Clara Anne is 6!

In honor of Clara Anne's birthday, let's take a little walk down memory lane, shall we?

Six years ago, this photo graced her baby announcements. . .our sweet Clara Anne, born 33 minutes after midnight in Hong Kong, making her a Christmas Day baby though when we called my parents to tell them, it was still Christmas Eve in the States! That sweet baby captivated her Grandpa. . . and everyone else.

At one year old, I took her for her first professional pictures. She behaved so well and we got such cute pictures that the photo studio used them as an advertisement on a billboard for the next four years!

Her first birthday was a bit of a bummer, she had gotten a cold and was a bit under the weather. But still could smile with Mommy next to the tree!

I finally made her a birthday cupcake sometime in January, after the rush of Christmas parties was over and she was feeling better. She loved it!

Two years old came racing up...what a change between one and two! So grown up! (Christin wore that sweater this Christmas. It doesn't seem possible!)

Clara Anne at two.

Three years old and her hair is getting so long! She loved this white dress from Grandma.

We were given this cake and so it became Clara Anne's birthday cake. . . she loved it!

Here she is already at four. We continued the tradition of getting photos taken on/around her birthday.

Her fourth birthday was when we began the tradition of pineapple blueberry upside down cake for birthday breakfasts. Yummy!

And here, just last year at her fifth birthday. We had begun to use the special plate and cup for birthdays by this point.

My five year old girl!

Which brings us to December 25, 2010, Clara Anne's sixth birthday. Though I can hardly believe it, my sweet Clara Anne is growing up. She has matured so much in this past year. She has professed her faith in Jesus, been baptized, and continues to encourage us by showing evidence of walking with God. She is endlessly creative and constantly making up stories, writing "books" that she illustrates and wants to dictate to me, is always putting on ballet shows and loves to recruit her sisters for her most recent productions. She has an amazing memory for facts and these days is absorbing knowledge like a sponge. Frequently we'll be talking about something and she'll say, "Mommy, we have a book of that," and sure enough, she'll find a book on our shelf that has relevant information and can turn right to it. She's doing great with school, making good progress and probably loves when I read to her most of all. She is a great help with the younger two girls, especially Christin, and we love her so much!

"Why is she holding the candles?" you might ask. Well, the simple answer is the breakfast cake was too warm to put the candles into without melting! We had to settle for lighting one candle and letting her hold it.

When Daddy got out the "magic Christmas bag" and began to pull out what was inside, this was Clara Anne's reaction (above). And then this:

Her special birthday gift from Mommy and Daddy was a bunny called "Lil' Bunny Big Ears" which has now been renamed "Beatrice Berry (Wind) Bunny." Beatrice has a beautiful wedding gown, satin slippers, veil, and flowers which make her extra special. She even came with a birth certificate. Given Clara Anne's obsession with bunnies, Beatrice is going to be a very special friend for a very long time.

Clara Anne's birthday was spent at home this year. She played with her new bunny, read books with Daddy, helped me make one last batch of Christmas cookies for her ballet class the next day, and finally at 5pm was just worn out. I could tell she was tired so asked her to rest on her bed for 15 minutes. Within five minutes, she was asleep! In fact, dinner was on the table (homemade pizza, like she requested) and all three girls were sound asleep still! Oops! I guess I should have made them take earlier naps. They were playing well so I thought they could make it, but all the excitement of previous days must have been too much. We did eventually get Clara Anne up but Chloe missed dinner and slept until after 8, on the couch in the middle of all the noise!

Christin, however, woke up quickly and was ready for some pizza. This is a homegirl move if I ever saw one. :)

The pretty birthday plate and cup, just waiting for Clara Anne. . .

And the evening had to end, of course, with a ballet that Clara Anne directed but everyone participated in.

Bunnies were also involved.

And the final bow. A lovely performance, girls!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Clara Anne's birthday and are so thankful for her six years of life! We pray the Lord will give her many, many more. We love you, Clara Anne!

