Mariah's Pile of Stones

November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!!! For those of you in the States you will just be finishing your celebration for me it is over and well into Black Friday. Do you have any idea how hard that is to explain to others who are not American? The Filipina nurses were getting all kinds of pop-up ads for Black Friday sales and finally they came to ask me what in the world it was…another reminder of how we are shaped by our culture. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with several other Americans who are in Luoyang teaching. We all gathered and my friend Melissa and I fixed a turkey dinner with modifications and of course an
imported turkey.

I thought about the various events of the past several weeks and then about the incredible thanks that I have for so many blessings- even some of the blessings that are hard to see at first glance but that my Heavenly Father never overlooks, even if I underestimate them. This letter may be a bit long so please grad a cup of really good hot chocolate and enjoy with me a few moments of reflection, some laughter and a lot of Thanks…

I am thankful for the 8 new pigs next door running wild after they escaped, with the neighbors chasing them frantically as it provided much laughter and great exercise for the prisoners who care for them- maybe it was an attempted break out for more than the pigs but I have a feeling it was mostly concern that dinner just might get away.
I am thankful for beautiful night time market streets in the old city, filled with lighted lanterns and food vendors. There are so many things I think about while walking there, but last time I was there I could not help but be thankful for special friends. I especially thought of Vincent when I stopped and got a fresh hot sweet potatoes right from the coals and stood there blowing it off to cool it just enough to peel back the skin and eat it. - Thank you ER for the precious memories.
I am thankful for silly moments filled with laughter like the day all the nurses here at MBHOH went for Chinese dress up Glamour photos. They painted our faces white, added wigs, wrapped us in silks and told us where to stand all in Chinese; I was surprised any of the photos turned out with all the giggles and remarks we were making at and for one another.
I am thankful for little Jaelynn who wants to be an ayi when she “grows up.” she is learning her numbers and alphabet, and wants to “help” even if she is paralyzed from the mid chest down her 3 year old mind is fast. She told me last week she didn’t want baby food anymore (meaning rice) that she only wanted baodza (a bread roll stuffed with meat and vegetables). We have started having her help push the laundry basket from place to place so that the ayis can retrieve their clothes. She loves it and always asks for more.
I am thankful to be learning about Esther in my devotions she and I have been on an 8 week journey together and I still have a couple weeks to go. My Heavenly Father is teaching me so much through her life…and many of the lessons I was able to quickly put to use.
I am thankful for the warm moments that making hot cocoa and sharing it with young girls, just out of high school, sitting about in my bedroom brought. While we sipped we talked about their role and the women who have gone before, we talked about their plans for the future and about the ultimate plan that their Creator has given them, the role He has defined so clearly for them and what that means now in their lives.
I am thankful for the incredible Titus women who have built into my life so that I am able to give back…and to answer without hesitation the questions of young girls who want to know what their purpose in life is and what they were created for.
I am thankful for the reminders of how blessed I am as I visited the home of one of our ayi’s who shares her one room apartment with her husband, son and mother-in-law and a bathroom with the whole apartment complex. Once again I was grateful for my beautiful little room with its own bathroom, big window, and comfortable surroundings.
I am thankful for parents who taught me to always be polite at the dinner table and try whatever is set before you. So I smiled and ate duck feet for the first time- not bad, never need again…
I am thankful for a mom and dad who spent time teaching me to not only cook but to use the ingredients I have around me available to make cooking feel just a little more like home and along the way it has brought me the opportunity to give baking lessons. “What is a measuring cup and spoon?” was the first order of the lessons for the Filipina girls as they have never used either. They are now delighted to be able to use these tools and are eager to learn all the ins and outs of using an oven- something else they have never used in cooking before.
I am thankful for the special gift boxes that arrived from home bringing some comfort foods and special ingredients so I won’t have to improvise…
I am thankful for my days in the OR in Haiti and for my dear friends in the OR at BMH who have been such an encouragement to me…Doc and I performed a hernia repair on a little guy at the beginning of this month, thanks for all the support! I still have a long way to go, I told him when we started, “Don’t ask for anything by any fancy names I will not have a clue.” And he kindly did not.
I am thankful for Chinese Lessons with a teacher who speaks good English, what a special bonus as many of those I have talked with just had to jump in and learn from someone who spoke no English. It also gives me the opportunity to befriend a young Chinese woman.
I am thankful for good Wet Wipes even the generic store brands, they are wonderful for cleaning up babies who are very ill and unable to be taken to the bathing room- and they do not fall apart like the Chinese version does, see quality control is worth paying for…
I am so very thankful for bottled water so even when the power is out we still have water to drink, and we have propane tanks to cook with- my Heavenly Father provides for ALL my needs!
I am thankful for snow and the beautiful blanket it throws across the brown and dreary landscape, the news reports also tell us how thankful we should be for the snow as it causes us to have to walk and that is healthy and the cold air encourages us breathe deeply, which is also very healthy. I am even more thankful for the box of winter clothes, including snow boots for my size 11 feet, which arrived from my family. Hooray for warm sweaters!
I am thankful for my precious babies that remind me of how incredibly blessed I am by each moment of life that I am gifted with. I have had 3 babies go home to their Daddy in Heaven since the first of November…I stood holding my sweet tiny Lynlee and watching as the snow began to gently fall and she took her last peaceful breath. The tears spilled over and slipped down my face splashing onto her tiny hands as I cried for me, for her ayi, for her mother, and for all the little ones who will not be held in loving arms. As I watched the snow covering the ground in a blanket of white I was reminded so clearly, “As the rain and snow come down from Heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth causing it to bud and flourish, so is My Word that goes out from My Mouth it shall not return to me void but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” This little one had accomplish the purpose for which her Heavenly Father sent her and now she was going home and I am left with the reminders…I am thankful.
With loving Thanks for each of you,
Mariah