How God Works...

I am amazed at how God works sometimes. I'm not sure why I'm so amazed, but I am. He continually surprises me at the "order" of things. He continually shows me how my ways are not His ways...

Stephen and I were pretty disappointed that we couldn't leave for China tonight. But one of the gifts that I have is to often see the bright side...the silver lining so to speak. It didn't take me long to realize that I'd be able to go to our family reunion. Ahhhh, the chance to hear Great is Thy Faithfulness in 4 part harmony with 175 people singing strong! To spend quality time with my 90 and 94 year old grandparents. This will probably be the last reunion that they will both attend (not to be negative, Grandma) and it will be a memory to treasure forever. I'm gonna get to spend time with my Aunts and Uncles, cousins, friends...I'll be able to spend quality time with my 3 kids before I add a fourth. There will be good times.

I checked the ticket prices for our trip to China in September. The tickets are a full $1200 cheaper PER PERSON! Holy smokes, we're gonna save a bundle. And then there are the little things. Like, I can take the kids for their dentist appointment with only 3 of them at the same time...don't have to have Huan Qin in the stroller that time. I can get my own doctor appointments done with before we go to China... There are all these seemingly little things that will fit in exactly the 2 1/2 weeks between my trip to Minnesota and my trip to China.

God Is Good! He knows what we need before we even ask. He knows what perfect timing is before I can even think to ask. We're gonna have the perfect trip in September...I just know it. Please continue to keep little Huan Qin in your prayers. Pray that she continues to grow and fill out. Pray that her nutrition is just what she needs and that she gets strong and continues to improve. For now, Stephen and I praise God for what He is doing in our lives and the lives of our children.

We've Got an Update on Huan Qin!

Tonight we got an update from Sabrina! We heard that Huan Qin has been released from the hospital. She is doing so much better and went home this morning with the director of the orphanage. We also got updated measurements on her. She's now 9 kg which is just under 20 pounds. She also has a 16" chest circumference. I was actually kinda curious because this week, I started to knit her a little brown and blue dress. It's gonna be so cute! I was trying to decide what size to make the dress since I wanted it to fit this fall and winter. I decided on the 18-24 month size. It turns out that for the 6-12 month size, the chest circumference is 20.5 inches. Our Huan Qin is a little peanut! Hopefully when we get her home she'll be able to put on weight and catch up a little bit.

My small group came over last night for bible study. We prayed for Huan Qin. We prayed hard. God answers prayer. One of my biggest prayers was that she wouldn't be stuck in the hospital for the next month for observation. I prayed that she'd be able to go back to the orphanage and while still getting excellent care, be able to be with her friends...her care givers...be able to smile and laugh and enjoy her last month in China.

Plus, Sabrina was able to get us 5 pictures of our little peanut. She is in the hospital in these pictures. You can see her care giver trying to tickle her at the end...trying to get her to smile. I'm not quite sure why they put a stuffed toy around the pony tail in her hair...

OK. So this is what you've all been waiting on...the eye candy. Enjoy!


She has such a sweet expression. Stephen and I were trying to figure out what she has in her hands?!?

We almost got a little smile here...I can't wait to be able to make her smile!

There is a mischievous look here, don't you think?

When Stephen was looking at these pictures, it was about 8:30. He said, "So she's gone home today? That means we could leave today for China! That gives us 2 hours to pack, one hour to get to the airport and buy our tickets and check in. We could still have gone!" It's fun to see him just as excited to add another child to our family as I am...

That's it. I'm sure I'll be annoying Sabrina before too long asking for more pictures and further updates. We'll keep you all informed as we get closer to our trip to China. But...before then, I'll be in Minnesota for our family reunion. See you all on Thursday night!