Sundown Saturday...

The WCIC-Show Hope Team visit complete with The Vera Bradley Girls

 I know it has been a bit since I posted a few of the happenings in my world so thought I would do a picture up-date and see if I can't fill in some of the details...

A Goodbye Party for Mikey Who is moving home base to Beijing

Bringing Home the Bacon gets a new meaning...

These sacks are actually full of live, squirming and SQUEALING Pigs!

The Doc's Family Takes a much needed break for a short trip- We miss them Hugs and Bunches

Celebrating Kristine's Visa Renewal with S'mores- for S'more time and S'more Entries!

A little bit of Guo Tie and Hai Bi...

A Kiddie trip to McDonald's- What a treat! And then of course we couldn't pass up a first visit to the grocery store...

New Babies to snuggle and love on- but yes there was lots of work to do too.

Mommy and Daddy ARRIVE in LUOYANG!!!!!!!

Grace, Grace...Amazing Grace 奇异恩典

Girls Growing In Grace

September 23, 2012

Dear Ones,

   Grace, Grace, God’s Grace…Amazing Grace how sweet the sound…MY Grace is Sufficient for you!  Can you see a theme here, a pattern, a line of thought, and an ever present gift that constantly comes to the forefront of my world?  I am daily, moment by moment caught in the grip of Grace.  Grace… an unmerited favor that I do not deserve, a gift, forgiveness, a showering of strength, a mercy I cannot fathom.  This is a concept that I am overwhelmed by, a provision I fall so short of and yet there it is, undeserved, unfathomable, and all available.  I consider the implication of it and I cannot find its beginning or end, it is ever present, washing over me like the waves of the ocean. 

   I had a little one whose has become for me the face of grace, maybe it is because his very favorite song, the one he soothed to, the one he was rocked to, the one that he smiled to was Amazing Grace.  Over and over the words of that song came from my lips and with each new chorus I was gripped more and more by the sheer gravity of the wonder in those words…

“Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now am found was blind but now I see.  T’was Grace that taught my heart to fear and Grace my fears relieved, How precious did that Grace appear the hour I first believed.  Through many dangers toils and snares I have already come ‘Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far and Grace will lead me home.  The Lord has promised good to me, His word my hope secures.  He will my shield and portion be, As long as life endures.  Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail, And mortal life shall cease, I shall possess within the veil, A life of joy and peace, When we’ve been there ten thousand years bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s Grace than when we first begun.”

  Over the past several months “Amazing Grace” has been a precious conversation topic among my sweet companions here as we have walked a bitter sweet road together…we have shared Grace, broken bread, drank lots of coffee, asked for and given forgiveness, encouraged, cried, laughed, and worked hard together, this Grace has become a by law, a hard wired truth, Grace that will not let us go.  And now it is written even deeper on the walls of our hearts etched in by the hand of a precious child whose face holds the faces of every child we touch, see, feel, hold, and pull close to snuggle tight.  It is carved deep into my very soul by my loving Heavenly Father who moment by moment pours over me new Grace for the journey ahead.

By His Grace- Amazing Grace,

Mariah

Frills, Fancy, and Fireworks-Oh My... a Fairy Wedding China Style

 Our Chinese Teacher was married on September 8th- according to her a very lucky day and our MBHOH family had the privilege of being a big part of her special day...

 It was quite an adventure for all of us as we were actually participating in a good part of the festivities- she has truly become part of our family and we part of hers-

Bei Bei and Wang Ping...

Oh Happy Day

Wishing for Walls...

"The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire."  Nehemiah 1:3

Some things make you feel a little more vulnerable than others and right now with the walls torn down and the gates no longer in their place, and the gaping holes on either side of the narrow piece of ground they are referring to as our driveway- I have a glimpse of what Nehemiah felt when the report came from Jerusalem...Unprotected, open, exposed, what an opportunity for insight.  I am all the more grateful that My Protector needs no walls, and no gates to protect the precious ones He holds so near and dear to His heart.

Princess Parties- Psalm 139 Days

Happy Birthday!  A day to celebrate birthdays, a day to remember the words of Psalm 139 

and for us here that means we were able to give two of our sweet preschool princesses a combination birthday party- what a joy for all!  As we celebrated I stood thinking of another little orphan girl not so far away...

Sweet Princess Kaitryn 

Happy 5th Birthday!!!

 today is your special day my Precious Little Sister! 

Mommy and Daddy are coming soon, I love you!

September Morn-

September 2, 2012

Dear Ones,

   September morn…I sit here in the gray of a new day just beginning.  I watch the sky turn from dark to a slightly lighter stormy morning filled with dark swirling clouds, the wind lashing at the trees and the patter of rain against the glass, the smell of baking banana bread begins to fill the kitchen and my hands wrap tightly around the large cup of coffee that sits before me.  The night was long, the multiple calls, the feverish babies, the IV drip, and the sound of a suction pump but in this moment all is quiet but the falling rain.  The last call came not too long ago and when I finished settling yet another little one in the idea of hot coffee and fresh bread sounded like they might be a better option than trying to once again go back to sleep knowing that morning was already here and time for rounds fast approaching.   So here I sit after shoving the bread into the oven, I sit in the quiet wrapping my hands tighter around the cup in front of me, then slowly lift it to my lips and sip of its richness, Bible open a love letter to me from Him and journal ready to help with gathering fleeting thoughts. This is a precious moment a savoring moment, a fresh new day moment.  It is Sunday morning and so my mind turns to the fact that if at all possible in a few short hours we will gather together for a time of fellowship which may be interrupted by calls from ayis with sick children or with questions they forgot to ask when we were there but we will gather and we will lift our voices and we will sing about this very moment. “Sun comes up it’s a new day dawning, It’s time to sing Your song again.   Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me Let me be singing when the evening comes.” (Matt Redman)  I am already soaking it in savoring the words as I savor the coffee in the cup before me, allowing the power of this thought- that whatever passes, whatever lies before on this day, I must keep singing His praises.  Maybe that more than anything else is the lesson this great big blue house teaches me.  Grace, mercy, compassion, hope, and thankfulness all wrapped into His praises, the praises of The One.  With that thought I will take another swallow of my coffee and answer the call that has shattered the reverie. 

With love and thanks for each of you,

Mariah

“Why are you in despair, O my soul?  And why have you become disturbed within me?  Hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.”   - Psalm 42:11

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!