Busy Sunday

David and I got to church a few minutes early. We met the Romanian family who are going to treat the son in Dallas. They live with Gayla and David right now. The son was in the wheel chair. He went to the Children's class with Gayla. His parents and other relatives came with us to the International Bible class. We enjoyed having them in the class.

Before the class started, I ran to the fellowship hall to give Alice the gift I had for her. Phil and Rebecca waved at me. Their Moscow team was here. I wished I had time to meet everyone before they headed out to Searcher's class. The David (Nelson) we met before came over and said:" I want you to meet my wife. Maybe we can visit after church." Unfortunately, we didn't have time to talk to them after church. Robert and Gail had invited us for lunch at their house. We had a delicious lunch: chicken, salad, corn, broccoli, biscuit, and apple pie. David worked on Robert's speaker for a while. We had to leave to visit Owana at 3:00pm. Owana looked great. She still exuded elegance in her face and voice. David noticed that her lawn needed to be mowed. It definitely wasn't her priority yet. We had to run for the China meeting with Gary and Danita. During the meeting, we told them that we wanted to postpone our trip. I was almost pursuaded to change my mind. But I thought about the pros and cons list I had and sticked to the decision. It was hard to do that. I know it was especially hard for David. Later on, we talked about "living in fear v.s. living in faith". I found it hard to apply my faith in this situation.

Before our meeting was finished, our readers already showed up. We started FriendSpeak right away. Maggie asked me:"Why did Jesus say that 'you didn't choose me. But I chose you'?" "What did Jesus mean when he said 'the Father is in me and I'm in Him'?" We had a great discussion on prayers afterwards. George said someone was looking for me and David. I thought it must be Heidi's boy friend Hongying. He planned to visit Friendspeak today. But we didn't see him. I hoped he didn't leave because we were busy. Igor and Natasha dropped by and gave David a Russian chocolate that someone asked them to take to David. Bobbie and Ling came over to talk. It was nice to see them holding hands all the time. Bobbie is great with her readers! They encouraged me to eat well and rest well.

We had dinner with Ted and Mary at Taco Bueno. They were very excited about the China trip. Maybe they will go with us to China again next year.

Relaxed Saturday

(David is studying Chinese Characters ...) (David is working in the vegetable garden)

Friday night, David and I went to Costco and had dinner at Cici's. We haven't been there for a long time. We loved the salad and the vegetable pizza there. Saturday morning, we began to tell our teammates about our decision to postpone the China trip. David did all the hard job of calling everyone. On one hand, we were glad that all the rest of the team will still go. On the other hand, we were sad that we are going to miss it. Like David said, sometimes good decisions are not fun at all.

We stayed at home for the whole day. David planted the vegetables into the garden area in the backyard. He also unpacked some boxes in the garage. We burned a DVD of our wedding pictures for Owana afterwards. By the dinner time, David said he wanted to take me out of the house. We went to the mall, had dinner at the food court, and watched a movie after that. We walked out of the first movie "Expelled" and walked into a cartoon "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! " It was a light-hearted movie. I loved hearing the kids' giggling and laughing from the backrow. On the way home, we bumped into Kathy. She was picking up a book she reserved. She is going to Mexico for a vacation the builder paid for her since she sold two houses for the builder. She is doing great! We thought about Richard and Cathy. They are on the plane to China now. We wished we could be on the plane!

It's Friday!

Every time when I thought about the China trip, tears began to well up. I called Bobbie: She is experienced and smart. She knows David and me and she knows the trip. Maybe she can give me some advice. Bobbie's reaction affirmed me:" Darling, you're making the absolutely right decision. I wish I thought as you do when I was young." Well, I think I need to put this issue aside now. Decision has been made.

DG told us last Sunday that Louella fell and had some complications. I called her after lunch. She was getting ready to see a doctor who might make the things much better for her. She asked me how I was doing. I told her about the baby. She screamed with joy! She was so happy to hear the news.

Cathy called that she and Richard and Annabelle are going to China tomorrow. She asked whether we need anything. I told her about our changed plan. She encouraged me to stay and rest as well. Fang called in the afternoon that she wanted to re-schedule the dinner with us tonight since Evan had a fever. Fred didn't want Evan to pass the fever to me. I was so thankful that they think for me all the time.

I really enjoyed walking after dinner. Last night David and I walked around our neighborhood. It felt so good. The clouds looked like the fish tummy or the fresh buns. The bunny jumped around the bushes. Several people were walking their dogs. David and I met an old Chinese couple with their two years old grandson two street down from us. They came from a farm in HeBei province a month ago. We enjoyed talking with them and their muslim neighbor. It was funny that when that old guy said to us:" I am a muslim." David replied back right away:"I'm a Christian." The muslim guy said:" You look like a good man."

I brought the big Utz Club Mix snack to the office this morning. Nobody in our house eats them. I had no idea how popular it was in the office! Half of them were gone by the end of the day. I don't think the rest of them will survive to the end of next week. Now I know this, if we want to clean the snack out of our house, the office is the way!

Reaching Decision

David and I are so thankful that my back pain was gone! Ever since I made the appointment with Hal, the sharp back pain never came back again. So I cancelled the appointment thinking that the less I do to my body at this time, the better. When bigger discomfort is gone, the smaller one becomes noticeable. My left leg feels swelling. I can see the blood veins almost jump out of the skin. Although I have an empty box under my desk to put my feet up occassionally, I still manage to stand up and walk for 5 minutes every hour. Luckily, I can eat - a lot! I like everything. The only thing is my stomach always feels full, which makes me feel miserable sometimes after a meal.

I'm trying to make decisions for the China trip. I asked everyone I talked to the same question:" What is your advice?" Without exceptions, every one of them answered:" Postpone it!" The last person I talked to who also helped me to make the decision was Fang. She helped me to list the pros and cons of the trip. Here are the pros of the trip:

* It's a long looking forward trip. Well planned and trained. Lots of things to report and experience;
* We'll have opportunity to learn from Gary and Danita and have a life-changing experience
* We will have wonderful time to bond with our teammates
* We will have opportunity to reach out and influence others, locals.
* We will not waste our tickets
* We will not disappoint the missionaries, our teammates, ourselves and others

Now the cons of the trip:

* Environment/daily living changes that add stress to my body.
* Possible sickness (long flight, flu, infection, etc.) while I can't take any medicine at this time
* Food and air: we may eat out 90% of time, which we had little control of what we eat (MSG, bacteria, etc.) I still remember the sickness David and I had last summer because of the food we ate. The air pollution and public hygen is much worse.
* Busy schedule: reading with readers, meeting with local Christians, planning with teammates, sightseeing, catching the flights, etc. All these add stress.
* Doctor and hospital: no family doctor. Impersonal service, crowded and long wait. There is no way to ask the doctor about the abnormality I may experience.
* Taxi: the driver stops and goes very fast. Average taxi driver has at least dozens of passengers every day. The germs in the car can easily affect the pregant woman whose immune system is the weakest.
* Possible life-long consequences: what if something happens? Will I regret? The first pregnancy usually sets patterns for the future. Now I'm in the high risk group.
* Miss this opportunity. But we can go next time. What's more, I'll have vacation to use if I have to bed rest later.

Normally I won't take into account any of these cons. But with a delicate baby and weak immune system, Fang encouraged me to think over it. David and I are so grateful for all of our family and friends who concern about us earnestly. After dinner, we talked over it and decided to postpone our trip. David was so supportive and loving. I know what the trip means to him and to me. I couldn't help crying: I hate to change our plan. I don't want to disappoint ourselves and our friends. Almost all of our teammates go because we planned to go. They are depending on us! I felt like we abandoned them. I felt like our long-expected dream is falling apart. But I know this is the best for our baby. If I go and end up being sick, the whole team will be affected too. I just pray that God will use us effectively each day regardless where we are and HE will guide the rest of the teammates throughout the trip! Trust is the word of the day!

Divine Protection

Today is one of the days that worries got better of me. When I had free time during the day, I read some articles on pregnancy safety. There are so many potential dangers that can hurt the unborn baby. All kinds of infections, sickness, radiation, stress, environment ... just name a few! I was a little overwhelmed. All of my family members in China don't want me to take the trip next month. I talked to a long term friend in Beijing. She too strongly suggested me to cancel the trip - for the sake of the baby. I prayed everyday for God's divine protection, that God will protect our baby, watch over him/her, and give us wisdom in everything we do!

David had Friendspeak tonight. Claudia called me during the day that she wants me to lead the study with Maggie. I told her that I will but I may not be able to make it to Friendspeak on Wednesdays consistantly. I haven't told her about the baby yet. After work, I cooked some vegetable and beef since the baby needs blood supply now. I was very full. But I felt well enough to take a twenty minute walk in the gentle breeze. It was nice to walk through our neighborhood and look at each different house and their unique landscape. I need to walk every day starting today - I thought.

I had some time to read. The devotional I read tonight happened to be the divine protection. Ruth 2:9 "Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn." It talked about a story that an Alpine mountain climbing team came to a perilous gap in the ice. The only way to get across was to step into the outstretched hands of the guide who had met them on the other side. The first climber hesitated a moment as he looked into the gloomy depths below, where he would certainly fall to his death if anything went wrong. Seeing his hesitancy, the guide said, "Don't worry. In all my years as a guide, my hands have never yet lost a man!"

With this same assurance, Ruth placed herself in Boaz's hands. God provided someone who would protect her. Boaz took steps to keep her morally safe by commanding the young men not to touch her. He also provided for her physical protection. Under the hot Mediterranean sun, the danger of heat stroke was a very real possibility. But his young men brought jars of water to the field, and Ruth was free to refresh herself whenever she wanted. In Boaz, Ruth found a safe haven from the dangers around her.

God offers the same to all His children. There is never a moment when we are excluded from His divine protection. That does not mean we can never be hurt. It doesn't mean we will never die. But God's divine protection extends to our ultimate safety—the protection of our souls. These can never be harmed. They are safe in the care of Jesus. Rejoice in God's divine protection. Be confident that you are safe in His care, no matter how difficult your circumstances might be. God is the keeper of your soul. Life can hurt us but it cannot ultimately harm us.

What Are You Going To Be

We are entering the 10th week. From the website, we read that the baby is a little over an inch long and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce. He/she has now completed the most critical portion of the development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in her/his body rapidly grow and mature. The baby is swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm although I can't feel much. Vital organs — including her/his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout the pregnancy. If you could take a peek inside the womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin. In other developments: The baby's limbs can bend now. Her/His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over the heart, and her/his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his/her spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from the spinal cord. The baby's forehead temporarily bulges with the developing brain and sits very high on his/her head, which measures half the length of the body. In the coming weeks, the baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

David and I are always full of wonder every time we read about the growth of the baby. That alone can take all the anxiety away! This morning, after we woke up, David put his face close to the baby and spoke gently to the baby:" Hi Baby, are you a boy or a girl? Your hands can bend over and meet at your heart now. What are you going to do with your hands in the future? Are they going to direct an orchestra? Or write computer programs? Or hold other babies and touch the old people? Or One of them holds the Bible, and the other is in the air? Or diagnose and subscribe to the sick people? ..." Whatever the hands will do, it will be great!

We read more on Internet about the back pain. Some articles suggested seeing a chiropractor. David and I thought of our marriage mentor in the premarital class Hal. I called my doctor and got his approval before I made an appointment with Hal. David and I were very thankful that we have trusted doctors to go to and we got an appointment immediately on Thursday.

Jerry and His Parents

David’s reader Jerry’s parents invited us to have dinner at their house Monday night. David asked me whether I was up to it (physically). I said “I’m always up to good food”. Jerry’s parents work for the Shanghai restaurant. His dad is the head chef there for many years. I read with his mom Yunny for a few weeks until she stopped coming to Friendspeak due to the work schedule. We were very excited about knowing more about them and enjoying a wonderful meal.
They live right across from church. We got to their house by 6:30pm. The aroma of delicious food was already full of the house. We didn’t know how many dishes they cooked – our big dining table didn’t have enough space for them! David and I “Hmm”ed every dish. They not only looked picture-perfect, but also taste heavenly! Jerry said it was his first time to eat some of the dishes. His dad gave us the best dishes that he only made for special occasion. Wished I had a picture of them – but I thought it might be rude to take a picture of the food we ate. All the vivid images were deposited in our memory …

Jerry’s parents are good communicators. They were impressed by David’s Chinese. I was too! We talked to Jerry in English. But his parents don’t speak English at all. They told us how much Jerry liked David; how Jerry’s dad was baptized on the second day he arrived at America; how they wished Jerry could go to church with us … I was touched by their simplicity and genuine spirit. They didn’t have many friends. David was the first American they invited to the dinner at their house. We were so happy that they shared their life with us. Later at dinner, David and I shared with them the baby news. They were thrilled for us. They said: “The baby is the blessing from God. Don’t worry! It will be smooth.” Jerry’s mom told us that she had four miscarriages before and how she finally had Jerry. Her advice greatly encouraged me and David. She told me whatever I wanted to eat, if I let Jerry know, his dad will cook for me. That was very nice of them to offer that! Jerry's dad taught me some tricks to make the Chinese sauce at home. By 9:15pm, David told them the baby and mom needed to rest now and my back started to ache. We said good bye to this lovely family.

On the way, David and I found out we’ve been searching for a girl’s name today simultaneously. He had a list of names in his wallet; I had a list of names in my purse. He liked the names ending with “ie” and I liked the names ending with “la”. We were going to put the list on the website and rank them to come up a name for our baby if it’s a girl.

Tokyo One

We saw Robert and Gail before class. They gave us a quick update on Dr. Jack's funeral yesterday. They said it was a very emotional one. Bill Bledsoe, Dr. Jack's grandson Brian, and Don Barnett spoke. Don talked about how God rescued him many years ago from Lukemia and how he understood why now - God used him to take care of Dr. Jack's financial and living arrangement. David and I wished we could be there and hear those testimonies.

After the second service, John Barret invited us to have lunch at Tokyo One. Mary and Ted joined us too. Mark F. was the only person who doesn't care any Asian food at all. While we were all savioring the delicious food there, he just sat there. David thought it was rare for him just to show up in an Asian restaurant. I couldn't eat any Sushi during pregnancy. So all I ate were noodle soup, tariake meat, vegetable, and fruit. Both David and I voted the noodle soup as our favorite. Mary talked about the International Ministry. We decided to have a follow up meeting soon. David asked me what I wanted to start first for International Ministry. I said: improving communication among workers; having movie nights after Friendspeak; and setting up a repository of the people who sign up to help the International students in different ways.

The Friendspeak in the afternoon was busy as usual. Hongyu had to go to the airport. David picked up a new reader. He totally enjoyed reading with his new reader. Maggie had some questions about "Jesus washing the disciples' feet" and the Trinity. We had a good talk too. We told Bobbie about the baby. She was so smart and sweet that she guessed it already! I went to bed as soon as we came home from church. David studied some Chinese afterwards.

LST weekend (2)

We got up at 7:00 am and got to Arlington at 8:30am. The training just started. Everyone was already taking the personality test. David and I joined our team and caught up with the rest of the test. It was fun to know each person's personality and to know how to respond to them. Almost all of our team members had a high Inclusion score. After that, we had more training on budget, information meeting, etc. Leslie told us he worked to 4:00am this morning to get ready for the 4/15 tax deadline - he is a partner of an accounting firm.

During lunch time, we got a packet for our team. We were so glad that Leslie was local so that he could gave us some options on where to eat. We voted for Chili's. After we sat down at Chili's, we began to work on the assignment in the packet: talk about each person's weakness, difficulties, strenghth, etc. Time flew by. We didn't have time to do the optional assignment. But we got a lot out of the conversation we had during the lunch. In the afternoon, we paired up to do a 12 minute LST session. Donna from Garden Ridge asked me to be her partner. She was the team leader for their Beijing team in July. We had a great time during the practice. Afterwards, all the China teams went to a separate room to talk about the LST rules. Among these people was a teenager young girl. Her mom practiced with David. She told David that her daughter wanted to do LST in China. So she was tagged along. Her daughter led the youth devotional in their church!

We finished training by 4:30pm. We came home and rested for half an hour. It was time for the Alexander's party! We were so happy to see Lori and Billy, Dawn and Jerrod, Debra and Lance, of course, the host Amy and Nathan! Debra gave us the wedding gift - a quilt patched with our engagement and wedding pictures! That was such a personal and great gift! David and I were very thankful that she took her time to make it. It will be treasured for many many years! We had Mexican salad and fajita for dinner. Afterwards, we talked and played games. We had to leave when my back started to ache again. On the way home, David said he had such a wonderful time, from the moment we got there to the moment we left! We missed our friends and missed our good time together, especially after everybody got busy after marriage... We'll have to do that again some time in our house!

LST Weekend (1)

This Friday night, all of our China team members were required to attend the Let's Start Talking training in Arlington. The traffic was bad. But David and I had a minute to drive through Taco Bueno and got some burritos before the training started. It was great to see lots of people there. We met some new friends who are going to Beijing in July. We also saw many people we met before through Friendspeak retreat, or other LST functions. There were a number of people just to come over and say:"Hi, we saw you in the training video. Good job!" ... David and I were really suprised and encouraged by their reponses to the video because we just got the scripts when we got to the video place. We didn't have time to practice at all. It gave us a glimps how difficult an actor or actress' job is!

We signed in, got our LST T-shirts, and took a team picture. It was time for the real training. At around 9 o'clock, my backpain started again. David and I left for home. It was really encouraging to see over 50 teams there. Almost half of them are going to China: Beijing, Qingdao, Shantou, Xian, Guangzhou, etc. Most of them did LST in China before.