English as a First Language

Some say the the English language is the hardest to learn for someone just starting out. Others say Russian and Chinese are the hardest. In our little Lily Grace, we are witnessing a language miracle from God that is gaining momentum each and every day and proving that English as a first language is not so hard after all. So I thought I'd better try to capture some thoughts on the subject before Lily completes her dissertation next week!

OK, OK, yes, the proud, boastful parent in me is probably shading my viewpoint a little. However, I think that even a non-biased observer would have to agree that Lily is conquering the English language (southern dialect and all) with lightning speed. She's reached a point where she simply repeats back anything you say and is beginning to make sentences. I'm going to try to remember as many words as I can that Lily can easily use in her vocabulary during this post, so forgive me if it gets a little hard to follow. I've always said that part of the reason for this blog is so that Lily Grace will one day be able to look back and read all about how she came to be a Southern Belle! So, sweetheart, here's a little glimpse of your early English skills.

I really believe that Lily could understand much of what we were saying even before we left China. She didn't repeat much English to us, but would occassionally respond in a way that led us to believe she understood at least part of what we were saying. A truly amazing feat at any age. As a matter of record, we didn't understand a single thing she was saying! When she began speaking, she kept saying over and over something like "ah youuu" and then laughing. It sounded like a common southern expression or greeting (howeru?), but probably had a significantly different meaning. Whatever it was, she thought it was very funny. Of course, one of the first words that Lily ever uttered in the English language was "Au'tin." She said that while we were still in China! As much as mama and I would like to lay claim to the fact that she recognized us first in the literal sense, it wouldn't be true. Congrats Austin for being the first American called by name by your neat little sister. So, what were some other early words? Hmm. Pamba, yes (you know, one of the little black and white bears so popular in China). Just so happens that Austin gave Lily a little stuffed Pamba when she'd just become a part of our family. Lily has held on to that Pamba since then - if we ever lose it, we're in "Big trouble with little China!" So, Austin, Pamba, ...

"Wolll Tie" was her first complete, grammatically and literally correct English sentence - Connie taught her that one, not me. HoHo was the name of that funny man in the red and white suit at Christmas. "Big house" is the plastic little tykes house now dominating the landscape in what was once the boyishly equipped upstairs playroom. And certainly, since she is a young lady, she has learned to say "telephone." (Uh oh, I'm probably in trouble for that comment!). She says "play, go, ride, car, truck, airplane" all very well. She can tell you the names of several animals and she will ask you to read one book at bedtime "One book, please." The one about the little monkeys jumping on the bed is the favorite.

"Mmm good" is used properly to describe Memaw's cooking (or really any food at all, sorry Memaw). Wa' is water and juice is juice (now, why is it that she stops short on water and completely says juice?). "Drink" is generic for any cup. Oh, and while we're on the subject, she says "eat" frequently, she knows how to say "spoon, fork, plate, cup, bowl" and even uses them in little mini sentences.

"Amen" is used frequently now (and usually loudly as well!) as Lily parrots back the preacher's Sunday morning prayers. "Please" and "thank you" were learned easily and early. And she really knows when to use them! She knows the kitty cat's name is, well, "kitty cat." She can tell you her dog's name is "Molly."If it's raining outside or on TV, she'll tell you "waining, waining!" She can say the names of the pictures of friends dotting the refrigerator door. And how could I forget "Whas at? (What's that)." Lily asks this so much that Austin decided one day to clue her in to some street lingo. Now an alternate version is "Waass Up?"

Lily can say Memaw, Pawpaw, Granny, and Billy. She can say Connie and Jerry, but prefers "Ma-ma" and "Daa-ee" and that's OK with us. "Be nice" is always followed by an offered kiss from puckered lips because she knows she's in trouble and that Daa-ee melts when she does it. She has learned several of her colors and can identify them and say their names clearly. She tells you that she is 'two' and shows you by holding up the correct number of tiny digits. And if you ask her where she's from, she'll say 'China!' That one happened by surprise. One day she just blurted out "China." I guess she'd heard us say so many times that she's from China that she began telling it herself. She can name her body parts and point to them if you ask her (elbow gets confused with Elmo, but that's ok).

She's beginning to make two, three, and even four word sentences. She likes to race up and down the stairs on all fours and if she gets there first, she'll say "I beat you." Some of this week's English language musings from Lily include "sit down, stand up, moey (more) eggs, I hungy (hungry), oa'meal (my favorite) please.