(PS True confessions: you will see from past pictures that I have had a hard time staying organized enough to make a birthday cake for Clara Anne in addition to all the other holiday baking and December craziness. This year, theoretically I could have done it (in terms of time and energy) but I just couldn't do it in terms of how much sweet stuff had already been made and consumed in my house this Christmas!! So Clara Anne got a cupcake--not just any cupcake, a red velvet chocolate chip cupcake with white chocolate cream cheese peppermint icing--with a candle stuck in it at the very end of the day. It must be admitted that the cupcake was a week old, left over from our Christmas party with American friends. BUT, Clara Anne was perfectly happy and since she got to stay up and eat a cupcake when her sisters had to go to bed, that sweetened the deal a bit. This time when Chloe complained that she didn't get a cupcake, I reminded her that she got a six layer rainbow cake for her birthday and Clara Anne got a week-old cupcake, so told Chloe to be happy with her life. Ha! Next year, Clara Anne! Next year I will try my hardest to make a cake for your birthday!)

Can this really be?

Wasn't this just yesterday? I remember it so clearly. It doesn't seem that long ago! But look, she's grown just a bit since that day. Six years ago to that day, in fact.

We love you sweet Clara Anne! Happy Birthday! more pictures to come. . .

Christmas Memories, 2010

December 2010 was filled with celebrating the wonder of the Incarnation with my husband and children, hosting guests for Christmas parties, choosing and making special gifts for dear friends, celebrating Clara Anne's birthday, and spending time with those that I love. Last December I felt I did a poor job of managing the special tasks and responsibilities that come my way during this season. Last year, the whole month rushed by and I fought against feelings of resentment at all of the extra "work." This year, I took a half-day retreat at the beginning of the month and that really helped to set my perspective for the busy days of December.

The truth is, I want to have a meditative spirit in preparing for Christmas. I want to be focused on the Lord's work, in my heart and others'. I want to be a welcoming and joyful hostess. I want to be focused on Jesus and celebrating His amazing, humble birth.

But the honest truth is that often my sin and selfishness can get in the way. When I start to worry about all that has to be done or get stressed or snap at my children who make a mess with toys 10 minutes before 20 guests arrive, that doesn't bring glory to Him. So in the forefront of my mind this Christmas was staying focused on Jesus, depending on Him for the patience, strength, and joy to do the extra activities of the month, and giving Him all the glory! And I want to share here publicly that the Lord really answered my prayer and hopes for this! We had numerous "big" events during the month and on the whole, I felt joy and peace in the doing of them, and more importantly, I actually felt able to worship during them! I truly praise the Lord for this! He helped me have a very different attitude as I got ready for events and sustained me with grace and strength through this busy month. I pray that my guests also sensed, through word and song, the joy of the Lord and the wonder of His birth. I trust that He touched many hearts.

Here are some pictures from the first party I hosted. It's fun to get out the pretty Christmas plates and make the special treats!
A closer look at the candy cane cookies...I told about the legend of the candy cane and shared some of its symbolism, as well as telling the Christmas story and singing Christmas songs!

These cute little Christmas hats (at the bottom left and right) are always a hit, it's simply a brownie mix baked in a mini-muffin tin, topped with an inverted strawberry, and decorated with melted white chocolate or white icing. And don't forget the chocolate peanut butter star cookies! My girls helped a lot with those...rolling them into balls and then in the sugar. And can you tell I had some little helpers decorate the sugar cookies? One night Clara Anne spent some of her points to stay up 30 minutes late and we made cookies together. She was given the joyful job of separating out red and green from a package of mini M&Ms. There may have been a few that got into her mouth by mistake, it's hard to tell. We had such fun together that night!

And speaking of help...of course I had lots of "help" in the kitchen--sometimes it was truly help and sometimes it was an investment for the future! (If you know what I mean!) I like to have the girls involved, generally, so it was fun to carefully let Chloe use the mixer for the first time. We were making eggnog, so she kept it holding steady while I gradually added the sugar and milk.

