A New Day

Our twin sword fish!
First day with uniforms.

The first day of school.

Elizabeth reads to Faith in the book corner.

We officially have the first week of the new homeschool year under our belt! It feels good, but it has been a busy and tiring week. The girls are off to a great start!

Here are some updates from our home...

Ut arrived this week from the hospital. She is gaining strength daily. Last night I went to sit with her for awhile. She speaks no English, so beyond greetings, I just sit on the side of her bed and hold her hand. Last night she started crying. I thought she might be in pain, so I called Linh. Linh talked to her on the phone, then told me, "She is not in pain. She said that no one has ever shown love to her like this--ever. It makes her cry for joy that all of you care for her and Dat." Then, Ut wasn't the only one crying...

Bee was clearly frustrated and unhappy. And, if the cook ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. :) Turns out she was unable to keep up with kitchen duties, as well as helping in the house. So, in exchange for a reduced salary, she is now only working in the kitchen. Quinn (age 20) has joined us to help with laundry and housework, especially during the school year. Quinn is a believer and speaks some English. Bee is happy again. Quinn has been a blessing. This week, Quinn's 14-year-old brother, Ung, has been with us while his parents attend training at their church. He has been a good friend for Dat and Jillian to play cards and ride bikes.

The girls asked if they could wear uniforms this year. So...after the first day of school, we did a little shopping. The "normal" uniform here is navy skirt/pants with a white shirt/blouse. We wear uniforms Mon, Wed and Fri. Tues and Thurs are "street clothes" days. That way, one uniform each does everyone. Sally wanted to match, so she got a uniform also. Cute!

I was privileged to share the Word at the international church last Sunday. I spoke on Psalm 84: The Life That Worships. Worship that is rooted in relationship (v.1-4), resolute in suffering (v.5-7) and radiant with confidence of God's provision and presence (v. 8-12). Charles Spurgeon called Ps. 84 "The Pearl of the Psalms."

Have faced some personal disappointments, but we look to Jesus as our source for everything. He is faithful. I just want my heart to remain soft, teachable, and ever pointed to Home. I was reminded of God's "built-in compass" that draws us to Him today when we made a compass in our science class--amazing.

I pray that you find also that, whatever we face, God is good, His love endures forever. Sing praise...
Grace and peace!

Reminders

Jillian with Dat.

As you can imagine in our work here there are many daily details to attend to. Plans to be made; arrangements for translators, drivers, etc.; contacts to be made; schedules to outline--with all their details from bathroom breaks to food to driving time to ... on and on it goes. Sometimes the children themselves can get pushed to the background. Then, mercifully, the Lord gives us a reminder.

Today at lunch, I asked Dat when is his birthday. He didn't bat an eye. He just said simply, "I don't know." I tried not to visibly flinch, but my heart was pierced with the weight of what he was saying.

Dat is 14. Yet thoughts of cake, ice cream, games, presents, a gathering of family and friends--they are nowhere in his memory bank. His mother loves him--but in their struggle to provide her son with food, shelter and education, all made more difficult by her own debilitating illness, there is no room for balloons or songs.

Dat is not an isolated case. Most of the children we have contact with would say the same.

Our hearts long to tell them they are specially made, lovingly handcrafted by a Heavenly Father who has created them with worth, dignity and destiny. They are important enough to be fed well, to have clothing and education provided. They are valued enough that it matters if they have a safe home, a comfortable bed, curtains at the window, and a place to hang their hat.

For me, that sums it up. They are why I am here. I want them all to know that they are not outcasts. They are not the bottom, they are not less, they are not alone.

So every outing, every activity, every provision, every renovation--it is all worth it. At the end of it all are children who may have no inkling that they are loved by anyone.

So thank you, Lord, and thank you, Dat, for reminding me today. The work is important. The details matter. They are sending a message. Pray that it will be received.

Grace and peace!

Thankful

Marissa and Enoch at the western medical clinic following the bike accident.

