2009
31
We made a road trip to Winston-Salem today for another Chinese New Year celebration - this time on the campus of Wake Forest University.
We met up with friends of ours who adopted a 4-year-old daughter from China around the same time that Carmi and I brought Eliana home. Their daughter is now a young lady of 10.
Eliana and Karys had an opportunity to try on one of the lion heads used in the lion dance. Karys was almost swallowed whole.
After the celebration was over, we walked to the “Quad” - a huge grassy courtyard surrounded by Wake Chapel and several residence halls. The Quad was recently “rolled” when Wake Forest beat Duke in basketball on January 28th. Duke, at the time, was ranked #1 in the country.
It looked, to some degree, that most of the toilet paper had been picked up off the ground but there was still a lot in the trees.
The girls found some slightly-used rolls of toilet paper and just couldn’t help themselves. They had to participate in the festivities even though they were 3 days late.
2009
30
2009
30
Would you believe Wal-Mart is now offering a training potty with a built in slot machine that goes off whenever it detects a “deposit”?
It’s probably not a good idea to introduce kids to gambling at such an early age. What really bothers me is associating the slots with a basic part of life and conditioning kids to want to gamble on the toilet. Would I really want our son spending an hour in the bathroom playing online poker on his iPhone?
I’m glad we’re beyond the potty training stage. This would just be way too tempting although I personally think a craps table may have been more appropriate.
2009
30
Back in 1996, I formed a mixed Gospel quartet (2 men, 2 women) from members in our church. The group’s reach and influence grew steadily through the years.
Carmi and I brought Eliana home at the end of 2002 and 2003 would be my quartet’s busiest year. We traveled to 22 states and gave around 140 concerts. By 2004, I was entertaining thoughts of disbanding the group because I really missed leaving my family on the weekends. So much so that I would often cry as I pulled out of the driveway on the way to the bus.
I struggled emotionally through 2004 and into 2005. By the middle of 2005, I decided to call it quits. God was definitely in it and the decision was easy because my church offered me an interim Worship Leader position which I accepted.
The “interim” position lasted for 2 years and 9 months and I handed the reigns of the music program to our new full-time Minister of Music last March.
Since then I’ve had the old familiar pangs of desire to sing in a group again. The smell of diesel fuel still brings back some fond memories of life on the road.
Wednesday night I dropped Eliana off at church and was going to take Karys back home because she was very stopped up and didn’t need to infect the other preschoolers.
A guy I know named David - whose family just joined our church 2 weeks ago - parked his truck and walked over to the van as I strapped Karys in her car seat.
David started his own trio back in 1999. At the time, he was leading music at a very small Wesleyan church and my original quartet sang at his church a couple of times.
David was struggling with some decisions. His other 2 most current vocalists had left the group and he was seeking wisdom (From me? Go figure.) on what direction to take. Should he try to find new singers? Should he go solo? Should he call it quits?
I believe our meeting was providential.
I took Karys home to Carmi and returned for choir practice. On the way back to church, I really felt a tug to talk with David again.
During our second chat after choir practice, I suggested to David that maybe he and I should sing together and see what happens. He was very open to the idea and we both left church that night intending to pray and seek God’s lead.
It would be a rather “interesting” combination. David and I are both leaders and accustomed to calling the shots in our own respective groups. Can we work together? I dunno. But we’re both willing to give it a try.
So stay tuned.
2009
28
2009
27
Karys walks like an egyptian about 10 seconds into the video.
And she was watching herself in the mirror.
2009
27
Zheng Hehong, the mother of a five-year-old daughter in central China’s Henan Province, has helped save almost one hundred orphans or sick children from all over the world in the past five years.
Speaking of her decision to rescue children, Zheng said it was her daughter who led her down this road.
In 2002, Zheng’s daughter came into the world. When she held the little infant in her arms, observing her weak, soft body, tender lips and fisted little hands, a sense of thrill, compassion, and inspiration ran through her mind. Through her daughter’s eyes, she thought of a group of much weaker infants and children.
As early as 1988, the then 16-year-old Zheng received first aid training and visited the welfare institute in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province, in a summer camp held by China Red Cross. During that time, she changed the diapers of orphans and sick children and played with them.
The birth of her daughter inspired her memory of twenty years ago. She became restless whenever she thought of the many helpless eyes. Zheng said at that moment she became aware that it was time for her to do something for those children.
Read the entire article at All-China Women’s Federation.