Our American friends came for Christmas dinner the night of the 17th. We began with an appetizer tray with crackers and a yummy cheeseball recipe that I first got from my Aunt Judy, eggnog or spiced cider, some lovely hershey's mint kisses, and a whole tray of pickles and olives. It was delicious! We then had our worship time, a festival of lessons and carols that ended with a darkened room, each person holding a white taper candle and singing "Silent Night." It was a wonderful way to celebrate the Saviour's birth! Then we moved to the table for the dinner: Ham, mashed potatoes, and a tossed salad with mandarin oranges and candied pecans. Dessert was homemade turtles or red velvet cupcakes with white chocolate cream cheese peppermint icing. Ooh, that icing was definitely a keeper, first time I had made it but it's going in the family recipe book. Yummy!

It was so good to be with friends, just look at these lovely ladies:

After the meal the children put on an impromptu talent show. There was dancing, there was playing of cymbals and other instruments, and we all laughed and loved it! Notice Clara Anne dancing with her current crush, Uncle Brad! I love the expressions of joy on everyone's faces in this picture.

Christin favored us with a piano solo, when she wasn't too shy/embarrassed. Her little facial expressions are priceless!

Ok, now on to some later December pictures. In this one below, the girls are receiving gifts of dresses from Grandma, and Daddy is playing a little game with them where he pretends that Christin's dress is for Clara, etc etc. The girls thought it was SO funny and here are delighted that Christin finally found the dress that fit her. (And yes, my girls DO wear their ballet clothes all the time. Have you noticed?)

Now all three have their right dresses on. Aren't they lovely? Thank you so much, Grandma and Grandpa! Clara Anne can't stop looking at hers and touching its ruffly skirt!

Christmas morning, 2010 was the 24th for us since we reserve the 25th to celebrate Clara Anne's birthday. It began with me making cinnamon rolls at 6am and savoring a cup of tea in the quiet dark hours before the girls were up. This dancing extravaganza was happening before we ate breakfast! Look at those braids flying!

Mmmm, cinnamon rolls, orange julius, and lit candles, and of course a steaming cup of joe for me. Delightful!

We arranged a webcam with my mom and dad for that morning so they could watch the girls open their gifts, what a benefit of modern technology! Here's the girls waiting to begin. I realize that not one of them is looking at the camera, but they were all too excited!

Opening their stockings from Mommy and Daddy. They each received identical bunnies (from Ikea--so soft!) which are now named Becca, Bella, and Brea respectively and the names are written on the bunny's bottoms so that we can tell whose is whose. Equality, you know!

We continued our two-years-now tradition of not wrapping gifts...last year on Christmas Eve I ran out of time and wrapping paper and so we decided to simply just bring the gifts out one by one. We made the girls close their eyes each time and John had the "magic Christmas bag" (a large-ish gift bag) that he put things in and drew them out upon coming back from the bedroom. The girls seemed to love it; it's true, they probably don't have clear memories of opening wrapping paper, but anyway, I'm glad it worked! It was fun and saved me lots of time and energy! Here are all three girls, diligently closing their eyes:

Notice that the two younger ones felt the need to put their hands over whereas Clara Anne just squeezed hers shut. Funny girls!

Here everyone is holding a special gift from Grandpa and Grandma...such fun!

We started a new tradition of going to Starbucks for hot cocoa on Christmas Eve Day (well, this was the first year so we'll see if the tradition "sticks" or not). And I'm sorry these are the closest we got to a family picture this Christmas! We'll have to take a family New Year's picture instead!

We brought our own mugs and sipped slowly while the girls played "Hide the pony" with Daddy...they had brought their small My Little Ponys with them and Daddy kept hiding them in unexpected places and threatening to eat them. We laughed and laughed; it was such fun to be together and relaxed, simply enjoying the time. We had ridden our bikes to Starbucks and it was a bitterly cold day, that hot chocolate tasted GOOD!

Nice chocolate mustaches everyone! The final picture here is from Christmas Day in the evening when we completed our Jesse Tree journey. It was so fun to see the girls thoroughly embrace and enjoy the daily Scripture readings and putting the small piece on the tree.