Finally, last evening (and probably the event that prompted this post), Lily Grace was sitting at the dinner table with all of us (Will and Amanda had spent the afternoon with us) and in a quiet moment in the conversation looked up from her plate said to her Ma-ma "I ove you." (She must have forgotten that I'd cooked some of the dishes offered up on the dinner table).

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace (expert in the English language)

A Banquet in God's House!

The East Limestone Indians football team recently celebrated their season with a banquet at Isom's Chapel. It's always been an honor for us to host the football banquet, especially for Austin, because it brings together two things that are dear to him - Jesus Christ and East Limestone Football. The players and cheerleaders were recognized for their efforts this year. Probably the most impressive part of the celebration was that the Cheerleader sponsor was so proud of all the cheerleaders' efforts in the classroom that she actually quoted every single one of their GPAs and the lowest was something like 3.4! For 20 cheerleaders that's impressive. The head football coach then stood up and told his players "Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anybody your GPAs!"





It was really fun for East to finish the season the way they did and to get to spend so much time with the coaches and team. The Indians played probably the toughest schedule in the state this year and did about as well as could be expected given that one week before the season started they got their third head coach in just two years. Coach Pugh was asked to head up the team when Coach C could no longer do it because of his health. Please pray for Coach C and for Coach Pugh. Coach Pugh did a really good job, trying to keep the team focused while changing things a little bit to match his style. East ended up losing to Athens (5A State Champions) and Guntersville (4A State Champions). So that's two losses to eventual state champions. On the positive side of things, East made a deep run into the 4A playoffs and shocked the state by going into Tarrant in downtown Birmingham and beating the undefeated, #2 ranked Tarrant team that no one thought East could beat. That was a classic night in East Limestone football history. East Limestone returns several players next year and will have had the benefit of a year's work in Coach Pugh's approach. So look out 4A, East will be on a warpath! Check out Austin in the pictures from the banquet below.



Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin (Team Manager), and Lily Grace (Little Cheerleader)

Reverend Kim and the Korean Children's Choir

"Greetings in the name of the Lord! A US soldier asked me as a young person, 'Do you want to go to America?' Although I did not know much about the country, it was the dream of every Korean young person to go to the US, so I answered 'Yes!' I did not know about Christianity at that time, but received Jesus Christ as my own Saviour while a student. After completing seminary and marrying Trudy, I came back to Korea with my American wife. I wanted to witness to my family and lead them to Christ. The Lord opened many avenues of ministry including pastoring a church for 45 years and serving as the President of Far East Broadcasting Co. - Korea. Missionaries from the USA came to Korea and planted the seeds of the Gospel. The FEBC-Korea Children's Choir is a fruit of the Gospel planted so many years ago. They are here today to praise God and share His love. God is now using Korea to bless other nations by sending missionaries to them. Thank you for your love and support. May God Bless You." Billy Kim, FEBC-Korea.

Tonight, we were treated to an amazing blessing from the Far East. Connie, Austin, Lily Grace and I attended a worship and sermon at Whitesburg Baptist Church in Huntsville that was presented by a Korean delegation including the President of Far East Broadcasting Co.-Korea (FEBC-Korea) and the Korean Changwon Children's Choir. What a blessing. The awesomeness of our God knows no boundaries. Billy Kim is known as the Billy Graham of Korea for the evangelical successes he has had in Korea. He is an amazing man and a wonderful ambassador for God across the entire world. He credits every bit of that success to something simple - prayer. Last week, he had dinner with the new general secretary of the UN and told him that he can't fix the world's problems if he doesn't fix his eyes on Jesus. Then they prayed together.

The Korean Children's Choir consists of 45 kids who appeared to be between the ages of 7 and 16 (just a guess on the ages, they all looked so young). They were led by a conductor, pianist, voice trainer, and choreographer. They sang praise songs in their own language - praise and worship music knows no language barriers - and in ours and it was simply beautiful. Their little voices sang in the greatest harmony such wonderful praises as Majesty, Amazing Grace, and God Bless America! Wow, wow, wow, praise God to know that we in the US certainly don't have a monoply on praising a great and wonderful God. The Koreans continuously thanked us as US citizens for the sacrifices that our country made in the 1950s to free their country from the communists and for the missionaries that we have sent their way. They paid tribute to our military men and women for their great and unthinkable sacrifices so that they, the Koreans, could worship in peace and dwell with the Holy Spirit. The Reverend Kim told us that the Koreans loved our country so much that they are sending missionaries back to us, to help fuel a revival in the US, a country he called the most blessed nation earth has ever seen because of its commitment to God!

It is so refreshing to get an external perspective on our country that is not given to us by a media bent on selling a view of the US that suits their corporate vision at the expense of the real reasons that our country exists - to be a lighthouse for the world in bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to an otherwise dark and hopeless existence. Thank you God for sending Billy Kim and the Korean Children's Choir to Huntsville tonight!

We chose a seat close to the stage so that Lily could get a good view and as it turns out, we ended up sitting with Reverend Kim and his delegation, as well as the mayor of Huntsville, Loretta Spencer. Don't know if we crashed the party, but no one seemed to mind. They all asked questions about Lily Grace and were seriously amused when, after the Senior Pastor at Whitsburg Baptist had concluded his opening prayer, Lily shouted "Amen!"

I think Austin enjoyed the evening more than he thought he might. He even enjoyed listening to Reverend Kim. Connie and Lily checked out the nursery and the play area at Whitesburg and made many friends there. Connie wants to bring the entire Childrens' Choir home with us (or at least one or two of them!).

As for me, I thought back to something Austin said the other night regarding family life. He said "Dad, you know, we need to do more things together, as a family. Fun things like playing games and going to a movie." I couldn't agree more and I hope this night was a good start.


Well, I'd better go check the bedrooms to make sure Connie didn't sneak one of the little kids home with us. The Reverend would probably like to be asked first!





Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace

The Day We Met Lily Grace

Some things are just simply meant to be. God planned it and that's that. This was never more evident for us than on January 17th, 2006. You see, that's the day that God laid out long ago for us to see a picture of Lily Grace for the first time. We were already planning to adopt a child from China and had contracted with Lifeline Children's Services in Birmingham, AL (simply the most professional and loving Christian agency we could have hoped for. But that's another story for another day).

We had already had our application in to Lifeline for a little over a month and were in the midst of completing the required paperwork for the adoption. Connie had learned that Lifeline would occassionally list children from China who were deemed by the Chinese to have a special need and therefore not eligible for referral (or at least I think that's the way it worked). Such was the case on January 17th, 2006. Connie raced home from work (maybe she didn't go at all this day?) to see the new list. I wasn't yet aware that she was doing this, but got a call at work telling me that there was this list of children who needed a family and that we should consider it.

I could tell that Connie was more excited than I'd ever seen her and was planning to look over the list. I prayed that this was God's plan, because I sure didn't have it my mind that this is the way our adoption would go. "What's a special need? What kind of care would she require? Do we have enough insurance?" Anyway, Connie called again later to tell me she'd been reading the biography of the kids on the list (now that I think about it, I don't think Connie was able to go to work that day!).

I told her I'd be home around 5:00 and we'd discuss it during dinner. "Hahaha, LOL, Hahaha, we'll discuss it over dinner, good one Jerry." On the way home, another call. "Get home now!! I've seen the list and they have pictures." "OK, ok, I'm on my way." Click. "Oh no?"

I arrived home, just as I'd promised, around 5:00 pm to a beaming wife hiding something behind her back. "Did you go to work today, honey?" Tears. "There's a little girl I think you'd better read about." Tears. "OK, ok, let's talk about it, but I don't want to see any pictures." At that point, the hidden treasure behind Connie's back, a picture of Jiang Yong Xing, was presented to me and just like that, it was done. "Forget the biography, how do we make sure we get to bring this little girl home!" More tears.

"But what do we do now?" Not to worry. When a mother sees her baby for the first time, they know what to do. God created them that way. Lily Grace, we will always remember this day and when you get old enough to understand, we'll be so excited to tell you this story and more!

Love,

Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace

Mountains, Jerry, Mountains!

OK. See if Starbucks delivers, this one's gonna take a while to get through. Mountains, Jerry, mountains she said. Well, we did go to the mountains and we had a wonderful time. Our first New Year's eve as a family of four was spent in the Great Smokey Mountains. We decided to take Lily for an outing to see how she would handle a vacation, so Connie booked a cabin in the Smokies for New Year’s eve. Since this was Lily Grace's first trip, we got a chance to see how she reacts to being somewhere different when bedtime comes. We didn't tell her that just near here, Smokey howls every Saturday afternoon. Didn't want to scare the wits out of her.

It was fun being away for a weekend, even though it was noisy in the mountains with all the New Year’s eve festivities. Fireworks and college kids having a good time make for a lot of noise.We had such a wonderful time, mainly just taking it easy and taking in the sights and sounds of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge on a New Year's eve. Lily had even gone fast asleep well before midnight was announced by a chorus of fireworks that sounded like the Confederates were rising again in the mountains (is this Pigeon Forge or Valley Forge for crying out loud!). It woke everyone up, but Lily wasn't scared, just wanted to know what that sound was!

Our short vacation to the mountains held a magical surprise for both Lily Grace and Austin (not to mention the proud parents). When we got to Sevierville, TN, we were surprised to find a Chinese Theatre that presented a real, live Chinese acrobat show. We had visited a Chinese Theatre in Beijing, but that was before Lily had officially become a part of our family. So she didn’t get to see that one. We were also very tired from our 18 hr flight and so didn’t fully appreciate the elegance and grace of the Chinese acrobats in Beijing (one of us fell asleep in the theatre and I'm not telling who, but her initials are CJG). So, another opportunity in Gatlinburg! We jumped on it and got seats on the front row. Lily really was captivated by the acrobats, even occassionally warning them out loud "eh, gonna fa aall."














During the performance, a Chinese comedian decided that he needed Austin to help him with his act – check out the photos! Austin was doing his best to look “cool,” but the Chinese comedian was too much for him to overcome. Hilarious. The comedian gave Austin a set of Chinese chopsticks for his participation. Of course, Lily immediately snatched them from Austin when he returned to his seat. "Gimme those, clearly they were meant for me! Hmm, these things make for excellent band director utinsels!"








We all enjoyed the show very much. Lily really enjoyed the show (all two hours of it), sitting quietly except for the occasional “Wow!” I wondered if she felt any connection to the acrobats. Probably not. But she was certainly mesmerized by their performances. Some of the acrobats were very young, 12 and 13 years old, but were very talented. After the performance, we stayed and met the director and the acrobats and got a group photo and autographs with the acrobat company. The acrobats were every bit as cordial and elegant as the people we remembered from our China visit last year. It was wonderful to get to see their performance and we would recommend it to anyone planning to visit the Smokies.

OK, the being somewhere different at bedtime part? Not a problem. Move over Mama, Pamba and I are moving in! Daddy, you go sleep with Austin and leave the upstairs in this fancy cabin to me and Mama. Oh, but first, would you draw my bath in the jacuzzi and bring me something cool to drink. Mama might like something too! Bath, bath!!

We also saw Ripley's Aquarium, where Lily tried to dive into the stingray pond. This girl's not scared of anything! She wanted to touch the stingrays so bad that we had to hold onto her feet as she tried to crawl over into the pond when the stingrays would swim by. Austin and Lily were like two kids on Christmas morning running from exhibit to exhibit with Lily squealing and Austin filming.

We also went to the Black Bear Jamboree's Christmas Spectacular. This was a dinner show complete with live music, animated bears, and more talented singers and actors than you could imagine. It even snowed on us inside the building at one point during the show. But everything that had happened, every skit, song, and act became lost in the last moments of the show. Wow, they had spent two hours capturing our every thought, our attention. Our focus was definitely on the presentation, even Lily Grace had sat silently for two hours watching. And then, boom! The actors, dancers, singers, who had been wowing us with their talents, presented the Gospel of Jesus Christ like I have never before seen it. They applied their talents and the efforts that they had made to grasp our attention to the greatest story ever told and the audience was simply stunned, me included. Angels floating in mid air singing Oh Holy Night over a stunningly beautiful nativity seen complete with all the cast of that wonderful night! Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus, Wise men and kings, shepherds and animals, they were all a part of it. It was definitely the highlight of the weekend for us. If you have a chance to see this, Go! It gave a whole new meaning to the hymn "Go Tell It on the Mountain!" God is so awesome!

