way!
Since the last time I wrote, nothing out of the ordinary has happened. The flu has been going around- I've already gotten it twice. Also, Gabrielle switched to doing nights instead of Jennifer for the next month. It's been really fun to have Jennifer up during the days! I'm still loving taking care of the babies every day. I've gotten used to having thirteen to take care of, so now that Cade and Kwen will be flying home soon, it will seem so quiet with only eleven. And Caleb got his first paper yesterday, so he will be going home hopefully the first week of January. It seems so weird that all of the babies I started with when I got here are almost all gone now. After Caleb, Logan will be next to go home. We are still waiting on his papers, but they should be coming soon. Then all that's left of the original nine is David!
So I think I'll use this post to tell a little bit about each baby again because they all change so much and I want you all to know them because I love them.
David- He is now nine months! And is doing great! His head control is 1000 times better than when I first got here. He can play in a walker by himself and is kicking his feet and moving his arms so much more. He loves to do this spitting thing with his mouth and makes the funniest noises! I feel like I have a special bond with him because I have worked so much with him and his head/neck/back strength and control. I've gotten to experience doing impromptu physical therapy with him. It has been great to be able to use some of the knowledge from my internship last summer and from school. He is talking a lot now too, and beginning to hold toys! We are now working with him, trying to get him to sit up, grasp objects, and roll over. He is such a delightful baby!
Cade- Also nine months is going home!!! He will really be missed. In the past month he learned how to crawl-ish and is always full of smiles. He has four teeth on top and two on bottom, which makes his smile that much more cute! Every time I sing "If Your Happy and You Know it" or say, "Ba ba ba ba ba," he breaks out in a huge grin. He is really becoming observant, tilting his head and furrowing his brow at things. :) He also learned how to make a clicking noise with his tongue that he is very proud of! We will miss him!
Kwen- Kwen is so sweet when he's happy and so not sweet when he's not. :) He is the baby that if we ever take for a walk, everyone on the street wants to hold or makes a comment about. He has the most handsome and thick eyebrows you've ever seen on a baby. He is definitely strong willed and knows what he wants- Now, if only he would let us in on the secret! He is six months and still doesn't have any teeth, but sure is working hard at it. He also likes to talk up a storm and loves his walker. I like to put him over my head like an airplane to get a big grin from him.
Caleb- He is five months now!! I can't believe how big he is. He has had his share of struggles with ear infections and now is starting to teeth, so he has been pretty unhappy the past couple of days. My favorite time with Caleb is feeding him his bottle. About haf way through, he just stops drinking and grins at you. Milk will be running down his chin, but he just wants to stare and giggle at you. It's so sweet!
Logan- He is our little four and a half month old Pong Pong (which means "fat fat"). :) He hasn't quite grown lengthwise yet, but sure is growing out! He has one of the cutest smiles of the bunch. Because he is a little on the big side, he hasn't started to try and roll over yet, but moves a little bit more each day. He really likes the Hop N' Pop bouncy thing we have, and we can always count on him to be our best little eater!
Rylyn- She is also four and a half months and is so advanced for her age. She already has two teeth and a million facial expressions to go with them! She uses her hands so well to pick up and play with toys. When you are talking to her you feel like you could have a whole conversation with the way she responds to your voice and face with smiles and coos. She is still pretty little and spits up a lot, so we've been putting vitamins in her milk and praying for her to grow. She also has quite a bit of trouble falling and staying asleep, but maybe she just doesn't require as much as the other babies.
Ethan Luke- He is getting so big! He is two months old, but is almost the same size as Rylyn. He has the coolest little mohawk- his hair just grows that way. He is beginning to coo and smile a lot when you talk to him. He also has trouble sleeping at the correct times, always awake during nap time and falling asleep during play time.
Ethan Matthew- He is our tiny baby! He is also two months but looks like a newborn. He is probably the cutest baby I've ever seen. He almost looks like a porcelain doll with big brown eyes and long eye lashes. He has had a lot of issues with colic and tummy problems. He has had diarrhea for so long now and just isn't growing the way we want him to. I got him to smile three times today! I felt very accomplished!
Brecken and Tristan- The twins are now a month and a half old! Brecken is still a good deal smaller than his baby brother, but they both are growing so well. Tristan's cheeks are even getting pretty chubby! They both have smiled and although Show Hwa told me it was because they had gas, I'm not going to believe her! Tristan has been constipated quite a bit, but besides that is doing great. And Brecken is beginning to look less like an alien and growing into his head! They do look quite a bit a like, but no so much that we can't tell them apart thankfully.