Merry Christmas, 2010! Whew! We made it--with joy, even!--and you made it to the end of this LONG post! Thanks for sharing in our Christmas memories!

Merry Christmas!

From our home to yours . . .Merry Christmas!
For the wonder of Emmanuel, God with us. . . Merry Christmas!
For the joy of a long-awaited Savior. . . Merry Christmas!
And for the peace that reigns in our hearts (though not yet in this world). . .Merry Christmas!

I am treasuring and pondering as we finish up our Christmas celebrations for 2010. May the reality of the Word made Flesh alight your heart with that wonder, joy, and peace today. Merry Christmas!

My Dad

Remember last week when I shared how I was learning recently that our times are in His hands? Well, I am getting another opportunity to put this truth into practice.

As many of you know, the midwest (of the States, not our country!) is being hit now with a massive snowstorm. My dad went out Saturday morning to scoop a little snow, just enough to clear the driveway so he could drive to the grocery store. But he began to not feel well, so he headed in again. He was having a lot of pain and pressure in his chest. He and Mom decided they'd better drive to the hospital to get him checked out, and despite 60 mph winds and a ton of blowing snow, they made it safely. (It's really only a mile or two.) The doctors there knew right away he was having a heart attack. They wanted to transfer him to a Heart Hospital an hour away, and at one point had even arranged for a snowplow to accompany the ambulance, but then even the snowplows were pulled off the road and parts of the interstate were closed. So, he had to stay put.

The doctors gave some clot-busting medicine and blood thinner, but there wasn't much else they could do at that point. But here's a blessing in a small town...all the nurses knew Dad and the doctor even slept overnight at the hospital in case he was needed! (Maybe that would happen in a larger city, too, but anyway I was impressed!)

About 9am on Sunday morning (US time) Dad was transferred to Sioux Falls and now has been under observation all day. They've been giving him morphine for the pain and pressure, and I was even able to talk to him briefly. He sounded all right, but he's certainly not out of the woods yet. Some bloodwork has indicated that the damage to his heart was moderate to severe. I'm praying it was more on the moderate side!

On Monday Dad will have a surgery to examine his heart, find out where the blockages are, and put a stent (or stents, depending on what's needed) in, and then later they will do an echocardiogram to check for other problems. He was having some ventricular tachycardia which was concerning, so they will look everything over thoroughly and see what needs to be done. The doctor attending Dad is great, Mom said, has an excellent manner and seems very knowledgeable and willing to answer questions.

So, I am again reminding myself of the Lord's care and provision over all our lives, and how quickly we can be reminded to entrust ourselves fully to Him. I am particularly thankful for Him preserving my dad's life. My grandpa, (Dad's dad), was scooping snow on a January day in 1999 and came in, saying that he didn't feel well. Within a few moments, he had collapsed and he was gone, just that quickly. The Lord had chosen that time for my Grandpa Al. So I'm glad that it seems my dad's time is not quite yet! And I'm praying for continued protection over Dad's life.

I am also struck again by how blessed we are to have excellent medical care for my dad in this situation. Doctors and nurses and hospital staff go to work no matter what, making sacrifices of time away from their families on holidays, during blizzards, and in the middle of the night. How thankful I am for that! These people have worked many long years to gain the knowledge and experience to perform a complicated procedure like heart surgery. These things were not possible even a generation ago. Another blessing to be thankful for!

Though it's hard that I am not by my dad's side during all of this, I am thankful that the Lord is. I am also thankful for the peace that I'm feeling despite this difficult situation. My mom also seems to be holding up quite well. (She's probably glad to NOT be the one in the hospital bed, for once!) She's especially thankful for neighbors and friends who helped her get back into her home despite the snow piled in the driveway, get things organized so she could plan to be gone, pack for being away, and drive her to the Heart Hospital despite the barely passable roads. For all of that, we're very thankful.

So, all that to say, we would appreciate your prayers for our family! Please lift up my dad's surgery, his physical and spiritual heart, my mom's endurance, and the doctors who will treat him. We are praying for excellent results and I will update when I know anything more. Thank you so much!

