Their Music Makes Me Fly

heard about a sea where sin sinks like stones
there's no floor there just mercy down below

heard about a man with holes in his hands
he can hide mountains of sin in them

his smile destroys my religion
his love shakes down my prison

Dazzled, enraptured, euphoric, soul soaring along with Cageless Birds!

There is too much to love: Lap steel guitar. Accordion. Husband & wife duo. Big, booming harmonies. Home brew songwriting. Energy. Lyrics that cut right to it. Living God hanging out in your living room. Uglyish people becoming so intensely radiantly beautiful in Christ, their beauty magnified through collective song.

Sometimes you discover new music and it's a goldmine.


p.s. I have a thousand dreams, mostly pipe dreams, and this is one of them. To create beautiful music with the truest friends and record it at home. I have SO MUCH to do in heaven. Oughta keep me busy for eternity.

counting the graces

thank you Father for

bread dough failed to properly rise repurposed as pretty braided french bread

totally struck and even brought to tears by the children's books account of Gethsemane...thank you is never enough for ALL you have done

Sandra & Jiang Bo & children

children listening intently to chapter book read aloud

learning to hold loosely my vision for our upcoming Easter performance

learning to buckle down and finish the chores already

seeing my Drew next to bro Peter, hearing his stories of good times, speaking Chinese together for privacy in a not-private setting!

I sin, you love

Day Two, No Drew

 


Drew is in the US for a week and half doing business in Boston and Portland. We're so glad. Earlier we prayed that he would have a chance to visit family this spring. He's got a whole weekend in Minnesota.

Well, it's me and the little boys back at home and so far, Day Two, we are having tons of fun even in the absence of our fearless family leader - bowhunter - picnic manager - tadpole captor -- Dad.

That day, we brought home a billion tadpoles in peanut butter jars. Despite faithfully changing the water in their tank and feeding them cooked chopped lettuce which they apparently love, the survival rate has been a little bit...unpromising. Will anyone make it to frog?


Back to today! Day Two, No Drew.


The day kicked off as the boys decorated my hair with tiny purple flowers and made attempts to retrieve a pink balloon from the tip-top of a tree. You can guess how that went. Pink balloon recovery, the balloon having been spotted yesterday from our sunporch window, was the impetus causing 2/3s of my kids to feed, dress and brush themselves and rush out the door. So I love that balloon.

Then it was Chinese moms & kids playgroup at the park all morning, which including sliding down a steep slippery grassy hill, shelling each other in a flower bud pellet bomb war (I won against two 5 year-old boys, what's up now) and fishing in the pond.

Next we walked over to close friends' home for lunch with their two kids. We started a weekly storybook exchange, and this week they also sent us home with a big bag of family-raised chicken eggs.

Auntie Wang came over to help with housework while the boys were still napping. How would I manage without her??? I ran errands outside.

The sun was shining warmly in the afternoon as we walked down our main road, swarming and cheerful with Friday evening window-shoppers. Titus, Jon and Mike sat still and patient for haircuts. Across the street in the guitar shop we played hand drums and ukeleles. Ran into a special friend who I haven't seen for awhile. Kids devoured their suppers in the mall basement shop we call, "Hong Kong restaurant" only because we heard that the guy who originally ran it was from Hong Kong; the restaurant itself doesn't have a name or any signage.

Proceeded to collect a few things we needed at the mall supermarket. Next to the frozen chicken breasts we ran into Titus' preschool teacher, Mrs. Zeng, her husband and her daughter who is Michael's favorite classmate. Mrs. Zeng's like, "Did you know that it's POURING outside?" Thunder, lightning, flooded streets. Clueless. They gave us a ride home. If not for their kindness all four of us and our bags would would have been completely drenched, cold and miserable with a soppy bus ride and long walk home.

But as it is we are dry, happy and aware of our blessings.



WHAT is the point of all this Rachel?

A.
Drew is not home tonight to listen to my daily account delving into minutia, so you get to. (Oh JOY right!) I have this strange need to retell all my stories to someone.

B.
Walking up the stairwell to our door tonight, Titus and I were laughing out loud, "Jesus cares about us! I can't believe he planned for Zeng Mama to meet us and bring us home! Hahaha!"

counting the graces

thank you Father for

all of the above

Womb is Heart

Hello baby Ina!

March 10    19 inches    6.5lbs.