Of course, no trip to Pigeon Forge would be complete without carpet golf and go karts, so Austin and I completed that part of the mission while the ladies relaxed back at the cabin, probably in fine fashion with a cool drink and a hot tub! And for the record, Austin won the race and the round of golf.

Well, Happy New Year, so long from the mountains, and remember "Go Tell It on the Mountain, Over the Hills, ..."

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace

Christmas Ain't Over Yet, the Tree's Still Up!

Here's a thought. If we leave the Christmas tree up, maybe Ho Ho will make a return trip? Nah, just a feeble attempt at justifying my procrastination. I'm really not procrastinating on that, it's just that we're so busy that we can't even find time to post about our trip to the mountains. Mountains, Jerry, mountains! What with Upward Basketball and Cheerleading, schoolwork, praise band practice, work, urgh! there seems to be no time left over. I promise I'll get the tree down this weekend. But until then, here's some more pictures from Christmas. There's a web log entry about our mountain trip coming soon. Let's see, what's the next holiday? Maybe we could take down the tree that day. Mountains, Jerry, mountains!

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace

The 'hot light' was on and I couldn't resist!

I love my new easy chair!

Ho Ho, … Merry Christmas!

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even that mouse …
That I found in the garage while putting Lily’s toys together.

Hated to do it, but given the run of the garage and soon enough he’d think he owned the place. Him and all his furry little brothers and sisters. Ha! Don’t mess with me ol distant relative of MM. Those old timey wood mouse traps really do work better than anything else. Er... sorry. Back to Christmas and Ho Ho (that's Lily's name for Santa Claus).

Lily’s first Christmas at home with Austin. Throughout the holidays, she gave every indication that she had been there, done that. Nothing surprised her or caused her to think anything was different than normal. Parties, eating, celebrating, eating, praying, eating … Lily had a wonderful time and Austin was right there with her showing her the ropes (no telling what he told her about good ol’ St Nick). Amanda and Emily also enjoyed celebrating the season with Lily Grace. What a wonderful thing to see as Lily has come to know and love her big sisters and to bond in a special way that must be some sort of secret code between sisters. Anyway, we wondered what Lily’s reaction to Christmas morning would be. We had a few early observations as gifts were exchanged between family members and friends. Lily certainly knew that if something was wrapped up, it needed to be unwrapped … and the sooner, the better!

Now, about that Christmas Eve construction project. It took a Rocket Scientist to put this stuff together... Houston, we have a problem. Just kidding, I didn’t really put together Lily’s toys. That’s the job of the elves at the North pole. . I was just helping Ho Ho with a few last minute details. He actually did most of the work, just needed a few adjustments to finish the job. I’m sure he appreciated our last minute efforts.

Finally, Christmas morning arrived. Lily and Austin came downstairs around 7:00 am – full of anticipation at what jolly old St Nick had left for them. Their eyes were bright and wide, as they surveyed the study and living room to see what had happened. Austin was tremendously surprised and shocked to find the new set of electric drums that he’d told Lizzy that he was getting a few days earlier. Seems somebody did a lousy job of hiding the foot pedal. Santa, we’ve got to talk about tactics and techniques before Lily gets any older. This is just not working any more. How was I to know that he’d look down in the floorboard while he moved the foot pedal out of the way and asked himself quietly, "What's this!!"

Lily was equally surprised to find her playhouse and all the dolls in it. She really enjoyed opening gifts, anyone’s and everyone’s. Her eyes were as big as we’d ever seen them. It was such a joy to see her excitement, knowing that even though she wasn’t able to express it yet, she fully appreciated the things Ho Ho had brought for her. She loves her dolls and her playhouse (BTW, Ho Ho, you left that thing completely unassembled and I still have piece parts lying around here!).

Connie also was surprised by what Ho Ho had brought her, though she wouldn’t allow any pictures to be posted. You know, jammies and all. Hopefully, she’ll treasure the portrait and framed “Lily-gram” forever. I had an oil painting of Lily that was done in China and a Chinese description of her personality (written specially on a red hankerchief by the orphanage director) framed for her. They turned out awesome.

Oh, well. Enjoy the pictures and as usual, thanks to my special friend who encourages me to post early and often. And from now on, each time we pass through Knoxville on our way to the mountains, we’ll pause and thank God for that special friend.

Merry Christmas.

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace
Green, Party of Four