Happy Thanksgiving, 2010

Thanksgiving this year was full of many wonderful moments and we made lots of fun memories! The girls and I especially enjoyed studying a bit of history about the first Thanksgiving in the week or so prior to our celebration of the holiday. And, Focus on the Family produced a Radio Theatre show about Squanto which we were able to listen to. All very fun and educational!

Here's the family at Thanksgiving...we took the family picture first before things got too crazy. John and Rachel, Clara Anne (almost 6), Chloe (4.5), and Christin (2.5). Here's all the ladies gathered, the magic behind the meal! We were so glad to be able to spend Thanksgiving with our overseas "family."

My role this year was again to be in charge of the turkey. I roasted it, took the meat off the bone, simmered the bones to make stock, used the stock to make stuffing and gravy, and then made a pecan pie to go with our meal. I love to do the turkey! It's not as hard as it seems and I get to sneak bites of the crispy skin.

My kids, however, hardly ate any turkey. They were more interested in the homemade crescent rolls, veggies and dip, mashed potatoes, and cranberry applesauce.

I love this picture, doesn't it just show one of the many differences between boys and girls? Don't miss the fun table centerpiece made by the lovely Savannah!

A certain two year old was also excited about the food!

Here's the spread . . . mmm. . . I think the surprise this year was the stuffing. Though I have made the same recipe for the last four or so years, several people commented that it was particularly good, even people who don't usually like stuffing! I'm not sure what made it different, other than it had no sage this year. I only use sage once a year, in Thanksgiving stuffing, and discovered on Thanksgiving morning that I had none. And there isn't a Super Target down the street! So I substituted some thyme and called it good enough. And it was! Another big hit: we had an appetizer table that included a tray of pickles, olives, and pepperoncini. It was totally and completely empty by the end of the day!

I'm thankful for my dear husband! We're coming up on our 14th wedding anniversary, though that doesn't seem possible. And what a great husband he is--godly, thoughtful, encouraging, fun to be around, a great leader, dedicated father and servant of the Lord! I am so blessed.

Don't these little pilgrim girls just look darling? In the absence of my friend Rachel, who excels at all things creative and crafty, I took it upon myself to make a few pilgrim and Indian hats since we put on a play for our Thanksgiving celebration called "Squanto and the story of the first Thanksgiving." I was the narrarator, John played Squanto, and several of the other men had to play a couple of different parts. The audience consisted of exactly four women and a few kids when they weren't in the scene. It was pretty low key but we had fun! Here's some action shots:

I thought this was a darling picture! The boys are so intent and serious and wanted to do their very best. You can see at this point, one was a pilgrim and one an Indian.

Here's Squanto agreeing to help William Bradford, feeling it his life mission since his own people are gone.

The pilgrim children helped Squanto plant some corn. (Props were very minimal as you can see!)

And here they are all enjoying the first Thanksgiving meal. I doubt it was as delicious as ours was!

Bravo, Bravo! An encore was requested by some of the children, but by then the adults were ready to sit down and have some dessert. Pecan pie, apple crisp, chocolate mousse pie, and an amazing chocolate caramel cheesecake made by my friend Amy was still in the offering. We all relaxed over dessert and coffee and ended up staying and chatting into the evening, finishing out the day with a showing of Toy Story 3 projected on the wall! It was the kind of Thanksgiving where you end up staying so long that you eat again, everyone at their own whim and thanks to the miracle of Crock Pots, things were still hot! We were all so thankful for a wonderful day together. Truly the Lord gives such good gifts to His children. I never could have imagined, seven years ago, that such an American holiday would even be possible here in this country. And yet, here we were, finding a way to eat all of the American traditional foods, enjoying fellowship and worship together, and even getting a brief history lesson on the first Thanksgiving. What a blessing! Thank you, Lord!

