Green, Party of Four

The Last Post ...

2008-12-14T02:04:00.019-05:00

"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 ...

2008-12-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

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

Three Little Letters

2008-10-25T00:43:00.002-04:00

After waiting 134 days since writing a Letter of Intent (LOI) to adopt Lia Faith, we were finally blessed with those three little letters that families adopting children from China know so well - LOA! October 24th, 2008. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ... in Beijing!

Here's the story...

We had a travel meeting with Lifeline Children's Services today, so we decided to go a little early and have lunch in Birmingham. So we stopped an hour or so before our appointed time with Lifeline. While we waited for our lunch to arrive, Connie says "Do you think Karla has our LOA?" Now, if you're a participant in this waiting game, you know that Thursdays are usually the days that LOAs arrive and since we didn't get a call yesterday, I answered "Connie, you know Karla knows how much we're anticipating that. If she got it, I'm sure she would have called us. So, no, I don't think she has it."

Another conversation ensued about the wait. Conversations we have had numerous times, with each other, and separately by ourselves, alone with our thoughts. Questioning the process, wondering what had gone wrong, would it be next week since it wasn't this week, there's got to be something we can do, etc... This wouldn't be so difficult if we hadn't already committed to a particular child, whose beautiful face we have been staring at every day since mid-June. What we didn't know was that while we were having lunch, the overnight delivery service was pulled up to the door of Lifeline, unloading a document that would make our year! Karla received our LOA today and shared it with us as soon as we got to Lifeline. It was a great way to start the travel meeting.

The travel meeting consisted of 5 families, at various stages of waiting, and was scheduled many weeks ago. So, for those of you who believe in consequences, maybe you'd think "What a great turn of events." I choose, however, to believe that this is simply God's plan at work. Giving us time to wait and think about and pray about Lia Faith and then having the LOA show up for our signature at the very moment we're to arrive for this travel meeting. For the record, we've signed the LOA and given it back to Lifeline!!!!

In the course of the afternoon, we got to meet some awesome families who are sharing the same journey with us and who encourage us, simply by their presence and the reflection of God that we see in their actions and words relative to their own adoptions. We pray for each of these families and are so thankful that God introduced us to them at this time. We were also greatly blessed by the staff at Lifeline, Karla and Lauren, who lead a discussion of travel topics and bonding issues. We are so thankful we chose Lifeline because of their commitment to Jesus Christ and a biblical foundation for adoption.

Now, there's only one more approval we await from the Chinese - Travel Approval, or affectionately known as TA amongst the inhabitants of the world known as adoption. Hopefully, our TA will come in time for our travel to occur before the end of the year. Thus, the earlier comment about Christmas in Beijing. Please pray with us and for us that TA will arrive on schedule as well so that we may bring Lia Faith home to be with her family and to receive the love she so deserves and the medical attention that she needs! And please pray with us for the other families who wait at various stages of this process, that God would strengthen their resolve and their commitment to His plan of adoption, as he has ours, and that their letters of approval will come in due time.

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

She Never Said a Word About It ...

2008-10-21T23:44:00.002-04:00

Because that's what her husband had asked of her only weeks before. But God wanted me to know, and so He told me. In subtle and not so subtle ways. And He showed me everything I needed to know. Out of respect for privacy and admiration for an American hero, I will not say much more for now, but suffice it to say that God has placed before me an opportunity and a privilege and a responsibility to minister to the family of a fallen American hero. A man who did more for his country in a few short years than I can fully comprehend. By way of comparison, I feel inadequate. Don't get me wrong, I am very honored by what God has accomplished through me and of the family with which He has blessed me. Our God is an awesome God! He has given me the most awesome wife, son, and two daughters that anyone could wish for and has allowed me to work in His plan for adoption and care of His children in very magical ways. He has given me the opportunity to make the lives of children better by focusing on His Word and looking at one day at a time. And to see and understand their hurts and their joys, their wins and their losses. I've been blessed and honored to see what He has done through my own son, Austin, and I have been left in awe by the devotion He has placed in Connie's heart for Lily Grace and Lia Faith, and indeed every orphaned little girl in China.

But in this, I have been humbled. When I met her and her children, something seemed different and when I saw that powerful word "deceased" written next to "Father's name," I understood that this would be a more significant opportunity than I have been privileged to in the past. And then God opened His trophy room and allowed me in for a while to read the rest of the story. To review the list of accomplishments of this American hero, from the valor demonstrated and attained in achievements that earned him the Purple Heart to the instructions he gave his family in the event of his untimely calling is to simply be in awe. The term "bravery" has been rendered incapable and insufficient to describe the honor of this great American hero. The term "courage" is an imposter to what these heroes really possess. Those of us who don't understand simply refer to it as courage, but what heroes such as this live and breathe and walk in every day of their lives is beyond courage. They fight for freedom, mine and Connie's and Austin's and Lily's and Lia's, and yours, while we enjoy the fruits of their labor. They sacrifice and their families sacrifice because of a calling not understood by many, with full understanding that each day could be their last. And oftentimes, we simply take that for granted. Shame on us! And then God, as He is prone to doing, places something in our path that is too big, too significant to simply take for granted. Such was the case on this day. When you look into the eyes of a child and know that child is left fatherless by events they do not control, or even know about, through sacrifices that benefit you, you have no choice but to be humbled. And to weep for the child. And to ask God "What can I do?" Here am I, send me.

The answer is given in John Chapter 21, Verse 16 when Jesus says to Peter (and all disciples to follow) "Take care of my sheep." And again in Verse 17 "Feed my sheep." And later, in James 1:27, a verse written on the hearts of adoptive families around the world: "Religion that God, our Father, accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." That He would place before me an opportunity such as this at a time such as this is difficult to understand and I hope, I pray, that I can fulfill His hopes and His wishes for ministry in this case. I will do my best, but I will not do this alone, because without Him, I can accomplish nothing, but with Him I can do all things. I have asked the Pastor for his help and he has agreed. And thus, the Army of the Lord arises and stands ready to receive its orders.

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

Happy Birthday Sweet Baby Girl

2008-09-24T10:04:00.007-04:00

On September 24th, 2004, God sent one of His most precious possessions to live on earth, in the hope that somehow, she would be able to change the world. The family that God placed her with could not keep her, for reasons known only to them and to God, and so they placed her at the gate of the Yongxiu County Social Welfare Institute in Jiangxi, China. The orphanage named her Jiang Yong Xing and she grew in God's grace and mercy until He readied a new family for her. We were that family and she has definitely changed our world and His. Just before her second birthday, Jiang Yong Xing became Lily Grace Xing Green and beban turning our world upside down.

We've celebrated three birthdays with Lily Grace now - my how fast time goes by! The first year, we celebrated together as a family, just Lily Grace, Austin, and mommy and daddy. We didn't want to overwhelm her. It was such a cool celebration. Then last year, we had the children from church over for a Dora bounce party. Most of the kids were much older than Lily Grace, but it didn't matter to her. So this year, we decided to finally have one of those invite everyone parties that you simply cannot have at home - for fear of your home being destroyed! And so, Jump Zone agreed to let us terrorize their facility for a few hours one Saturday afternoon. This time, we invited all of Lily Grace's friends and she was so excited she could barely breathe by the time the party was to happen.

Check out the pictures of Lily Grace and her friends at her "Jump Zone" party! Thank you to all of Lily Grace's friends for coming to the party and thanks to their parents for letting us share time with them. Thanks especially to Tom and Laura Morgan who drove from Russelville to bring Lily Grace's friend, Sarah to the party. Sarah also grew up in the Yongxiu Social Welfare Institute in Jiangxi while waiting for her forever family.

Happy Birthday Sweet Baby Girl! Mommy and Daddy and Austin love you!

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

God's Plan of Adoption ... Presented by Lifeline

2008-09-18T23:22:00.007-04:00

God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit set up shop in the Fellowship Hall at Isom's Chapel on Wednesday night. And that we would be so fortunate and blessed to be there and witness His power and His grace, as His Word was so beautifully shared is hardly imaginable. For weeks, we had worried about this night (I know, I know, worry is opposite of faith). We had done all we could, and then some, to get the word out about an Adoption Information Meeting at our church. Lifeline Children's Services was coming to Isom's Chapel and we really wanted very badly for everyone to see why we chose Lifeline. We hoped and prayed for families to come and for God to be glorified and for the blessing that is adoption to be shared with families called by God to attend, learn, and possibly adopt one of His children.

We planned and coordinated with Lifeline - Crissy is truly one of God's own angels! Crissy and I worked out an agenda and Lifeline planned their part (God was planning His part too!). We wrote an article and got it published in the Huntsville Times Faith and Values section - thank you Kay Campbell for your kindness and help. We mailed posters and brochures to over 60 churches and asked them to make an announcement to their congregations, with a goal of finding those with whom God was speaking ever so gently about His plan of adoption. We told our friends and asked them to tell their friends. We wrote articles for the church bulletin and had the meeting announced on our company websites. We asked our friends from Athens Families with Children from China for help and they responded by bringing food and supportive smiles! We wanted everything to be perfect and so we worked very hard. And we prayed. And the devil got mad! But there was simply nothing he could do. Because on this night, as with every other, he was defeated, banished to the sidelines to watch as God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit did a victory dance in his end zone!

After all our preparations, the day finally came for the meeting. We thought we might have a few families, but they were a bit iffy on whether they'd be there or not. We certainly didn't want Lifeline to travel all the way from Birmingham and have no one to speak to. "Oh ye of little faith," God said. "Have I not shown you many times over My power and My majesty? Why do you worry? The starting lineup is here now! Go, sit over there and watch!"

I spent the last 30 minutes or so trying to pray in the sanctuary where it would be quiet. But the devil kept trying break up our little huddle. Little did I know that only a few words were needed. "God, let it be Your will that is done tonight and let us not get in the way of Your plans." The rest was extraneous. I can imagine God, amused at my ramblings when He had everything all worked out, saying to Jesus and the Holy Spirit "Well, we'll keep working on this one. But for now, let's get to work."

So when Lifeline showed up, we discussed the order of service (we'd already coordinated that once, but a second time would be good, right?) The pastor would pray, then I would give a short testimony of our experiences with Lifeline and introduce Dave, the international director. Dave would talk about 5 minutes and then turn things over to Karla and Allison for 20 minutes each to discuss each country we work in. Ready, break! They asked how much time we'd have and I said to take as much time to say what the Lord would have them say.

Then I decided to show Lifeline a video of their adoptive families, while we waited for guests. Austin and I had taken pictures at Lifeline's Reunion on Saturday and built a short video using those pictures. We intended to show the video at the meeting and wanted their blessing first. I completely underestimated the emotions this video would evoke. Pure, raw, unfiltered emotions that brought tears to the Lifeline staff's faces as they saw each child, once an orphan, smiling and happy with their forever families. Orphans they themselves had helped to bring home. If you've adopted, you know what I'm talking about. If you've been to an orphanage, you know what I'm talking about. If you've seen children anywhere in need, you know what I'm talking about.

By the time the meeting began, God had put 7 to 10 families (not including Isom's Chapel or Athens FCC) in our midst and said "See, the harvest is plentiful, now let's get to work." We had 57 chairs in the fellowship hall and nearly all of them were filled. I followed the script as planned, but took a few minutes longer than we'd agreed on and then it was Dave's turn. But first, I showed the video. And that's where God said "I'll take it from here."

Over the next 55 minutes, Dave gave the most passionate, unashamed, plea for God's people, present in the fellowship hall this night, to be "doers" of the Word and not hearers only, quoting James, Chapter 2. Karla and Allison never even got to speak. But that's OK, because by now, they were both a real mess! Dave completely put Lifeline and Isom's Chapel aside and focused on the Word, borrowing from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, quoting Paul, and describing Jesus and His disciples' interaction where children were concerned (Let the little children come unto me). All for the sake of bringing God's plan of adoption to the center of the room. And there weren't many dry eyes in our group as Dave related how 148 million orphans in the world simply want a daddy or a mommy, like our own children. And how several of them had crawled into his lap and asked "Are you my daddy?"

Dave quoted Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith ... it is the gift of God," a verse we carry on Lia Faith's web journal. And he gave us a plan with four options. 1) Adopt. Bring home a child who simply wants to belong. 2) Give. Adoption may not be for everyone, but you may be able to help a family gifted by God to be adoptive parents, but in need of financial resources. 3) Volunteer. Lifeline and other agencies need volunteers to reduce the costs for adoptive families. And to quote Dave, they promise not to call you more than once a week! or 4) Support. Pray for someone adopting, call them and simply tell them you love them for following God's will. Write them a letter - or comment on their blog.

Dave made it clear that it is God's gift to us to be able to do one of these four things. Each of us has something in our hands that we can give for God's purpose. No matter how much or how little. Sometimes I tend to hold on to what I have in mine for fear I might not get it back. And I miss out on the blessing of what God would trade me for what's in my hand. Please don't miss that blessing yourself. Choose one of the four options and give God what's in your hand. And accept the blessing that's in His.

Wow, I wish everyone could have been at God's table with us last night. When the meeting was over, I thought Karla and Allison were going to be overrun by the families wanting to get more information and ask their questions. I even got to talk to two families myself and both of them seem to be leaning heavily now toward adopting. I met a man with a funny name that I recognized and we determined that I had taught his little sister guitar lessons over 20 years ago. Another family came up and we found out that we work for the same company, so we'll be able to keep in touch. And as icing on the cake (BTW, we did have cake thanks to Connie!), we had two families join Athens FCC this week.

Thanks so much to our friends at Lifeline for all they did on this special night!!! And thanks to our 'family' at Athens FCC for the food and support (see number 4 above!).

Sorry for the dissertation, but when God comes to town, you can't quit talking about it!

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

Adoption ... His Plan, Our Blessing

2008-09-07T15:15:00.005-04:00

Wow, for the past six or seven weeks, we have been so busy it seems. With school starting up and Austin's band activities and Lily Grace's school starting and Upward Basketball starting, and Austin and I taking Chinese language lessons, ... we have not had time to take a deep breath. On top of that, we decided to host an adoption seminar at Isom's Chapel and we have been very busy promoting the seminar (there's a separate motive for the is post!). The following is an article that should be published in the Huntsville Times on Friday, 12 September in the Faith and Values section.

"The concept of adoption has found great acceptance among families called by God to reach out to orphans, both in the U.S. and abroad. Indeed, many adoptive parents are surprised to experience the same emotions that accompany the privilege of biological children. While it is God’s plan, it is our blessing to nurture these little additions to our families.

Hello, we are Jerry and Connie Green. We worship at Isom’s Chapel and we are members of the Athens Chapter of Families with Children from China (FCC). We have two children at home, Matthew Austin and Lily Grace Xing Green, and we are expecting a third soon, by way of adoption. Lily Grace was born in Jiangxi Province, China on Sept 24th, 2004. We traveled to China to adopt her on July 23rd, 2006. Now, we are in the process of adopting a second little girl, also from China, whom we hope to bring home this year. Her name is Lia Faith Xurong Green. Lia Faith was born on March 23rd, 2006. Because there are so many children, both here in the U.S. and abroad, that need a forever family, and because we have been witness to the conditions under which they survive, we have chosen to do what we can to help. Our advice to others seeking to adopt is to first pray and ask God for direction and then act according to His plan.

The concept of adoption is simple; however, the process and the associated paperwork can be quite cumbersome, especially for international adoptions. The “paperwork pregnancy” can last two or three years. Thankfully, there are many agencies that provide services and counseling for adoptive parents. Lifeline Children’s Services is one such agency. Lifeline provides services for families wishing to adopt domestically or internationally. Founded in 1981, Lifeline is focused on placing children in Christian homes where they can be loved, nurtured, and given the opportunity to grow in a home where God is exalted. In addition to the staff here in Alabama, Lifeline provided in-country facilitators in China to help complete the adoption and act as interpreters and guides to a family certainly stepping out of its comfort zone to receive a blessing from God. We could not imagine having completed our adoption of Lily Grace, and now Lia Faith, without the experienced help and loving support of the staff at Lifeline.

The opportunity for adoptive families to support one another is an important aspect after the adoption becomes final and the adoption agency has completed its work. Organizations such as FCC with chapters in Athens, Decatur, Huntsville, and Florence provide opportunities for adoptive families to fellowship with one another and share their experiences. These organizations hold many events during the year that allow the children to spend time together learning the culture of their birth country. This time can be crucial to the growth of the adopted child. The Athens Chapter of FCC has grown to over 25 families and meets regularly to celebrate various U.S. and Asian holidays. We have been greatly blessed to be a part of this group of families, whom we did not know before, and count its members as some of our very best friends.

As part of our mission to help other adoptive families, we welcome everyone to attend an informational meeting on adoption, presented by Lifeline Children’s Services. The meeting will be at Isom’s Chapel on Sept 17th at 6:30 pm. In addition to Lifeline, members of Athens FCC will be on hand to answer questions regarding post adoption support groups."

We would be honored to have you as our guests on the 17th during the Adoption seminar presented by Lifeline Children's Services. Isom's Chapel is located at 16230 Mooresville Road, Athens, AL 35613. The phone number for the church office is 232-5892.

“In love, He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will…” Ephesians 1:5.

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

When Love Takes You In - Steven Curtis Chapman

2008-08-15T23:34:00.001-04:00

Finally, a Few Pics from the "Lotion"

2008-08-02T23:59:00.020-04:00

Busy. We've been really busy lately. It's hard to believe how fast time is passing by. You see, we're adopting again. Yes, yes, most of you know that already and most understand when we say simply "We've been busy." How busy you ask? So busy, that we didn't even realize that a new month had dawned. It's August, almost time for Austin to start school (and Lily Grace too for that matter). Time for those who follow it to begin boasting of the prowess of their favorite football team (all of mine will likely be mush this year, oh well). Time for trying to figure out what happened to July (and June...).

"June, July, I don't know either!"
I cannot account for the full month of July. I don't know what happened to it, which way it went, or whether there were any innocent bystanders that got caught up in its whirlwind. I vaguely remember that early in the month, right after the Annual 4th of July celebration, we loaded up the truck and headed south for a few days, OK a week, at the "lotion." And when I say loaded up, I mean loaded up. Put it this way, if we'd been required to pull over at the weigh stations, we'd have been assessed an immediate interstate roadway tax and asked to separate our load into two semis. You'd think we were moving! But getting a chance to share pictures of that adventure has been next to impossible. So, finally, here they are.

So, what's this "lotion?" Well, last year was Lily Grace's first trip to the "ocean," but she couldn't pronounce it correctly, so it came out "lotion." We all got a real kick out of that and, of course, the added attention when she said "lotion" encouraged the little English major to work harder on pronouncing "lotion." It was too funny. But now, the English major has graduated and is becoming a teacher of the complex language herself. Why, just the other day, she corrected my grammatical foul ball with an "Actually, it's ... ", with the emphasis on actually. She even told me one afternoon that Lia is not going to understand us, we'll have to teach her to speak! "And I'm just the teacher," she didn't add. Anyway, back to the beach (figuratively speaking).

Thinking we were a long way from having our adoption process hit the final stretch, we decided in May to go to the beach after the 4th of July. Even though I kept telling her that Lia was coming home in '08, Connie didn't think we'd hear anything from our agency this year. After all, we were way down on the list and it had been a bumpy road to getting all our paperwork completed and submitted. There was even a time we weren't sure if we'd be able to continue with Lifeline Children's Services. So, with that background, we made reservations across the street from Pampono Joe's Seafood House in Destin, Florida. Of course, just as planned, we heard from our agency in June and the train had not only left the station - we were on it and it was full speed ahead. But since we had made all the plans were practically packed, we decided to go ahead to the beach (if the condo is within walking distance of Pampono Joe's, Connie's happy all week)! As we waited our turn to sample the cuisine at the fine establishment on our first night in town, we heard for the first time "Green, Party of Five" announced (see next paragraph). Oh, the beach ...

So this year, Austin was given the option of asking a friend to come along with us and he chose his bestest best buddy (and fellow golf teammate) Daniel (his parents call him Landon, we call him Daniel - he answers to both). Thus, we became Green, Party of Five this week and thus the announcement at Joe's. It was good for Austin to have a friend his age to hang out with and to play golf. Daniel's a really good kid and was more than helpful with Lily Grace. In fact, every time we went somewhere, Lily wanted Daniel to help her into her seat and to get her in and out of the car. She even said she was going to marry Daniel!
A crush already!!!! What's this world coming to? Whoa, now. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I wonder if she was just trying to upstage her big brother and steal his friend away for the week! At least that's my hope.

"Can't this elevator go any faster?"
Lily loved the sand and the ocean and, just like last year, she was not afraid of anything. We had to hold her to keep her from running in over her head. And sand? Not a problem. "Cover me up, daddy, like a mermaid!" Lily is so independent sometimes that we forget she's only three. Because of her appearance, her outspokeness (is that a word Ms English major?), and natural beauty, she attracts a lot of attention, which sometimes makes us nervous. But Lily Grace just takes the opportunity to introduce herself and explain whatever's happening at the moment. Stranger? Naaww. Never met one.

Austin and Daniel got to play two great golf courses - Regatta Bay and Shalimar Pointe. Regatta Bay is one of the best manicured golf courses we're ever seen and the boys were so excited to play the course frequented by PGA tour greats. Regatta Bay generally had its way with both of them, but after the initial awe subsided, they both played fairly well (no pun intended). Austin's fairway game is improving greatly and these fairways were like most course's greens.

Shalimar surprised us by offering up a special drink caddy on the 7th, but he was a little slow and forgot to bring the water - he was a turtle! I'm not sure if it means anything (maybe someone could tell me), but ever since we were blessed to be able to adopt Lia Faith, turtles have been showing up. We had a turtle invade our Dragon Boat races in Athens in June, then we had a turtle show up in our back yard (first turtle in four years) while we were cooking out with neighbors, and then, while we were heading up the fairway at Shalimar Pointe's 7, a great big turtle came sauntering out onto the fairway. Check him out in the pictures. I guess we'll have to get Lia a pet turtle.

