He Never Sleeps

And He never sleeps, He never slumbers

He never tires of hearing our prayer

When we are weak, He becomes stronger

So rest in His love and cast all of your cares

on Him
lyrics by Don Moen

Photos: Ian adjusting to the new time zone.

After three flights, twenty hours of flying time, an active two year old and one amazing God, we made it back to Atlanta on Friday, December 10, 2010. The ride from the airport seemed like an eternity. It actually felt like I was in a dream. When we finally arrived home and were able to see the kids, you could have heard our screams for miles. Ian jumped right in just like he had always been here and the kids just adored him.

We had skyped our kids each day from China so Ian was already familiar with everyone. This was the first time that we had used Skype in China. I don't think I would have survived the 18 days without it. What a blessing it was to be able to see the kids each day. It was also fun for them to be able to show us things you could not see over the phone like drawings, cartwheels, toy guitar playing and dancing.

On our first night home, I begged God for Ian to sleep through the night because I had not slept the night before we left China nor on the flights back home. I knew this would be impossible because Ian was on a totally different time zone. God answered my prayer because Ian slept through the entire night and didn't wake up until eight o'clock the next morning. The following nights were a different story. Ian would wake up in the middle of the night, bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to play. I knew that it would take time to adjust to the new time zone but I was so exhausted. Even so, I also knew that the One who never tires and never sleeps would watch over me, hold me up and not let me stumble nor fall (Psalm 121:3-4).

All I Want

'Cause all I really want for Christmas

Is someone to tuck me in

Tell me I'll never be alone

Someone whose love will never end

lyrics by Steven Curtis Chapman

Photo: Our group in China

On our last night in China I was so full of emotions. I was so ready to be at home in the U.S. but part of my heart will always be in China where our children took their first breath. Each time we have come to China I questioned God why we had to stay so long, always begging him to somehow shorten it. A close friend told me that these were precious gifts of time from God. Time that we had missed that He allowed me to capture with each child in our days in China.

Today, I feel so humbled and blessed that God had a different plan for my life than I ever expected. A plan that would carry us across the other side of the world to comfort a child who desired a family and gave us the joy as the parents of these precious children (Psalm 113:9).

Christmas Gift

This is Angie, again, posting for Tanya.

Chris is HOME!!! Please continue to pray for his recovery as they celebrate this first Christmas with Ian. Tanya will post soon. Merry Christmas!

Surgery! (Chris, NOT Ian)

This is Angie Spradlin, posting for Tanya.

Chris had surgery this morning to remove his gall bladder and relieve a blockage in his intestines. He is expected to be at Piedmont Fayette Hospital for 5-6 days. Please pray for a swift recovery so that he can go home sooner. The kids are too young to visit Chris in the hospital. It's hard for them to be away from Chris and Tanya (who is with him at the hospital) so soon after their return from China. Please pray for Ian as he continues to adjust and for Tanya's parents as they care for the kids.

Fill My Cup

Bread from Heaven

Feed me till I want no more

Fill my cup, fill it up

And make me whole

lyrics by Cece Winans

Photo: William at Harmony House

On our last day in Beijing, we had our guide contact Lily, the Director of Harmony House, to see if we could visit the orphanage in Langfang. Lily told our guide that she was doing business in Beijing and would be happy to pick us up at 1:30 p.m. When we met Lily in the lobby of our hotel, she directed us to the orphanage van. Lily's husband had driven and there were two other ladies sitting in the back of the van. I assumed that they were nannies from the orphanage. Lily told us that they were picking up a little boy who was three years old who also had a ear deformity on the way back to Harmony House. The boy had lived in an orphanage for three years and had lived with a foster family in China for the past three weeks. Lily said that the foster family could not handle the responsibility of another child and an American adoption agency had arranged for Harmony House to pick him up instead of returning him to the same orphanage.

When we arrived at the foster family's apartment building, Lily ran inside to get the boy and I started praying for him. After a few minutes, Lily returned to the van holding the boy. His eyes were filled with terror but he didn't shed a tear. She told me that the foster mom said that the little boy had to hold something in order to fall asleep because he was extremely scared at night. Lily went on to say that he had a horrible experience at his orphanage but didn't say what had happened. When I looked down, I noticed that he was holding a purple toy cup in his tiny hand, his only comfort at that moment. I could not contain the tears and had to look out the window to keep the little boy from seeing me. As we drove for the next forty five minutes, he never moved or made a noise. Lily looked him over and said he looked like a William, his new name while at Harmony House.

When we finally arrived at Harmony House, Lily placed William on the sofa and gave him a few toys to play with. Ian jumped right in and tried to play with him but William was still in shock, motionless, holding firmly onto his little cup. I felt STRONGLY that God wanted me to fill his cup. I had Cheerios in my bag so I filled his cup to the top. William still didn't move. I felt STRONGLY again that God wanted me to fill it until it overflowed with Cheerios. This time, I poured the Cheerios into his cup until they spilled over into his lap. At that moment, the fear left his eyes and he placed one of the Cheerios into his mouth. He slowly began to play with Ian and the other children at the orphanage. After a while, the other children noticed his cup filled with Cheerios. As they came over to him, he handed each of them some of his Cheerios. I was amazed that he was willing to share his cup of Cheerios, his only possession, with the other children. I didn't want him to give all of his Cheerios away so Chris and I started handing out Cheerios to the other children. We couldn't hand them out fast enough. They were gobbling them up. I looked over to check on William and he was still passing out his Cheerios to the other children. I kept reaching over and filling up his cup until it overflowed again. He would eat some more and again give some to the other children.

When it was time to leave, we gave hugs to William and to the other children then waved good-bye to them. At that moment, William broke down and cried. His cry echoed in my heart and is the same cry of all the orphans around the world. "Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted" (Psalm 25:16). I know that God saves those who are crushed in spirit and many times He uses our hands and feet to do it. God has blessed us so much in America that our cups run over and spill into our laps. We think that the extra means that we should keep it to ourselves so we can feel secure about our future instead of giving it to the future. God showed me that just like I kept wanting to fill William's cup because he was giving to the other children, He also wants to do the same with us when we give to others. "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Luke 6:38).

Tonight, there are so many orphans who are lonely, afraid and holding their "cups" close to their chest and God is saying to us, "Fill their cups until it overflows!" How can we do it? We can fill their cups through adoption, helping families who trying to adopt (http://pathwaytoafrica.blogspot.com/) and by supporting orphanages like Harmony House (http://www.harmonyoutreach.org/) and True Children's Home (http://www.truechildrenshome.org/) who help orphans while they are waiting for their families. My prayer is that we no longer hear the cries of orphans around the world but their songs of joy to the God who "sets the lonely in families," overflows their cups and makes sure goodness and love follow them all the days of their lives (Psalm 68:6, Psalm 23:5-6).

Abba Father

Abba Father, My Defender
You are Holy
And I surrender
For in my weakness
You protect me
lyrics by Shaun Groves

Homesick is the word of the day. We miss our kids, our bed and American food. We have eaten Chinese food for lunch and dinner almost everyday in Beijing. Chris joked that he was going to take our guide back to the U.S. and feed her spaghetti everyday, marinara one day and meat sauce for special occasions, if we ate steamed rice again.

Before we left Beijing, Chris found Outback Steakhouse located in one of the hotels along a main shopping street. Our guide told our group that we could go to Outback for dinner on our own and she would give us a special dinner the next night. I guess that means fried rice. When we finally made it to Outback, we ordered the wings. Chris and I savored every single bite and pretended we were back at home. We also found out that Ian loves their mash potatoes. I think he is tired of the rice, too.

After dinner, we tried to get a taxi, with another family in our group, back to the hotel. Normally, we would have walked but it was FREEZING so we had the hotel call us a taxi. When we got into the taxi, the driver was irate and spoke in broken English that he didn't want children in his taxi. It was normally ten yuan to take us back to the hotel so Chris offered him thirty yuan. The driver still refused and insisted on more money. He also kept yelling in Chinese at the hotel attendants and pointing aggressively at the children. Chris said, "Don't you care about cold babies." He said, "NO!" Chris said, "You are a bad man!" and slammed the door. The driver got out of his taxi, started yelling and coming toward Chris. At this point, we were walking away. When Chris realized the driver was getting out of the taxi, he turned around and stood his ground. I was starting to get nervous because I knew Chris was not playing around. I also knew "Bad Man" didn't stand a chance after messing with the kids. I think he realized it, too, because he got back in his taxi, drove by Chris with the windows rolled up and gave Chris a dirty look. I am sure the doors were locked.

Now looking back, it made me think of how God, our heavenly Father, is the Defender of the weak, the oppressed, the fatherless and afflicted. God, their Helper, sees their trouble and grief. He hears their cries, takes the matter into His hands and will defend them "in order that man, who is of this earth, may terrify them no more" (Psalm 10:14-18).

Faithful to Believe

Is there anything to hard for the Lord?

Is there anything that He can't do?

Is there anything impossible?

Will He withhold any good thing from you, say

NO, NO, NO, NO

lyrics by Bryon Cage

In the past few days, we have gone to the Summer Palace, Beijing Zoo and even saw the Bird's Nest at Olympic Park but my favorite day was when we took a rickshaw ride through the Hutong area of Beijing. While we were in Hutong, we visited with a local family. They showed us their home and taught us how to make Chinese dumplings. The mother of the home said that Chris could make dumplings as good as the Chinese women and gave him two thumbs up. Later, they cooked the dumplings and our group ate together in their home. It was a very unique experience that I will never forget.

In the past week, Ian has also become more and more comfortable with us. He has been running back and forth in our room, "laughing all the way." Everything is merry until we have to say "no" or tell him to "wait" when he wants to go on another adventure. Let's just say that he is not "making spirits bright" in the room when he doesn't get his way. I was starting to get a little concerned with the tantrums and asked God for wisdom about what to do. God reminded me that I do the same thing at times when He tells me "no" or "wait" to what I want Him to do or let me do. It might not be a physical tantrum but it is definitely an emotional one. God also reminded me that, in time, Ian will understand just like I have that He withholds NO good thing and the joy that comes when we trust in Him (Psalm 84:11-12).