Practice, practice

Most days about 5pm finds us in this position. The girls have been very diligent about practicing ballet! Clara Anne has many of the exercises memorized and is slowly gaining flexibility. Her newest challenge is to stand with one leg straight against the wall and allow me to slowly lift her other leg until the toe touches the wall next to her head. (yikes!) That's the goal anyway, but so far she can't quite get there. Amazingly, most of the girls in her class can do it! Recently the teacher told us that soon he would separate out the girls that could do this movement from the girls that couldn't, so we should try really hard to have Clara Anne practice it each day. However, I was not willing to put that pressure on her! As far as I'm concerned, she can stay in the beginners class as long as she likes it and is having fun and learning. But, Clara Anne herself was super motivated! "Mommy, we can practice four times each day. After breakfast. . ." and on and on. So, we have! And, she's making progress! Wowza! She's really trying her best, which is great. Keep it up, girls!

In His Hands

We had a little scare with Christin over the past few days. I'm so thankful to say that it looks like everything is healing fine, but here's what happened. . .

On Thursday night after supper I was playing the piano while the girls (as usual) danced around the living room before we started family devotions. Christin was playing on the couch and suddenly cried out in pain and froze, refusing to move. We had to pry her fingers off the cushions and calm her down to get a good look at her. But in checking her over, we didn't see anything obviously wrong, she could move her toes, knees, etc and nothing seemed broken. We massaged her legs a bit and she sat meekly and quietly until bedtime.

She slept fine but the next morning, upon trying to get out of bed, she collapsed. She got up again, but cried as she limped toward me. She was obviously in pain but I still couldn't tell where. We put her on our bed and carefully looked over all of her joints and muscles. Again, no obvious injury, no screaming in pain when we touched a certain area, nothing like that. We did some internet research and it seemed like a possible diagnosis was something called "toxic synovitis" which is basically (as I understand it) an infection that can settle in the hip. We had her walk 10 steps or so a few times to get a clearer picture of where she was hurting, and she was definitely favoring the left leg, unwilling to put any weight on it, and shuffling along while holding her hip and crying.

She was fine to sit and rest so we gave her some motrin and propped her up on the couch with a whole bunch of books and toys. She spent a quiet morning but I thought I'd better ask the opinion of an American doctor friend. I sent off an email about 11:30 and by 12:30 he had emailed back saying he thought we should get to a bigger city for further evaluation. Oh my. . .

The problem, he said, was that we didn't know what was causing her to limp, and there are some things that can cause it ranging from the "merely troublesome to the scary." So we needed to rule out the truly scary stuff before we would know what was wrong. He recommended we call another American doctor who practices in a nearby city and see if we could get in to see him. However, that doctor was about to go out of the office for the afternoon and was not available over the weekend, so he suggested getting a blood test, particularly something called a CRP which tests for inflammation (I think! not so great with all this medical stuff!) and x-ray done locally.

So off we went to the local hospital, ready to ask for all of those things. But, as can happen, the doctor who examined Christin did not want to order the xray. He had his reasons and wouldn't listen to mine. We did get the complete blood count done though no one knew what the CRP was. So, we didn't totally strike out!

Home again for a few minutes before we headed off to our weekly worship time with other foreigners. I was still concerned about Christin but was thankful to have some time together with friends too! But my mind kept thinking about what might still need to be done.

When we returned home we were in further contact with our American doctor friend. . . he said he really did want Christin to have that more thorough exam in the capital city, that it should happen sooner rather than later, and that I should fly if I needed to. By this point I was ready to do whatever was needed to travel immediately.

A flurry of preparations and not too much sleep later, I left my house, carrying 30lb Christin in the Ergo, at 6am on Saturday. I had no idea what to expect. I had packed enough clothes for 2-3 days in case she needed to be admitted to the hospital. I was reminded again how our times are in His hands. Our plans for our lives can so easily be completely and totally disrupted!

I arrived in the capital city about 8am and it took me a full half an hour to exit the airport, yikes. Whew, lots of walking carrying a heavy child plus a backpack and strolling a suitcase. . . eat your heart out, Jillian! I got my workout right there! But, I got in a taxi and was at the hospital by 9am, and without an appointment was seen by a doctor within a half hour. Amazing!

The doctor there was great. He was an American and asked lots of thoughtful questions and seemed to really care. He appreciated that I had all of Christin's recent medical records available and he agreed, there are some nasty things that it COULD be so it was definitely wise to check it out. First he ordered a blood test (including the CRP) and an x-ray, then said if we needed to he would do a more extensive blood test and possibly an MRI.

Poor Christin, she was really scared by the whole thing. She did NOT like the doctor touching her, she did NOT like sitting in his office, she seemed truly frightened and cried a lot during all of the tests. The x-ray was her least favorite; lying on the cold table which moved underneath her, she looked up at me with terrified eyes and said "I want go HOME, Mama, Mama, Mama, I just want you!" (Her favorite expression, somewhat ironic since usually when she says it I am already near or even holding her!) The implication is "I don't want any of this other stuff!" I just want you!

However, we made it through (me lugging around all that stuff, plus winter coats, hats, etc) and finally the results came back. Her blood test--normal. The x-ray--also normal. No sign of inflammation or infection, no red flags in any of the tests, the x-rays showed the tissue around the hip to also be healthy and normal. Praise the Lord!

The doctor's best guess was that she somehow strained or pulled her muscle in her hip, maybe jumping on the couch? Or maybe trying to "do ballet" like her older sisters? It's hard to say. But since the bone and the tissue around it were sound, and no sign of infection, all of the nasty possibilities were ruled out. Oh, what thankful relief I felt in that moment!

At this point it was 11am and I was totally done. I mean, done in terms of I had paid the bill and was free to go, and also DONE in terms of I wanted it all to be over. My flight home didn't leave until 7:40pm, and I even could have gone to hang out at a friend of some friends' house during the day, but at that point, I didn't want to do anything. I didn't want to shop for imported stuff, I didn't want to eat lunch, even. . . I was just done. I strapped Christin back in the Ergo, loaded up my backpack, got back in a taxi and went directly back to the airport.

The Lord really showed his favor and mercy. . . in the next hour, I changed my ticket to a 1:55 flight, took Christin to the bathroom (no small feat, any of you who've traveled alone with children know!), was checked in and sitting down to eat lunch at Burger King. Can we all just shout an Amen?! I was so thankful. All went smoothly, including a tall Caramel Frappucino which went down quite nicely (ha!) and Christin and I found ourselves getting back on a plane about 1:30. We both zonked on the return flight, I slept in several uncomfortable positions and Christin was out the whole time as well.

If you can believe it, I was home again by 4pm. What a day! What a trip! I truly spent the majority of the day in transit, but I am so thankful for the good result. We are continuing to give Christin the motrin and only allowing her to walk when she initiates it, but today already she seems much better. She is only limping slightly and truly seems almost normal again. Kids bounce back fast, I guess! The doctor encouraged me to watch for any sign of infection or worsening of the symptoms, but so far so good.

So my prayer this morning during my time with the Lord was simply, "what would you have me learn from this experience, Lord?" And He brought several things to mind. For one, I was struck again by the paradox of modern medicine. On one hand doctors know so, so much more now than they ever have regarding the body, its ailments, and how to treat them. Great progress has been made! Medicines, drugs, machines that help diagnose and treat are all very complicated and specific. But on the other hand, we know so very, very little. Many times doctors have to say, "I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do." or "We just don't know how to treat this."

In my time this morning I was led to Psalm 139 which I always think of as the pro-life psalm. That probably sounds silly, but today I was struck anew by the first 6 verses or so which focus on the Lord's knowledge of us. He knows. . . He knows. There is nothing He does not know. He knows not only the complex workings of our bodies but the even more complex working of our hearts. I was fascinated yesterday to get a glimpse through the xray of Christin's bones in her pelvis and legs, feeling like though I'm her mother, I've never seen her bone structure before. Yet this simple glance is the tiniest fraction of what her Heavenly Father knows about her. How great is our God!

And, though thankfully Christin's problem seems to be resolving easily, yesterday I was comforted by the fact that He also knows our days, they are each numbered in His book. He has a plan for Christin which will not be thwarted. Her days are in His hands.

