"Finding your feet on a wonderful road..."

  In being away from my family and loved ones this Christmas, I've had a lot of time to reflect on what this season really means. The holidays have always been a time of music, lights, holiday parties, and shopping. But as I've had limited access to these wonderful festivities, our Father has been gently reminding me of His goodness in sending His precious Son just for me. I know it sounds cliché, but what more could we ask for? God loves us so much that He smiled upon us some 2000 years ago with the gift of His Son. In these days leading up to Christmas, I have felt God reminding me that this time of the year has nothing to do with family or friends or presents or music or even a candlelight Christmas Eve service because it is about the birth of my Lord, and no matter where I am or what I'm doing or how I feel, all I need for Christmas to "happen" is to remember the love God poured out on me by sending His Son so that I might know Him. And my response can...

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His Name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100:4-5 Coming to China, I'll admit I was a bit apprehensive about spending the holiday season away from my family and friends. I wasn't quite sure what I was getting myself into. I love the holidays. I love being with the ones I love. I love the feeling of being able to sit by a fire at my parents' house as it gets colder outside. And during this time of the year, I especially love the delicious food of Thanksgiving and the fellowship of preparing for Christmas. So I wasn't really sure what to expect. I knew that I would be spending Thanksgiving with other Americans feeling the same way so I hoped it would be a day that gave me a glimpse into one of my favorite traditions... Thankfully, that's exactly what happened, and our Father graci...

It's that time of the year...you know the time when it's getting cool outside and you can feel winter just around the corner, when all the kids (at least in China) start to wear about five layers of clothing if they go outside; the time right after when the leaves on the trees have changed colors and you've pulled out your jacket and scarf for the mornings...that's right! It's fall!! And it's time for the rest of the leaves to fall off the trees, be raked into big piles, and...yes...be the source of chaos and laughter. So in the spirit of fall fun, a couple of weeks ago, we had our gardener rake up a big pile of leaves in the backyard for our kids to jump in... It was so much fun! Everyone seemed to love it, and each child participated in their own way... There were graceful tosses... There were threatening throws...  There were a few peaceful moments... There was laughter and smiles galore... And there ...

Everyday I see and interact with children who have defied the odds against them. They smile, laugh, walk, talk, jump, giggle, and play in ways that medically can't be explained. Simply put, they're miracles. In the past several weeks, I have been amazed at the progress that so many of our children have made/are making. Kids that have never been able to stand, are able to walk down stairs while holding onto the railing; kids that shouldn't be able to move from the waist down, are ever so slightly moving their feet; and kids that should have not lived long enough to have surgery, have survived three heart surgeries and I now get to hold them in my arms everyday. Their laughter, cries, and soft coos never sounded so wonderful to my ears. It's a wonderful thing to see and a privilege to be able to experience the miracles that our Creator is so generously pouring out on these little ones. At the same time though we have sweet, beautiful children that I so badly want to...

In the last few weeks before it gets too cold to enjoy the outdoors, myself and the other interns have tried to appreciate the sights of Beijing as much as possible. So before anything, let me attempt to paint for you a picture of this massive city...people from every culture and background; skyscrapers and apartments stretching on for miles; an international world with embassies and food from every country you can think of; the majestic architectural works of ancient emperors and empresses; traffic filled with crazy drivers and honking that seems to last for days; and then there's the little taste of American culture with a Starbuck's, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen or KFC on every corner...So as you can probably imagine, as the cultural, political, financial and historical centerpiece of China, the city is full of so many wonderful places to see and explore. So what did we decide to see first? Well as some of you know, one of my initial connections t...

When all that I can sing Is a broken hallelujah; When my only offering Is shattered praise. Still a song of adoration Will rise up from these ruins; And I will worship You, And give You thanks. Even when my only praise Is a broken hallelujah... Broken Hallelujah   By: Mandisa I don't think this song could be any more fitting for our hearts here at ND. Today we had the memorial service for one of our sweet little ones, Carissa, who passed away last Friday, October 14. My, how our hearts ached within us as we had to let this beloved (which is what her name means) one go.   Carissa was a miracle from the beginning. Brought to ND in August at only two months old, she was immediately taken to the hospital because of her severe heart problems. Since then, her life has been a battle as thousands of people around the world have been praying for this little girl. On Friday, September 16 (the day before I arrived in China), she was sent ho...

In my opinion the Chinese really know how to celebrate holidays. There's always fireworks and food involved and best of all...they cancel work. Now this isn't always the best news for traveling as you can imagine, seeing as China is already pretty crowded, because when everyone is off work, there are people everywhere . October 1st is National Day here in China. The holiday is to recognize the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on October 1, 1949. In order to celebrate, the entire country takes a week off work. So in keeping with the culture, ND (minus the nannies watching the kids at the foster home) takes the week off work as well. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE going to work every day here, but having a week to sightsee, bake, relax, Skype, and catch up on sleep was fantastic! Since we had so much free time to ourselves, the other interns and I decided that we would spend a couple days in the city. So on Tuesday, we went into the city to ...

Every month, we try to take the kids here on a field trip...get them out to see the world outside of Qingyundian. Lucky for me, I arrived in China just in time to make the field trip for the month of September! So what did we do for the day?? Well one of the nannies at the foster home owns part of a vineyard so we started off our day of fun with some grape picking! For every field trip, each child is matched up with an adult. So meet my field trip buddy...William! Isn't he the cutest thing?? William couldn't wait to pick some grapes so we took off into the vineyard with our basket and found grapes of all varieties! And while on our adventure, we even found some friends! Like Timothy... And Lucy Kate! The kids had a blast, and it was a great way to get them out to enjoy such a beautiful day! After picking, the kids all sat around waiting for what was up next... And to their surprise the day wasn't over! After lea...