Anyway, the boys weren't the only ones to play golf. We met my sister and her family at the Track one night for a round of putt putt golf and a night of sweating (thought I was back in Nanchang for a while). Lily played quite well, even making several holes in one (of course she got to pick the tee location!). When we got to number 12, Lily met a new friend. One who, legend has it, that if she kissed him, he would turn in to a prince. I encouraged her to pick him up, just to see her response. And (remember, she's not scared of anything) of course, she grasped the four legged prince wannabe between her thumb and forefinger and began taxiing him in for a close encounter of the lips kind. Austin caught her just in time by telling her that he had germs. I was curious to see if he would actually turn into a prince if she kissed him - I did! Guess I'll have to wait to learn the truth about frogs and princes. Check out the pictures of Lily's curious look at the frog.

Oh, I almost forgot. We managed to get in a little deep sea fishing while in Destin. Aboard the "Little Nemo." Yes, a little kids boat. Basically, the way it works is this. You pay $25 each so that two "mates" get to go fishing. Well, not entirely. At least they let the little kids catch the bait fish. We weren't very successful at that though, so that likely shortened our trip. Not that any of the seasick passengers minded. Check out the king mackerals that we caught. I got to bring in one of them myself, after all the kids and the "mates" tired out! Lily Grace says it was her fish since she did some of the reeling.

The trip was great and was a wonderful way for us to try to relax for a few days, knowing that the train to China was well underway and our tickets were being punched. Next stop, Beijing!

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace, Lia Faith (and Daniel, errr Landon)
Green, Party of Five (or six)

Gotcha!

2008-07-24T00:05:00.012-04:00

Bet that gotcha attention! Sorry, not talking about Lia Faith. This "gotcha" is a celebration of our magical day two years ago today when God brought Lily Grace Xing Green into our lives. And things haven't been the same since. Pink has become the standard around here. Lily Grace thinks pink is the color everything should be, so it was only right to get her some pink roses to match her mother's roses.

Look mommy, I got some roses!

It's funny how you remember little details, and good I guess that we can put them down here for Lily Grace to read one day. Here's my best recollection of what that day was like. Let's start out the day before ...

It was a hot day in Nanchang, Jiangxi China on July 22nd, 2006. Somewhere in the mid 100s, not quite 110, but inching ever closer to "really hot" as Sally would later tell us. We arrived from Beijing in the late afternoon/early evening, having spent a few days becoming "experts" on Chinese culture so we could "educate" Lily Grace as she grew up. Looking back, we were still pretty tired from our cross-country, cross-Pacific flight. Even after a few days in Beijing to acclimate, jetlag was still the 800 lb elephant in the China shop (no pun intended). Our jetlag set the tone for interpersonal relations, which is a nice way to say we were not quite over our agitation at the internal body clock malfunctions and blamed each other for our discomfort. In short, we were dragging that Sunday afternoon and a bit tired as we arrived in Nanchang (Nun - chung!). Spread out like a squadron of lookouts, our party stretched from the luggage rack to the exit door. By this time, Connie must have been aware that we were about to receive some exciting news, because she was manning the point (that means she was out front), while I was bringing up the rear to make sure everyone made it out of the airport and into Nun-chung.

We first met "Sally" at the airport exit. She was standing there with a big sign that said "Welcome Green Family." She was wearing an "I'm about to laugh" smile, something that we came to realize was a permanent expression on her beautiful Chinese face. God had provided a real angel for us in Nun-chung. Her English was good, well enough that if she were here in the states, she would easily assimilate into society. Catching up to Connie, I approached the lady with the sign and said "Mary?" Mary was the name of the person we were told to meet, but Mary was unable to meet us, so Sally was her replacement. "No," she replied, "Sally." Oh, OK. Well we're the Greens. By this time, all of us (except maybe Austin) were wringing wet with sweat. The temperature and the humidity seemed to be locked into a spiraling battle to see which could reach 110 first. It was a heat unlike any other we had ever experienced, even living in Alabama. I asked Sally is it always this hot here in "Naaan-chaaang?" Suddenly, that "I'm about to laugh" smile burst open and she laughed out loud. "What did you say?" "Naaan-chaaang." More laughter. "The city is called Nun-chung!" You must say it with correct enunciation and head movement. Quickly. You try "Nun-chung." Thus, our first lesson in Chinese.

Now, back to that good news Connie was anticipating. We were told that we'd probably be able to meet our Lily Grace for the first time on Tuesday, July 24th. But Sally told us that the adoption had been rescheduled for Monday, July 23rd. Great!!! We only have to wait one day. To me, the best way to describe that moment is to liken it to when Austin was born. Connie had been in labor for several hours with the doctor coming in every so often to check on the progress. OK, actually she was in labor only a few hours - even then, God understood very well her impatience. We were just enjoying our time, visiting, talking with family and friends until at about 2 am, the doctor announced "OK, she's ready!" And that's when it hit me. A child is about to be born to us - and then we have to take care of it, and feed it, and ... uh oh! So, back to Sally. "You will get to see baby tomorrow." Uh-oh, a baby is about to be given to us, and then we'll have to take care of it, and feed it, and ... Of course, in both instances, the moment the baby was handed to us, time came to a complete standstill while we adored what God had given us. Anxiety gave way immediately to adoration and love. So ...

Sally took us to our hotel, the Gloria in downtown Nanchang, hard by the river. The hotel was very nice, easily measuring up to western standards (perhaps exceeding western standards). But there were no Americans anywhere to be found. We heard a few languages being spoken that we didn't recognize, but thankfully, many of the Chinese spoke some English and a few were quite fluent. So we didn't feel totally like we were on Mars. After checking in and unpacking and setting up the computer (to write to this blog!), we decided to eat. Pizza Hut. Connie and Austin claim the Pizza Hut was good. I don't think it tasted anything like pizza, but I couldn't tell you what it did taste like. At least they didn't put fried eggs on top of it.

Obviously, we couldn't sleep that night. Except Austin. He announced that he was going to bed early so he'd be plenty rested up for the next day's events. Turns out, he was the smart one. We just stayed up arranging and rearranging anything and everything. Wanting for it to be perfect. I think that was just a way to kill time, ultimately. Eventually, we did fall asleep.

The morning of July 23rd, 2006, we dressed, ate breakfast - our first at the Gloria - a meal that would become the staple of the day. Ready to go, we took one last picture as a family of three and loaded up in the van for the short ride to the local CCAA office. A critical mistake was made here. The camera and camcorder were kept at room temperature - pretty cool until we exited the hotel and got on the van. As soon as the electronics equipment was exposed to its new Nun-chung environment, each one immediately declared "It's too humid and too hot and I quit!" So, major major disappointment - no video and only limited pictures from cameras that did work.

At CCAA, we were led to a "courtroom" like area and left alone for quite some time. Even Sally left. I began to wonder if this was some kind of test to see if we really wanted Lily Grace. But after a time, we heard footsteps in the hallway - the building had wood floors that creaked and gave off loud noises with each step. We could see her in the distance, held by a lady and accompanied by two other men. Lily Grace had clearly been crying for a while and was still crying. It seemed like the next events took an eternity. Passports were requested and other paperwork which Sally had. They looked us over and finally became convinced that we were indeed the Greens, Lily's new family. Smiles now. All except Lily - she was still crying.

I'll never forget what happened next, as Connie grew impatient (surprise, surprise, surprise...) and moved in. She reached out and took Lily Grace from the Nanny (later we learned children's director) and I think the nanny was a bit surprised by that turn of events. We didn't get many pictures of the event because of the aforementioned camera strike and because the entire thing, though it seemed like it took hours, was over in a matter of minutes.

And just like that, Jiang Yongxing became Lily Grace Xing Green and was united with her forever family. And they all lived happily ever after. Well, more on that later ...

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

Now that Everyone Else Has Posted ...

2008-07-15T20:02:00.010-04:00

about their 4th of July celebrations, we'll be happy to bring up the rear. It's not that we didn't want to share, just that we had only limited access to the Internet while we were at the beach. Next week, we'll get around to posting about Lily's second trip to the 'lotion.' Sorry Laine, a little busy this week!

Check out the cool slideshow below. Austin and I took the pictures, mostly during the Athens Fireworks show, but some while we were in New York this year and last year with the Beta Club. We visited Ellis Island where during the height of immigration to America in the early 1900s, some 20,000 people a day came ashore to join our great country. How cool is that! We learned that taking pictures of fireworks can be tricky, but if you overexpose and move the camera slightly while taking the picture you can get some really cool results!

As Americans who have traveled to a foreign land and who have been witness to how millions of God's children are forced to endure life, we pledge to never again take for granted the freedoms that we enjoy. And we pledge to pray for and support those who labor without appropriate appreciation to make sure we are privileged to enjoy that freedom. We lift our soldiers, male and female, up in prayer and plead Psalm 91 for their safety and quick return home to their families. We pray also for our leaders, that they may be granted the wisdom needed to chart the course for our great country and that, as a result, God may be glorified by a Christian nation, begging all who seek Him to come. God Bless America.

Now, about that celebration! Every year, it is our family tradition to attend the fireworks show at Athens High School. We've been going since before Austin was born and we haven't missed a year since he was born. Even after the first year of absolute terror (we had three 7 month old babies in the cab of the truck, all crying ever louder with each exploding firework). The 4th of July celebration and Christmas parade. Traditions that cannot, will not, be broken as long as God allows us to attend.

It's funny, as we've gotten a little older (just a little, mind you), our little town of Athens has seemingly become more and more the sleepy little town of Doc Hollywood, without the pet pig. Oh wait a minute, we did have one of those once - a pot bellied pig. No, not us, the local animal hospital kept one as a pet 'til someone decided it wasn't right to keep a pet pig. I think a city ordinance banished the pig to a farm on the outskirts of town, where he was last seen earning $2 per ride from snaggled-tooth toddlers! Ah, the joys of life in a small town. And to think, as teenagers, we once thought how cool it would be to live in the big city where our chances of being mugged on the metro were in inverse proportion to the number of travelers left on the train! Why, just a few weekends ago, we closed up the streets downtown and settled down in the middle of Market Street to enjoy some music on the courthouse square - that would have been a good spot for the pot-bellied pig to reappear! But I digress, ...

So, on this 4th of July, we arrived early so we could get a choice spot by the football field. The Bryants and Scotts had saved us a place where we'd be sure to have a great view. And since we were there early, why not ride the pony (while simultaneously avoiding the spent fuel left behind by the miniature mare). And slide the slide - twice. And crawl through the belly of the worm. And bounce in the big balloon thing. And of course, what 4th of July celebration would be complete without cotton candy, shaved ice, and a $5 T-shirt to mark the occasion.

Austin and Kaitlyn enjoyed the evening chasing Lily Grace and then settling back for some fireworks.Lily Grace also enjoyed the fireworks. Lily has never been frightened by them and appears to be intrigued by all the different colors and loud noises. It may go back to her days in China. When we visited her orphanage, the director and assistant director set off a few rounds of choice Chinese firecrackers to welcome us (Lily) back home. The louder the better according to her point of view. We took lots of pictures at this years festive occasion.

And to top it all off, Lily Grace finally received her US passport from Dept of Homeland Security! Yea, now she can travel as an American!

If you didn't get to watch the slide show above, go back and check it out!

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

Dragon Boats, Southern BarBQ, and an Update on Lia's Site

2008-07-03T22:49:00.012-04:00

A dragon boat (traditional Chinese: 龍舟or 龍船; simplified Chinese: 龙舟 or 龙船; pinyin: lóngzhōu, lóngchuán) is a very long and narrow human-powered boat used in the team paddling sport or dragon boat racing which originated in China. For racing events, dragon boats are always rigged with decorative Chinese dragon heads and tails. At other times the decorative regalia is usually removed, although the drum often remains aboard for training purposes. Dragon boat races are traditionally on the day of the Duanwu Festival, also known in English as the Dragon Boat Festival, making dragonboating the only sport to be celebrated as a national holiday. The Chinese calendar date is the fifth day of the fifth month, which usually corresponds to a date in June. Source: Wikipedia

Saturday, June 21st, the Athens Chapter of Families with Children from China held it's Third Annual Dragon Boat Races! And so far, I'm three for three. No, I didn't win the race all three years, but I did make it to the celebration all three years. Hmm ... racing, now that's a good idea. I think we should start making boats and letting the girls and boys race them, just like Pinewood Derby races!!! Alright dads, get out the skill saws, tool sets, and paint brushes - and no cheatin'!

God has blessed us with a wonderful group of friends who have also adopted children from China or are waiting their turn to experience the riches of His plan of adoption. Some have adopted children domestically as well. Each of these families represents, in its own way, a significant piece of God's plan for the salvation of His children and it is such an honor to fellowship with them and watch the children grow and mature. Through various celebrations throughout the year, we are able to share stories of accomplishments and minister to each other in our times of need. Not to mention getting to spend time with the children. Oh, and eat. Too much of that I'm afraid!

OK, so maybe our little girls and boys won't be all that interested in racing boats, but I'm guessing it would be great fun for the parents. Pushing, shoving, elbows, you know, all that competitive stuff we parents are good at! Of course, our boats would be small. We wouldn't ride in them, just push them. Oh wait, we could get one of those little wind up toys and yank out the motor and attach a propeller. Wow, this is gonna be fun! Maybe we could go online and find some kits for building these things. Wouldn't that be cool? We could have prizes for the fastest, slowest, coolest, etc... Oh boy, I'm startin' on mine right away. Austin could paint it up real neat for me. But it'll be Lily and Lia's boat, Austin and I will just 'help' out making it. We won't have any silly weight limits or rules either, just that it fits in the stream with enough room for a few others to race. Our little Chinese dragon boat racers were more interested in the ducks and turtles than the oars and propellers. They would rather wade in the stream (boy that water is really cold) than race each other.

Of course, the highlight of our version of the Dragon Boat races is the annual splashfest in the Dragon Boat stream. The first year we participated, many of the children were dressed nicely for the Dragon Boat festival, unsuspecting mothers having put them in their cutest little outfits for the anticipated flashfest of cameras. When the boat races deteriorated into a splashing, muddy, mess, all the moms realized that nice, pretty dresses were not the best choice of attire for this day. And the flashfest turned into a splashfest. Now, just to set the record straight, I was not responsible for the muddy mess. ... Only partially so. Yes, I was in the middle of it, but Marcy and Katie made me do it. I think Marcy was first to experience the muddy bank of the small stream that year. And since I was close by, she decided that I too needed to be soaked (probably to draw attention away from her own circumstance). And from there, as they say "It's was on!"

The first year, they went easy on me. But the second year, well, let's just say that I was easily the wettest dog in the park that day. Splashing seems to be an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon, especially if it means getting someone wet who doesn't look dressed for getting wet. And when one starts, they are like a school of pirhana - vicious and splashy. And now, we have boys (Paul William and Noah) who get into the fray. Paul William kept saying "I want you in the water!" He and Austin really had a great time together. It's really heartwarming to see Austin and Paul William hanging out together and just generally enjoying each other's company. Now, the moms dress their children in old clothes and flip flops suitable for a day in the stream and by the end of the day everyone is soaking wet and exhausted from the laughter. Paul William and Lily Grace filled the downtown air with constant, unfettered laughter, each trying their best to outlaugh the other. Moms and dads watched eagerly from the bluff (a safe distance away) while little splash makers attempted to see who could get the wettest. This year, several girls added head dunking to the festivities to make sure they were wet "from head" to toe! Thanks to everyone at Athens FCC for making the day such a memorable occasion - I think the kids enjoyed it too, but you'll have to ask them to be sure. Check out the pictures from our day at the park.

Noah just decided to take a long nap in the swing - how cool is that! Gracie May and Emma enjoyed the boats, while Lily Mei, Hannah, and Brooklyn enjoyed the bubble maker toys - I guess that's what you call them. Marcy and Katie thought the park ranger, otherwise known as a box turtle, was the neatest part of the day. Tonya liked getting her picture taken. Oh, wait a minute that was Rebecca, or was that Vivian? I forget, better check the photo log. Mary Beth won the prize for being the wettest (I was not eligible). Lily Grace just liked splashing and splashing and splashing. Me, I enjoyed the kids, the stream, and , er, the food! Connie ... the conversation with other moms - they're probably talking about us dads, you just know it!

We absolutely love our Athens FCC families. Knowing each of them is a great joy and spending time with them is one of our greatest blessings. Having so much in common and knowing the joy and the trials that each of us experience in travel and raising children with a common heritage (a beautiful heritage I might add) makes it easy to love these families. BTW, Athens FCC, see you Saturday for Citizenship Day!

Just a brief update on the new web site (I can't bring myself to say "blog," it sounds funny and odd): We were very excited and humbled by the number of people who wanted to follow Lia's story. And we have been working hard to get all the email addresses into the permissions file. This is taking more time than I thought it would. Partly because when a reader's comment didn't include an email address, we went looking for it - usually at the reader's own personal web site (can't say blog) and really enjoyed the stories we found there. Somebody should put all this together into a book - it's very fascinating to read. And it is obvious that God is at work in a mighty way. One of these children will one day return to China to lead an amazing story of salvation for China's people! How cool will that be!

We need email addresses for Diane and Debra. I am sorry to single you out, but we don't have any other way of reaching you and we need your email address. We should be finished with the new web site and its permissions early next week.

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace & Lia Faith
Green, Party of 5ive

God Has Spoken Again ... Pre-Approval (PA)!

2008-06-28T00:32:00.007-04:00

Dear Lia Faith,

We have been praying that God would show us your face for so many months now. And it has seemed like an eternity since we acted on His plan to try to find you. We’ve completed a lot of paperwork and we’ve prayed a lot and we’ve waited a lot. Suddenly, God has decided that the time is now. And we couldn’t be more excited! The past month seems to have happened completely in a single day that lasted for year. Sleep has been a commodity in short supply. Uncertainty has been present in record quantities. God is at work in an awesome way here at the Greens and we’re doing our best to keep up and keep obedient. His plans are unfolding before our very eyes and our choice is to participate or question His desires. We choose to participate, be obedient, and wait for His blessings, ever hopeful that we’ve made prayerful decisions and that God is pleased. We have seen pictures of you and don’t know how we ever made it this long without you in our lives. Lily Grace already loves you and keeps asking about you and when she will get to play with you. We need to tell you this story so that one day, you will know how God planned for you to come home with us and be our daughter forever.

Somehow, we’ve known since Lily Grace came home that she’d one day have a sister to play with and to keep her company and to share life with as time passed. We just kept it inside us, wondering if it was just us, or if it was truly God’s plan. Friends kidded us when we brought Lily Grace home that we should just go ahead and adopt again immediately. If only they knew, there are no more quarters under the seat cushions. No loose change lying around to accumulate into a small fortune. We laughed outwardly, but inside we knew that could be God’s plan. And so we waited. After having Lily Grace home for a year, we went back to Lifeline to complete her one year post adoption assessment. While we were there, we asked about adopting again. Your friends at Lifeline were very excited, but didn’t want to seem too forward. They wanted to make sure that it was our idea, not theirs. I’m sure that they would like to see every one of their families enjoy multiple adoptions, but they wait on God to make the call.

To be honest, at the time I didn’t know how we’d possibly do this again. The financial and emotional aspects seemed overwhelming. And the process had changed and was continuing to change. If there was one constant, it was change! But, we just kept praying and waiting on God. We asked Him if we should adopt again and He said Yes and that we should name you Faith, to be a constant reminder, not only in our lives, but yours also, that He is Lord and everything and everyone is His. Including you.

Austin really liked the name Faith and thought it went well with Lily’s middle name Grace. Connie picked out your first name Lia. I got to choose Green as your last name – original, don’t you think? Then, He started opening doors and making provisions for you. When I began asking “How, God, can we do this,” God said “Don’t worry about how, I’ve got it covered.” And He has. He has provided everything we have needed financially and He has loosened emotions within us to help us see why He wants this done. Suddenly, the company I work for started an adoption assistance program and provided the financial tools and instruments to make this happen. It is becoming apparent that when we finally get to bring you home, it will be God’s doing and not ours. He has provided everything and we have been blessed.

So, back to that year-long day that lasted a month. It all started when we attended the Memorial Service for Maria Sue Chapman, Steven Curtis and “Mary Beth” Chapman’s youngest daughter who was called home at such a young age. Maria Sue was a little girl born in China and destined to become an American girl, just like you. We don’t know why things happen as they do, especially when they happen to someone so precious as Maria Sue. Only God knows that to its fullest extent and I’m so thankful that He doesn’t burden His children with such heavy loads. The day before the service, Connie told me we had to go and I was reluctant. She said that since Steven Curtis Chapman had such an impact on us during our adoption of Lily Grace, that we should go. But Maria Sue’s service was a family and invited friends service, I told Connie. A private, family affair. And besides, I didn’t think I’d be able to sit through what I thought would be such a difficult thing. Connie's persistence eventually won out and we attended the service, Austin and Lily Grace in tow. By the way, the last time your mommy was so adamant about us attending something was the night we met another “Mary Beth,” the first little Chinese born American girl to run away with our hearts. Mary Beth was a little 3-year old girl whose father was speaking at Isom’s Chapel one night about his service in Iraq. Connie didn’t know about Mary Beth or her father, but knew that we were supposed to be there. This little Mary Beth was used by God to help us see His plan that would eventually bring Lily Grace into our family.

Maria Sue’s service was absolutely was about Him and His little girl, Maria Sue, with whom He was now celebrating, and we were allowed to be there in the background observing and being taught. He insisted that we see this powerful Faith through the Chapman family and take notice and learn from it. It didn’t even occur to us that there was a reason for us being allowed to be there. Duh? God must be so disappointed sometimes that He puts something right before us and we simply miss it. So, now another “Mary Beth” was a part of God’s plan to shape our family again. In this case, a mother who had just experienced the loss of her youngest child, taken Home at such an early age. And this time, God was showing us an indescribable Faith. “See My children’s Faith,” God seemed to be imploring us. “Even in the days of still mourning their loss, they have Faith to praise and worship Me, for I know the plans I have for you” He seemed to say.

Mary Beth and Steven Curtis’ Faith in God was absolutely overpowering and could in no way be dismissed or misunderstood. When God teaches, He teaches! God was beginning to work on building up our Faith for what He had planned next and He needed to have us there as part of His plan. Of course, we were unaware, and unsuspecting at the time, that He had planned something so miraculous, but needed to teach us a few things first. And to prepare us for something He would ask us to do in just a few short weeks. When we came home from that service, God continued to work on us. Even to the point of having me “preaching” to the church about a need to increase our Faith. We had long since decided to name you “Lia Faith,” not even thinking about how close the name was to “Leap of Faith.” God knew different.

So now, God had things in place and moving really fast. We got all of our paperwork completed in May and sent it to China to be reviewed to see if we would be allowed to adopt again. This step is called DTC, or Dossier to China. With all the changes in the adoption program for China, we had every reason to think that we’d probably wait another year before we would be blessed to meet you and see your face. But God had put us on the fast track and was beginning to line things up. I'm certain that He was thinking of you all along. Our paperwork was accepted by China and we were granted a Log in Date, or LID, pretty quickly. And while we were waiting on that, God decided to go ahead and show us His power and glory. And he decided to lead us to His fountain through a child – sound familiar? One night, Connie asked Lily Grace what she wanted for her birthday and she said “A picture!” Connie asked her “A picture of what?” And then Lily Grace spoke words that could come from only God, given what would happen next. Lily’s response was “A picture of Lia!” Of course, we didn’t understand or even think about what that meant. “Oh woe is me, oh Lord, for you have spoken yet again and I have failed to hear.” Oh, that was cute, we thought. The very next day, barely 12 hours later, Lifeline called us to say “Please, would you review this file we have. It is a file for a little girl in China who needs a home. There are pictures for you to look at. But we need your answer tomorrow.”

And just like that, God had shown us our daughter, Austin and Lily Grace’s sister, choosing to reveal her to us through Lily Grace. And now, we begin the process to bring you home. Today, that process was shortened yet again by a God who knows we can’t wait to see you. On Friday, June 27, 2008, we were granted a pre-approval, or PA, another important step in the journey. Only a few short months now until we hold you in our arms and thank Him for allowing it. In the meantime, we are praying for you every day. We have done a little research and have learned that your name means "To Praise, Glory and High Honor!" Wow, we are stunned and in complete awe of an awesome God, who even chose to have you named in His honor, both in your native Chinese and in English. See you soon, sweet tater!

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace
Green, Party of Four – and You’ll Make Five!

A special note to all of our friends. In deference to CCAA and due to certain other concerns, we have decided that we will not be able to post pictures of Lia Faith to this site unless the site becomes restricted. Since we have essentially used this site as our family happenings journal since we came home with Lily Grace, we do not wish to make this site restricted. Therefore, we are creating another site, Green, Party of Five, for updates on Lia Faith. We will restrict access to that site. You are all welcome to request access by sending an email or commenting to this post. While we certainly want everyone to share with us in the joy of bringing Lia home, we have been advised to be cautious about what we share and we don't want to do anything that might jeopardize our adoption. We will show pictures of Lia Faith on the new restricted site and hopefully this will allow all of our friends to see pictures of Lia, without them being disseminated to all users of the internet. We hope to have the site working in a few days. And then we will show pictures.

It's Official! We Have an LID!!!

2008-06-23T23:02:00.008-04:00

"So Let's Dance and Celebrate!"

"Austin Gathers the High School Band to Celebrate the News!"

With every passing day, we inch a little closer to being able to wrap our arms around a little sister for Austin and Lily Grace. Her name is Lia Faith and she waits for us just as we wait for her. The other day, Austin remarked "We need to hurry up and bring Lia Faith home or somebody's gonna burst with all this emotion!" I couldn't have put it better myself (and I think a couple of us have already burst, some of us more than once!). But we know that God is arranging things in His time and according to His plan. And so we wait. Others have certainly waited longer and continue to wait. And we pray for them and thank God for their demonstration of Faith in His plans.

"Aunt Martha Drives Up from Mobile to Celebrate!"

In the course of our preparations for bringing home our little Lia Faith, we have had a very exciting and very emotional past few weeks. Long nights spent praying for God's direction, trips to doctors' offices to learn of things we'd never before heard about, and late night exchanges of critical information that had to be in a certain place by a certain time with a certain accuracy. Through all this, we have learned that our little planet is not really that big when God gets involved. Unfortunately we cannot say much more about our exciting news right now. But one day soon, we hope to be able to share more of the good news we've been receiving. And to tell you about the miracles and amazing things God's already done and is doing, even now, to bring Lia home. It's very difficult to explain the emotions to which Austin was referring and the awkwardness of asking someone to pray for circumstances which you cannot share. But, we have made a decision based on a little information, a lot of prayer, and a supply of Faith. And we're excited to see how God's plan now unfolds. We'll tell you more when we are able.

"Walking and Talking About Lia Faith"

In the meantime, we learned this week that our Dossier was received by the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) and we were granted an official Log In Date (LID for all the Adoption Acronym junkies!). The CCAA received our DTC and reviewed it quickly to grant us an LID. Now I know my ABCs, next time won't you BLOG with me! May 29th, 2008 is a day that we will always remember as the day that CCAA became officially aware of our intention to follow God's heart and bring home one of His little children. A day that CCAA noted that they have more work to do, preparing for yet another adoption. LID, May 29th, 2008.

Every day we inch a little closer to bringing home our little Lia Faith. Please pray with us and for us, that we may see God's plan brought to fruition before somebody bursts!

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace, and Lia Faith
Green, Party of 5ive

A Worthy Cause ... and a Round of Golf

2008-06-03T23:12:00.012-04:00

Every year, Lifeline Children's Services hosts a Celebrity Golf tournament and this year, they asked us if we'd like to volunteer to help. Of course, if you've read much of the writings and ramblings on this site, you know by now that we think Lifeline placed the moon in its earthly orbit. Lily Grace is with us today because, first of all, God had planned it that way, but also in no small part due to the efforts of the Lifeline staff. And now, we are blessed to be waiting for another little angel, Lia Faith, who has also benefitted from Lifeline's dedication to children. So there was no question. Of course we'd help. And since Austin is such an avid golfer, we knew that he'd fall in line and do his share. What we didn't know was how much fun we'd have, especially Austin. But then the day arrived for the tournament and ...

There's absolutely no way I have time to take off work, I thought to myself Monday morning. With three projects, no four, waiting to be finished in June and with a significant new project set to get started, I simply had too much work to do. Customers and employees were depending on me. Ditto for Connie. Deadlines and end dates. Meetings and working sessions. All lined up like the cars of a Southern freight train. And so what did we do Monday? We got off the train for a day. We took the day off!! And spent it with some of our new best friends. Best friends because they work tirelessly for the benefit of children they've never met. Best friends because they volunteer to support a cause for children they will never know. Best friends because I see them now and know of the contributions they have made and are making to bring our children home. Children who need an angel working on their behalf, without whom they would have very little hope. Left to wonder whether they belong in a world that seemingly doesn't know they are there at all. Best friends toiling away to make the lives of children better in any way they can. That's why we like to think of them as our best friends.

So, even with the customers calling my cell phone as we arrived at the golf course in Birmingham, I didn't flinch. "Hey Karla, oops hold on a second while I answer this - yes I can go to Washington Thursday, but I have to go now, I am busy." Stick to the plan. Tell them no, we have other priorities today. I'm already in Birmingham, a hundred miles away. I can't be bothered right now.

That was really cool, but don't tell my boss I did that. On second thought, go ahead and tell him. Fortunately, he understands, having adopted a little girl of his own a few years back. And Connie's boss? Couldn't ask for better. God knows where our heart is and so He makes a way for us to pursue that, even on a busy workday.

So, we got to catch up with Anna and Karla and visit with Lauren again. We met two new friends, Crissy and Kristin - I hope they don't mind me posting the picture, but here they are smiling beneath the Lifeline banner. Crissy and Kristin worked diligently to make sure things went according to His plan. There were certainly many other volunteers, God's army clad in blue and bearing the battle slogan Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Hope and a future for His children. Indeed God does have a plan and He has Lifeline Children's Services hard at work on that plan!

The coolest thing of the day - ask Austin. He was privileged to caddy for John Croyle, you know, he of the Big Oak Boys and Girls Ranch and father to Brodie Croyle. Drove him around all afternoon, ate dinner with him. Even got to putt and drive and chip a little using John's clubs (oops, ignore that, scorer's table!).

Austin had a great time and was blessed to spend the day with an awesome Christian man chatting about golf, football, and life -what a cool day for a young teenage boy.

In the course of this day, we met several more of our Lifeline friends, angels doing God's work. We met one lady who had been foster parent to over 50 children since starting her ministry a few short years back. Over 50 children!!! God Bless Her. We also met two new interns with Lifeline - smart move interns, absorb all you can! As an added bonus, we got to mingle with lots and lots of former Alabama and Auburn athletes. And most importantly, we got to see how God works in developing funds for Lifeline to carry out His plans. FYI, John Croyle is one funny man and auctioneer, though he may have a few broke (ex)friends today!

Thank you Lifeline for letting us hang out with you. I hope we weren't in the way too much! And thank you to all those who participated, athletes from Alabama and Auburn who know a good cause when they see it (a round of golf and a steak dinner notwithstanding).

Oh, what about Lily, you ask? She spent the day drinking Sun Drop with Papaw. But Papaw wasn't allowed to drink Sun Drop "cause he would be wild" according to Lily Grace.

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace (and Lia Faith, out there somewhere)
Green, Party of Five

A Lesson in Faith ...

2008-05-24T20:21:00.009-04:00

and A Reminder that God is in Control.

Sometimes we become so entrenched in our daily routines and the complexities, such as they are, of our lives, that we forget that these lives actually belong to God, Himself, and not to us. He created us ... for His pleasure, not our wishes, whims, and desires. The world provides so many opportunities to get distracted and stray from His plan and His truth. And so we trek along on our paths, claiming God's blessings along the way and questioning why things we deem bad happen to us. And what about Faith? Are we not continually stockpiling this precious commodity for the rainy day that is sure to come? With a certainty that only He knows, God shows up and implements the next phase of His plan. Sometimes, we're pleasantly surprised at His script and sometimes we are shocked, left to ask questions for which we will not find easy answers or even any answers at all. And that's when our Faith becomes important. Doesn't His Word tell us in Romans 8:28 that "All things work for the good of those that love Him?"

Connie, Austin, Lily Grace and I drove to Nashville today to attend the funeral for Maria Sue, youngest daughter of Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman. By now, all of you know the sad, tragic event that occurred in the Chapman family. You know the details and I am sure you are in deep prayer for the Chapmans in their time of remembering their precious Maria Sue. I did not want to go, but Connie kept saying that we should since Steven Curtis Chapman has been such an inspiration to us during our adoptions of Lily Grace and Lia Faith. That we should stand with the Chapmans and for them in their time of need. I said that should be private, with only family members and invited guests. But after much discussion and prayer, I agreed (around midnight last night) that we would go. I had no idea that God had laid out plans for a lesson in Faith for all of us. It turns out that a large number of others also decided they would go and God had His plan for this day's lesson in Faith and Worship all mapped out. It wasn't about anybody or anything but Him, and Faith in His plans.

On this day, God allowed us to participate with the Chapmans in a Worship service that lasted nearly three hours and along the way, He showed us a powerful Faith that lives within Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman and all their children. He used this immeasurable Faith to His Glory in the day's lesson. We sang, we cried, we sang some more. We laughed, we cried, then we sang some more. We heard the Gospel and the blessings of this great truth and we cried with joy knowing that Maria Sue had met her Jesus. We sang, we cried, and then we cried some more. We heard stories from many of the Chapmans, including Steven and Mary Beth, and learned more than we ever knew about the miracle of Maria Sue. We thank the Chapmans for being so open and sharing their memories of Maria Sue and the intimate, tender emotions that describe their world in her passing.

It's funny, every time I think I've got this blessing thing figured out, God has to set me straight. We thought we were paying our respects and that our being there amongst all the other well wishers and comfort givers would somehow help the Chapmans see the impact they have had on so many lives. You know, a show of force for the sake of love. Not that they would even know who we were, only that we had come. And God said "Guess what? Here's a blessing for you!" as He held up this most awesome family in the palm of His hand and allowed their Faith in Him to be a blessing and a lesson to us all. Thank you Jesus for that, and thank you for Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman, and for all of their children who demonstrated a Faith that moved mountains on this day.

Please continue to pray with us for the Chapmans and their entire family. And thank you Connie for making sure we attended class today.

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace (and Lia Faith, out there somewhere)
Green, Party of Five

DTC!!!

2008-05-20T22:58:00.001-04:00

Wonderful news! Our Dossier was sent to China today, so we are now officially DTC - May 20th, 2008! DTC!!!!!! Again. How cool is that? We are ever so slightly closer to a sister for Austin and Lily Grace. The confirmation that this is what God would have us do is all around us. Just like with Lily Grace. I'm not usually an emotional person, but this adoption, even moreso than with Lily Grace, registers a 10.0 on the emotional scale. When I close my eyes and think about Austin and Lily Grace and Lia Faith in the future, I see God, up close and personal. So personal that tears fill my eyes and blur images of two little girls playing together, safe and loved more than anything, observed by a young college student, home for the holidays to spend a few more precious moments with his sisters. Two little girls, comforted and provided for, not by us, but by God, Himself. And the comfort of knowing that when Austin heads off to college in a few years, Lily won't be left behind without a playmate, a soulmate. She will then become the older kid in the house, showing her little sister how things work around here (she already shows us!). Wait a minute, as I write this, it's not Austin who's ventured out, but Lily Grace. Spending the night with Memaw to allow his Mom and Dad to spend some extra quality time with Austin.

Today was a bittersweet day, however. A milestone reached with great joy, yet tempered with sadness. Sadness that so many children in the world's most populated country live, no they simply exist, with little hope for their future. Please don't misunderstand. Obviously, there are hundreds of millions of children who live in China and who are loved by caring and good parents. But there are also many who do not share in the riches of a parent's love. To be sure, the same is true around the world, including here in these United States. And these orphans are the "least of these," the focus of God's plan for our own lives. We have been lead, once again, to adopt from China. We can only bring home one, that's what the paperwork says. One child. One dream. And even now, as the earthquake aftershocks continue to strike fear among the least of these, more and more children are left alone and in desperate need. Yet, I believe God has it in His plans for something extraordinary to emerge from this seemingly hopeless situation. Reaching Back, God's Plan of Salvation for the Lost Children of China, how will we answer His call? Please pray for the people of China in their time of need and celebrate with us that we are now one step closer to walking in God's plan for adding to our family. And know also that this isn't something that we chose to do on our own, nor that we take lightly. Friends will tell you that I said no initially. But then God ... . I can't explain it, but you just know that you know that you know. You know?

While Each Child Cried

A world full of children with bright, happy faces.
Suddenly, noise all around, everything shaking.
No where to run, nowhere to hide.
Just sit silently, while each child cried.

Is this world ending, they must have imagined
As everything they knew around them came crashing.
Try as they might, they couldn't withstand
The shaking and the rumbling of their great land.

Schools without books and lessons undone
Children left wondering and wandering around
Classmates gone in an instant of horror
Those who remain wonder if there's a tomorrow.

Never before have so many felt so helpless.
Never before have so many felt such pain.
Each passing day brings less and less hope.
Each passing day so little to gain.

A child gives his parents a world of hope.
Then taken away in an instant.
No where to run, nowhere to hide.
Just sit silently, while each parent cried.

Please pray for the Lost Children of China. Many of those lost in the recent earthquake in China were children, going about their daily activities oblivious to the danger that would eventually claim their schoolhouse and their lives. Had anyone told them about Jesus, yet? So many times people ask "Why do bad things happen to good people?" None of us know the answer and so we can only offer comfort and encouragement to those at the epicenter of a crisis like this. And from such a distance, we feel so helpless. As parents of children from China, we know beyond a shadow of doubt that these children were good people. And their parents were good people too. Trying to raise their children and do their best for them under the circumstances. Some children lost parents and some parents lost children. For some, there is now no one else. Hopes erased in a moment of unfathomable fear and distress. And what can we do? Everything seems so futile, but yet it is not. Especially if done for His glory. Jesus said that "anything you do for the least of these, you do for me." Anything. And so we are thrilled that we are now DTC and one step closer to receiving the blessings that God has preordained. Anything.

One thing we can certainly do is pray. We can pray and ask God to have mercy on the good people of China and to lift them up in their time of great need. Pray that through this, the Chinese will be able to witness "good works, which He has prepared for us in advance." Pray that relief organizations focus squarely on the needs of the people, letting their "good works" be the only witness to God's great love. We can pray also for the mommies and daddies who now have lost their only child, a child treasured as no other, because he is the hope and the object of their love and for them, there is no other. And pray for the children who remain. Pray that they will be cared for and loved in accordance with God's will.

For the members of Athens Families with Children from China, someone has already mentioned that we should get together and pray for the Chinese and do what we can to help out those many, many people in need. Please, let's pick a date, separate from our June Dragon Boat Races (that's a plug for June!) and pray together and do what we can to help out. Perhaps we can make a donation to one of the orphanages in China as they do their best to provide for the Lost Children of China.

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace (and Lia Faith, out there somewhere)
Green, Party of Five

Tagged ... A Silly Response

2008-05-18T16:19:00.010-04:00

OK, I think the way this works is that somebody answers a few questions about themselves or their lives and then "tags" a few others to respond. I assume the same questions apply, so here goes a response. Silly, I know, but I can't think too seriously of myself.

5 things on my to do list:

1) Learn How to Play White Dove by Casting Crowns on My Guitar. Haven’t heard it? After the last song on “The Alter and the Door” CD, let CD player continue for 2:31. Mark and Megan sing in Korean at the North Korean International Arts Festival. Song is by unknown North Korean author.
2) Get Lily and Lia’s new Bedroom Done, er, I mean Started. First, I have to get it cleaned out. More toys and stuffed animals in there than a late summer county fairground.
3) Build a Putting Green for Austin in the Back Yard – He’s divoting my sod to death! But he loves the game.
4) Fix Connie’s Fountain in the Front Landscape – I’m going to regret bringing this one up. Soon as I finish this, I better go work on that. Maybe she’ll still be napping with Lily til I get done.
5) Teach Austin How to Drive (But Pray First) this summer.

5 snacks I love 

1) Strawbabies (That’s Lilyese for Strawberries)
2) Ice Cream
3) Apple Pie (OK, that’s not a snack, but combine with 2 and wow (make sure pie is heated))
4) Orange Blossoms - They only come once per year at Christmas (thanks Memaw) but they are absolute heaven.
5) My Neighbor’s Strawbaby Cake

I were a billionaire-
Ha! God doesn’t have time for that. He knows I wouldn’t know what to do with it. Listen, I’d be like a kid in a candy store. I’ll take some of that, oh, gimme some of those. Oooh, check that out! Don’t spend it all in one place, He would tell me over and over and over. There was a man having a conversation with God once who asked “God, what’s a million dollars like to you?” And God said “A penny.” They continued their conversation and eventually the man asked “God, what’s a million years like to you?” And God said “A minute.” After a little more conversation, the man said “God, can I have a million dollars?” And God said “In a minute!” He knows what we need and what we can handle. But it sure would be nice to try and figure it out, wouldn’t it. “God, can I have a penny?” Beyond the obvious, like giving to our church and making sure all of our family members were taken care of, I would finish paying for our adoption and then anybody else’s who needed help. I would pay for Lily and Lia’s college education (Austin’s is already paid for), because I’m certain I’ll have my billion blown before they make college age. I would probably pay for our house, just in case things got tight (you see, now I’m a billionaire and I’m still thinking like Jed Clampitt). My Upward Ministry would get a significant increase in its budget (budget, Connie says, what budget, you mean My budget?). I would sponsor a 1000 kids through Compassion International - Olvin and Shirley would have 998 new siblings! Check ‘em out at www.compassion.com. And finally, I would buy a strawbaby patch so we could eat strawbabies til we puke!

"Where's Dad?", "I think he's out fixing the fountain?"5 bad habits-  
1) Procrastination
2) I’ll identify the rest of my bad habits later
3)
4)
5)

5 jobs I've had 
1) Information Distribution Agent (Paper Boy)
2) Lawn Mower
3) Music Instructor (Guitar)
4) Salesman (My Dad’s Music Store)
5) Engineer

5 Places I've lived 
1) Mobile, AL; Spent 6 Months in the Port City When I was, Well 0-6 Months Old
2) Athens, AL; Dad Lost His Job in Mobile, So We Set Out for Chicago to Live With My Grandfather When I was 6 Months Old. The Car Broke Down in Athens and so Here I am!
3) Athens, AL; Lived with Grandmother instead of Grandfather
4) Athens, AL; Connie and I Built Our First House Together
5) Harvest, AL; Connie and I Built Our Second House Together

5 bad habits-the last three  
3) Spending Too Much Time Away from Family (Especially During Upward Season)
4) Worrying Too Much (Worry is the Opposite of Faith)
5) Spending Too Much Time in My World and Not Enough in His Word

(Pretty clever how I managed to only list 4 bad habits. I guess the last one might be not paying attention to instructions).

"Let's Play Tag!"

So, someone has to be tagged for this response to be in full compliance with the rules. Therefore, Jamiesons, Morgans, and Hodges - tag, you're it!

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace (and Lia Faith, out there somewhere),
Green, Party of Five

Soul Stocked!

2008-05-16T21:31:00.000-04:00

As darkness gave way to morning light, I had a feeling that something cool was going to happen that day. But the clouds filling the sky echoed their own prophecy. "Who Am I" to think that something cool would happen today. It looks like rain, not reign. But "This is the Day" that the Lord has made (and I should rejoice and be glad in it), right? I wanted a sunny day and instead, all I got were clouds threatening rain and thunder and muddy fields for my favorite Saturday of the year - SoulStock!

Looks like umbrellas and raincoats might be the order of the day, on this anniversary of one of the coolest gatherings our fair city has ever hosted. Shame on you, Jerry, for I know the plans I have says God. Plans for an awesome day, filled with My believers worshiping and leading others to My truth! And so around noon, an hour before the gates were to open, the clouds' prophecy was dismissed and a beautiful day dawned. A day fit for outdoor activity, a day the Chamber of Commerce would like to bottle for future events and outdoor gatherings.

How is it that God blesses a city the size of Athens with some of the most awesome names in Christian music every year? Audio Adrenaline, Third Day, Kutless, Newsboys, etc ... Wait, I know what it is - it is unity. You see, the music festival is presented by the local churches in Limestone County and all denominations are involved, yet it is not about the denominations, it's about the message of Jesus! And it's presented in a way that is cool to the youth of our community. And its' free. That's right, free. And now, we're seeing youth from as far away as Kentucky show up for this day of worship. But it's not just youth - they even let some of us old-timers in the gates to raise our hands in praise too!

This year's offering consisted of Skillet, Building 429, DecembeRadio, Ohio Avenue, and Alabaster Box. Brother Joel Carwile fired us all up with a fiery message of hope for the future. Skillet was really good, but my head is hurting from all the banging and screaming! If you haven't seen Building 429, do whatever it takes to see them next opportunity. I promise you won't be disappointed. I have seen them three times now and they get better each time. In addition to having some of the best Christian music on the charts, they share a message of giving and of supporting hurting and lost children around the world. Their message was almost as long as their musical performance and encouraged the believers to demonstrate their faith by stepping out on a World Vision and sponsoring a child. Our pastor's wife got to ferry the lead singer and his family to and from the concert site. She said he was stunned at the turnout - well over 18,000. Austin and I quickly became fans of DecembeRadio - they were awesome. Ohio Avenue is definitely an up and coming group. And Alabaster Box has the current Number 1 song on Christian radio - in Australia!

Lily Grace didn't get to go this year, because she was invited to a birthday party with her Grandma Sara and well, you can't take little ones away from their grandma's plans, now can you? If you're not doing anything next May 3, why not plan to come to SoulStock X - it is shaping up as a must see for 2009! And did I mention it's free? I can't wait. See you there next year.

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace (and Lia Faith out there somewhere),
Green, Party of Five

Thoughts on a Distant Mother ...

2008-05-11T23:20:00.011-04:00

When she's hurting, we don't even know it, though every now and then we feel a connection to a distant mother, unknown, but not unremembered. For reasons we cannot begin to fathom, let alone understand, a despondent mother took a leap of faith on September 24th, 2006. With the weight of the world on her shoulders, she chose to leave her newborn in God's hands. Not likely understanding that His plan was already laid out for her little girl. Was she married? If so, what impact did her decision have on her husband? Did they reach this decision together or will one or the other always wonder what might have been? Did she have other children? Probably not, but if so, what did they think about the fate of their baby sister? Did she wait to see if someone rescued the newly displaced infant or did she hurry off for fear of discovery by authorities whose paths might cross hers on that day?

Founded in the hope that her baby girl would be cared for and nurtured, perhaps even loved one day, she took a leap of faith. She placed her newborn baby girl at the entrance to the social welfare institute and surrendered her future to others. Does she long to go back to that day and change recorded history? To erase the investigation of the discovery of a newborn baby girl, found all alone in a world not adequately equipped for the tough work of caring for newborn baby girls. Would she change anything from that day if she had it to do over again? How has her life changed since that decision?

These are all questions with elusive answers. Answers that we know we may be called upon to help find one day when the innermost being of a young lady needs to be discovered. On that day, we hope and pray that we have been obedient to a God that will meet our sweet baby girl's need for closure and who will equip us with knowledge and wisdom beyond what we have to offer now. Lately, Lily Grace has begun using the Chinese word for grandma to identify the nanny who provided her primary care in her orphanage. She sees her image and calls her the same thing every time. So we know for a fact that she remembers who provided care for her. Perhaps she also remembers her surroundings and circumstances. And this confirms our need to be prepared to answer the call one day to help her understand. For now, however, as Casting Crowns sings, all we can do is "Love Her Like Jesus." And if we do that, I know that He will provide everything else that's needed. And that's our leap of faith.

And so on this Mother's Day, we thank God, not only for our Mothers and our children's grandmothers, but also for a mother in a distant land, who may be faced with daily agony over what became of the sweet, little baby girl that she could not keep. We thank God that she chose to place her baby where she would be found and cared for so that she could eventually become a wonderful addition to our family. We pray that somehow God will envelop her in the peaceful knowledge that her baby is right where He had planned for her to be. In a loving home, a forever home, where she is growing and thriving on life in all its abundance. In a life that only Jesus Christ, Himself, could provide. And we are privileged to be a part of that life.

Happy Mother's Day and Thank You Jesus!

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace (and Lia Faith out there somewhere)
Green, Party of Five

12 Hours and a Capitol Visit

2008-05-09T22:38:00.008-04:00

Connie says I can do this, but you know different. "Jerry," she says, "you don't have to write a novel, just get some pics out there for our image-starved friends to enjoy." "They only want to see pictures of Lily Grace and Austin. Everyone else just gets the pics out there." "Of course, they do, sweetheart. But don't they need some context?" "Context? How about some contrast?" Just post the pictures. OK. OK. But at least let me explain what a great day we had and how important this day was to Lia Faith.

After approximately 9 months (we really didn't plan it that way, I promise), we finally gave birth to a fully certified, Secretary of State approved, Dossier for the adoption of a little sister for Lily Grace and Austin. It's only 13 documents, Jerry, how could it take so long? Well, let's see ... Er, never mind, just the pictures, Jerry. Focus ...

So after getting our second I-797 this past week, we went full throttle to get everything taken care of so we could go to Birmingham and Montgomery today. Oh, the second I-797 you ask? Seems the applicant (read that as me) followed the instructions on the I-600 a little too explicitly when the item requested was spouse's name (include maiden name). So, from Dept of Homeland Security's perspective, the applicants had different last names. Didn't catch this initially and it would have been a problem, but DHS was kind enough to overlook my mistake and amend the form. They didn't even charge us - thanks DHS. Only a two week delay!

Pictures, Jerry. Pictures. Focus ... So, first thing this morning, we hopped in the truck, mortgaged the house for a tank of gas, and headed south. First stop, Lifeline Children's Services in Birmingham. Anna and Carla of Lifeline are most certainly two angels set upon accomplishing God's work. For children. Everytime we look at Lily Grace, we're reminded of their contribution to seeing that children get to lead happy, family-filled lives. We are thrilled that they are there for us. Once the Dossier was reviewed and deemed ready to go to Montgomery, we decided to increase the throttle past full steam ahead. Buy some more gas and drive further south. Lily kept saying "Are we going home now?"

We had our Dossier state certified and fedexed it straight to Houston from the State Capitol. There, that's the news of the day. And see Connie, I kept it short and to the point. Oh, nearly forgot the pictures....

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace (and Lia Faith, out there somewhere)
Green, Party of Five

The Good News Is ...

2008-04-25T21:45:00.006-04:00

That it melts with the appropriate measure of moisture, properly administered, though it may take several hours. The bad news is that a Twizzler is somewhere in size between a Tic Tac and a mini Marshmallow. A tic tac on steroids, if you will. See where this is going? She'll probably never leave me alone with her again now! Connie and her mom decided to take a road trip to Nashville to see some rocker from yesteryear, er oops, sorry - they went to see Bon Jovi and left me alone with Lily Grace. One night, surely he can handle that, right. Granny'll come over and help him. Austin will be there if needed. No problem, right?

During the day, Lily had come into possession of a little bag of candy called Twizzlers. Not the sticks like you've seen, but little balls of sour candy larger than a bee bee, but smaller than a marble. Soft candy with lots of sugar and probably the quickest ticket to sugar addiction that I've ever seen. She probably got it from that little street peddler I've seen stalking the neighborhood. The day's intake had stoked her to the point of bouncing off walls and she simply had to have some more. Addicted to Twizzlers in a single day at the ripe old age of three. So after a day of work (and a month of Mondays at work), I had no energy left to do battle with the candy-demanding, sweet baby girl. "Pleeeeeeeseee, Dad (notice the Dad), can I have some more candy. I need it."

Rather than draw a line in the sand, I figured the best thing to do was to reach a compromise. Actually, that was the lazy thing to do, I should have drawn that line and dared her to cross it! So I decided to give her two more Twizzlers. "Two more Lily Grace, that's all. Watch a little bit of Dora while I fix dinner." See all the bad decisions here - candy before dinner, TV as a baby sitter, appeasing the demands, .... She'll probably never leave me alone with her again!

So after dinner, Lily admitted in a quiet moment "I can't get it out Dad." And she was tugging at her nose and sniffling. She'd been sniffling from allergies all afternoon and evening, so I thought she was stuffy. We blew the snout and I thought that'd take care of it. A few minutes later, again "Dad, I can't get it out." What sweet baby girl? "The candy." Where is it? "It's in my nose." "What, Lily, please tell me you didn't put that candy up your nose!" Oops, wrong tone of voice. Waterworks. Fear. I felt terrible. So I calmed down and asked her again. "Yes, I ate one and put the other one in my nose." Why did you do that? "Because I'm scared!" (Me too, I didn't add).

So, we cleared a table for the exploratory, non-intrusive surgery, about to be performed by a newly self-annointed expert at nose problems. Tweezers, flashlight, moist rag, OK, let's move out! After a few short minutes of nose compresses, nose wipes, and flashlight excursions, I had to conclude there was nothing in there. "Lily, are you sure you put the candy in your nose?" "No, sniffle, sniffle, it's in my belly." "Whew, sweet baby girl, we don't put things up our nose, OK?" "OK, daddy (back to daddy)."

Comforted by the success of our medical foray, we prepared for bed, read a story, and turned out the lights. Looks like everything's well that end's well, right? Now, fast forward to mid day Friday. Phone rings at work and it's Granny. "Lily just blew a big pink ball out of her nose!" "Do you know anything about that?" Not a thing, Granny. What'd it look like?

I feel terrible! With my tone of voice and my concern, I scared the poor sweet baby girl into lying to me! So if you have some of those Twizzlers in your house and a toddler around, you might want to get rid of them. Or at least go down to your local clinic and learn how to do exploratory, non-intrusive nose surgery. And the good news is that Lily learned that we don't put things up our nose. In fact, as soon as I arrived home from work today, she announced "We don't put candy up our nose, do we daddy!"

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace (and Lia Faith out there somewhere)
Green, Party of Five

The Sounds of Music ... and Distant Drums!

2008-04-20T21:35:00.006-04:00

When we got her referral, we were told that Xing Xing liked music alot and would "wriggle" her body when she heard something that she liked. Well, that's certainly been the case. So we know God had our family picked out for her since we like music alot ourselves. Here, Lily poses with a drum bigger than she is, but that didn't stop her from begging Austin to let her play it. More about that later. Of course, he couldn't, but she would have taken part in the concert herself if she could.

Austin has been in the band at East Limestone since the 6th grade. Actually, he participated a little in elementary school, but didn't become a regular until middle school. This past season, he marched during halftime of the high school football games for the first time and really enjoyed the experience. Since he plays the drums for our praise band at church, the drums seemed like a natural instrument for him for marching band and now jazz band. With the praise band at Isom's Chapel, he has become steadfast and solid, keeping the beat for all manner of Christian music from Casting Crown's "All Because of Jesus," which he taught us, to old staples such as Beulah Land. We're very proud of him for taking on such an important part of our worship service. Of course, every Sunday after services, Lily Grace has to take her turn at the drums or piano.

Now, about that drum. East Limestone held their annual early spring band concert last month and apparently Austin has become the jack of all trades when it comes to drums for the jazz band. He played several different drums during the concert, including the one shown here. He really enjoys the band and does his best to make every note, er beat, count. Lily begged and begged, even taking the sticks away from Austin after the concert, for a chance to play this drum. Maybe in a few years sweet baby girl, but for now, the drums are Austin's domain!

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace (and Lia Faith, out there somewhere)
Green, Party of Five

An Afternoon with the President ...

2008-04-15T22:48:00.008-04:00

No, not that one. It would be an honor though. Uh oh! Hope I don't ruffle any political feathers. My mom and her husband, Billy (Lily Grace calls him 'my Billy') once got an invitation to the White House to dine with President Bush and Laura because of her lifelong support of the Republican Party. Problem is, not once in her voting history has she cast a single ballot in favor of a member of the Republican Party. And so, she didn't go to the dinner! Oh well, a missed opportunity for a minute of fame I guess. I wonder how much Billy had to pony up to get that invitation (and I wonder if Mom ever found out!).

No, this president was Dr. David Williams, newly annointed leader of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, or as it is now known "UAHuntsville." I had the honor of being selected to represent the class of 1986 as a delegate to the inauguration. Of course, unlike my fickle mom, I accepted the invitation and convinced her to come along with me to see this president. We had a great afternoon and got to hear everybody who is somebody in Huntsville and Alabama extoll the greatness of UAHuntsville and its new president. Turns out the chap is from Cambridge University (yes, that one) and is quite humorous, but even moreso the genius at science and engineering. Check out the pictures below of me in my cap and gown - never thought I'd see that again! Austin and Lily Grace - I expect to see both of you in one of these one day (no pressure there kidos). The other picture is of me and mom with the new president.

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace (and Lia Faith, out there somewhere)
Green, Party of Five

One Day Later ...

2008-04-11T22:41:00.005-04:00

Wow, God is really working here! One day after we got the news from Lifeline (read yesterday's post) that they were now "online" with CCAA and posted the fingerprint photo, we received another piece to the puzzle. It's funny I decided to post the fingerprint photo, some would even say coincidence based on what happened today.

Here's the story behind that one. About 3 weeks ago we got a strange letter from Dept of Homeland Security saying that they couldn't process our application because there were some inconsistencies with our paperwork. Without going into details, it was a rather strange letter, so we presented it to Lifeline and they advised us to answer their questions, even though they seemed odd. So, a little over two weeks ago, I sent a letter to DHS to address their "odd" concerns. The letter they had sent us indicated a response deadline of June 12th! We didn't expect to hear back from them until at least mid summer if not later.

So, today Connie walked in from the mailbox and said Happy Birthday, here's your present (tomorrow, I get to add one to the number that describes how young I am!). And there it was - our I-797 announcing that we were approved to travel abroad and bring a new U.S. citizen, a new member of the Green family back with us!!! This is the last piece of the puzzle that is our dossier.

As Christians, we know that coincidence is just a term that we, as secular humans, have created to explain things we can't or won't believe. Truth is, there are no coincidences, only a mighty God working to shape each of our lives as He chooses and to give us a choice in believing in Him, or calling it coincidence. I choose to believe in Him and I hope you do too!

It's All Because of Jesus.

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace (and Lia Faith, out there somewhere)
Green, Party of Five

A Lifeline for a Life Time ... and an Answered Prayer

2008-04-09T22:52:00.009-04:00

"Guess what Lily, God's Working on Our Little Sister!"

This past Sunday, during our Sunday School prayer request time, I felt compelled to ask those in my class if they would pray for the process of adoption for Chinese children with special needs. I hadn't mentioned it before or requested prayer, because there are always so many requests that seem to far outweigh our desire to increase the size of our household by one angel. So I remained quiet about the difficulties we were encountering this time around versus what we experienced with Lily Grace. In a nutshell, God brought Lily Grace into our lives in merely 8 months. With Lia Faith, we're already at 9 months and no prospects yet. I should note that there are many, many families who have waited much longer and who continue to wait. And I am in awe of their faith and their perseverance. And for them I wish there were words to express how much we love them for their willingness to pursue the adoption of these children in the face of so many obstacles and delays. I pray their wait is shortened and that they get to hold one of God's little treasures as a parent soon.

But on Sunday, when my time came, I sat there, for what seemed like several minutes, quiet. I suspect my classmates thought I was about to lay something really heavy on them and so they waited patiently. Just to be sure, I have the most wonderful classmates anyone could ask for. They are incredibly supportive. Joe, Tracie, Scott, Angie, Joey, Cindy, Randy, Teresa, Yvonne, Bill, Larry, Dwight. Everyone should be blessed with friends like these. They are good Christians. They are faithful. I know when I go there, I will see their smiling faces. I just know in my heart that Jesus is smiling when he sees this group together. There is nothing about them that is not genuine and I know that they love my family as they do their own. And we pray for each other.

So after a while, I finally spoke up. "We're having some difficulties in our adoption. Would you please pray for us and pray that the Chinese are able to figure things out so that our Lia Faith can come home to play with Lily Grace. Would you please pray that the Chinese are able to have a good Olympics so that they will be proud of their country and gain stature with the rest of the world and be compelled to reach out to join the world community by sharing their amazingly beautiful and precious orphaned children with those who would love them and provide for them with God's guiding hand."

Three days later, we get a letter in the mail from our agency, Lifeline Children's Services. With initial curiosity, Connie opened the letter and her curiosity turned to joy with the first sentence:

"We are so excited to announce that we have been officially approved for the Special Needs Online Process through the CCAA. We are thankful to be able to continue to assist the CCAA in finding loving, Christian homes for these precious children!"

"He is Working on Lia, Austin!"

Wow! Talk about answered prayers! I know that God answers prayers in His way, in His time. And sometimes the answers aren't to our liking, but they are always what's best for us. God knows that because He created us. God was already working on this, He just wanted to hear from our hearts. And He wanted me to open up and acknowledge that I can't do this without Him. He knows that Connie is not blessed with a lot of patience and that I have only slightly more than she. So maybe He dropped this little nugget for us to keep our hopes alive and to keep us diligently pursuing a sister for Austin and Lily Grace. It's funny that for the first time in several weeks, this weekend I laid out all the paperwork for our dossier on the dining room table to take stock and see if there was something we needed to be doing. Well, there was something. Pray. Pray. And Pray some more. Humble yourself, therefore, before the Lord and wait patiently for His plans to unfold.

We're certainly not there yet and there are many who will go before us, but at least now, things are looking up. Who knows? Lia Faith in 2008? It does have a nice ring, you have to admit.

Oh, and did I mention that He also provided all the financial resources needed for the adoption. It just so happened that a financial transaction from three years ago matured this week and the value well exceeds that which is required to complete the adoption. I had forgotten about this instrument, filed away somewhere under a few years worth of income taxes and refinance paperwork. I know, Dave Ramsey would not approve of my inattention to certain financial matters! But at least this time around, there will be no home equity loan or lifting the seat cushions on the sofa to fund our travel to China!

Our God is an Awesome God, He Reigns from Heaven Above with Wisdom, Power, and Love. Our God is an Awesome God!

Getting Fingerprinted Back in February

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace (and Lia Faith out there somewhere)
Green, Party of Five

Where's that Easter Dress, Jerry?

2008-03-23T23:07:00.006-04:00

Trust me. This time, I'm not waiting for Lori to ping me on getting a picture posted of Lily Grace in her Easter best. I'm going to get ahead of the game. There's lots to post from the last month or so, but none of it takes precedence over that Easter dress. After a year and a half, nearly two, I have learned that one of the most important things in raising little girls is to share pictures of Easter dresses with all of her "aunties." They shouldn't have to wait and wonder about a topic of this importance! The dress is to be shared on Easter, not a day or two later, and certainly not a week or two later. As is usually the case, Lily Grace was simply stunning in her Easter outfit.

And she enjoyed her Easter season more than anything. She had four Easter "parties" to attend and got to have Easter goodies and hunt eggs at all four. She has become quite the professional at that part of it, announcing quickly at our church Easter egg hunt "That's it, basket's full, I'm finished!" I will offer a more thoughtful review of our Easter Sunday and other recent events later, but for now, please enjoy a few pictures of Lily's Easter best. Oh, and by the way, that awesome young fellow in the pictures with Lily Grace is Austin. He has grown and matured so much in the past three or four months, that he hardly resembles the boy many of you are familiar with.

Upward ... by the Grace of God

2008-03-10T23:15:00.013-04:00

Eight years ago, I was sitting in an Awards banquet for Upward Basketball at Isom's Chapel. Proud father and coach of the mighty Panthers, a K-2nd grade group of Michael Jordan wannabes. Austin was closing out his first season in organized basketball and I had been his coach. We had a wonderful season. My assistant coach was the coolest and quietest coach I'd ever met. And it turns out, he was a pastor. (As a footnote, he's now my Pastor!) He basically let me run the show, including the practice devotions even though he was infinitely more qualified in that area. We taught the boys how to dribble and protect the ball, how to defend against the dribble and the shot, how to rebound and claim loose balls. As with any team, we had mottos that we taught:

"Pay Attention, Do Your Best, Have Fun"
"Defense Wins Championships"
"Share the Ball"
"I Will Get My Own Rebound and Everybody Else's"
"Every Loose Ball is Mine"

You know, the usual kind of stuff for a basketball team. I think God was having fun watching us, probably wondering where His motto was, and probably having more fun knowing what was in store later for an unsuspecting coach.

Even though we didn't keep score (officially), I think we did pretty well as a team. The boys always announced we won, whether or not we did is anyone's guess. So there I sat, comfy and collected in the Awards banquet. Comfortable in the knowledge that I'd done the best job I could at coaching the Panthers that season. And then, God announced His presence in a mighty way. A way I was not expecting. That's why God had assigned a pastor and new friend to be my assistant coach. As is customary in an Upward Awards banquet, there was a time of invitation, an opportunity for commitment if you will, to the children (and parents) at the close of the ceremony. Out of six boys on our team, three committed themselves to Jesus that very night and one recommitted his own life to our Lord. The other two professed to be Christians already. And just like that, every member of the Panthers was now one of His, with their names recorded in the Book of Life! I was not expecting this outcome and was totally overwhelmed by it. It was the first time as a father that tears of joy filled my eyes.

One of the three new Christians was my own son, Austin. And trust me, he knew exactly what he was doing, even if I didn't fully comprehend what was happening. Austin began telling anybody and everybody who would listen from that day forward that he had been saved that night. And Upward basketball had a new coach who now understood that it wasn't about the baskets or the rebounds, but the repentence and reconcilliation. God was at work here and it was only now apparent to a young coach. Fortunately, the assistant coach was fully prepared for the event and had mementos for each of the boys to remember the night (Austin's WWJD bracelet still hangs proudly over his 2001-2002 Upward trophy).

Now, eight years later, Austin has finished his eligibility as a player, completing the first year under our new 7th-8th grade boys league, and began his career as a coach, leading the Mighty Incredibles, a K-2nd Grade boys team. He did a wonderful job and we are very proud of him. I am now the Director of the Ministry at Isom's Chapel, thanking God everyday for showing me why the Upward Basketball and Cheerleading Ministry was formed, and Austin is the self-appointed Assistant Director. Along the way I have been fortunate to coach every one of Austin's teams. Some years, I've been blessed to coach two teams. Connie even got in on the coaching one year by heading up a cheerleading team. Austin and I found ourselves severely outnumbered one night when Connie had her entire team over for a spend the night! And this year, Lily got involved by being at the center of attention at every opportunity that presented itself. She got to spend considerable time at the gym as an official "cheerleader" for all the teams, while Connie, Austin, and I did what we could to make the Upward season a success. Of course, it was Lily's educated opinion that the whole show was put on for her benefit. According to this theory, everyone was there to see her and to make sure she was noticed! And she did occassionally steal the show - check out the Bama vs Auburn pics of her and Ben! I thought we were going to have to stop this game until the photo shoot was over! She sat on the bench with me several times and kept me from going "coach" with the older boys teams. By the end of the season, every time I put on a jacket, Lily would ask "Are you going to church?"

We've been extremely blessed to have been a part of so many children's lives through this Ministry and to have been witness to so many who have come to know Jesus while perfecting their jump shot or cheering for the players. This season was my first as Director of the Ministry and, though it had its trying moments, I can truly say that once again, God has handed out the blessings to a Director who was learning on the job. One of the greatest blessings was the privilege of coaching the Lady Eagles, a kindergarten through 2nd grade girls team. I think this was God's way to continue teaching me about little girls, in the hope that I get it right in raising Lily Grace and her future sister Lia Faith. I'll have to admit though to having my own hand in becoming the Lady Eagles' coach. As director of the Ministry, one of my jobs was finding coaches for all the teams. While I wouldn't go as far as to say that I discouraged potential coaches for the Lady Eagles, I continued to hope for an opportunity to work with them myself. And so God said "OK, but only if you give Me the Glory!" So that's what we tried to do.

Six little angels who wanted nothing more than to have fun and score a few baskets along the way. Pink tennis shoes and pony tails. Pig tails and big smiles. Girls who, for the most part, knew the Bible well and even taught me a few things along the way. Like the night they prayed for Lily Grace and we saw Lily's 104 degree fever break by the time I got home. We had a Christmas party, a Valentine Party, and even celebrated Chinese New Year together. Helping one of the little Lady Eagles score her first basket during a game was definitely the highlight of the season for me. He also provided a couple of assistant coaches, Kim and Rebekah, to help me and to make sure I didn't make the girls cry! Kim and Rebekah were awesome. Kim is mother to one of the Lady Eagles and Rebekah is a former Upward player who has moved on to play high school basketball! Take a look at God's Little Lady Eagles and their coaches. What an awesome and fun loving group this was. I told all their parents that I'd had more fun coaching this team than any since that first season, when Austin and a few of his buddies came to know Jesus.

We held our Awards Night this year on February 29th and were privileged again to see more children offer their lives to Jesus. We also saw children grow in their knowledge of the Word and their witness to it. Our hope is that seeds planted this season will be watered along the way so that one day God's fruit will burst forth and a new coach or Director will rise up to carry His Word to a new generation of believers. Wouldn't that just be the coolest thing! We were honored to have Lesha from Lesha's Loft to entertain the children and their parents this year with the most awesome presentation of God's Word through puppets and ventriloquy. Lesha kept us all in stitches as she stitched together the Good News and a season of basketball and cheerleading. Checkout the picture of Lily on the set of Lesha's Loft (once again, commanding attention!). We closed the Awards Night with pictures of the season set to a Casting Crowns song called "All Because of Jesus!"

If you can find an Upward Basketball and Cheerleading Ministry near you, sign up and sit back and watch God work! Or even better still, get involved. Just don't take my job coaching the Lady Eagles!

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace, (and Lia Faith out there somewhere), and the Lady Eagles!
Green, Party of Five (Eleven if you count the Lady Eagles)

Athens FCC Celebrates CNY!

2008-02-10T18:46:00.000-05:00

What a great looking group!

Happy Chinese New Year! We hope that the new year, the year of the rat according to the Chinese, has already shown great favor to all of our friends and family. Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese year 4706 began on Feb. 7, 2008. I'm sure that most people who read this blog are well aware of the Chinese New Year celebration. But for those of you who aren't familiar with the Chinese holiday. Here's a few notes to help you out.

My New Friend!

Whereas we number our years consecutively from the birth of Jesus Christ, the Chinese use a 12 year cycle to track time. Chinese months are reckoned by the lunar calendar, with each month beginning on the darkest day. New Year festivities traditionally start on the first day of the month and continue until the fifteenth, when the moon is brightest. In China, people may take weeks of holiday from work to prepare for and celebrate the New Year. Legend has it that in ancient times, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one.

Legend also has it that the cat and the rat were both informed about the New Year meeting at the same time and agreed to go together. But on the appointed day, the cat overslept and the rat didn't wake him, instead he went off to the meeting himself. Of course, since the cat didn't show up, he did not get a year named for him. And that's why to this day, cats don't like rats! Apparently, the rat also outsmarted the ox, convincing the ox to let him ride on his back since it was so far to the meeting. When they got close, the rat jumped off and ran ahead, becoming the first one to arrive. Therefore, the 12 year cycle always begins with the rat! The kind ox had to settle for second place.

They didn't plan the fashion statement, but don't they look great!

According to Chinese legend, the people born in each animal's year would have some of that animal's personality. Those born in rat years tend to be leaders, pioneers, and conquerors. I'm a rabbit person, which is known to be popular, compassionate, and sincere. Connie is a dragon (Austin was jealous when he learned this fact), which means she is energetic, warm-hearted, fearless, and charismatic. Austin is a rooster, not the coolest of animals to his way of thinking, but he accepted it nonetheless. He is independent, practical, hard-working, and observant. Lily Grace? You're gonna love this one. She's a monkey person! Born in 2004 means that she would have some of the monkey's personality. She would be fun, energetic, and active. And oh, likes to chatter. Check.

But with all the fun of celebrating Chinese New Year, I try to take this time to pray for and ask others to pray for Chinese Christians. No one knows how many Christians there are in China, but there are many estimates that range from 40 to 140 million. That's certainly a lot of Christians, but to minister to a country of 1.4 billion? So, please pray for the Christians and those in China who've not yet gracefully embraced the gift of Jesus Christ. I believe that God is going to raise up a ministry in China that will one day be able to see that the Chinese people, a graceful and beautiful culture, know his glory to its fullest. And this ministry will help the Chinese government to ensure that children are nurtured in families and not in orphanages. I just know in my heart of hearts that God is planning something big with the children whom He has placed in our care. Every time members of the Athens Families with Children from China (FCC) gather, there are more of us and more little children who've already overcome more than most of us have in our lifetime. God has a big plan for these children and it's really an awesome blessing to be a part of it. Billy Kim was once an orphaned child in South Korea and was "adopted" by an American soldier, who lead him to Jesus Christ. After growing up and attending seminary in the U.S., Billy Kim returned to his native Korean roots and lead an evangelical mission of such magnitude that he is now known worldwide as the "Billy Graham of Korea!" The Koreans now send missionaries all over the world, including to the U.S.! The same can happen with one of these children who've already taught us so much and who continue to teach us new things each day.

We celebrated Saturday night with Athens FCC at China Buffet. Let the record show that this was the second time in three days that the Greens had Chinese food. I'm actually beginning to find some things I can eat! I was doing ok gathering food at the buffet until I saw the squid or octopus or whatever that thing was extending its suctioned tentacles upward begging for a dinner date! Ugh! Oh well, at least after that, I didn't overeat! After dinner, the children did what children always do, they found a way to play! Lily Grace and Anna became best friends for the evening after Anna taught her to play "Ring around the rosies." I wish I had counted how many little girls and boys from China we now have in our chapter. Maybe somebody can tell me.

Happy CNY!

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace, and Lia Faith (somewhere out there),
Green, Party of Five

Happy New Year! Rats!

2008-02-08T00:01:00.000-05:00

So many times she has asked us to go to dinner with them and so many times we have not been able to work it out. So, Sonya finally found a way to get us to go out for Chinese - sweeten the deal with a Chinese Acrobat show at the Princess Theatre in Decatur. Thanks Sonya for inviting us and thanks to all our friends in the Decatur chapter of FCC for allowing us to celebrate Chinese New Year with you. It was really good to see some friends we hadn't seen in a while. We even got to see some of our really special friends from the Athens Chapter of FCC. That is really cool. And Lily Grace and Austin really enjoyed the show. When the two young acrobats performed their skating routine on a table top, Lily screamed "I wanna go skating too!" And she sat totally engrossed in the show for the most part, save the occassional boredom dance performed in the isle between her mom and her brother! Austin and I were just amazed at the talents and abilities of these amazing athletes. If you ever get a chance to see a Chinese acrobat show, don't pass it up.

Connie said just get those pictures up and don't write a book. Just pictures! And it is a little late, but I wanted to get these up before the first day of Chinese New Year got away from me. So, without further commentary, here's some pictures from our evening at the theatre!

"I wonder how she got so tall?" "How'd she know what dress I was wearing?"

Connie and Lily enjoy a good old-fashioned homecooked Chinese meal!

Katie Lin waiting to go to the Princess. She and I became buddies tonight because I let her take some pictures with my camera!

Grace Anna really looks cute in her glasses (and intelligent too!)

Lily enjoyed having her picture made with one of the Acrobats.

I love this picture, check out the smile on the young acrobat as she watches Lily meet all of them!

Hiding behind her fan!

Of course, no Chinese event is complete without the umbrella! This is Addie Liu, helping Lily hold her new umbrella (autographed of course by the acrobats).

Happy New Year (Rats!)

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace, and Lia Faith (somewhere waiting for us)
Green, Party of Five

Lemons and Strawbabies

2008-02-04T20:47:00.000-05:00

Sometimes life gives you strawbabies (that's Lily's word for strawberries) and sometimes you get lemons. Our challenge is to enjoy both because God's word says to "Give thanks in all circumstances." Not necessarily for all circumstances, but in all circumstances. God's Word also tells us that "All things work for the good of those that believe." We are greatly blessed to have been on the strawbaby side of the fruit isle most of the time, but for the past few weeks, we have been visited by a few lemons.

First, Lily Grace got sick, very sick. She missed two weeks of school. Her doctor diagnosed her with a severe case of the flu virus. Seeing her completely listless, as her fever reached as high as 104 degrees was terribly frightening. We were giving her Tylenol, but we learned that if the fever gets that high, Motrin is better. The doctors told us to bath her in lukewarm water and if her temperature didn't come down in an hour to take her to the emergency room. She had already been running a fever for several days when it got this high. So we were naturally concerned. Here's where the strawbabies came in. When they found out about her, my little Upward Basketball team, the Lady Eagles, decided to pray for Lily Grace. And so they did. By the time I got home from practice, Lily's fever had broken and she was running around playing again. Thank you Sarah, Kathryn, Jenny, Ashley, Anna, and Alana! Your prayers were heard and Lily's better now. That was the week before last. Lily has one other person to thank. Momma!

Hope this didn't cause it!

The entire time she was sick, she didn't want anyone but Momma. And she wouldn't get more than a foot or two away from Momma. Neither Austin, nor I could comfort her. Only Momma. And that's how it happened. Momma got the flu. The worst case of it I've ever seen. One night, I thought I was going to have to take Momma to the emergency room. Her fever was high and she couldn't breathe. It was scary. By this time, Lily was well on her way to recovery, but Momma was still on a downward spiral. Connie missed a week and a half of work between caring for Lily and then suffering the affliction herself. I don't know how Austin and I have avoided it so far, but praise God for that - this is a nasty bug. Then, out of the blue, came a wonderful surprise. Becky got wind of Connie's illness and brought over some homemade chicken stew, homemade cornbread, and a giant homemade chocolate pie. That was the best cornbread I've ever had - thank you Becky! Plus gifts for Lily and Lia. And from that day forward, Connie began to improve. She went back to work today, but is still not up to full speed.

In the midst of these lemons, our adoption agency called and left a message that they needed to talk to us. We got excited, maybe they wanted to ask us about a special needs child. Maybe there was a new list coming out. Maybe they were finished with our Homestudy. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Maybe not. Lemons. Carla informed us that the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs had implemented a new policy and that all agencies had to be in the new online system to receive any referrals, special needs or otherwise. Our agency is not in the new online system and might not be for several months. They know not when it might occur and even then, there's no guarantee of a 'list.' And so now we wait. The agency suggested that since we're not yet logged in with CCAA, maybe we should check around while we finish our Dossier to see if there are other agencies that are in the system and that might be willing to take our case. This doesn't sound good. Lemons. Now, it seems like we're starting over. Looking for an agency. Looking for a sister for Lily Grace. Lia Faith is out there somewhere and nothing that CCAA or anybody else does is going to keep us from finding her. I know this because my God said it and I believe it.

Meanwhile, we'll keep enjoying the strawbabies and tolerating the lemons.

Here's a strawbaby - Austin sketched these portraits of himself and Lily Grace for me and Connie for Christmas!

Another strawbaby - Uncle Wes bought Cookie Monster for Austin when Austin was 6 months old. He bought Tigger for Lily Grace this Christmas. Lily took Tigger out of the box and immediately dropped him on his tail to see if he'd bounce. Until she did it a couple of times, we had no idea what she was doing. Hopefully, she'll have Tigger as long as Austin has had Cookie Monster!

Love,
Green, Party of Five
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace, and Lia Faith (out there somewhere)

Two Years, a Little Math, and the Surprise

2008-01-16T20:00:00.001-05:00

The sad thing is that two years time can pass so quickly that sometimes you don't even realize where the time went. Of course, we know precisely where it went, if we sit down and think about it long enough. Let's see, 24 hours per day, 365.25 days per year (we collect that 0.25 day this year with leap year), 2 years, ... hmm, 17,532 hours. SEVENTEEN THOUSAND!!! I don't think I can account for all those, can you? I know I slept a few of them, worked several of them, went to church for a few of them, but how can that add up to 17,532? According to the best docs, we're supposed to sleep around 8 hours per day, I'm lucky to get 5 or 6, so that's a little over 4,000. Not a threat to Rip Van Winkle yet. Work. Oh yeah, that's where it went. Wait, about 8 hours a day and not including weekends or vacations, so that's less than 4,000 hours. I used to work a lot more than I do now, but please don't tell my supervisor! But between sleep and work, that's about half the time. Now, what about the rest? Church, about 4 hours a week, so that's 2*52*4, or 416 hours. A smidgen, I'm embarrassed. OK, we went on a few vacations, 7 days each, ... that's 168 hours a pop. Not even 1% of total time?? Mental note, more vacation time is warranted. Aha, Upward co-director and now director. That's it, that's where it went. I guess the old saying "Time flies when you're having fun" really is true. But the point is, do we really think much about our time and how we spend it? I guess that's why I only post once or twice every two weeks. The plan: Need to add some dates with Connie, some one-on-one time with Austin and Lily (and Lia, later on). And up the amount of time spent in prayer. There, I love it when a plan comes together. The next two years should be better accounted for.

OK, I'm sitting here thinking this is 2007 and trying to figure out how it is already two years since we saw the first picture of "Melissa" as she was known on Lifeline's web site. Then I thought "It's not 2007, I think it's 2008?" Let's see, we first saw "Melissa's" picture on 16 January 2006 and we immediately knew she was what God had in store for us for the rest of our lives. She even reminded me of my brother, with the look on her face. Not now, but certainly in that first photo, my first thought was "she looks like Wes?" Somebody help me out, it is 2008 now right? We told Lifeline that we wanted to adopt "Melissa" and began the necessary "stuff" immediately. Since God had this thing planned all along, He set everything on an accelerated schedule and by July she was ours. She had a new big brother and a beaming mommy! Her Dad was just trying to figure everything out. Little did he know how much fun God had in store for him over the next year and a half. Lily was born in the year of the monkey and she is more fun than a barrel of them. Every morning on the way to school, Austin and I laugh about what she did that morning. Every night, Connie and I laugh about what she did over dinner. Serious and silly, drama queen and comedian. Little girl and little lady. That's our Lily Grace. Yes, it's hard to account for every hour over the past two years, but we know in our hearts that time doesn't matter when God gives you a blessing. Just enjoy it and be thankful for it. Check out the dresses. This is a girly girl!

Christmas 2006

Christmas 2007

Oh, I nearly forgot the surprise. Lily had her three year checkup this past week and everything went well. She's inched up the growth chart, now weighing in at a whopping 5%. She is tall however, besting 25% of her peers in height (that's tall, right?). Her doctor says she's going to be petite - that must have been a tough call.

The surprise? Checkout the pictures below, I was hoodwinked, tricked, lead astray, misinformed, ... What's going on here? This wasn't supposed to happen until she turned 16. Maybe. Oh, well. I still have control over the age for starting dating. Right ???

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

A Brief Interruption in the Christmas Pictures

2008-01-10T20:57:00.000-05:00

So much to post, so little time. I haven't even finished Christmas and it's already past New Years. Amanda has come and gone back to college. There's lots of pictures and stories, we'll get to them eventually. But for now, come and celebrate with us the impending arrival of little Noah Smith. Our friends, Jeff and Becky will soon add Noah to their family, so we had a little party (Lily likes parties and so does Connie) for them. What a great turnout. We didn't know what to expect since the holidays were only recently completed and everyone might be all partied out. But when a new kid is on the way, everyone perks up. Noah, what a great name.

Now, we don't have many little boys in our Athens FCC group, so we're all excited about Noah. But first, there's cake to eat, punch to drink and pictures to take. It was an honor for us to host this little shower. Here's some pictures for you to enjoy, while I'm trying to figure out what Christmas and New Year's pictures to show. Oh, and there's the three-year old checkup and a little surprise to tell you about. But more on that later. For now,

Hey little Noah, Let it Rain! Here's the pictures of Jeff and Becky Smith's baby shower for little Noah! You know, tonignt it rained here more than any time in the entire past year and it just makes me wonder if God isn't telling Jeff and Becky and the rest of us that "Yes, this Noah is a good thing!" "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." Genesis 6:8!

It's not a red couch, but we got a picture!

Waiting for Noah!

About Those Christmas Pictures ...

2008-01-01T20:51:00.000-05:00

We took a little vacation to the mountains for the New Year's holiday and I had planned to have a serious post-fest. You know, a two or three cup of coffee sit down with picture after picture and comment after comment. I figured that with all the bowl games on, I'd be able to sit back with the laptop and post away for hours at a time, maybe even while the girls shopped. Aahh. Relax, Get the TV going, looks like another meaningless game is on, so I'll just go ahead and get started posting.

Now, where's that laptop. Ah, here we go. Plug it in so as not to have to worry later about that nagging battery low indicator. Good. Oops, forgot the wireless card. No problem, here it is. Restart. Logon. Start Internet Explorer. Good, now find the network. ... ... ... ... "Cannot locate network service." ... ... ... Oh, maybe the router is not turned on. Now, let's see, where is that thing? Hello, Cabin Rental Service, I can't find the router for the wireless Internet service. What? I know it's a new cabin. We're the first ones to use it? That's apparent from the unpaved driveway on a 60 degree incline (it's raining too). Yeah, but you said it had Internet service. Oh, the owner is working on it? Where are they? Looks to me like we're the only ones here.

OK, so you get the message. No Christmas posts until we get back home (we're home now). So, without further adue or extraneous words, here's some of our favorite pictures from this Christmas and New Year's season. Hope all of you had a Blessed and Holy Christmas season and a great start to 2008.

"Me and Daddy went shopping and I got these for Mommy!"

After that, we went to Santa's Village and Met Santa Clause. I told him I wanted a Candy Cane.

Oh, this red-clad, grey-bearded guy is for real. A Candy Cane!

"Austin, what are you doing to that toy soldier? Santa's watching!"

"Mommy and Daddy took me to the Athens Christmas parade and it was really cold. Austin was marching with the East Limestone band, so he didn't watch it with us. Mommy and Daddy were real sad because this was the first year ever that Austin didn't sit in the truck and watch the parade with them. But at least they had me!"

"Check out my Athens FCC friends on the float! I was sick and Mommy wouldn't let me ride:("

"Contemplating an after parade snack!"

"Getting ready for Austin's Christmas concert with the East Limestone Concert Band."
"East Limestone Concert Band, Intermediate Band, and Beginner Band - Lot's of Kids!"
"Austin played several percussion instruments, but his favorite was the Kettle Drums!"

"Here's my present to Mommy and Daddy and Austin - me! They readopted me by Alabama state law on the 13th of December!"

To Be Continued ... Check this same post title over the next few days. We have tons of pictures to share, picking out just a few is a great (but joyous) task. We will just add on to this post as we add pictures.

Merry Christmas,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace (and Lia Faith, somewhere)
Green, Party of Five

Oh No! My Christmas Tree!

2007-12-24T23:19:00.000-05:00

That was all she could say. "Oh No, My Christmas Tree!"

We love Christmas trees at the Green house, so we put one up wherever we can find room. There's one in the study - a formal one, only for looks mind you. Not functional, but very pretty. White lights and gold and red balls only. With a big red bow adorning the top. Then there's Austin's tree at the top of the stair case. Small, functional, and filled with memories of decorating. A little less formal, white lights, but still no homemade ornaments. Lily Grace has her own tree in her room. Very simple - colorful lights. Only a few ornaments purchased in China - mainly Panda Bears and a few gold balls. The functional tree is out in the breakfast area, er .. keeping room. That's where we have Christmas celebrations and exchange gifts. This tree is our real tree. It has all manner of ornaments, storebought and homemade. The fresh smell of Christmas. Ah, ... now that's what I'm talking about....

Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even that pesky mouse ...

Remember this story from last year? It seems that a real-life mickey mouse always invades us around Christmas time and this year is no different. I guess that's when it usually gets cold for the first time and they come looking for somewhere to warm their toes (claws?). Last year's mouse, of course, met his fate in one of those immensely effective, metal-wood-spring contraptions that'll snap a finger in two if you're not careful. However, this year's mouse is a bit more pesky, and apparently more destructive, than last years pink-nosed reign dear. But of course, the evidence to this point is circumstantial. Your honor, may it please the court, here is the evidence:

The stockings Connie hung by the fireplace with care,
In hopes that I'd leave them and not move them from there;

More about that later, but suffice it to say that had we known the impending danger, we'd have selected a better location!