So, if I didn't learn anything else through this experience, I am entrusting myself and my family again into His hands. What a good and gracious God we serve. May we rest in Him tonight!

Coffee Excitement!

It's no secret how much I love Starbucks. I loved working there when we lived in the States. I totally enjoyed all of my training in learning to taste the differences between coffees from different parts of the world, and yes, I have probably long since "given back" to Starbucks all of the money I ever made working there!

So you can imagine my excitement, when after several years of rumors, it actually appeared that Starbucks was finally going to open some stores in our little ol' city of three million people. I stopped by the location before they were open in order to check things out, and received some coupons for future drinks as well as a free sandwich. I thought I had scored pretty big but then my dear, darling, sweet husband also "happened to" stop by one day, "happened to" meet one of the managers, and "happened to" get an invitation to a coffee tasting on the Sunday before the next Wednesday opening. Since John doesn't drink coffee, he gladly gave his place to me; I invited my friend Amy and we went together! What a plus!

The tasting was really fun! We got to meet some of the baristas, taste some Christmas blend, eat some cake, and get a few more free gifts including a keychain that I love using! They gave us cards to fill out to "share our stories" and Clara Anne worked hard on hers!

We all had fun chatting! The baristas were so cute, they wanted to get to know us and also check some of their English pronunciations. "Caramel Macchiato" isn't the easiest thing to say! "Decaf grande two pump extra hot with whip cream Caramel Macchiato" is even harder!

The smiles on our faces say it all. Woo HOO!

My friend Amy and I decided we had to brave the crowds and return for the opening a few days later. Amy arrived an hour before and saved our place in line; all together we waited about two hours before being served! I was so glad to have an orderly line; there were tons of employees keeping it organized and things flowed pretty smoothly. Look at that beautiful sign!

The employees were all wearing these cool city t-shirts with some city landmarks on them.

It was a pleasant day--not too cold, not windy, just pleasant. As well, free coffee was being served and the first 100 guests got a free gift! So the line was stretching down the street...LONG!

A special sign announces the grand opening of the first Starbucks in our city.

There was even a police presence, in case people started to get a bit unruly over coffee. You never know, it could happen!

Amy and I couldn't leave without getting our pictures taken in the Christmas banner.

A few days later, I treated my house helper to her first Starbucks ever! She liked it well enough, I ordered her a Caramel Macchiato and she was surprised that it wasn't bitter. "But I thought this was coffee?!" I tried to explain how they have a variety of drinks...not sure how much I communicated clearly. We had fun though! Christin accidently spilled most of my drink (actually by stubbornly refusing to hand the cup back to me and setting it down not carefully) but we were all so impressed that within a few moments there was someone there to mop up and someone there to inquire what I was drinking and make me a new one! Ahh, western-standard customer service! It's a lovely thing to behold.

Yes, my eyes are closed and the remnants of Christin's stubbornness are on her face, but it captures the moment!

Fun times at Starbucks! I'm so glad you're in my life again. Actually, it's been in my life all along in the coffee I brew at home, but it's wonderful to have a smoke-free place to go, have a great cup of coffee, relax and enjoy some down time.

And get this: I ran into my manager-friend that day and she told me that in the first day of sales on the 17th, they sold more than any other Starbucks has ever sold on the first day, anywhere in the world...it was 84,000 local dollars. (A typical espresso drink is about 28-34 local dollars.) Wowza! That's a lot of coffee! The city mugs and Christmas mugs also sold like crazy, so the manager was pleased, to say the least, about the opening. John and I have long thought there was a market for more western stuff in our city, and it's definitely proving to be true. Since that day, another Starbucks has opened, a HUGE mall with an Old Navy, two more Dairy Queens, a Papa John's, and the usual KFC and McD's all inside! So, though it's a bit strange to see so many new western things in our city, I can't say I'm too disappointed. And neither is the rest of the city, judging from how busy these new places have been!

Welcome Xing Ba Ke!