The Last Post ...

"A Great Welcoming Home from Our Friends"

"Signing on the Dotted Line"

They say all good things must come to an end, but what they don't say is that after that, it gets even better. Today will the be the last time we post to Green, Party of Four because tomorrow, we will become Green, Party of Five! If you have enjoyed reading this web log, we would like to hear from you. So, without further adue, here are some thoughts on what this web journal has meant to us for the past couple of years.

"Our First Picture of Lily Grace"

She was just a baby, born hours earlier that day, when they placed her at the entrance to the orphanage. Something had happened to her foot and perhaps her parents could not afford to take her to the doctor. Or perhaps, they simply could not keep her because life's circumstances dictated that their only child be a boy. And she was simply too much of a burden. So they placed her at the gate, in hopes that she would be found soon and taken inside to be raised and cared for by angels who did God's work in caring for children left all alone in this cold world.

"Green, Party of Three Tours the Great Wall"

Lily Grace was abandoned on the day of her birth, September 24th, 2004. We are sure that her mother did so only after all other options for her were exhausted and we believe that because she loved her newborn child, she did what she thought was best for her. Our heart breaks that she had to do this. Others have said that her loss was our gain. We believe that's a simple-minded understanding of this complex social issue and we choose to believe that God simply had us in the right place physically, emotionally, spiritually, and financially to bridge the gap for this precious little life. And we will do everything we can do to make sure Lily Grace experiences life to its fullest extent and that she learns about her Savior.

"First Picture of Green, Party of Four"

Others have said that they admired us for doing this, in effect implying that our actions saved Lily Grace. While that may be true in part, we choose to see all the blessings that God has bestowed upon us through her life. One of the greatest things we've been witness to in this is how our son Austin, an only child for 12 years, has given of himself so freely and become a wonderful big brother. And what God has accomplished in both Connie and me has been truly a miracle. Through adoption, a beautiful witness to His plan for us, He has truly changed our lives and given us the ability to see Him in the everyday small things that happen around us and that others call circumstance. And for that we are ever grateful and thankful.

"Austin and Lily Grace on the Second Day"

"The Famous Red Dress Photo"

We have every hope and belief that Lily Grace, or one of the other children saddled with her early life circumstances, will one day return to China with solutions to problems that have haunted the beautiful Chinese nation for years.

Oh, the web journal, ...

It all started a little over two years ago after Connie, Austin, and I committed ourselves to adopt a little girl from China, who would become our sweet baby girl, Lily Grace. At that time, we had met some really great and cool friends, Drew and Lori, who had already adopted three little girls from China. Lori was so excited that we were going to adopt, she called and emailed every day asking how things were going. Then she began gently convincing me (Jerry, where is that journal entry!!!) to put our information into a web log so she and others could read it at their leisure and at times that were convenient.

"A Tear Jerker Photograph if Ever There Was One"

"A Tear Jerker Photograph - Part Two"

"My First Trip to the Lotion"

As the days until we left for China that first time dwindled, Lori decided to step up her efforts and eventually got me to comply and initiate our web journal and give it the name greenpartyoffour.blogspot.com. Actually, the name was Connie's idea and it seemed to fit wonderfully. After initiating the web log, we learned very quickly how important it was to us, especially while we were in China, to hear from our friends and family and to know that they were praying for us and thinking about us. If you've ever been away from the US in a place where you are the only Americans in a city of 4 or 5 million people, you know what I'm talking about. We've found the Chinese people to be extremely kind and pleasant to us, but it's just important to know that your friends and family are thinking about you.

"I Love My Sweet Baby Girl"

"My Sweet Baby Girl Loves Me"

Up until the time we started the journal, we felt somewhat isolated in what we were doing, because there simply weren't many people who were adopting children from China. The web journal gave us an opportunity to share our thoughts and to document things for Lily Grace. After that, we became friends with so many other families who were experiencing the same events, thoughts, questions, and emotions that we were and it was a comfort to know that we weren't alone in this endeavor. The responses from our family and friends have been a great blessing in our lives.

"Inviting You to Follow Us Again as Green, Party of Five"

We have used the journal to document our adoption of Lily Grace, as well as to describe life in the Green household in the days since her adoption. Austin has even got in on the act by starting his own journal when we were in China to adopt Lily Grace. We've shared birthdays and ballgames, Bible verses and baptisms, bandaids and band concerts, CC concerts and Christmases, doctors visits and dancing, and all manner of other things that make life what it is in the Green household. We hope that you have enjoyed reading it as much as we have enjoyed your encouraging comments and we hope that you will contine to follow along our journey as Green, Party of Five at greenpartyof5ive.blogspot.com. Tomorrow, our Gotcha Day, we will remove access restrictions to that web journal to make it easier for you to follow along on our Journey to Lia Faith.

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace, and Lia Faith
Green, Party of Five - Officially as of Tomorrow!

Ni Hao Ya'll ...

Her name is Wanda and she teaches us how to speak Chinese. Now, if that doesn't crack you up, you need to check your funny bone. A couple of boys from 'bama learning how to shoot the breeze with the Chinese. We've had several lessons now and Austin has seemingly taken a commanding lead in the intonation and pronunciation of the Chinese characters. Ms Wanda says goooood, verrry gooood each time he volunteers to read the next page. Then she looks at me with a look of impending disappointment, as if she knows already how badly I'm going to butcher "Good Morning!" She asked me for a picture. I think she's going to use it as a poster child for Chinese challenged southern boys.

Of course, I've already learned more than my southern girl and her mom and my mom learned a couple of years ago from the same Ms Wanda. Seems they couldn't do anything but laugh - as I write this, I'm having deja vu about their learning disorder - at the various nuances of the Chinese language. I don't know what happened in those classes, but I do know that none of the three amigoettes ever uttered a word of Chinese in Beijing, except for the occasional "Knee How" that elicited strange looks and sent locals slowly moving away, confused looks populating their countenance! Poor Wanda, had to deal with the ladies a couple of years ago and now this. Oh well, at least Austin gets it. He'll probably have to be my interpreter to the interpreter when we go back to China to bring home Lia Faith.

So far, we have learned many vowels and many other characters that aren't vowels and we've learned the four tones. We've learned that the Chinese language is a monosyllabic language - each word consists of only one syllable. The only thing close to our multi-syllable expressions is the fourth tone which calls for the pitch to start high, decrease to a certain point, and then increase again. I can't help but make my head go down then back up as I try desperately to get it right. I must look like Jar Jar Binks in my efforts. But, we've turned what we've got so far into over 100 words and can even put a few together to utter something that sounds Chinese. There's a good side and a bad side to getting the tones correct. The good side is that you're not likely to call your mother a horse. The bad is that if the Chinese see that you get the tones correct, they will assume you know Chinese and it'll be off to the races!!! At least this time, maybe I won't order vegetarian cheeseburgers at the Beijing McDonalds - you know, hamburgers without the hamburger. The clerks and cooks were all giggling and looking at me when I did that in Nanchang and finally Sally (our local interpreter) cleared the matter up by curiously asking me if my family were vegetarians. The she too joined in the laugh fest and I felt like Gomer Pyle at a logistics convention!

Anyway, we've been very busy lately trying to get Lily and Lia's bedroom and playroom finished before we leave - cause we know for sure when we get back, time for projects is probably nil. We turned the playroom into a bedroom and the bedroom into a playroom. Painted the walls of the newly annointed bedroom a shade of lime green that glows like Reactor Number 3 at Brownsferry. Seriously, from downstairs, you can see up the stairs, around the corner, and out the window, the refraction is so signficant from the color choice. If that weren't enough, we painted the ceiling in the new bedroom first pink, then yellow. Where's my Pepto Bismal? Poor Austin. His room upstairs is the last remnant of manly paint schemes in the entire upstairs. A pink room, a purple room, and now a lime green room. Pink ceilings, purple ceilings and yellow ceilings. Not to be outdone by the walls, the new ceiling fan sports 5 blades, each a different color!

As far as our adoption of Lia, we are on our way!!! TA came and travel arrangements were made. As I worked on Lily and Lia's new bedroom, no less than four ladybugs joined me. As I entered church this morning, a ladybug greeted me at the door. And Connie and Austin have been seeing them too. So, here we come Lia Faith. Ready or not. Ni cuh ma?

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace, and Lia Faith
Green, Party of Five