Los Angeles, CA

The womb -- where our little ones grow, and for Chinese women, wherefrom springs family, happiness, significance, purpose, social identity, and sense of connectedness in the normal human life cycle. Even in an age when urban Chinese moms are educated career women, fertility is still everything. This is most of my ministry: connecting on the plane of fertility, pregnancy, birth, babies, child-rearing, health, and development, parenting with dad, creating marriage and family culture. Womb is heart.

Here is one story of ministering to a woman's heart.

Remember that my pregnant friend relocated to the US last winter, to birth her second baby?

The pregnancy exceeded the one-child limit. She was at risk for forced abortion, loss of her husband's job or salary reduction for his entire work unit as a collective punishment. Not sensationalizing. This is happening.

She herself is not morally opposed to abortion -- in fact she like a typical Chinese mom would abort a baby if found to have abnormalities in utero -- but she wanted this surprise baby to live and it was also my desire to protect the baby's life.

There are several ways to escape forced abortion or other consequences; here I am not endorsing but merely informing you of the two which are most common. 

Hide. 

One of my good friends took leave from work and hid in her house for months. Her employer, also the instrument of birth-policy enforcement, is still unaware that she has a three year-old daughter. One of the problems, however, is children born in secrecy have trouble obtaining a social identification number which is necessary for entrance to school and every other aspect of social-legal life (imagine not having a social security number or any other form of ID). Some people opt to pay a hefty fine to obtain this number, others get a sort of fake number. 

Hide, then Run. 

Relocating abroad not only protects the baby from forced abortion, being born on US soil the child is granted US citizenship. Upon returning to China question of obtaining the Chinese social security number is no longer an issue; the child has a US passport. It's a loophole. Besides, lots of Chinese have aspirations of sending their kids to the US for university, or immigrating as a family in the future, so having one in the family with US citizenship is beneficial. I'm oversimplifying but basically that's the deal.

I haven't sorted out an ethical position regarding the birth tourism phenomenon, but I know that protecting the baby's life was the right action. Throughout the secret pregnancy I was honored to be friend and confidant. By my friend's invitation, I travelled back to the US and accompanied her through the transition, tried to support her through cultural adaptation, housing and medical care options. This little effort -- promoting the welfare of the baby in her womb -- spoke right to my friend's heart. 

They'll be back in April and it's gonna be a triumphant moment holding tiny, breathing Ina.

After that, we get to watch Ina grow up and know that her coming into the world was a collective effort, and wonder at Father's love and arrangement.

counting the graces

thank you Father for

can even trust in you for ones whose lives are spiraling out of control

being accepted and able to connect at Chinese Moms' group

 capturing tadpoles

Ms. Tian, coming weekly to give our boys a fun learning time in Chinese

Matt got a job in a city where some of our encouraging and supportive family lives

Jon's so cute when trying real hard to get his pronunciation right on Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?

tiny green buds on the tall trees that reach all the way to our 6th story window

brilliant purple buds on the flowering bush downstairs

Drew has a biz trip to the US; we were praying that he'd have another one this spring so he could visit family

six mothers of Down Syndrome kids coming to visit my neighbor to encourage her, your arrangements are spectacular!

Flat Emma in China

Recently we had a cousin come for a visit! Here she is! Flat Emma.

Did you make a Flat Me in elementary school? Inspired by the book Flat Stanley, remember?

Flat Emma attended preschool.

Flat Emma bought groceries.

Flat Emma posed for a photo with Grandpa Mao.

Flat Emma rode on bicycles, buses, and taxicabs.

Flat Emma lent a hand at the orphanage Butterfly Children's Hospice.

Flat Emma celebrated Chinese New Year.

Flat Emma went to Chinese church.

Flat Emma ate outdoor street noodles twice.

Flat Emma took a bath and used the squatty.

Flat Emma did homework.

Flat Emma rode a 180mph train to Shanghai for vacation.

Thanks for visiting, Flat Emma! We hope you had fun in China.

All other flat or 3D persons, welcome.

Real Emma (on right). 

(Photo commandeered off her mom's facebook.)

counting the graces

thank you Father for

some funny things and conversations that kept us laughing over the weekend

sharing asparagus

world-record best before-school morning ever, all went smoothly and people were rested and happy

Drew taking time out to make sure, "are we together in this? are you good with this?" at the beginning of an extra busy week for him

new tradition: detouring to the fruit stand on the way home from school, to let the boys choose whatever special fruit they like

 zillion servings of fresh vegetables over the weekend, goodness from your earth

watching A unable to hold back her smile after complimenting her singing voice