Baby Peng- She is now a month old and is so beautiful! She is kind of a little chub, but it's cute on her. She gets dressed in all pink since she is the only little girl besides Rylyn. Right now she has diaper rash pretty badly, so we are praying for that to heal. Besides that, she is a wonderful little baby who doesn't do much yet.
Baby Lin- He just turned a month old a few days ago. He is also a very handsome baby. He has two adorable little dimples. Unfortunately, Gabrielle doesn't think he is quite as cute because he screams pretty much all night long. But when he's not crying (or even when he is), I love to snuggle up with him in my arms! The little babies are great for doing that.
Baby Feng- He's our youngest by a day, turning a month right after Baby Lin. However, we think he is just tricking us into thinking he's a baby because he looks so old. It's like a little ten year olds face on a tiny body. He is so alert and focuses so well on people around him. He's going to be a little heart breaker with his looks as well. :)
So that's the run down on all our babies! Wish you all could see them. Soon there will be pictures of Cade and Kwen.
OTHER EXCITING NEWS: My friend Andria comes to visit on Friday!!!!!!!!!!!! She'll be here for ten days staying through Christmas. It is going to be so great having her here and being able to share this experience with her and hear all about how her past four months have been. Which reminds me, Friday is also my half way point of being here. 3 months down, 3 more to go! And for my Bible reading, I am not quite on mark to finish reading the whole Bible while I am here, but I did just start Esther. It took me forever to get through the Chronicles! I'll have more to say about my readings in the next post.
Good night!
Since the last time I wrote, nothing out of the ordinary has happened. The flu has been going around- I've already gotten it twice. Also, Gabrielle switched to doing nights instead of Jennifer for the next month. It's been really fun to have Jennifer up during the days! I'm still loving taking care of the babies every day. I've gotten used to having thirteen to take care of, so now that Cade and Kwen will be flying home soon, it will seem so quiet with only eleven. And Caleb got his first paper yesterday, so he will be going home hopefully the first week of January. It seems so weird that all of the babies I started with when I got here are almost all gone now. After Caleb, Logan will be next to go home. We are still waiting on his papers, but they should be coming soon. Then all that's left of the original nine is David!
So I think I'll use this post to tell a little bit about each baby again because they all change so much and I want you all to know them because I love them.
David- He is now nine months! And is doing great! His head control is 1000 times better than when I first got here. He can play in a walker by himself and is kicking his feet and moving his arms so much more. He loves to do this spitting thing with his mouth and makes the funniest noises! I feel like I have a special bond with him because I have worked so much with him and his head/neck/back strength and control. I've gotten to experience doing impromptu physical therapy with him. It has been great to be able to use some of the knowledge from my internship last summer and from school. He is talking a lot now too, and beginning to hold toys! We are now working with him, trying to get him to sit up, grasp objects, and roll over. He is such a delightful baby!
Cade- Also nine months is going home!!! He will really be missed. In the past month he learned how to crawl-ish and is always full of smiles. He has four teeth on top and two on bottom, which makes his smile that much more cute! Every time I sing "If Your Happy and You Know it" or say, "Ba ba ba ba ba," he breaks out in a huge grin. He is really becoming observant, tilting his head and furrowing his brow at things. :) He also learned how to make a clicking noise with his tongue that he is very proud of! We will miss him!
Kwen- Kwen is so sweet when he's happy and so not sweet when he's not. :) He is the baby that if we ever take for a walk, everyone on the street wants to hold or makes a comment about. He has the most handsome and thick eyebrows you've ever seen on a baby. He is definitely strong willed and knows what he wants- Now, if only he would let us in on the secret! He is six months and still doesn't have any teeth, but sure is working hard at it. He also likes to talk up a storm and loves his walker. I like to put him over my head like an airplane to get a big grin from him.
Caleb- He is five months now!! I can't believe how big he is. He has had his share of struggles with ear infections and now is starting to teeth, so he has been pretty unhappy the past couple of days. My favorite time with Caleb is feeding him his bottle. About haf way through, he just stops drinking and grins at you. Milk will be running down his chin, but he just wants to stare and giggle at you. It's so sweet!
Logan- He is our little four and a half month old Pong Pong (which means "fat fat"). :) He hasn't quite grown lengthwise yet, but sure is growing out! He has one of the cutest smiles of the bunch. Because he is a little on the big side, he hasn't started to try and roll over yet, but moves a little bit more each day. He really likes the Hop N' Pop bouncy thing we have, and we can always count on him to be our best little eater!
Rylyn- She is also four and a half months and is so advanced for her age. She already has two teeth and a million facial expressions to go with them! She uses her hands so well to pick up and play with toys. When you are talking to her you feel like you could have a whole conversation with the way she responds to your voice and face with smiles and coos. She is still pretty little and spits up a lot, so we've been putting vitamins in her milk and praying for her to grow. She also has quite a bit of trouble falling and staying asleep, but maybe she just doesn't require as much as the other babies.
Ethan Luke- He is getting so big! He is two months old, but is almost the same size as Rylyn. He has the coolest little mohawk- his hair just grows that way. He is beginning to coo and smile a lot when you talk to him. He also has trouble sleeping at the correct times, always awake during nap time and falling asleep during play time.
Ethan Matthew- He is our tiny baby! He is also two months but looks like a newborn. He is probably the cutest baby I've ever seen. He almost looks like a porcelain doll with big brown eyes and long eye lashes. He has had a lot of issues with colic and tummy problems. He has had diarrhea for so long now and just isn't growing the way we want him to. I got him to smile three times today! I felt very accomplished!
Brecken and Tristan- The twins are now a month and a half old! Brecken is still a good deal smaller than his baby brother, but they both are growing so well. Tristan's cheeks are even getting pretty chubby! They both have smiled and although Show Hwa told me it was because they had gas, I'm not going to believe her! Tristan has been constipated quite a bit, but besides that is doing great. And Brecken is beginning to look less like an alien and growing into his head! They do look quite a bit a like, but no so much that we can't tell them apart thankfully.
Baby Peng- She is now a month old and is so beautiful! She is kind of a little chub, but it's cute on her. She gets dressed in all pink since she is the only little girl besides Rylyn. Right now she has diaper rash pretty badly, so we are praying for that to heal. Besides that, she is a wonderful little baby who doesn't do much yet.
Baby Lin- He just turned a month old a few days ago. He is also a very handsome baby. He has two adorable little dimples. Unfortunately, Gabrielle doesn't think he is quite as cute because he screams pretty much all night long. But when he's not crying (or even when he is), I love to snuggle up with him in my arms! The little babies are great for doing that.
Baby Feng- He's our youngest by a day, turning a month right after Baby Lin. However, we think he is just tricking us into thinking he's a baby because he looks so old. It's like a little ten year olds face on a tiny body. He is so alert and focuses so well on people around him. He's going to be a little heart breaker with his looks as well. :)
So that's the run down on all our babies! Wish you all could see them. Soon there will be pictures of Cade and Kwen.
OTHER EXCITING NEWS: My friend Andria comes to visit on Friday!!!!!!!!!!!! She'll be here for ten days staying through Christmas. It is going to be so great having her here and being able to share this experience with her and hear all about how her past four months have been. Which reminds me, Friday is also my half way point of being here. 3 months down, 3 more to go! And for my Bible reading, I am not quite on mark to finish reading the whole Bible while I am here, but I did just start Esther. It took me forever to get through the Chronicles! I'll have more to say about my readings in the next post.
Good night!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Sunshine, Beautiful Sunshine
Today was a great day! The babies were so good today for Bev and me. Gabrielle was sick and Show Hwa doesn't come in on Sundays. None of them threw a temper tantrum and besides a few not wanting to eat, they were perfect little babies. Plus the sun was shining! Bev even let me go out for a little bike ride this afternoon when things were semi-quiet. Wan Ching, one of the older girls I am really connecting with, also came in and helped during the late afternoon while it was just me while Bev took a nap and went for a walk. It was really fun to hang out with Wan Ching and learn a few more Chinese words. I was really thankful for her help, too!
Since I have been pressed for time and not able to post much, there are lots of pictures and things to get you caught up on. First, we now have 14 babies- 7 over four months and 7 under two months. The newest little one is Mr. Lin (Gwong Lyeng) at three weeks. Him, En Chr, Mr. Feng, and Miss Peng are all waiting to be allocated.
Thanksgiving was fun having all of the missionaries in town. It was a little bitter sweet not being able to really relax and spend time with people, since taking care of babies is an all day every day kind of job. But I was very thankful for the food and time I did get to spend chatting with friends.
On Thanksgiving, Show Hwa caught the little gecko that lives behind the baby cereal on the counter. Gabrielle and I decided to name it "Bi Hoo" which means gecko is Chinese (we're very creative :) ). IN the pictures, he is in a baby food container. Sadly it died a few days later because the fly we caught for it to eat was too big.
On our day off this past week, Gabrielle, Jennifer, and I went to the beach! It was so relaxing. The weather here is still pretty nice, shorts and long sleeve or pants and t-shirt type weather, so it wasn't too cold. We didn't go swimming though. Even with it somewhat nice outside, the water was still freezing. It was so great to just lay on a blanket and listen to the ocean waves crash. A cool thing about the beaches here is that they have black sand. It feels the exact same, just a different color than the sand we're used to back home.
Since I have been pressed for time and not able to post much, there are lots of pictures and things to get you caught up on. First, we now have 14 babies- 7 over four months and 7 under two months. The newest little one is Mr. Lin (Gwong Lyeng) at three weeks. Him, En Chr, Mr. Feng, and Miss Peng are all waiting to be allocated.
Thanksgiving was fun having all of the missionaries in town. It was a little bitter sweet not being able to really relax and spend time with people, since taking care of babies is an all day every day kind of job. But I was very thankful for the food and time I did get to spend chatting with friends.
 |
| Our delicious food |
 |
| Caitlyn Edwards, me, and Bethanie Pagel. They are both daughters of missionaries here. They are so sweet! |
 |
| Me and my girls (Gabrielle-L, Jennifer-R) |
 |
| Ted carving the Thanksgiving ham |
 |
| The day after Thanksgiving we celebrated Christmas! We'll celebrate Christmas again on actual Christmas, but not with these wonderful people. |
 |
| The carrots in Taiwan are HUGE!! To compare, they are next to a sleeve of Ritz crackers. |
On our day off this past week, Gabrielle, Jennifer, and I went to the beach! It was so relaxing. The weather here is still pretty nice, shorts and long sleeve or pants and t-shirt type weather, so it wasn't too cold. We didn't go swimming though. Even with it somewhat nice outside, the water was still freezing. It was so great to just lay on a blanket and listen to the ocean waves crash. A cool thing about the beaches here is that they have black sand. It feels the exact same, just a different color than the sand we're used to back home.
 |
| Awesome |
 |
| Jennifer and me |
 |
| In the distance is Turtle Island |
 |
| Gross hogs that came out of nowhere and started following us as we waited for our taxi. |
At the beach, there were also lots of fishermen, but we didn't get any pictures of them.
And last, but not least is photos of baby Elijah who went home with his parents last week. They arrived safely at home a few days ago. He's precious.
 |
| Elijah and me jammin' to some tunes during "nap" time |
 |
| Such a sweet baby boy with cookie on his face. I love that smile. |
 |
| We didn't have any girls that we could put bows on for so long, so since Elijah had the craziest hair, he was our victim. |
 |
| He was our little mover. |
 |
| Jumping on Show Hwa's lap. |
 |
| Happy family (Elijah- 8 months) + Jennifer |
Monday, November 29, 2010
Monday, November 29
Hi everyone,
I am pretty worn out tonight and my patience is waning. One baby stops crying and another begins. After this 15 hour shift, I hopefully will get some much needed rest. A few things from today:
- The mother of the 5 month old and the 5 year old that I wrote about about a month ago decided to give them up again today, so they arrived here thus afternoon. The baby boy is now six months old. He and his sister are both really cute. His name is En Chr and he looks like he is already 8 months old. He is a big boy. He was pretty scared at first, who wouldn't be surrounded by a huge group of people in your face, none of which is your mom. But he gas done well tonight. They both will be up for adoption together.
-There are a lot of health issues affecting everyone here, so please pray that the Lord would provide good health and healing to the kids, babies, and us.
-Elijah left today. It had me, Show Hwa, and both his mom and dad crying. I am going to miss him!!! Also they missed their flight out to Tokyo due o a mix up in what airport they were flying out of, so Ted and them are all spending the night in Taipei and the Lewis's are hoping for a flight out tomorrow to get them to where they need to be. They came from Spain, but now have to fly back to the states to get Elijah's U.S citizenship. After a few days there, they will fly back home to Spain.
Good night
I am pretty worn out tonight and my patience is waning. One baby stops crying and another begins. After this 15 hour shift, I hopefully will get some much needed rest. A few things from today:
- The mother of the 5 month old and the 5 year old that I wrote about about a month ago decided to give them up again today, so they arrived here thus afternoon. The baby boy is now six months old. He and his sister are both really cute. His name is En Chr and he looks like he is already 8 months old. He is a big boy. He was pretty scared at first, who wouldn't be surrounded by a huge group of people in your face, none of which is your mom. But he gas done well tonight. They both will be up for adoption together.
-There are a lot of health issues affecting everyone here, so please pray that the Lord would provide good health and healing to the kids, babies, and us.
-Elijah left today. It had me, Show Hwa, and both his mom and dad crying. I am going to miss him!!! Also they missed their flight out to Tokyo due o a mix up in what airport they were flying out of, so Ted and them are all spending the night in Taipei and the Lewis's are hoping for a flight out tomorrow to get them to where they need to be. They came from Spain, but now have to fly back to the states to get Elijah's U.S citizenship. After a few days there, they will fly back home to Spain.
Good night
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!! So much to be thankful for- babies, friends, parents, foreign countries, pumpkin pie. :)
Yesterday, I was feeling a bit homesick, missing friends and family around the holidays. Talking to people from back home and knowing everyone is getting to be together made me wish I could be there, too. While it is still bitter sweet being away during the holidays, I am surrounded by just as much love here. Part of the missionary families who are celebrating Thanksgiving at the Home with us arrived today. A lot of the people who came are missionaries I met the first time I came to Taiwan- the Pagels and the Edwards. Tomorrow Angela Jones, a friend from Truman who also came to Taiwan with me the first time, Jennifer Reynolds and Peter Bennett, two of the other missionaries are coming down as well. It has been so good seeing familiar faces and catching up with them. The Pagels and the Edwards both have daughters that are about 14 who like to help us with the babies. Tomorrow we will have a whole American Thanksgiving meal for lunch- turkey, pie, cranberries, sweet potatoes! Having them all here and eating great food helps ease the homesickness!
Here are some things I forgot to write in the last post:
-The twins were allocated and are now named Brecken Maddox and Tristan Lennox. They are doing well and have both grown so much. Tristan is still bigger, but they both are looking much more healthy and much cuter!
-We got a new baby GIRL today!!! Her name is Peng Shr Tong and she is two weeks old.
-Jennifer made a video of her first 3 months here and although it is not my video, she said I could post the link for you all to view it. It is of her experience and has lots of pictures of the babies and what we do while we serve. Here is the link- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgKbEnRcqw0
-Ted has the older kids memorize a Bible verse every week. They say it every night before the eat dinner. Jennifer and I have been trying to learn them as well, in Chinese! So far I know Psalm 144:3 and 135:5!
So thankful for all of you who are praying for me, the babies, and the Home. Thank you, God, that I have parents who have loved and cared for me my whole life (Thanks, Mom and Dad!). Thank you, God, that I have people who I can call friend and brother. Thank you that I get to be here loving these children. Thank you that you are good and want us to know you. Thank you that you provide and care for us. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for giving me this wonderful experience. Thank you that you are in control.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Yesterday, I was feeling a bit homesick, missing friends and family around the holidays. Talking to people from back home and knowing everyone is getting to be together made me wish I could be there, too. While it is still bitter sweet being away during the holidays, I am surrounded by just as much love here. Part of the missionary families who are celebrating Thanksgiving at the Home with us arrived today. A lot of the people who came are missionaries I met the first time I came to Taiwan- the Pagels and the Edwards. Tomorrow Angela Jones, a friend from Truman who also came to Taiwan with me the first time, Jennifer Reynolds and Peter Bennett, two of the other missionaries are coming down as well. It has been so good seeing familiar faces and catching up with them. The Pagels and the Edwards both have daughters that are about 14 who like to help us with the babies. Tomorrow we will have a whole American Thanksgiving meal for lunch- turkey, pie, cranberries, sweet potatoes! Having them all here and eating great food helps ease the homesickness!
Here are some things I forgot to write in the last post:
-The twins were allocated and are now named Brecken Maddox and Tristan Lennox. They are doing well and have both grown so much. Tristan is still bigger, but they both are looking much more healthy and much cuter!
-We got a new baby GIRL today!!! Her name is Peng Shr Tong and she is two weeks old.
-Jennifer made a video of her first 3 months here and although it is not my video, she said I could post the link for you all to view it. It is of her experience and has lots of pictures of the babies and what we do while we serve. Here is the link- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgKbEnRcqw0
-Ted has the older kids memorize a Bible verse every week. They say it every night before the eat dinner. Jennifer and I have been trying to learn them as well, in Chinese! So far I know Psalm 144:3 and 135:5!
So thankful for all of you who are praying for me, the babies, and the Home. Thank you, God, that I have parents who have loved and cared for me my whole life (Thanks, Mom and Dad!). Thank you, God, that I have people who I can call friend and brother. Thank you that I get to be here loving these children. Thank you that you are good and want us to know you. Thank you that you provide and care for us. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for giving me this wonderful experience. Thank you that you are in control.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)