Compassion for His Children...

Passion for the Giver of All Good Things.

Wow, they say that time flies when you're having fun. Well, I must be having the time of my life. It seems every time I look up from existence, another week or even month has passed by. So it's been the past two weeks. Around our family, we've been struggling with a virus that has attacked all of us at one time or another. Austin's doctor finally decided to put him on a strong antibiotic to try to get his body back on track, while Lily's doctor decided that she just needed some strong cough medicine. Funny, Austin and Lily both had doctor's appointments at the same time in different cities. I took Austin and Connie took Lily. Connie joked that if we had another blessing, who would have taken that one to the doctor? Hopefully they're both on the road to recovery, but now Connie is taking her turn. Ugh!


"Oooh, rocking horse ... "Eh, sit down, Granny, ride horsey!"


"Oh, no, Granny ... what next?"


"Time to go home, Lily ... But first, a picture with the colorful cow. Show us your teeth!"

Now the reason for the post title. This past Thursday night, we attended a worship service at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville. It was labeled as a concert featuring Aaron Shust, Audio Adrenaline, and MercyMe. But those who were in attendance know different. The Holy Spirit filled that arena that night to the point of all musicians and entertainers leaving the stage to allow Him to work amongst His people. There is nothing so sweet as to hear several thousand people sing praises to Jesus, being led only by the Holy Spirit, without accompaniment, or professional vocals. We sang I Love You Lord, Amazing Grace, and several other favorites. Everyone knew the words and sang to honor God!





In the middle of it all, God was at work, ensuring His plan (and not ours) was taking center stage. See, for those of you who do not know, Audio Adrenaline is doing their last series of concerts, er, I mean worship services, after 16 years. Several of the band members and their families are moving on to another ministry, Compassion International. They will work in Haiti, building orphanages for children who need God's love to reign down on them. The band members took time out of the worship, er concert, to describe Compassion and how we could help. Now, you know by now that many of the Christian artists do this, but what struck me was the commitment of these awesome warriors for Christ who are planning to uproot themselves and their families to achieve this part of God's plan. They asked us to consider contributing to Compassion instead of purchasing Tee shirts and CDs. So, you feel that little tug and go out to try to get to the Compassion table. Oh, there's too many people in line, MercyMe's gonna start any minute. I better get back inside. I'll do something about this on line later.

And then, just like clockwork, God's plan is put into action. "Oh missed the opportunity Thursday night, did you? Check this out." Sunday morning at church we had a special video before services. Something about helping children in need... Something called Compassion International. OK, ok. Got it. Where do we sign up? Give me the forms. How does this work? We ended up sponsoring a little 7 year old boy from Honduras. He likes music (that fits), playing with cars (fits), and art (ding ding ding ding!). Maybe one day we'll get to meet Olvin, but for now, we'll settle for providing what we can through Compassion International. Please pray for Olvin as Compassion International ministers to him to raise up a child in the ways of the Lord.

In case you're curious, or even a bit cynical as I am usually about these things, check out the web site for Compassion - I've added it to the sidebar on this blog. Turns out their mission statement is lifting children out of poverty for Jesus Christ. Their first and foremost objective is to glorify our Lord by ministering to the "least among us." The current President of Compassion International grew up as a missionary kid in Africa and so he knows firsthand the difficulties that poverty inflicts upon children, he himself living in fairly destitute circumstances. All in all a great organization to partner with in the name of Jesus, ... Compassion for His Children, .... Passion for the Giver of All Good Things!

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace, ... and Olvin!

Best Birthday Cake Ever!

Today was easily the best birthday I've ever celebrated. Never mind the age. Didn't matter. Never mind the tough day at work. Didn't matter. Never mind that I still have about an hour's work to do tonight before going to bed. Won't matter. In simple words, today was awesome! Why you ask. OK. Check this out.

The workday lasted from 6:45 am to 6:15 pm with a mid-day dash to take Austin to the doctor - he's got a cold again. Please pray that these colds will stop terrorizing him. That's been the only down side to our trip to China last year - it seems that Austin's immune system took a hit and now he catches colds with a regularity that worries me. But the doctor said he'd be ok after a few days. So that's good news.

So, Connie calls work and says come home, Lily and Austin have a surprise for you! So I canceled the last meeting of the day and went home. Upon opening the door, I hear Lily Grace shouting at the top of her lungs (and boy does she have some) - "Happee Birday, Daaeee! Happee Birday, Daaeee!" Is God awesome or what!! Lily immediately ran to the refrigerator, opened it, pointed inside, and shouted "Cake, eat!!" She and Austin had spent the afternoon preparing the best birthday cake ever. It was called Strawbabies De-ite (that's Lilyese for strawberries delight)! Lily even sprinkled the sparkles on it herself after 'helping' Austin with the icing. After dinner we put a few candles on the strawbabies de-ite cake (no comments about needing to get approval from the fire marshall please!), sang 'happee birday' and dug in. It was delicious. Best birday cake ever. Thanks Memaw for helping Lily and Austin. And thanks Connie for being the absolute, most awesome, wonderful wife I could ever hope and pray for and for being a great mommy to Lily and Austin!

Check out the pictures while I go and have some more Strawbabies De-ite cake!

Love,

Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace

What About That Easter Dress, Jerry!

