Midlife Crisis....

No, not me, at least not yet (I'm too young). Mike has wanted a tattoo for sometime now, and finally went out and got one. He almost got one while we were in China, and we even visited a tattoo shop, but after listening to that still small voice, he realized it was not the wisest decision. Besides that, it was just as expensive as in the US (okay, but maybe not as exciting a story). However, while there, he did learn the correct characters he wanted to use for God is Love.

Mike had his tattoo done at American Tradition Tattoo Shop here in town. The artist came highly recommended by a few people we know, so Mike went down last week to talk with her and to make an appointment. They came up with three parts to his tattoo. The top part reads Saved by Grace on a banner wrapping a cross. The second part is Romans 8:15 which he feels defines his relationship with God. The actual verse reads: For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” Lastly, at the bottom is the Chinese characters for God is Love, representing his connection with the Chinese people and that God loves every tongue and every tribe.

I am not a fan of tattoos, so don't expect to see a matching one on my arm anytime soon. However, the artist did a nice job and Mike is pleased. I did stop by to shoot some action photos. Yes, he is grimacing in pain in one of the shots. Of course, he claims the most painful part was while I was there, and it really wasn't that bad. I guess I'll have to take him at his word.

Camping in Chelan

So this year's annual camping trip was to our favorite destination, Lake Chelan. For the second year in a row, Auntie Julie and Ellie joined us, and one of the boys' friends made nine. We played in the lake, raced go-carts, miniature golfed, went to the water slides, sang around the campfire, and much, much more. The worst part about the trip was coming home to the rain. Guess it was a good week to be gone. Looking forward to next year....

On a Lighter Note....

Here's a short video clip that we took in Chaoyang at the park around the pagoda. We were walking around the park, taking in all the sights, when this 70+ man showed up teaching Kung Fu to a young girl. He first was using chains, then jumped around Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon style, then capped it off with a handstand. It was all quite impressive. Mike was in awe. The music you can hear in the background was from the ballroom dancing going on, and you can see the Buddhists chanting and marching in the background. You can also see that it looks very Las Vegish with all the neon lights in the background. I think many in China think that is what all our cities look like.

Caleb...

A couple days ago Tracie and I decided to name the little baby from the last post Caleb. We did not like that he was not given a name, and did not want him to die without one, as he was already without a family. I knew that in the Bible, Caleb was friends with Joshua and Moses, and that the name meant "dog," because we almost chose it for my Joshua's name. I knew their had to be more behind the name, so I googled it this morning, and here's what I found:

The dog part came because of his great devotion to God. Now that sounds a whole lot better than just "dog!" Caleb was also known for his astute powers of observation and fearlessness in the face of overwhelming odds. That's an understatement for little Caleb! He looked so peaceful and did not fuss much, despite the fact that he was most likely in tremendous pain. What a mighty name for such a little guy.

It is with mixed emotion that I have to share that Caleb died with a name, and now will be with family forever, his Heavenly Father! Thanks to all who prayed with me. There are many more orphans in this world, so our prayers are not finished yet....

Urgent Prayer Request

One of the beautiful babies from the Chaoyang orphanage urgently needs our prayers. This little guy was only five days old when we first met him. We were told that he had just got out of surgery, so we weren't allowed to hold him. Trouble is, we never saw anyone hold him, even though he was not hooked up to any IV's, etc. On the last day, Tracie was allowed to hold and feed him. He was obviously hungry, as he drank his bottle rapidly, but he threw everything up. They said he was born without a rectum, and now obviously his system was not working properly. When she unwrapped his blanket, we saw he was bloated and his poor belly was quite hard. After making the nannies aware, our insistence paid off and they took him to the hospital. We found out the next day that they ended up taking him to a hospital four hours away where he had surgery that night. We were told that he was doing well, but we knew many more surgeries would be needed, and that he would do best at a Western hospital.

While at the Hope Foster Home in Beijing, we told them about the baby, and they said they would accept him if the director would call, and they would work out plans for the necessary surgeries. We need this to happen quickly, as this morning we received the following update from the director, via our guide. I think it would even be worth risking the travel so he can get the care he needs, so please be praying it all works out:

I got an email from the director. There are good news and bad news. Good news is that cribs are all put together, soon, they will send pictures to us, just because right now, the person who is responsible for the digital camera is in Shenyang with the baby whom was sent there for orperation. When she gets back, we will get pictures. The bad news is the baby's life is in danger, after anus re-build surgery, the baby was found also has cardiac failure and brain infection, is under extensive care now, so far is still in critical condition. Let's all pray for the baby!

Cribs!!!

Yesterday we received the news that our cribs arrived at the orphanage. Yeah! Hopefully we get some photos from the director soon, which I will post when we do. It ended up that the director had to go pick the cribs up instead of them being delivered to the orphanage. I don't understand why that happened, but that seems to be the Chinese way...things that we think to be simple, never are. However, they don't seem to mind or get stressed out, as it is a way of life there. Here in the states, tempers would be flying. That's one of the positive things we can learn from the Chinese culture.

Final Day...home sweet home...

We decided to go out on one last adventure before heading for the airport. Four of us walked from our hotel to Tiananmen Square, which took us about 20 minutes. It's fun to walk through the neighborhood areas and take in the culture, and we are entertaining to the locals as well. The Square was already busy for it being 8:30 am, but mostly with Chinese tourists. There is still lots of construction going on there, as it will be a busy place during the Olympics. Mostly what still needs to be finished is landscaping, which they do beautifully in China. They are placing large screens throughout the Squares so that the local people can watch the opening ceremonies. Security is really tight there too. They also have a big electronic sign with the countdown on: 25 days, 10 hours, 57 minutes and 50 seconds:) We walked around a bit, bought some souvenirs at the Olympic store, and headed back to the hotel.

Our flight home was uneventful, which is always good. The Beijing airport opened a beautiful new international terminal, which they have running smoothly. The only trouble we had was at the very end of our journey, entering the United States by car from Vancouver, Canada, where we flew into. Our car was randomnly selected by the computer to be thoroughly searched. We had to go inside the building and answer some questions while they searched the car inside and out. It's all a blur to me though.

It was great to be reunited with the kids. Kaia was crying when we got home and very clingy, but all is back to normal now. Last night was the best night's sleep we've got in quite some time, and Mike is napping on the couch right now. I am hoping to hear an update on the cribs soon, and will post here. We did get an update on the newborn that was at the Chaoyang orphanage. They wouldn't let us hold him until the last day we were there, and when we saw how bloated his tummy was and insisted he be seen. Fortunately they listened, and they sent him off to the hospital right away. Later we found out he got sent to the Shenyang hospital four hours away, where they performed a surgery on him at 11 that night. We are trying to get him and another heart baby hooked up with one of the foster homes we visited, as they both new more care and attention than they are getting in Chaoyang. Please keep that in your prayers.