Lily Grace was resting all snug in our bed,
Pinching my nose and thumping my head;
And Connie in her Bobby Labonte gown, and I in my black socks with shorts,
Were playing with Lily Grace while teaching her sports;

After dinner, Connie had announced how much she liked our 'real' tree this year. Of course, this was a poignant victory for me, being the one who has kept the tradition of the live tree alive and well in our household. The main advocate for that fresh smelling Frazier Fur from the mountains of North Carolina. Oh, we have our "Lowes" tree, mind you. Complete with pre-hung lights that are faltering at an alarming rate. And of course, they can't be replaced. So in a year or two, we'll be back at Lowes to plop down another few Ben Franklins for yet another plastic and metal salute to Christmas, lights and all. While we sat there admiring our tree - it's definitely the prettiest one we've ever had - we heard a thud. A small thud, mind you. Nothing to be worried about. Probably just one of the ornaments on the back side (you know, there are two back there), losing it's grip and falling to its grave ending. I joked with Connie that sometimes when people bring a real tree home, they find a squirrel in it later on - maybe we have one! So we retired to the bedroom with Lily Grace for a little more play and then ...

When out in the kitchen there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter;
Away to the kitchen I flew like a flash,
Slipped down on the floor rug, and opened a gash (not really, but I couldn't think of another rhyme).

The moon on the flake of the new-fallen snow (did you get flurries today?)
Lit up the kitchen and the objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a new fallen tree, and shattered ornaments everywhere,

All she could say was "Oh no, my Christmas tree!" Bless her heart, the world had suddenly ended. The last prize in the last box of cereal had been taken from her. Dora the Explorer had been canceled and replaced by reruns of the Johnny Carson show. It was over. Done. Everything was ruined. "Oh no, my Christmas tree!" Of course, Connie was looking everywhere for the squirrel and I was looking everywhere for the mouse! Lily was looking everywhere for the ornaments she had made and placed herself, proudly. Austin was on his way up the stairs...

With this disaster unfolding, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment Austin would be sick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:

"Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONDER and BLITZEN!
To the top of the stairs! to the kitchen let's go!
Now dash away! dash away! make it so!"

Austin, too was there in a moment surveying the damage. Like the president's quickly dispatched disaster review team, he kicked around a few broken items before announcing "It looks like the tree fell!" We managed to get the tree righted, but only half so - a mistake that would later strike us another blow!

When Austin surveyed the progress on reconstruction, all he could say was " You May Be a Redneck If ..."

This is the most pitiful tree since Charlie Brown's ill-fated attempt at decorative fashion!

"As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the treetop the ornaments we placed,
Though the tree was leaning slightly, threatening more space.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard from behind
A slight bending and cracking, that could not be denied.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down to the floor came the Frazier Fur with a bound.

This time there were four witnesses. Connie, Austin, Lily Grace and I simply stood in disbelief as those ornaments that had survived the first storm were suddenly and violently tossed to their fate in a second untimely event. Snowmen sat silently on the fireplace mantel, horrified by what was unfolding before them and the disaster they were about to become unwilling participants in. The first time, they simply watched as the tree fell silently (there was no one in the room to hear it!) away from them. This time the falling timber collected many of the snowmen and their inanimate mantel mates, who could neither run nor hide from their Goliath (they have no legs). Stockings flew, more ornaments crashed from the tree and the mantel, and singing cartoon characters at the base of the fireplace announced the second coming of the Christmas tree disaster.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of new ornaments he had flung on his back,
and he looked like a Home Depot helper just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

Santa had decided to come early to the Green house today,
To help clean up this mess and to save the day;
Lily was all down and Connie was too.
What to do. What to do? Oh, what to do?

So I gave them a portrait from a friend named Jim,
Who asked me not to attribute it to him;
He had painted Lily Grace, From the card last year,
And to Connie this time it brought several tears.

Well, at least Connie and Lily have a painting to look at. All Austin and I have are some fun memories making up new Christmas songs as we picked up the pieces with Santa's help ...

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly (Santa had a few extra pounds too).

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And he laughed when he saw me, in spite of himself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know he'd clean up this mess;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And replaced all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
Winking and twinkling and wiggling his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

Alas, Austin and Lily's Christmas tree was righted and redecorated, better than ever, waiting to be of service on Çhristmas morning to two little, sleepy-eyed dreamers - Connie and Jerry!. This time with some ornaments on the back side in case anyone views the tree from the outside. Austin and Lily Grace were happy to see their real tree again and we were happy to have several Christmas celebrations with the tree holding court in the Breakfast room. Oh, BTW, the snowmen requested and received guardposts on the hearth, where they perceived there to be less danger from falling timbers!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, as he drove out of sight,
"Balance that tree, Jerry, so I don't have to come back tonight."

Waiting for Christmas!

Merry Christmas to All of You,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace (and Lia Faith somewhere)
Green, Party of Five

What Do You Want for Christmas Daddy?

2007-12-19T23:59:00.000-05:00

As she sat next to me outside the Probate Judge's courtroom, she looked up with the brightest smile and deepest expression she could muster and said "Daddy, what do you want for Christmas?" And just like that, it became clear that a three-year old had more clearly understood the events of the previous 30 minutes than I could have imagined. All I could think of to say was "I just got it, sweet baby girl."

We are slowly, but surely, checking the boxes that are required for us to bring home Lily's sister one day and this was just another step in the process. You see, for Lily Grace to travel to China with us to meet Lia, she needed a U.S. passport and to get that, we needed a birth certificate issued in the U.S. And in order to get that, we had to convince the State of Alabama that she was really our child and that we'd be good parents to her if they let us adopt her! Even though Lily Grace is ours according to the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA), and even though she is a full U.S. citizen, she was not officially "ours" according to the laws of the State of Alabama. So no official birth certificate could be issued for her until we accomplished this step. Most of you know this already, so just smile at us and whisper a quiet "Oh My. Bless Them."

So, we hired an old friend to do some legal work for us and met with the probate judge at our appointed time and finalized the adoption by the laws of the State of Alabama. You want to know the really cool thing about living in a small county? The probate judge was the same judge who issued a marriage certificate for us 23 years ago! I think he even recognized us and we certainly recognized him. Now, Lily will get an Alabama birth certificate and then eventually a U.S. passport for travel. Yea!

But for this day, all she could think about was what I wanted for Christmas. And all I could think about was that the joy and love that she has brought into our family was all I really wanted. And what does Lily Grace want for Christmas? According to the Santa Claus at Santa's Village - "a candy cane!"

What do you really want for Christmas? Here's another question to consider "What does Jesus really want for Christmas?" It is, after all, His birthday we celebrate. Tomorrow night, I will be blessed to celebrate Jesus' birthday with my K-2nd grade girls Upward basketball team. I plan to talk about what we might give Jesus for His birthday. Maybe, just maybe, one of them will think it a good idea to give herself to Him ...

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

100 ...

2007-11-27T23:22:00.000-05:00

That's how many times we have posted to this blog, beginning in June 2006 before Connie, Austin, and I traveled half way around the world to meet God's little addition to our family. That, of course, would be Lily Grace. Since then, we have been writing to this blog so that one day, Lily would be able to immerse herself in the beginnings of her life, such as they were, and have something to reflect on. We are very thankful to a wonderful friend who encouraged us (demanded?) to write this blog - Lori, get some coffee, this'll take awhile. With such a void of information available to her about the first two years of her life, we felt it was important to document as much as possible for Lily the events of her life beyond her days as an orphaned angel in Jiangxi Province, China. We don't know much about her birth parents, her first 22 months, or her Chinese family, but we can be assured of a few things.

First, her biological mother must have been an amazingly beautiful lady, because Lily Grace is simply and stunningly beautiful in her own regard. We are so grateful to this lady that she cared enough for Xing Xing to bring her to an orphanage filled with God's own nannys so that one day she would be ready for us. We pray for her that she has found solace and is comforted by the knowledge that Xing Xing, now Lily Grace, is safe and full of life. Lily can look like the beautiful baby she is in one moment and an elegant, but dainty, grownup model in the next. I suppose she could get some of her physical traits from her biological father, but she doesn't really exhibit any of the features that one might see in the Asian male. Her features are 100% soft, very lady-like, but best described as very girly. Her skin, her eyes, and her hair work with almost anything she wears, so even I can sometimes pick out something from her wardrobe that goes well with her. And her wardrobe is extensive, mind you! It is sometimes awkward when someone points out to us that she is beautiful. We say thank you, but that seems a bit presumptuous on our part since God, and God alone, created her beauty - we had nothing to do with it. God had everything to do with it. Lately, however, something else has started to emerge. There is an old saying that the longer you live with a person, the more you begin to look like them. Thankfully, Connie hasn't started to look like me, but rather there are some similarities between Connie and Lily that appear to be emerging. Sometimes I see looks on Lily's face that remind me of Connie and vice versa. Lily has a way of creating beauty, not just on her own face, but on the face of others as she causes them to smile. This is very evident with Connie.

Second, there must have been some real smarts in Lily Grace's Chinese background, because she does seem to be blessed with a sharp mind, very perceptive, and very intelligent. She learns things very quickly and can make connections and assimilate ideas really well. I'm obviously no expert in the matter and probably more than a little bit biased in the subject matter, but it just seems that she is advanced well beyond what her birth age would suggest. She appears to be developmentally on track and well positioned for learning. In that regard, we say that she takes after her big brother, Austin, who maintains excellent performance in his studies. Lily attends school two days a week now and learns something new every day. One of our early posts described how Lily's English vocabulary was emerging. Well, let me say that if it was "emerging" then, today it is "exploding." She is way beyond simple sentences, telling stories about things that require several paragraphs! She sings songs, mostly in English of course but there is one that she calls "China" that she sings and it is beautiful. She will explain things to us and ask if we like certain things, usually to see if she should also like them.

If Lily's beauty is beginning to compliment that of her mother, Connie, and if her smarts are reflective of her time spent with Austin, then maybe I can lay claim to at least one trait - her sense of humor. She is such a card, especially at the dinner table, keeping us in stitches with her looks, her eyebrow exercises, and her silliness. I think my sense of humor was once a source of frustration for Connie, so bless her heart, now she has to put up with both of us! Throw in Austin's witty sense of humor and oh, poor Connie! Recently, Lily has learned to snarl her lip in the manner of the late Elvis Presley. It's hilarious. I don't know where she learned it, but she definitely associates it with Elvis. She likes to kid around, too. One evening on the way home from Steak and Shake, she donned the hat the waitress had given her and pronounced "I'm a cowboy, ye -- haa (or was that Ne - how). She was born in the year of the Monkey and will quickly remind you that that makes her silly!

Finally, Lily is an adopted child, a fact that is obvious to even the least observant among us. But we want her to know that God chose her for our family, just like He chose us for His family, and that no other reason exists that she is with us. For we are told in Ephesians 1:5 that "In love, He predestined us to be adopted as His children through Jesus Christ." What may not be so evident to the casual observer, is the emotional blueprint of this little angel. She can be sad or happy, subdued or overbearing, ambivalent or thoroughly engaged. She can scream and cry or sit quietly engaged in play with one of us. She has a range of emotions, and a surprising degree of control over those emotions, that many do not possess. She knows what it means to say I love you. In fact, she will often catch us off guard with a simple profession of love - "I love you a whole much!" - and imaginary hugs, complete with "Umm, Umm!" She knows exactly how to be a sibling sister to Austin (you know, the competition for Mom and Dad's attention), but also tells us often how much she loves him. Tonight, she went through the entire list of our family, including grandparents, to make sure that we loved all of them.

Oftentimes, I think of Lily reading this, maybe even after we've gone on to be with the Lord, and wondering what our feelings were at the time. Were we excited, scared, happy, sad, worried. And when I see pictures of Lily and Austin together like this one, it brings out some emotions that I didn't know were there. Tears quickly create a stream of simultaneous joy and sadness along my face. Conflicting, yet complimentary emotions, understood only by those who have experienced them firsthand. And so I thank God for revealing these things to me. We know that Lily Grace was loved by her nannys as much as humanly possible. God let us see firsthand during a visit to Lily's orphanage how deeply she was loved. But we also saw other children, not yet blessed to have a forever family and who waited patiently for their turn to smile. And when we departed her orphanage that day and Lily had logged her last memories of her existence there, God sent rivers of tears to every eye of every nanny (not to mention our own) and made sure that we saw that Love, His Love, brought to life by His very breadth. It will be a day that we will never forget and a day that changed our outlook on our world. We cannot get back there quick enough, yet like so many others, now we wait.

Some of the pictures we have posted over the past year and a half bring tears to our eyes because of thoughts of what those left behind in China, and other places, do not have. A loving family, a big brother, or a little sister. Grannys and Memaws. Papaws and Grandads. The comfort of being loved and needed. The joy of loving and needing. A day in the park filled with laughter. Contrast this with a day in the life of a child who does not know what tomorrow holds. Will someone come and take me away? Will my best friend disappear? Think about that for a moment... If you have looked into the eyes of a child alone in the world and seen the emotional abyss that lies within, you know what I'm talking about. If not, I pray that someday you too will get to experience, up close and personal, the beauty and sadness of emotions in their most original, uncloaked, unmodified state. And I pray that as a result you are moved to bring hope to these children in one way or another. And if it doesn't move you to tears, please let me know and we will pray together.

If you are considering adoption, or perhaps have already adopted your own little angel, then you are the second reason that we have kept this blog. Hopefully, the things that we have posted will have been a blessing and an encouragement to you. In case you didn't know, we are in the process of adopting again. We recently completed our homestudy and the paperwork associated with that and have begun working on a dossier. Lily and Austin will have a sister one day, Lia Faith, with whom they can share their lives. She will come home on God's time. Meanwhile, we wait and pray. Soon, to celebrate the blessing that will be Lia, it seems appropriate to begin a new blog, Green, Party of Five.

Some of the pictures in this post were taken by CJ Patterson, Angel Eyes Photography. Doesn't she do wonderful work. She is working on a portfolio for us (Connie says I'm going to have to work overtime to pay for this one!) Check out a few more of the pictures on her blog at http://www.angeleyesbycj.com. Look for an entry on 15 November 2007. CJ has a special heart for adopted children and goes way beyond the typical photo shoot when she has an opportunity to capture images such as these.

The Lord has shown no greater love than by sacrificing His Son so that He could adopt us. And for that we are eternally grateful. And we are grateful that He has shared the joy of adoption with us through Lily Grace.

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

Coming Home ... Again. What an Honor!

2007-11-17T11:48:00.000-05:00

On November 8th, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace and I were honored to be guests of Lifeline Children's Services for their annual fundraiser in Birmingham, AL. We are currently working with Lifeline on our second adoption and they had asked if we wanted to be a part of their fundraiser. Basically, they asked if we would participate in their "Parade of Families" during the program. And I thought "A Chance to Praise God" and thank our friends at Lifeline at the same time. Wow, how awesome is that? They asked us to send a few pictures that they would show while we said a few words about "Coming Home," the theme of this year's fundraiser. Oh, and another benefit is we got dinner and an uplifting message of adoption from David Nasser. Check out his web site at http://www.davidnasser.com.

Lifeline selected 10 or 12 families who have been part of their "Family" over the past couple of years and had each family be introduced and go up on the stage to say a few words during the parade of families. I didn't plan what to say, knowing that God would have me say what He wanted when it was our turn. Turns out He had other plans anyway, read on. Our family was introduced after the Chambers family (yes, for those of you who know and love them that's Dr. Jennifer Chambers from the Birmingham International Adoption Clinic). How cool is that! We wanted to hold Lily Grace up so that everyone could see how beautiful she is, but she was in her own world. She did not want to be picked up, she wanted to dance and twirl on stage while I spoke. There were many smiles in the audience and even a few chuckles as Lily stole the show all for herself. Oh well, perhaps that was God's way to show Lifeline's guests how He can turn around a life and let them be a part of it.

We also got to meet some friends that we exchange emails and blog postings with that we had never met. The Ferrill family was one of the featured families who spoke for several minutes. They have adopted Kimmie and Quan from China and have four really cool children that God gave them in the usual way. We seem to have so much in common with this family, even down to our music likes - Casting Crowns rocks!. It was great to get to meet them. If my math is correct, the Ferrills have 6 children. So, yes, maybe we Greens could at least handle half that many!

And speaking of new additions, we did turn in the remaining paperwork for Lia Faith to Anna at Lifeline to complete our homestudy. We had that with us at the banquet and provided it to Anna then. Earlier in the week, we had spent two hours in the pokie (that's southern for the jail) getting our fingerprints redone, then one hour in a lawyer's office to see about getting Lily Grace a US passport (preceded of course by an Alabama certificate of adoption and birth certificate), and finally a few minutes with the judge to get reassurance that yes, indeed, we are still married. It's funny, when we go to the judge's office to obtain a current-dated copy of our marriage certificate, the lady always says. Oh my, I'll have to go in the back to find that one. We don't keep records that old out here! On this Thanksgiving, I thank God that we are so blessed to still have each other after all these years! Now, we turn our attention to the Dossier work and the waiting. Please lift us up in prayer as we do this all over again! Fun, fun, fun...

Here are a few Halloween pics and Pre-Thanksgiving pics for you to enjoy.

Mickey and Minnie Mouse

The Artist (who now has a girlfriend!)

The Renderings (Love & Happiness)

The Squeaker (Squeeky Shoes Highly Appropriate)

Let's See, Was That the Nina, the Pinta, or the Santa Maria ... or the Mayflower!

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace
Green, Party of Four (and working on Five)

Homecomings and Harvest Festivals

2007-10-29T00:21:00.000-04:00

Wow, I've got some catching up to do. Where in the world have I been? We have been so busy and days seem to go by faster and faster. But you know what they say ... "Time flies when you're having fun!" Check out this picture. Sometimes Lily Grace looks like the baby that she is and sometimes, she looks like a little lady. Here, she looks like a young model in this year's latest fashionable fall outerwear.

OK, so what shall we talk about? Harvest festivals, homecomings, and one of my all time favorite topics ... Upward Basketball and Cheerleading. We'll save Halloween for this weekend, but just as a preview, Lily Grace went trunk or treating as Minnie Mouse, squeaky shoes and all. More about that in our next post.

One reason that I haven't been able to post as much lately is that I am the Director of the Upward Ministry at Isom's Chapel and we are deep into planning for our upcoming Basketball and Cheerleading season. Advertising, conducting signups, and establishing the parameters of the league takes an incredible amount of time to get it right.

But we are closing in on the beginning of practice. Maybe things will slow down a bit after that. Ha! We have completed registration and have 94 kids signed up to either play or cheer. Arranging those kids into teams of equitable talent and skills takes time and care. Then there's the task of identifying and recruiting coaches, adjusting rosters, evaluating late signups, conducting coaches training, ... Anyway, you get the picture. I am so excited about beginning the season. I get to coach a little girl's team with six girls between kindergarten and the 2nd grade. This will be different after coaching the rough and tumble boys for 7 years. I'll still help with Austin's team, but my primary focus will be to ensure that the littlest girls have a great time and hear about Jesus! Please pray for our Upward Ministry, that we might present the love of Jesus Christ in a way that plants seeds, waters seeds already planted, or stands ready for the harvest from seeds planted and watered before. I'll have more to say about the Upward Ministry in a future post. But now, some catching up.

Betcha didn't know that Lily Grace had her second trip to the beach in October. We kept it on the down low. Connie had promised Austin that we'd go back to the beach before the end of the year and with fall break, it was a good opportunity. Or so we thought... Can you say red tide? And I'm not talking about the kind that plays football on fall Saturday afternoons. This red tide is an explosion of algae from the ocean that causes extreme upper respiratory conditions, not unlike a cold or sinus infection.
Austin and I knew immediately when we hit the beach what was going on, because we had seen it in Jacksonville, FL in September. We lasted all of 30 minutes or so. Just long enough to build Alltel Stadium, the scaled-down, sand version of course.
The red tide was in effect for the entire fall break week, so every time we'd go out to the beach, we only lasted a half hour or so. And if that wasn't enough, tropical storm type weather invaded mid week and left the area flooded. A tornado even hit in Pensacola the day we were leaving. Oh well, so much for the beach weather. At least the dining and shopping were good and Austin did manage to get in two afternoons of golfing.

More recently, we were blessed to have Amanda come home for the weekend from her graduate studies in Chicago. Not only is she going to school there, but she's working for one of the Broadway type shows with costumes and such. I think she's really enjoying Chicago and she's actually only two hours away from her parents. She is doing well and we were all very glad to see her. Will was especially glad to see her (Will is her boyfriend and is in school himself at UAH). Amanda made it in Friday afternoon and was able to come to East Limestone's homecoming football game Friday night. We'd hoped that she would get to see Austin's band performance, but since it was homecoming, the band didn't do much except play My Girl, as the homecoming attendants marched out. Oh well, sorry Amanda. The football team did their part by claiming a big win and everyone went home happy. Lily Grace is always excited to see her big sisters, Emily and Amanda. So she was especially excited since she hadn't seen Amanda in quite a while. On her birthday, Lily got two dolls, one a boy and the other a girl. She missed Amanda so much that she immediately named them Will and Amanda. As a matter of record, Will and Amanda went to the beach with us. No, no, not the live Will and Amanda, the dolls! I'm pretty sure they had a great time. In fact, they were speechless! Check out the pictures of Lily Grace, Amanda, and Will below.

Speaking of homecoming, East Limestone did have their annual homecoming game this week. After four straight, grueling road games, they finally had a chance to play at home. This was truly a homecoming. I was beginning to wonder why we bought those season tickets. Lily hadn't been going to many of the games because the away games were very long trips. So she finally got to go again and had her usual good time. At one point in the game, she yelled "Go, go, go!!" and then turned to me and said rather disappointedly "They're not going?" It was as if she thought just by yelling and encouraging, she could make them respond in the way she wanted. Come to think of it, I think the same way. With her feisty attitude, I better try to keep that one in check!

Oh, nearly forgot the Creekside Harvest Festival. When Lily Grace gets old enough to attend school, she will go to Creekside Elementary School in East Limestone. So we thought we'd take her over to their annual Harvest festival to check things out. You know, see the teachers, begin butterin' them up, introduce their future star student, .... You can't start too early on that you know. Our neighbor and good friend Regina was in charge of the whole thing and did an awesome job! Of course, Lily Grace thought the whole thing had been put together for her.
She walked in and immediately seized control of the place. Cake walks, frog jumps, picture sessions, and clowns who make funny balloons were the order of the day. Lily Grace also got her first taste of cotton candy. She really liked the candy, but couldn't figure out where it was going when she tried to chew it!
(Mental note: This cotton candy stuff is not good for strengthening the chewing ability.) Of all the events and games at the festival, the train ride was what excited Lily Grace the most! She squealed with delight when she saw "Paw Paw's Express!" What's with this squealing anyway, Austin never did that?

And finally, to completely catch up, Connie, Austin, and I were blessed to be able to see Casting Crowns at the VBC. This is my favorite music group ever, period. If you're not familiar with their songs, they are the contemporary Christian artists who brought us "If We Are the Body", "Who Am I?", "Let My Lifesong Sing", and "Does Anybody Hear Her?" Stop now and go immediately to the nearest music store and purchase every Casting Crowns CD that you can find. They are awesome.

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

They Are In My Closet ...

2007-10-09T20:10:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a great day for Lily Grace. That's because our favorite doctor in the world, Dr. Jennifer Chambers at the UAB International Adoption Clinic, and her staff have decided that Lily Grace is socially and physically ready to take on the world! Of course, we've known that since we brought her home, but it's good to hear it from the professionals. The sad part of it is that we won't get to see Dr. Chambers and her staff again until Lily turns 5 or 6 years old. Lily has a great doctor here in Madison too because Connie did her research before picking one, but just the understanding look and nods that we get from Dr. Chambers always comforts us.
Lily has been tended to by the UAB IAC clinic staff for a little over a year and we have nothing but good things to say about our experiences there. We are just absolutely thrilled that we have such qualified professionals who are also caring, parents of internationally adopted children themselves. It's funny, when we have an issue that we bring up with Dr. Chambers, often times she says "Me too, here's what I do." The developmental and social staff, Drs. Jill, Leah Ann, and Amy, are also just as caring and qualified. Guess we'll just have to adopt another little girl so we can continue the treks to Birmingham and our visits with some really cool, professional doctors/moms (more on that later).

Lily scored well enough on all of the developmental and social skills tests that the doctors see her as no different than any other 3-yr old child trying to make her way in a complex world. Physically, she is still in the lower percentiles, but she is developing normally. She'll just always be on the smallish side. Mentally and emotionally, she's doing well and has adapted about as well as anyone could have hoped for. At one point in the developmental skills tests, Dr. Jill decided to ask Lily Grace about some obscure body parts, like fingernails, toenails, etc. and where they were. Now, when we play this game, it's usually with parts like legs, arms, elbows, shoulders, and of course Belly!!!! So Lily knew the game well, but was a little confused by some parts until prompted a little. "Fingernails ... here, see paint. Toes ... right here! Knees ... here they are!" Everything was going well until Dr. Jill asked Lily where were her heels? And with a straight face and confused look, Lily replied "In My Closet." At that point, Dr. Jill decided the test was finished. We were all falling out of our chairs with laughter. This gal is 100% girl, no doubting that!

Our next stop in Birmingham was to visit with our Adoption Agency, Lifeline Children's Services, and our friend, Anna. During this visit, we completed some more of our homestudy requirements for our next adoption, a sister for Lily Grace. We're getting close on getting all the paperwork chased down so please pray for us as we continue this process. We have just a few more items to track down and then we wait. That will be the hard part, we know, but it is what God would have us do. Of that, we are certain. It's funny, the first time we visited Anna at Lifeline, Austin was with us and we were beginning the process to adopt Lily Grace. This time, Austin was in school and couldn't miss, so Lily Grace was with us as we continue the process to adopt Lia Faith. Oh, and Lifeline has asked us to be a part of their "Parade of Families," during their annual fundraiser. We'll be one of ten families that get to tell their story of adoption. It'll have to be brief, I'm sure, but we are so excited about this opportunity!

I know, this should have been multiple posts, but there have been too many happenings lately, so I tried to get them all in here. One more to go --

Today, Lily Grace and I got to go to Tate's Farm, a pumpkin patch and farm in Meridianville where lots of schools take field trips. Lily's class at Lindsay Lane Baptist Church decided to take a field trip there and I got to go along. Thanks Ms. Melanie and Ms. Carrie for arranging the trip! Of course, I stood out like a rocket scientist in a pumpkin patch, being the only Dad. And since I was going in to work afterward, I was dressed for work, not for the pumpkin patch. Big mistake, with humidity hovering around 200%. It had been several years since we'd taken Austin, so I had forgotten that this was an interactive farm, where if you don't get dirty you have to pay extra! So I ducked into the gift shop and purchased the proper attire - a Tee Shirt that said "I God Mine at Tate's Farm!" Don't even think about it, there are no pictures to serve as evidence of this wardrobe nightmare.

By the end of the two hour tour and pumpkin patch adventure, I was soaking wet, dirty, smelly, and ready for a shower. Lily wanted to go over and visit the pigs - I told her that I was too dirty to visit the pigs, they might be offended! Anyway, Lily Grace just enjoyed herself all day, occassionally squealing with delight (what is it with this squealing thing?) and causing others to laugh. Her favorite part of the day, according to Lily, was the corn basket - a huge tub of corn that all the kids got to play in. It looked fun, some of the moms even got in themselves. My favorite part was watching Lily learn about things on the farm - she even picked some cotton.

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

It's Your Birthday Sweetheart!

2007-10-05T00:25:00.000-04:00

So celebrate in the knowledge that we love you very much and we are very happy that God placed you in our lives. Guess whose birthday is today! Celebrate in the knowledge that Jesus Christ loves you even more than we do, though to us that might not seem possible. Celebrate in the knowledge that God planned a family for you that includes a wonderful son and a precious daughter. Celebrate that He has plans to expand our family again so that you can be mommy to another of His miracles.

"A wife of noble character, who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life." Proverbs 31:10-12

From the day we met so romantically (in the parking lot of Dairy Queen), I have loved you. From the day we were married, I have treasured you. When Austin was born and I saw the awesome mother you would become, I was thankful. And when you told me one day that God said we should adopt Lily Grace, I was changed forever.

"She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness." Proverbs 31:27

Thank you for tending to our every need and for putting up with our every whim. Thank you for being a loving mother to Austin and to Lily Grace. Sometimes Lily Grace simply wants her mommy because she knows how much you love her.

"Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her." Proverbs 31:28

I hope that today will be a wonderful, blessed day for you and that something that we do will be part of making it so.

"Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Proverbs 31:30

Thank you for being a Godly mother to Austin and Lily Grace and a forgiving wife to me. Your patience exceeds what I should be allowed.

"Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate." Proverbs 31:31

Thanks for being a Proverbs 31 Woman for our family! God's plans are working out just fine with you in our midst.

Happy Birthday Connie Jo (oops, I let the middle name slip out!)
We love you and hope you have a great day!
Jerry, Austin, and Lily Grace ...

Two Tickets ...

2007-10-01T22:54:00.000-04:00

$90. Hotel Stay $300. Parking $35. Hamburger and Barbeque at the Game: $30. Watching Austin celebrate as the FSU Seminoles won one of the biggest games they ever played in: priceless. Even if it was at the expense of my Crimson Tide. Seems Austin's teams are getting the better of mine this year, with East Limestone starting off their season by thumping my state champion Athens Golden Eagles 7-6 back in Sept.

Connie bought two tickets to what was billed as the "River City Showdown" last March and gave them to me and Austin to go. Austin has been a Florida State fan since the days of Coach Cav at East Limestone (Coach Cav turned ELHS into a mini-FSU, complete with similar uniforms, war chant, and attitude!). Of course, I've been an Alabama fan since the days of Bear Bryant and 63 National Championships (no, wait, I think we have 64 now!). Every thing worked out just great. Except the game. I was mad, no angry, that we played as poorly as we did. But give a lot of credit to Florida State's defense. They made everything we tried to do look foolish. JP had an awful game. The o'line looked like a high school unit and let's not even talk about the backup DB who gave up two touchdowns!! We've got some serious work to do and not much "stuff" to do it with!

We left out Friday afternoon after Austin got out of school, got haircuts - can't go to the game looking shaggy now could we - and hit the road. East Limestone had their football game Thursday night, so that was good and bad. Good in that we got to leave after school Friday, bad in that we were out late Thursday night and didn't get much sleep - not good for a looming 9 hour drive to Jacksonville. For the record, the ELHS Indians moved to 5-0 on the season, with a very convincing 58-0 win. Now, for all their troubles, they get to face their arch nemesis, the North Jackson Chiefs, also 5-0 and ranked #1 in the state in class 4A. The Indians and Chiefs both dress like Florida State and use the war chant as their fight song...over and over and over and over ... Can we say "I'm tired of this Na, Na, Nannna Na, ... Na , Na Nanna Noooooo! Oh well, back to the River City Showdown...

We stayed on Amelia Island and of course everybody there was there for the game, so there were FSU and Bama fans everywhere. There were even some other divided families there with "FSUBama" Car tags and flags of opposite colors flying from each side of their cars. Saturday morning we thought we'd go down to the beach and play in the sand for awhile. Little did we know that there was a "Red Tide" warning. I'm not kidding! Both of us were coughing and sneezing and having sinus troubles within minutes. When we noticed the locals were wearing masks, we left the beach! All day long, I kept telling Austin that it was a "Crimson Tide" warning! After the game, he told me the warning had been downgraded to a watch!

Of course, Austin's favorite part was visiting with the FSU band during the third quarter. We went over to where they were sitting and next thing I know, he's down in the middle of the band talking to the percussion section leader about different drumbeats! He got some up close videos for his own ELHS band drumline - maybe, Ms Sam will cut him some slack for missing competition to go to this game!

Congrats to FSU and to Austin. Better start saving for that tuition, son. I hear it's expensive for out of state students!

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

Dora! Dora! Dora!

2007-09-24T22:49:00.000-04:00

It was an a'Dora"ble day for one little Lily Grace Xing Green. She finally had that birthday party that she'd been telling everybody about for a month. Nay, reminding every chance she could get. She was so excited, she told her mommy after church when she laid down for a nap "I so cited!" The day couldn't have been any better. The weather was great, we had friends and family over, and the neighbor cut his yard! Oh, but that's another story for another time. Just let me say that I've been trying to get this neighbor to do something for two years and Connie says something to him (gently, I'm sure) about Lily's birthday party and next thing I know there's heavy earth moving equipment running around like creatures from some H.G. Wells novel! I'm sorry. I digress. Connie says I do that alot. It's kind of like ... er, back to the story.

I think the little girl, our Lily Grace, is pretty smart. You see, she spent the past month taking advantage of every opportunity to tell potential party attendees when her birthday would be and what kind of party she would have. One night at church, while we were celebrating Family night with dinner, Lily took a bite of green beans, smiled, and announced that "Sept 24th Gilli's bir'day. I gon have Dora party." No one was talking about anything that could remotely have triggered thoughts of birthday parties, but Lily knew there were several potential party-goers in her midst, so she went out on a limb. And without another word, she went right back to her green beans. Just like that. We all laughed, but she had made her point - be there, Sept 24th.

Sept 24th and so they came. My cousin and I had spent the previous weekend assembling Lily's new "swing set" from Lowe's. Check out the pictures below. Instructions said it would take two men 16 hours to put it together. I remember my first swing, a worn out tire from a 1966 VW beetle with a long rope. It took two men ten minutes to assemble it! Er, back to the story.

We had one of those big bouncy things, as Lily calls it, delivered for the kids to play in while we adults reflected on how fast they grow up. The big bouncy thing had Dora, Diego, and "Oh maaaaaan" all over it. I can never remember the name of that squirrel looking character that says that, but Lily has picked up on it and knows quite properly how to use "Oh maaaaaan!" For weeks, she's been going around saying "Oh maaaaan!" at every opportunity. It's hilarious. Once she got into the bouncy thing, there was no getting her out.
Well, almost. What kid can resist hotdogs, cake, and ice cream, while being toasted with that time-honored, venerable favorite "Happy Birthday, to you, Happy Birthday, to you. Happy Birthday, Dear Lily. Happy Birthday to you."

All of Lily's friends from church came over for the party, along with most of her extended family. Thank you to everyone for coming and for celebrating Lily's birthday with us. I am sure she will remember for a long time your kindness to her on her special day. And a special note to Sara - we love you and we were very glad you came. Please come over and see Lily often. However, we noticed during the party that most of Lily's friends are nearly of dating age! Note to self - get that application for Lia Faith going faster! Lily needs a little sister.

Anyway, Lily's bestest best buddy in the world, Sarah Ann, came over from Russellville just for the party. Thank you Tom and Laura and Ashleigh for bringing Sarah Ann and Will over. It's hard to describe how much love we have for you and how much we appreciated you waking us up last March with pictures of Lily Grace from Jiangxi. Thank you will never be enough, so instead, we ask God, that He continue to bless your family! It is so funny to watch Sarah Ann watch Lily Grace now. I've said many times that Sarah sometimes views Lily with an expression of "There she goes again!" I really wonder what each must be thinking now. But Sarah Ann was a little more cautious than Lily about the Dora bouncy thing - and for good reason. Checkout the "strawberry" on Lily's forehead, earned from a face first plunge down Dora mountain just before "hotdog" time. But she's a tough little girl, only wimpering a little before announcing "I'm OK Daaeee!"

After dinner and cake, it was time for Lily to open the presents that her friends and family had brought her. It is so amazing to see how much this little girl is loved. She got presents from as far away as Chinatown in Chicago, Il. Thanks Amanda, we love you and we miss you! In an effort to encourage her to be thankful and humble, we asked her to hug each guest and thank them for the present. And so she did! If you didn't get a Lily hug Sunday afternoon, it's only because you weren't in the same zip code. She took that part very seriously.

If you're wondering where Austin is, he and his "teen" friends spent the afternoon in a pool tournament in his new Florida St room, complete with Seminoles colored pool table. Seems like a bad week to paint the basement cardinal and gold and paint a Florida St logo on the wall! Anyway, below are some party pictures. Please enjoy them and if you get a chance, say a prayer for Lily and especially for her "little sister," not yet revealed to us by God, but certainly waiting there in China and dreaming of days like "Dora! Dora! Dora!"

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

School Days, School Days ..

2007-09-08T02:00:00.000-04:00

Good old golden rule days ... My father always said that to me. Of course he had his second verses about reading, writing, and arithmetic that we won't get into, lest some of our school agers think we disrespect their vocation! Both of the Green kids are back in school full swing now that Fall has gotten underway. It is Fall, isn't it if school is in session. But why is it still so hot? Maybe somebody better check the calendar to see if we're jumpstarting this school thing a little early.

Anyway, Austin has started the 8th grade and really likes all of his teachers. He really gets along nicely with his history teacher. Says he's a laid back teacher that just lectures and teaches, no set formula for study this, take that test, complete this assignment, answer these questions, ... Just learnin.' His class schedule couldn't have worked out any better for him. All the tough stuff in the morning and PE the last period of the day! His advanced literature teacher heads up the Jr Beta Club and may be planning another trip to New York next spring. Austin will have to choose between going to DisneyWorld with the band or New York with the Beta Club. My guess ... he visits New York again. He's not much on Disney parks.

Lily Grace also had her first day of 'school.' She's going to a preschool for 2 yr olds - her age prevented her from joining the 3 yr old class. We didn't know what she would think of going some place on her own, without Mama or Memaw, but she surprised us all by running off with the other kids laughing and having a ball. Connie did alright, but Memaw couldn't leave. Said maybe they should stay and make sure she doesn't cry. Make sure who doesn't cry, thought the director, her or you? Of course, the director said "why would she cry, look at her, she's having a blast." So, reluctantly Memaw agreed to leave her, but only for a few hours mind you ... we'll be back to get her soon! And you better take good care of her.

"Lily Grace hard at work."
"Lily and her teacher, Ms. Melanie"

So I got to pick Lily Grace up and showed up just in time. All the little kids were marching out from their classes, "book bags" and lunch boxes in tow. Looked like a bunch of little business place soldiers, leaving for the day after putting in a good day's work! Even Lily didn't stop at my feet as the procession passed me by, instead taking her seat with the car riders in the lobby and waiting her turn to be called down to go home. Checkout the pics below of Lily Grace on her first day of school.

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

Green, Party of Five

2007-08-23T00:20:00.000-04:00

Though our house is sometimes occupied by thoughts of Jiang Yongxing's likely still living birth mother in China, just being able to see her laugh and smile and love is confirmation enough that she's enjoying her new life here in America. Sometimes it seems Xing Xing's (as she was known in China) mother is right here with us and she is funny, witty, pretty, and very loving. The thought of her relinquishing her precious Xing Xing is not easy to comprehend, but we know there are many reasons. Unfortunately, we'll never know for sure what drove her to that point. However, we cannot help but think that Xing Xing's life will turn out better than it would have if she were forced to live out her youthful days among so many children, yet so alone. Not because of anything we have done, but because God had a plan for her. And we were the "lucky" ones, that His plan happened to intersect her life with ours. Casting Crowns recorded a great song called "Who Am I?" whose words seem to describe exactly what we feel:

"Not because of who I am, but because of what You've done. Not because of what I've done, but because of who You Are."

Because of what He has done, the blessing, unknown to us at the time we first met Lily Grace, is ours by His grace. Yet there are the persistent thoughts of how to answer the questions sure to come later in life. And whether we'll really be able to explain her humble beginnings with a degree of certainty that will satisfy her longing for understanding herself and her country.

So many times in the past year, people have said to us what a good thing we did in bringing Lily Grace to America, implying that we somehow "rescued" her from the orphanage. And each time they do, I am embarrassed. Please don't misunderstand that. I am embarrassed only because it must be something that I've done or said that gives that impression. And when you really think hard about it, nothing could be farther from the truth. What I think about is how much of Lily's heritage she'll never be able to reconstruct. The siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins she'll never meet. The language and the beauty of her birth country, never to be experienced any moreso than as one of countless other tourists. I also think about the other children we met in her orphanage and wonder if God had a plan for them similar to the one He had for our Lily Grace. We know her best friend was adopted here in America and we hope one day to be able to visit with her and her new adoptive parents. In Lily's orphanage, there was this one older girl, probably 9 or 10, that Connie and I both noticed with great interest. She's in several of our photos and our video. We've wondered many times what has happened to her. There was a little boy, dressed in American red, white, and blue, content with the candy we brought, barely noticing our presence after receiving it. We wonder what happened to him.

Neither Connie nor I can stop thinking about those children and how they must long for someone to hold them and love on them. Maybe it could be us. And for that reason, we believe it is God's guidance for us to reach back into China. Not because we feel like it's our duty to do what we can for the lost children of China, but because we have come to know a love in the past year that is simply indescrible and we know that Lily Grace is filled with that love as well. She has taught us to love without bounds, and everyone in our family has benefitted from it. She tells everyone in the house how much she loves us, often just out of the blue. And you can tell she knows what she's talking about, sometimes accompanying the utterance with a kiss on the cheek or a look that simply melts its recipient. Though at times she treats him as typically as any American girl would treat her brother, Lily will tell Austin she loves him and if he's not feeling well, she'll do her best to comfort him. She needs to share this love with somebody who'll better understand its origins. Long after we're gone, we'd like for Lily Grace to have a connection to her heritage, someone to share her innermost thoughts with as she grows up and begins to wonder why she is different.

Yes, it's official. We are seeking to grow our family once again and with God's guidance and direction, hopefully we will be obedient to His will and find another sibling for Austin and Lily Grace. Austin is growing up so quickly, it's a little sad to realize that in just a few short years, he will be off to college. And then, Lily Grace will need somebody to play with, someone to build her imagination with, to share toys and nighttime stories, a close friend at school for those tough times to come. And they will come. I had wanted to wait until things got a little further along, but this kind of news just seems to find a way out. We spoke with our pastor and had prayer together last weekend. That is so important, just to pray and listen for God's will. For anyone thinking about adopting, please start with prayer and listen to God. If you ask His guidance, He will be faithful to lead you and direct you along the plan He has selected for you, whether that plan involves biological, domestically adopted, or internationally adopted children.

We have decided to use Lifeline Children's Services again, in short because their entire staff is so professional, and yet so loving and caring. Lauren, Anna, Karla, and all the others behind the scenes were amazing during our adoption of Lily Grace. Anna will handle our case again and we couldn't be happier about that. Their in-country representatives were uncommonly competent and caring people. Sally in Nanchung and Rebecca and Lily in Guanzhou were the perfect aides along our journey. They took care of more than we could have ever expected.

We've already begun the paper chase, having turned in a few documents while working on a new application. We have begun the process for getting a U.S. passport for Lily Grace, so she can travel under the U.S. flag when next we visit China. Our first homestudy visit is next week. So, please be in prayer for our entire family, as we begin this process again. We are thankful to have so many friends (actually, we consider them all family) we can talk to as we walk this path again.

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

The Rest of the Summer

2007-08-18T15:15:00.000-04:00

Aren't the months of June, July, and August supposed to be the "lazy, hazy daze of summer?" It seems like it's been anything but lazy. It also seems like this was the shortest summer ever. I'm not sure why, just does. Now that it's mid August, both kids are back in school (more on that later) and the freight train that is 'Fall 07' has left the station ... all aboard!

Continuing the review of summer ...

Lily Grace, Austin, and Amanda enjoy fireworks at the Athens fireworks show, a tradition in the Green family that dates to Austin's first fourth of July!

We took a long vacation in Ft Walton Beach after the July 4th holiday.

"Is there anything I can get you?"

"Lily Grace and 'The Claw!'"

In mid July, the Jr Youth group from Isom's Chapel worked at Manna House, distributing food to the needy and were rewarded with a pool party at the Bryant's. Lily Grace took advantage and learned how to jump off the diving board (yes, in the deep end!). Her reward ... a cupcake with green icing!

Lily and Austin's 'Big Sister' Amanda heads off the college. She's going to graduate school in Chicago, Illinois ... that's a long way away! Please come back and visit often (BTW, at the time of this blog entry, Amanda has come back to visit ... yea!)