With Joy's leg healing so well; Ut regaining strength after a successful surgery; and all but one box of our homeschool material here at the house, I have been counting blessings today.

Last week, Marissa and Enoch had a mishap on the motorbike. Swerving to miss a bicycle, while in a patch of gravel, (returning from Dai Loc) the bike slid and both went skidding on the pavement. The result: some ugly scrapes on shins, hands, feet and forearms; a couple of gaping wounds; sprained wrists; sore bodies. But, thankfully...the cyclist was not injured, all wounds are healing, strength is returning. Without a doubt, it could have been so much worse.

Life is precious, friends are dear, the Lord is near. So much for which to be thankful.

Grace and peace!

Motoring Message

Take a good look at what's in the baskets!

There is something about riding the motorbike that makes me think about this journey of life.

Today I was out with Chau, riding to the bookstore to look at materials for the girls to study Vietnamese as part of our school day this coming year. It was very hot (well over 100), but a beautiful day, and not bad with the wind as we rode.

Driving in Danang is always an adventure. The traffic is ever unpredictable. There is always something new to see--animals strapped, tied, or put in baskets lashed to a motorbike, furniture deliveries using bicycles with carts tied to them for delivery trucks, large water cooler bottles strapped in every possible configuration to a motorbike... Still, whatever the weather, whatever the view, we motor on towards a destination, taking it all in, marveling at the ingenuity or grimacing at the danger of it all.

It is a bird's eye view of this life with Jesus, I think. In peace or peril; unnerving or uneventful; filled with fun, frustration or fear; with the wind to your back or sand flying in your face; still, we keep moving on.

This morning in our staff devotion time, I was thinking about the journey of this past year. It's been quite a ride. At times exhilharating, other times exhausting...always an experience. :) It has been where "the rubber meets the road" for me spiritually--facing things that I never thought I could or would; finding so much joy in the midst of the heat, the rain, the language barriers, cultural differences, medical emergencies, and a host of other situations that I would have shuttered to face in my imagination. But, like riding on the back of the motorbike, sometimes you just have to hang on, trust that the driver knows what he's doing and enjoy the ride.

Sir Winston Churchill said, "Success is not final, Failure not fatal. It is the courage to continue that really counts."

May the Lord provide the courage you need to continue the journey...and enjoy it as you go!

Grace and peace!

The Now and The Not Yet

I had some time alone yesterday--a rarity. While motoring around Danang,I was chuckling to myself about the incongruities that are everywhere...

...the beautiful, glass-enclosed restaurants with pressed white linens,chair skirts tied with fanciful ribbons--and a silver tray of square papers in the center of the table that are the...napkins.

...the full-time ladies' restroom attendant who vigilantly maintains shining tile floors, and spotless mirrors--and then neatly hangs her rubber gloves, cleaning rags and supplies on the hardware under the sink--in full view of the patrons.

...the ground breaking of a new apartment house where 30 management-type folk all wore yellow or white hardhats to watch the bulldozer dig, while down the street, a makeshift platform loaded with bricks swung precariously from a rope while two shirtless, barefoot workers struggled to pull it up to them on the second story, where they stood on homemade scaffolding.

...the "Big C Supercenter" that now has hairspray, hot glue guns, and whipping cream, but has only 4 colors of nail polish: green, gold, purple and red.

In the midst of my gentle chuckling. I felt the Lord nudge me with the thought that that's the way He sees me. Making progress in some areas, still coming up pitifully, and perhaps humorously, short in others. I am a person of the now and the not yet. I love Him more today than last month or last year; I understand more; I hear His voice better; my faith and obedience have grown. And yet...I live, too, in the "not yet"...there is so much room for improvement, for more peace, for more victory.

Admitting this about myself, and embracing it, can be a source of grace to extend to others. To celebrate growth and victories in the now, to be patient, forgiving and understanding in the instances of the "not yet."