Oh, my gosh. See, that's the problem with us fathers. Sometimes we just simply don't think about these things. New clothes and particularly little girls dresses are as much a tradition of Easter as the infamous bunny himself, but until you have a daughter of your own, you can't understand.

Time to Pray!

When I was a kid growing up, we always got new Easter shoes and boy were they really tight and they hurt your feet. Shiny black and about two sizes too small. I think that Mom was getting out the same pair year after year since they were only to be worn once anyway. Why waste good money on comfortable shoes when it could be better put to use on chocolate eggs and bunny rabbits - good thing those weren't recycled! Anyway, yes we also got new clothes. Suits for the boys and I guess my sister got a new dress. See, that's the problem - I didn't notice these things because I was too busy looking at my feet and wondering how to get out of wearing those shiny, new, recycled shoes!

So, did Lily Grace get a new dress for Easter? Are you kidding? Does Connie like to shop? Is there a stairwell picture in the future of this blog? Silly you for thinking there would be no picture of Lily Grace in her new Easter dress. Of course there is. Connie, wake Lily Grace back up and put on her Easter dress so I can get a picture. I know it's 10:30, but I need to finish this post. OK, here she is. No, no I didn't wake her up, that was a joke. I think every time Lily Grace smiles, we take a hundred pictures. Because seeing that smile after knowing how her life started out causes our hearts to melt and our eyes to fill with tears - every time! We are truly blessed by God to be given the opportunity to raise two of His most precious belongings.

I'm a big helper ain't I?

So, without further delay, the Easter pictures...

Behold, the Easter Dress!

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace

He Is Risen!!! Let's Celebrate!

“In pagan times, the "Easter hare" was no ordinary animal, but a sacred companion of the old goddess of spring, Eostre. The Easter bunny has its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. The Hare and the Rabbit were the most fertile animals known and they served as symbols of the new life during the Spring season. Since long before Jesus Christ was born, parents told their children that the magic hare would bring them presents at the spring festival. The presents were often painted eggs, as these represented the new life starting at this time of year." Hares are animals which look like rabbits, but are larger and in many countries quite rare. In most places, the Easter rabbit (bunny) has replaced the Easter hare completely.

Of course, with Christianity came the true meaning of Easter, that being the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. For this reason, Easter is celebrated by Christians as the most important and holy of all days! Praise ye God for the resurrection of the body, that we may spend eternity with thee in Heaven!

When the children began arriving Saturday morning, it hit me that when we hosted this event last year at Isom's Chapel, we were a family of four separated by half a world. That seems like eons ago and yesterday all at once. All we had was a picture or two of a little girl named Jiangyong Xing and a brief medical report. But, know this that everyone who came got to see that picture more than a few times! We were so excited to show our new friends our new daughter and didn't care one bit if they'd seen the picture already a dozen times, one more couldn't hurt could it?


We had met many of the Athens FCC families at the 2006 Chinese New Year celebration but still, we were new to the group and didn't have our little girl with us yet. Except for the pictures. Oh, we had Kaitlyn and Kristin around teaching us about girl stuff and were beginning to understand that Amanda and Emily were in God's plan for us, but Lily Grace wasn't there that day for our Easter 2006 celebration. We had worked tirelessly all morning. Kaitlyn helped us and was just as excited as the rest of us at the opportunity to see Mary Beth and all the others again. She and Austin decorated the fellowship hall and prepared the game tables for the kids. Connie and her Mom had prepared a feast (including peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the more discriminating tastes of the younger ones expected to attend). And I prepared the camera, but you'd already figured that one out right? And so we invited the entire Athens FCC to Isom's Chapel for an Easter celebration and egg hunt. Just for another opportunity to stand in awe at some of the most beautiful and loving children we had ever seen. [Sorry parents, the food was just to lure you into our trap!]

2006 Pictures: Check out Hannah and Emma! And Wendy and Gracie Mei

One Year Later ...

This past Saturday, we hosted the 2nd Annual Athens FCC Easter celebration at Isom's Chapel. And this time, Lily Grace was prominant among the children, garnering her share of attention. The children now know us a little better and are more comfortable around us. Mary Beth calls me Uncle Jerry - how cool is that!!! The parents have forgiven us (I hope) for our little trap last year and have become some of the most wonderful friends we have ever known. There is a certain bond that adoptive parents share that cannot be described - a simple look conveys thoughts more readily than a thousand words between those not blessed to share in this part of God's plan for His children. Our group continues to grow, with new families it seems almost every time we get together. I know in my heart of hearts that God has a special plan for these children and I cannot wait to see it unfold. God hasn't shared the details of that plan with me, but wouldn't it be awesome to see one of these children become a vessel for our Lord and lead their birth country to Christianity in large numbers! To be a part of that or just to see it happen would be awesome!

Anyway, back to our Easter celebration. Kaitlyn couldn't make it this year, but this time we had both of Lily Grace's grandmothers to help. Memaw was here already and Granny couldn't resist the tug of spending time with grandchildren, so she made plans to retire and move here. It's truly a blessing to see her excitement at every little thing Lily does. Our celebration included the usual festivities, food, and easter egg hunts, coupled with the excitement of a new family who visited from the Huntsville FCC. It turns out that our events are generally closer for them to attend and so we hope to see them more in the future. They have a beautiful daughter named Anna that we think came from the same orphanage as Mary Beth - cool! We missed those who couldn't make it and were greatly blessed to share time with those who did.

Praise God for His Risen Son, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Love,

Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace