Trust His Heart

All things work for the good


Though sometimes we can't

See how they could

Struggles that break our hearts in two

Sometimes blind us to the truth

Our Father knows what's best for us

His ways are not our own

So when your pathway grows dim

And you just can't see him,

Remember he's still on the throne



[Chorus:]



God is too wise to be mistaken

God is too good to be unkind

So when you don't understand

When don't see his plan

[ Find more Lyrics on http://mp3lyrics.org/863P ]

When you can't trace his hand

Trust His Heart



He sees the master plan

He holds the future in his hand,

don't live as those who have no hope,

While our hope is found in him.

We see the present clearly

But he sees the first and last

And like a tapestry he's weaving you and me,

To someday be just like him



[Chorus]



He alone is faithful and true

He alone knows what is best for you



[Chorus]



When you can't trace his hand

When you don't see his plan

When you don't understand

Trust His Heart

Amazing babies!

It's 7:30am and all fifteen babies are still in bed! I can see one peeking out at me from his crib, but he's content to just stay there for now. He knows the routine and usually sticks to it! It amazes me how smart these babies are! At four or five months old, they know the routine, can hear the microwave and know that means bottles are on the way, open their mouths as you're drinking from your water bottle because they want some too, and cry as soon as you walk in the room because they know you'll pick them up! Sometimes I have to remind myself that they are still so young!

Veggietales... in Chinese

Tonight we watched a movie in devotions. I never know what it is until they turn it on and then I usually recognize it as Hermie, Adventures in Odyssey, or McGee and Me (all great old movies!). As I watched the first few seconds of tonight's movie, I simply heard voices and there wasn't anything on the screen. I didn't recognize the voices, but heard all the kids saying the words with the movie and immediately thought "Veggietales!" Then, they all broke out into the song! I never really thought about kids in other countries loving Veggietales as much as kids in the U.S. do. I'm imagining a group of kids from all over the world singing the Veggietales theme song in their language all at once. How cool would that be?!

Kelsey, Adrian, and Kalyn left yesterday :-( Miss them already! It's so much different with just three volunteers left. I'm SOOOO thankful for Showhwa (who is here everyday except Sunday)!

14 babies right now, one possibly joining us soon, five leaving soon. I'll miss them, but I'm so excited to meet the families and see them finally get to go home! Then it will be my turn. Mixed emotions- excited to see family and friends, but I'll definitely miss the babies!

Thankful

I'm thankful for:

-Noodles two days in a row for lunch
-Skype (and my family who takes time out of their day to skype with me)
-Friends here who stay up late to talk
-Friends from school who are willing to help me out any way they can
-Friends from home who encourage me
-Our Saturday evening English services (though odd at times, they are a real blessing)
-Devotions every evening here, especially the praise and worship
-Babies who give kisses
-Our God who gives second chances.... and third.... and fourth.... and.....

Waiting

While I'm Waiting :

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait
I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait
I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve you while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

This song has been running through my head for the past few days. I've been reading blogs and updates and it comes to mind. It pops in my head when I feed a baby or hug them or give them kisses. I can't stop singing it when I play with the babies, even when there is other music playing in the background. Every time I hold a baby, read a facebook note from an adoptive parent, or am feeding the babies, I remember that they are waiting and how hard it must be. I know it's hard. It has to be hard for them because it's hard for me to watch these babies grow up, knowing their parents are dying to have them in their arms. The parents are waiting to come get their babies while I'm waiting for them to come get them!

Over the last two days, I've really struggled knowing that I only have three and a half weeks left here. I'm excited to go home, see my family and friends, and start a new school year, but I don't want to leave these babies behind. I just wish all the adoptive parents could come get these babies before I leave. I know they will be well-cared for here and loved, but I would just feel so much better if I wasn't leaving them. So, I spend my days waiting for the court dates to be scheduled, waiting for their papers to come back, waiting for their parents to finally come get them.

It's easy to get caught up in the wait. It's so easy to worry about why papers haven't come or be frustrated when timing doesn't work out. As I've repeated the lyrics to the song above over and over, the words that stick out are "peaceful" and "faithfully." It's hard to wait peacefully. I find myself having to remind myself to wait without worrying and making sure that I'm focusing on the task at hand instead of focusing on the waiting.

Pacifier thief, shots, and camp

A few random things:

One of our babies is a huge pacifier thief (though I think she is following after one of our babies who already went home). She will grab all the other babies' pacifiers and try to suck on them. The other day, she grabbed a little boy's pacifier when he was sucking on it. We gave it back to him and he held onto it so she couldn't take it again, but she kept trying anyway. Babies can be SO funny!

The other day, Showhwa came out with a list of five baby names and told us to grab them because we were leaving. We didn't know where we were going at first, just that we were taking them somewhere. Along  the way, we found out we were taking all five of them for shots! I thought "Oh no! I hate shots! I'm not sure I can handle holding a baby while he gets shots!" The babies were called back one by one, measured, temperatures taken, ears, noses, and mouths checked, and then they were taken back for their shots. The nurse had me lay my baby on the table and hold his leg down. I prepared myself for the scream as she inserted the needle... only it never came! He didn't cry a bit! Such a brave little baby boy! The babies did all fall asleep in the van on the way back, but they were all SO good!

The older kids on the other side of the orphanage are all away at camp. The older kids left on Sunday and and the younger kids left on Wednesday. It seems so much quieter here without them and I think we all are looking forward to them coming back. However, we have found one advantage to them being gone: The water on the other side is always cold :-) Usually with so many people around, it gets hot by afternoon and we have lukewarm water, but now it's cold all day :-) We'd much rather have the kids around than have cold water though, and we'll be excited when they come home!

Haircut in the kitchen!

Today, one of the older girls cut my hair! She was cutting another volunteer's hair and I thought "Hey, I could use a haircut," so she did mine too! Just layered it a little, but it was much needed and she did a great job! The kids here have so much potential. I just pray that they have opportunities to succeed in whatever they have a passion to do.

I wish the language wasn't such a barrier! I would love to be able to have conversations with some of the kids here, but since I only know about 10 words in Chinese, that isn't really possible. Now I understand why missionaries often take the time to go to language school as soon as they move to a foreign country. It's "kind of" important :-)

Today, I'm thankful for: tuna, banana bread, encouraging volunteers, the couple who comes and helps with the babies on Sunday afternoons, and that Showhwa is coming back tomorrow from vacation!

I'm praying for all our sick little babies to get better soon!