Power- Plugged in and Loving it!

 Most days I remember to be thankful for the big stuff, and on a lot of days I am reminded to be grateful for the little stuff but occasionally my Abba Father chooses to remind me to be really thankful for all the incredible blessings big and small that He showers me with...Sunday, a shower WAS something to be thankful for or rather that I was up early enough to get one in before guess what?!?!? The power was turned off- don't worry it happens here, and each time it happens I am increasingly grateful that it is less frequent than it used to be,  I am grateful that it was just for the day not for several days. I am grateful for the back-up generators that provide some basic power supply, I am reminded of how much of the world still has no source of power where they are living.  I am ever so grateful for instant hand sanitizer- especially the smell good stuff as the day gets hotter and things start to not smell as fresh as they once did.  I am REALLY thankful that we have been told to keep that bucket of water in the bathroom for times just like this.  This Sunday as I considered the increasing heat in the building and the fact that floors are slippery when the mopping and humidity combine and there is no air conditioning to help them dry, or the fact that there is no water when there is no power to pump it, that what we were missing was the real power source.  You see we can run a few lights and a couple outlets with a back-up generator but until we have a power supply running through the main lines we are not reaching our full potential.  Once again I was reminded that it is the same thing with our walk of faith, if I am not plugged into The Power Supply I am simply running on my own back-up generator and not shining the way I could or should be.   

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name. 

I Chronicles 29:11-12  

I need those reminders that He is my Strength, He is my Power Source, He is my Reason, my Light, and my Victory.

 Lift up your eyes on high
And see who has created these stars,
The One who leads forth their host by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,Not one of them is missing. 

Isaiah 40:26

 Thank you Father for the reminder and Thank you for the Power!

Sun Down Saturday

It's Sundown- The past couple of weeks have flown by with groups, visitors, birthdays, Hellos, Goodbyes, trips, flights, Visa Office visits, babies, and then the usual stuff like grocery shopping, meal preparation, laundry, and just life in general.  As I reflected I thought it might be easier to just give you a quick glimpse in a very few photos...

Sundown Saturday- Dan you would have loved it!

Abby's Birthday- Celebrating Near and Far

Dinner with Bei Bei and her family

Family is all In

Banana Pudding- the way Ashley taught me.  Thank you for the supplies Katie!!! You made our day!

Beijing- when that car moves you can see Starbucks!

If you are at the airport around 4:00am you also might catch a glimpse of the floor cleaning Zamboni and the lady who mops up behind it- we of course found it very entertaining...the coffee hadn't kicked in yet

If you must wait hours for the ride from the airport to pick you up make good use of the McDonald's chairs

My beautiful flowers have finally bloomed- I loved seeing them when I arrived back at the Big House

Forever Families

Forever Family

 Dear Ones,

   We talk a lot around here about “Forever Families.”  We pray for them, we look for news from them, we long to hear of them, we rejoice when we are notified that a child has one…we anxiously await them.  I was beyond blessed to be born into a loving family with parents who cared for, nurtured, and loved me.  I had precious siblings who to this day are my best friends; I was gifted with Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins an incredible wealth of family.  Yet in God’s eyes I was an orphan, an orphan that He was longing to adopt into His Forever Family.  Each time I snuggle a little one close and pray for their forever family I am reminded of Romans 8:22-25 where it says: “For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.  And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.  For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?  But if we hope for what we     do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” 

MBHOH Nurses- Lily, Mariah, and Jona

Guys Line Up

Girls Line Up

   We live in a world filled with orphans physical, spiritual, and emotional, a world of broken relationships that all point to the broken heart of a fallen nature longing for the restoration to our Heavenly Father through His gift of salvation and a welcome into the arms of our Forever Family.  Here in the Big House we have the precious opportunity to see this up close and personal in so many ways.  God has given us the gift of watching children enter His open arms of rest, His Forever Family in Heaven, and the ones He chooses to place in the arms of a forever family here on earth.  There are others that for various reasons never enter a forever family here on earth and God Himself has promised that He is their Father.  He gives us glimpses of our own adoption as He molds together a family bond of fellowship, faith, and service as we grow in what we lovingly refer to as our “China Family.”  This family grows and swells just as my physical family grows and welcomes new members.  This family is forever we are bound by the love of Christ, we are adopted.  We are no longer orphans. 

   As the summer draws to an end we are faced with saying many goodbyes, a part of this work that we never like or ever really get used to though it happens so often with both the children we care for and the ones who come along to serve both short and long term.  But we have this confidence that we will meet again, we are simply saying goodbye for this season, for this time, we know that we are all headed for Home and a family reunion like no other for we are part of a Forever Family.

With Love for Each of You,

Mariah

PS- As a fun memory our China Family decided we needed a “family portrait” – ENJOY!

A Little bit of Crazy...we can train you

Saying Goodbye