To The Dreamers

We're beat up but won’t be broken

Lonesome but always searching

Homesick but nobody’s heading home soon

Keep on, keeping on, keeping on

Long days and too many short nights

Wrong ways that almost felt right

Lovesick but nobody’s holding you

Keep on, keeping on, keeping on

So sing along, sing along, sing along

To the dreamers

Wide-eyed believers

Hanging onto hope by a thread

To the soulful

Heart-open hopeful

Keep on charging ahead

'Cause, when you feel it, once you see it, and you breathe it

It’s unforgettable

When you know it, once you know it, and you hold it

It’s unforgettable

God knows I question my courage

And some days I can’t walk for stumbling

If we could only see what we’re becoming

Keep on, keeping on, keeping on

So sing along, sing along, sing along

I was wondering and I was wandering

So down and out, I was lost not found

History said, oh someone said, that you could never exist

But then a whisper, the start of a kiss

Came to me in all of a sudden like a dream, a fantasy

That day didn’t feel quite real

You took a half dead soul and You made me believe

I believe

_________________________________________________________________________________


The dreams God set in our hearts:

Move your young family to China. Live, work, learn and feel like your neighbors. 
Let the family-less be your family. Be the family of the family-less. 
Stay and grow into wellness together.

Take care of, be cared for by Wang Zhao, Lydia, and Wang Ayi.

Work in a Chinese company.

Enroll your children in Chinese school.

Foster Jonathon.

Adopt Reuben.

Move your family to a remote village. Live, work, learn and feel like your neighbors. 
Let the family-less be your family. Be the family of the family-less. 
Stay and grow into wellness together.

...


It sounds kind of simple, right?

And it is.

But.

God knows I question my courage, when I miss my family, or my familiar North American life. I never feel quite at home in China or the US. When I worry about my kids' futures and identities. When being the only non-Chinese in the entire school feels completely impossible, and I wonder if we should just quit and homeschool. When taking care of people is exhausting and I haven't the patience or the time. And how are we going to get a visa, make a living, and survive the winter in the village? With a newly adopted son? Can we get enough grants to pay for the adoption expenses?

Two days ago I was running and worrying.

God gave me one word.

That word made me run a little harder, with more determination and freedom.


When I got home I wrote it on my kitchen whiteboard: BRAVE

To the dreamers

Wide-eyed believers

Hanging onto hope by a thread

To the soulful

Heart-open hopeful

Keep on charging ahead

counting the graces

thank you Father for

our home study is today and we are looking forward to it!

impeccable timing of Gui Fang and Wang Ayi's help

Titus has been so happy these days

growing with L & WL

the best weekend with best friends in the country

playing electric guitar with Mike at his request, while he manipulated the knobs of the amp

you speak to us

you give us dreams and courage

you give us something great to live for