Celebrate the small things...

 Like the fact that the circle of glowing green has arrived and Zhengzhou now has not one but TWO Havens of Black Gold- Starbucks!  An "easy" two hour drive...Don't laugh we would go much further for a good cup of coffee and a small taste of Home>

February Smiles

Though I didn't get them on Valentine's Day the Lovey Hearts and Pink filled boxes made my day when I returned from Suzhou...

 Something else that brought smiles and memories of days gone by was the fact that the sprinkler was left on one frosty night and we awoke to an Icy Winter Wonderland!  It was so sparkly Beautiful...

Babies on a train...Babies in a Hospital

 February 12-16, 2012 I was in transit...Transporting 4 babies along with their individual nanny's (ayi) and all their paraphernalia to Suzhou.  This experience is always just that an experience, an adventure an I Love you kind of way! to say,

"Happy Valentine's Day!"

Saturday Sum Up...

 There are new Pigs in the neighborhood, actually next door where I can watch them from the safe distance of my 5th floor window.- No one seems to know where you get wild pigs but I do believe that the boar is part of the new prison security system.
    The CCC Youth Group from Beijing came up for the weekend and we once again had a wonderful time together.  I love spending catch up time with these guys, meeting the new ones they bring along and in general just having moments to spend with one another in laughter, tears and worship!

And then of course there was the Lantern Festival to Celebrate- the official end of the Chinese New Year festivities.                                 I love the Lanterns!  

 Lighting them off is more than half the fun- keeping them from catching fire before lift off and then hoping that the air currents carry them high into the air before the fuel source runs out...But the part I love most is watching them lifting off from all around and quietly float up toward the full moon like twinkling stars.

Salt Life

 

February 1, 2012

Dear Ones,

   OK, so recently I have been contemplating many of the differences between my home in South Carolina and home here in China.  Make no mistake the differences are vast.  As the weather continues to hover in the freezing zone I cannot help but smile to myself and think of “Salt Life…”

      That may sound funny however you must remember that back home I live on an Island in South Carolina where Christmas 

day temperatures were in the high 70’s and we put candles in our fireplace so that we could prevent ourselves from feeling the need to turn on the air conditioner.  I spent afternoon lunches on the porch at Plum’s with friends enjoying the incredible December weather and the view of the Inter Coastal Waterway.  I spent mornings at the waterfront park with Mom, Dad, and Janessa while we played on the playground- no coats needed!  I sipped coffee at one of my favorite spots overlooking the water in beautiful downtown Beaufort, Common Ground, and contemplated why I might have chosen a frozen coffee drink instead because the weather was perfect for it.  And of course I loved sunrise breakfast with Dad out on the boat.  I live where there is water everywhere, you cross bridges wherever you go, and the beach, well doesn’t everyone have sand in their back yard, maybe not waves but always sand?  Something that always makes me smile is the Salt Life logos that I see EVERYWHERE.  They are incredibly creative and each time I see a new one I cannot help but wonder if the person really is a “Salt Lifer” or if they just thought it was a really cute design.  The Salt Life Company states, “At Salt Life, we are passionate about the Ocean, just like you. We are fishermen, captains, dive masters, free divers, surfers, and spear fishermen with salt in our veins. We know what it's all about and it's what we love to do.” 

   This past week I have thought many times about that statement…”Passionate about what we do… Salt in our veins… what we love to do,” as I have been running IV lines filled with salt solution on several of my little ones.  Normal Saline is one of the fastest ways to carefully rehydrate a fragile baby who is failing right before my eyes.  Often I can literally watch them come back to life.  There is salt in our veins, it is the way God created us, we must have it for survival.  As a nurse I watch for problems caused by an imbalance of salt in the body, you would not believe what havoc tipping the sodium scales either too much or too little will do to a person’s ability to properly function and the problems are multiplied exponentially when the person before you is usually less than five pounds. 

  You know God thought a “Salt Life” was pretty important as well.  He even made Salt Covenants with the Israelites,   “All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the LORD, I have given to you… It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the LORD to you and your descendants with you.”  (Numbers 18:18-20)  He told us to season our speech with it, “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”(Colossians 4:5-7) He even said we were to be salt, “You are the salt of the earth,” (Matthew 5:12).

  So now each time I consider salt whether I am starting an IV, eating another very “savory” salty Chinese food, or thinking of home and the salt marshes and ocean waves I am also praying that I will not lose my “Salt Life” that my speech will be seasoned with salt, and that I would be salt and light to the lives of those around me.  I want to be passionate about what I do about the salt of God’s grace that courses through my veins.  I want to “Live the Salt Life.”  What a challenge for each of us and what a reminder next time you are waiting in traffic and see one of those “Salt Life” logos- pray that we will each one be living the Salt Life for the Son.

With Love for each of you,

Mariah

Happy February-

Happy February 2, 2012- Groundhog Day