Father, pour Your grace through me. Put a smile in my heart, as well as on my lips. Let me be to others what You are to me...kind, respectful, tender, understanding, loving, wise.

May you experience the presence of the One who knows you best as you walk through the Now and the Not Yet of your own life today!

Grace and peace!

Accidents Do Happen

Joy made this butterfly crown.
She learned to make the dress from Anna Mei, using a yard of fabric.

The stitches.

Last week Anna Mei, Elizabeth, Faith and Joy went swimming with Linh, her daughter Sally, and Chau. (Jillian was making a short trip with her Dad.) They had planned to make a day of it, so I was surprised to hear them comethrough the door in just a couple of hours. I could tell by their faces that something was wrong. Anna Mei and Elizabeth burst into tears. Linh said, "Joy is at the hospital." I grabbed my motorbike helmet and purse so Linh could take me to Joy. More of the story began to unfold.

Joy was jumping into the pool, and fell hitting her shin bone squarely onthe edge of a step. The gash revealed the bone. Linh and Chau both had cell phones with them, but here all cell phones are prepaid, and they were both out of minutes. So, they couldn't call me. Chau took Joy to the nearest hospital (which, honestly, I am just as glad that I cannotdescribe--it would probably make me worry). By the time Linh and I reached her, she was eating porridge at a restaurant. She has four or five long stitches in her leg. They gave her antibiotics and something like tylenol to take. As is customary here, they said we could come to the hospital every day to have the dressing changed. They did x-rays to make sure the bone itself was fine (it was).

Of all the things we have done in our time here, I think navigating healthcare is the most stressful. It is unsettling to me to speak todoctors through translators, and try to anticipate and decide about treatment options.Still, tonight I am thankful. Joy is doing well. Her leg is sore, but she is content. All the girls have rallied around her. Jillian has returnedand brought a gift for her injured sister. Joy has loved having her daddy pray for her leg. At every opportunity, she reminds him--as if he wouldever forget. :)

May you face every challenge secure in the knowledge that you are neveralone!

Our Father's Day

Girls in their new hats!
Shopping for hats at the market.

Group picture at the movie--the whole crew, other than photographers Enoch and Marissa!

Our second Father's Day in Vietnam was completely different from the first! Last year, we had just arrived in Danang. Everyone was still jet lagged and a bit "out of it." We missed acknowledging the day altogether. Just trying to get our "land legs" back. This year was packed with activity! Of course, we worshiped at the international church; then, we brought a group of 10 young ladies from theDai Loc orphanage to Danang to see the Hannah Montana movie on the big screen. For most of them, it was their first theater experience, completewith popcorn and soda. The movies here are shown in English with Vietnamese subtitles. (This was the first "movie trip" for the Dai Loc kids--we will continue with small groups until all have had the same experience!)

A couple weeks ago, when the coat trees were delivered to the orphanage(one per room), we told the girls that now they each had a place to hangtheir hats. Everyone here wears a hat in the sun. One of the girls said, "In our room, only one of the four of us has a hat." So, after the movie, we took the girls across the street to a market so each one could choose a new hat for the summer. What fun!

After the outing, we returned home for supper. The girls had made cards for Tony, and bought him a tie--his first here in Vietnam! Before we had left for church, we had made a peanut butter pie. We had to improvise a little. We used a round cake pan. The recipe called for corn syrup. After searching two large grocery stores and coming out empty-handed, I decided to use pancake syrup. The result tasted good, but I would call it a "pancake pie" since that is what it tasted like to me--pancakes with peanut butter and syrup.

I couldn't help but think what a blessing to share a great dad, for at least one day, with kids that do not have a father's arms on a regular basis. It was a wonderful way to celebrate, and honor Tony, as well as the Father of us all!

With all the activities in out in the heat, we were all worn out by the end of the day. But, the weariness felt good. I felt like we had planted seeds that will take root. Here's wishing you a fruitful garden, too!

Grace and peace!