Of course, the big event of the summer was Lily Grace getting baptized. We decided to do this on the anniversary of her "Gotcha Day" and it gave me the opportunity to give a testimony before the church about how God showed me our privilege and responsibility in seeing that Lily Grace would know "Who this Jesus is."

Not long after that, Austin began workouts for band and football at East Limestone. No pictures of course, that might tip the competition. This year, Austin will continue to manage the high school football team, but he will also march with the band during halftime. In a twist of irony that even I couldn't imagine, the band will open the season with "Mission Impossible!" Of course, Austin says it's all worked out. He'll manage up until 3 minutes before halftime, then run through a phone booth and emerge in his band BDUs, grab his snare, and be on the field marching before you can say superman! This will be fun.

I now pronounce you ready for fall ... let the games begin!

Love,
Green, Party of Four ...

June Bugs, July Flies, and August Ladybugs

2007-08-12T23:06:00.000-04:00

Remember June bugs? Those hard-backed, big green bugs that could fly. How come we don't catch those and tie them to a piece of thread and let them fly in circles anymore. Remember those days? How 'bout July flies, those over-sized, cricket on steroids bugs that make the most racket you've ever heard? Lily heard one tonight as we were leaving Granny's and asked what it was. That's what prompted this little review of summer. Hope you enjoy. And please remember that no matter what, God loves you and has a plan for you!

With a long, hot summer winding down, I thought it would be fun to review the memories of this past summer with lots of pictures. Yes, believe it or not, another summer's in the books (unless, of course, you check the thermometer which seems to scream I'm not finished yet!). School has started, kids are hurrying to class with arms full of notebooks, pencils, colored pencils, and pens ... and paper towels, tissues, baby wipes, and all manner of other items that I never remember having in school. Wait a minute, I digress. We'll get to that later. Let's start with school getting out back in May.

"Austin Receives an Award for Awesome Grades!"

It seems like only yesterday that school let out for the summer. Austin had finished the requirements for 7th grade and was subsequently awarded the privilege of coming back for 8th grade in the fall, but not without a few summer assignments. Now, that's another thing I don't remember from my school days. Anyway, four books to read and two projects to complete for Advanced Literature. Wow, I've been working on one book for probably 6 months now and haven't finished, but Austin had to read four in a mere eight weeks of 'summer break.'

"Kristin Graduates High School"

Kristin, one of Lily's "sisters," graduated high school in May this year. It seems like only yesterday that Kristin was babysitting Austin, spending the entire summer becoming such a wonderful part of his and our lives. We pray a special blessing for Kristin and wish her well as she begins a new chapter in her life. And Lily Grace says "Good job, Kristin!"

"One of My All Time Favorites, This Picture Earned Lily Grace a Place on Website for the Maker of the Dress."

Lily and Austin's grandfather, and my father passed away in May. I wish that I'd spent more time with him and that Lily and Austin could have known the man I knew before Parkinson's wreaked havoc on his very being. Please pray for a cure for that awful condition. By God's grace, the children did get to visit one last time in the hospital and I hope they'll remember their grandfather in the best possible way.

Austin played golf several times over the summer. He really enjoys the game. I wish I could take him more often, because I know the opportunities for that kind of activity will dwindle as he gets older and begins defining himself as a young adult.

By Memorial Day, we knew the summer would be hot, based on the way it started out, so we began dressing Lily appropriately. Check out the bathing suits in the pictures below.

Oh, we also allowed Lily Grace to renew a relationship with her favorite food - watermelon! This girl can eat some melon - is there a melon-eating contest somewhere?

"Gimme Some of Da Good Stuff!"

Austin and I got to see a couple of our favorite Christian groups in Building 429 and Hawk Nelson. We were able to talk with the artists of Building 429 after their show and tell how much their song "No One Else Knows" meant to us while we were in China. They were excited to hear how their music had ministered to us in a foreign land. Austin got to meet Jason of Hawk Nelson, easily one of the craziest guys we've ever met. They talked a little and Austin showed him a picture he'd drawn of them on the way over. Probably Austin's favorite night of the summer.

Oops, look at the time! Seems I'll have to finish this little summer review another night. I guess Summer is hanging on after all.

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

U.S. Citizenship Celebration

2007-08-06T00:50:00.000-04:00

How Important is Your Citizenship in These United States?

OK. A little on the documentary side I know. This is an article that I wrote for our local newspaper. Hopefully, it will be published sometime in the near future. For now, enjoy watching the paint dry. (And get some coffee!)

Are we witnessing a demographic change of seismic proportions in our small, rural, hometown community? Probably not, though at times it may seem so. In fact, many of our citizens would answer yes to such a question, based on the number of immigrants, legal and otherwise, who now inhabit our small town in search of employment and a better life for their families. Immigration is an idea that has long been part of most major American cities and that is just now reaching out into small-town America. Immigrants come from all corners of the earth, though most of the current influx is from the Hispanic communities in Central and South America. However, a small, but growing number, of new residents in Athens and Limestone County is represented by children of Asian descent, primarily Chinese. This is the story of their newfound citizenship in these United States and how they are being nurtured by the Athens chapter of Families with Children from China, a Christian-based support group for adoptive families. The Athens chapter of FCC recently held its annual celebration of U.S. citizenship, honoring those who became citizens of the United States through international adoption during the past year. The Forrest Hills community was gracious enough to allow the use of their clubhouse on Saturday, July 21st for the event.

"Three New Citizens"

"Lily Mei and Her New Mother Monica"

"Let's See Now, What to Do?"

"A New Parachute "Game is Invented!"

Citizenship and the status of immigration is a topic of significant emphasis in many small, rural communities as they struggle to incorporate “new residents” into mainstream America. There are many barriers to successfully melding peoples of different cultures into our society, including reluctance on the part of citizens within the community to accept them and reluctance on the part of the immigrants themselves to adapt to an English-speaking society with cultures different from their own. For many Americans, our citizenship is not something we think about often enough. It’s not that we take our citizenship for granted. We are certainly aware of the sacrifices that many have made and are making on our behalf. And we pray Psalm 91 for those who would give their lives to protect ours.

"Practicing for His First Coca Cola Commercial"

Still, the question of the importance of our citizenship rarely comes up in our everyday lives. God has blessed our country so immensely and those very servicemen and women we pray for have done such an awesome job in protecting what God has given us, that we as Americans have come to ‘expect’ our freedoms. As for citizenship, those who come here for a better life would benefit greatly, as would society in general, by seeking to attain their own citizenship. They would learn to appreciate the sacrifices of those who’ve gone before us and could then teach their children the importance of loyalty to a concept called freedom for those who will come after us. In short, we have come to experience life in these United States as a normal, customary, and standard way of living. We consider it normal to be able to wake up each day to choices that enhance our Quality of Life. What to wear, what to eat, what to do, where to go. Even our children have an array of choices each day that keep their little minds busy, constantly evaluating choices.

Sadly, as many who have traveled to other countries will attest, life as we know it here in the good old USA is anything but normal for many parts of the world. Simply put, the choices that we enjoy and the freedom under which we exercise the privilege granted us to make those choices is not normal in many parts of the world. So, how important is your citizenship in these United States? For some, it is simply a miracle from God, granted not because of anything they’ve done, but simply because He planned it that way. This is their story. Lily Grace Xing Green, Paul William Ogles, and Lily Mei Carter all completed this journey in the past year and are now full-fledged U.S. citizens, whose freedoms and privileges are protected by the greatest country on earth, the United States of America.

"Love That Chicken from Popeyes!"

Each year, the miracle of international adoption is experienced by many families across North Alabama, with a surprising number right here in Athens and Limestone County. Many of these international adoptions are of Chinese children and more specifically, Chinese girls. This circumstance is born out of the Chinese government’s attempt to deal with a large, burdensome population in excess of 1.4 billion. (By comparison, the U.S. recently eclipsed the 300 million mark, or less that 1/4th the number of Chinese). The process of adopting a child internationally is lengthy and expensive, sometimes taking as much as two or three years, and filled with ups and downs, paperwork, and prayers. The first step in gaining U.S. Citizenship is completing forms for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) indicating a family’s intent to travel abroad and adopt a child. This step occurs as much as a year before the family travels to China. Families who adopt from China typically spend 14-17 days in China, the first stop being in the capital city of the province where their new family member was born. Here, he or she is adopted into the family by Chinese government policies and given a passport for travel abroad.

The final in-country stop is in Guangzhou, China to visit the U.S. Consulate. The United States does not have an embassy in Beijing, nor do the Chinese have an embassy in Washington, DC., so matters of state are accomplished by similar government offices in non-capital cities. These offices are referred to as consulates and they are essentially the same as embassies. When you enter the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, you are on U.S. soil. You must have a valid passport just to enter the facility. It is the most awesome experience to be in a foreign land and enter a building wherein the full weight and power of the United States government is at your disposal. To see the American flag flying in a building guarded by Americans and Chinese alike is something I wish everyone could experience at least once in their lives. The appreciation gained for our government and way of life in that one instant is monumental. It is here that prospective new citizens are sworn in and granted immigrant visas, allowing them to travel to the United States with their new parents. Families of internationally adopted children go to great lengths to ensure that every step is completed accurately. If both parents travel to China, the child is eligible for U.S. citizenship immediately upon entry into the United States. This occurs when the U.S. Customs and Immigration officer stamps the child’s passport and immigrant visa allowing entry into the United States. If only one parent travels and completes the adoption, additional requirements must be met before U.S. Citizenship is granted. The end of the process is the receipt of a Certificate of Citizenship from the President of the United States a few months after arriving home!

"Try Getting a Picture of This Kid!"
Now, back to our newest little citizens. Lily Grace is from the Jiangxi Province in southeast China and has been in the U.S. for 1 year. Lily Mei is from the Sichuan Province, while Paul William is from Hubei Province. Lily Mei and Paul William were welcomed home in June and are rapidly becoming loving members of their families. Paul William represents the blessing of a Chinese boy adopted in the U.S., an event that rarely happens. The Athens Chapter of FCC is proud to present these newest little citizens to our friends and family here in Athens and Limestone County.

"This Citizenship Thing is the Ticket!"
For more information about the Athens Chapter of FCC, please contact Amy Hall at 230-6950.

Lily Grace and the Sprinkled Water

2007-07-22T18:22:00.000-04:00

Today, we presented Lily Grace to Jesus and baptized her in the Holy Spirit, signifying her place in our congregation and our commitment to raise her in Christ. Awesome Day! To God Be the Glory! The story is below. I call it "Back to the Future," because a good bit of it is from last year. You may have read parts of this story on this web log last August when we returned, but with Lily's baptism, we wanted to remind ourselves of the important moments in what seemed liked a month of magical days spent in Beijing. Lori, you might want to call for a Starbucks delivery ...

One year ago today, we were in Beijing, China ready to board an airplane for Nanchung, where God would add Lily Grace to our lives. But first, God had some training to do - on me. You see, I had this notion that our mission to China was simply to get Lily Grace and get back home. We'd sweep in, spend a day or two getting acclimated to local weather, customs, food, etc., learn a little bit about China, and then pick up Lily Grace on the way out! But God knew what plans He had in store for Lily and He knew what my part in it was, even if I didn't. He also had plans for Austin in China to share His gospel. Austin was busy planning his evangelical outreach, carefully selecting clothing articles with Christian and Jesus messages, while I was busy with logistics and other issues associated with air travel and lodging, etc. Connie was rightfuly focused on Lily Grace. Funny, Austin had asked me before we left if we'd be able to share about Jesus. My response was guarded at best, as I explained to Austin that our mission was the bring Lily Grace home. I think God was listening in. "Hmm, is that what you think?" I can imagine Him saying now. "We'll see about that."

We had spent the last few days in Beijing taking in as much culture and knowledge as we could. Partly because I was in awe of the beauty of this country and partly because I knew one day I'd be called upon to share with Lily Grace what her birth country was like. We had visited many sites and had learned much about the culture. We saw the Forbidden City, now filled with the less fortunate and the beggars. We learned that the Forbidden City was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties and that 24 emperors had once lived here. How ironic that it is now inhabited by the less fortunate and least among the Chinese. We experienced the significance and the shear physical intimidation of Tian'anmen Square, with its many gigantic portraits of Chairman Mao. We saw the Ming Tombs and the treasures buried therein. We climbed the Great Wall (actually, we rode the cable car) outside the city and experienced the breath-taking awe of seeing something so significant built by man so many centuries ago. We learned how the Chinese made silk, jade, and pearl jewelry. We learned their customs and sampled their food and daily lives. God was really doing some educating here. We were treated to amazing acrobats in one of Beijing's premier Theatres and we saw the manner in which many of the Chinese inner-city people lived in the Hutong. But in all this, God was not evident. In fact, in three days, we had yet to see even a single church. But, He had other plans which became known to me only at the last instant before leaving Beijing.

So, on the day we were to leave Beijing, God had some extra special training in mind for one wayward soul on a mission he thought he understood well. You see, on that morning at about 3:00 am, I was awakened by God and given the opportunity to study His word. God was planning a meeting later in the morning and I would need the extra discipleship. By 5:00 am, I was fully awake, dressed, and headed out the door of our hotel. I had spent the past two hours trying to sleep, fighting human alarm clocks, reading my Bible, writing in a journal for Lily, and wondering if I'd be able to navigate Beijing's airport and get us all on the right plane. I have to sleep. "No you don't says God," Go out and walk to where I tell you.

And so I walked. Aimlessly for a while and then with some purpose. After a few blocks in the wrong direction (don't we always go in the wrong direction until God sets us straight?), I turned around and walked back to the hotel, not knowing why but passing it up and walking several more blocks. That was when I found it, the "East Church," a Catholic/State church in the shopping district of downtown Beijing. Most beautiful church I have ever seen, before or since. Inside the foyer, God's meeting was fully taking shape. As I strolled around looking up the whole time, I was amazed by the mosiacs of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and the scriptures in Chinese covering the entire open air foyer. When I looked down, the other half of God's little meeting was there waiting. A young Chinese girl, probably in her teens, but they all look so young it's hard to tell. She wore a white dress and white tenns shoes. "Remember your thoughts about evangelism and missions," I could imagine Him saying to me. When God has a point to make, He doesn't beat around the bush. Hot or cold, not lukewarm, we are told to be. When I asked the young girl about the church ("Is this a Christian Church?" I stammered), she simply stared at me with eyes that seemed ten miles deep, piercing me with her gaze and stunning me with her own question: "Yes, and I want to know who this Jesus is?"

After I recovered my composure somewhat, we had a wonderful conversation. I don't remember to this day everything we said, but I know that I left with an awesome feeling of having learned something important. We parted ways and it still hadn't occurred to me exactly what had happened. Until later that day, when I talked to my pastor and related the story to him. When we ended our conversation, it finally occurred to me that God was showing me that my mission field, my evangelism, my focus was to be on ensuring that Lily Grace never has to stand in the foyer of a strange building and ask a stranger, indeed a foreigner, "Who this Jesus is?"

And so today, one year to the date of this little training session, we baptized Lily Grace. Lily did wonderfully during the baptism, only seeming to be concerned when the pastor sprinkled water over her little head and some of it dripped down her face and onto her pretty new dress. We showed a slideshow with pictures of Lily's orphanage and many pictures of China and her lost girls. And we encouraged our congregation that God's lesson to me that morning applied to all of us, whether we travel around the world or across the pew to a meeting arranged by God to tell someone "Who this Jesus is." We hope that from this exciting day, Lily will always know how much she is loved and we pray for the Chinese girl in the foyer of the East Church on that awesome day.

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

Beijing, Here We Come!

2007-07-18T23:23:00.000-04:00

Got cha! Didn't I? Oh, don't think for a minute that we wouldn't board the plane for the far east again. If that's what God would have us do, I'm all over it. But for now, we celebrate the one year anniversary of the day we left Huntsville for Beijing on a journey that only God could plan. On July 18th, 2006, we left Huntsville with both of Lily's new grandmothers, Memaw and Granny, on what would prove to be the most awesome journey in our lives. Awesome for many reasons, but primarily because God was in it big time. As I think back to those days, the feelings and emotions are still so strong, I can easily close my eyes and find myself instantly in the beautiful land where God created our precious miracle, Lily Grace. We left Huntsville that day with only a few pictures of our little girl and came home with a lifetime of memories and the memory of a lifetime. And the most awesome little girl ever created as icing on the cake!

Just like last year at this time, our church (Isom's Chapel UMC) held revival services this week. "Maybe." That's a word our revival pastor used quite a bit this week. Maybe, if I go out on a "maybe" God will find favor in me and bless me. Let me tell you, we were on the "maybe" of a lifetime last year as we set out for China. Maybe we would get safely to Beijing. Maybe we would be able to collect our luggage. Maybe we would get through customs. Maybe we would be able to barter for transportation to a hotel we had no clue how to find. Maybe a taxi driver would understand English and get us to the Wangfujing Grand Hotel in Beijing. Maybe ... But when you ask something of God in full faithfulness, He doesn't say Maybe, He sends angels. That was His first act of kindness on our behalf during this trip. God sent Yichi, a college student on her way home after 9 months in the states to help us find our way. He even recruited Yichi's parents to get us safely there. What an angel you are Yichi. Wherever you are, know that we are forever thankful for you and your family's acts of kindness. We pray for special blessings for your life and that you also would find favor with God.

Maybe. Maybe, we would be able to get accustomed to China and the time change. Maybe we would be able to find food we could eat and something to drink. Maybe no one will get sick. Maybe the people will be nice to us. Maybe we will be able to hear from our family and friends while we are in China. Maybe ... But when you ask something of God in full faithfulness, He doesn't say Maybe, He answers prayers. He provided for our every need, even when we had no clue (which was often in the first few days). The people He placed in our walk were some of the nicest and most humble people we ever met. Our prayer for them is that someday, they too will find God at work in their lives as He is in ours. By the grace of God, we were able to communicate with our friends and family through this very web log. The strength that we drew from the encouragement from each of you cannot be adequately described by mere words. Your prayers and kind comments were our refuge during the difficult times. God answers prayers.

Maybe. Maybe our little angel will bond with us quickly and know that we are hers and she is ours forver. Maybe she will laugh and not cry. Maybe she'll be happy and eat well. Maybe she'll love her new grandmothers instantly. Maybe ... But when you ask something of God in full faithfulness, He doesn't say Maybe, He creates miracles. Consider the words below which I wrote on a napkin on the way over to China:

"Do you think that she will love us, will she smile a great big smile?
Or will she simply stare and wonder, is this only for a while?
Until the day we met she had no family of her own
Her days were spent in solitude, with so many all alone"

"Do you think that she will love us, will she smile and laugh out loud?
Will she know when she first sees us, she has a family without a doubt?
She's spent her life entirely, in a room they call her own
Waiting for someone to come for her, someone to take her home."

"I hope and pray His love for her, will be the light she needs
His Grace and Mercy abound for her, so in Jesus I believe."

I've kept these words tucked away in my Bible for a year now, reading them occassionally and standing in awe and amazement at how God has answered our "Maybe" with His "Miracle."

Tomorrow, I will try to post some more of our trip last year to China. Maybe.

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

Another Installment of Beach Fun

2007-07-12T00:34:00.000-04:00

Last year, we came to Ft Walton Beach about this same time after enduring several false hopes of traveling to China. We thought we'd go before Memorial Day, then certainly early June, then late June, then early July, then who knows. Those of you who have endured this roller coaster know exactly the emotions that get rocked by this ebb and flow. We had been up and down for two months and just decided at the last minute to get away for a long weekend. It was one of the most enjoyable trips to the beach we ever had. We knew that God would eventually pave the way for us to go to China and we knew that this would be our last vacation as just the three of us (Jerry, Connie, and Austin). So we quit worrying about when we would go to China and just enjoyed being with each other and spending quality time. I think it meant a lot to Austin because we had been so focused on Lily Grace. So during the trip last year, we did everything we could to focus on our time with Austin. On that trip, God introduced us to a couple from Arkansas at dinner one night who had adopted a little girl from China. She was beautiful and we knew then that God had everything worked out for us to go as soon as we got back. And we did, on July the 17th. It's hard to believe that it's already been a year. In less than two weeks, we will celebrate the first anniversary of Lily Grace's "Gotcha Day!"

Now, back to the future. Today was our last day at the beach. Tomorrow, we pack up and head north with lots of great memories of Austin and Lily Grace at the beach. Lily's first trip to the beach would have to be catergorized as a huge success. This year, we had two kids to enjoy and share time with. We spent time today doing a little site seeing, first going on a Dolphin cruise and then watching the shows at the Gulfarium. The coolest thing about our Dolphin cruise was the name of the boat - Expect a Miracle!

One last story and then you can enjoy the pictures. God had been telling me all week, that this was not just a vacation, He wanted me to tell someone about Him. He even sent an entire youth group or two to carry around their Bibles as a reminder of what He wanted done. So, I kept asking Him to tell me who or to give me something as a help. You know it's not the easiest thing to do to walk up to someone on the beach and strike up a conversation about Jesus. I'm thinking they will probably tell me to leave them alone. So I kept asking for help. Today, I took a long walk alone on the beach and there by the pier at the Gulfarium was a young man tossing a fishing net out to sea! I thought OK, that's who I'm supposed to talk to and now God has given me the opportunity. What better clue could I have been given? It turns out that "Mike" is a soldier in the U.S. Army with a temporary duty station here in Ft Walton Beach. His wife "Ashleigh" was his helper today, as she always is. Says she can either sit home and wait for him or come with him where ever he goes. The fishing wasn't good today, so Mike didn't mind my interruption into his day. Anyway, we talked about Jesus and about praying. He said that he didn't pray as often as he should - who among us can claim that we do? I told him about Psalm 91, the soldiers' prayer, and suggested that he read it when he gets a chance. He said he would. I also told him that I would pray for him and for Ashleigh and I think it was a comfort to him. And, oh, by the way, thank you God for the opportunity and the clue. Maybe one day, I'll be able to focus more on You and less on things that won't live past today.

Love,
Green, Party of Four

More Pictures from the Beach and the Lotion

2007-07-10T23:57:00.000-04:00

Every summer when I was a kid, mother would load up the Volkswagon Beetle and take all three of us to Mobile to see grandmother and all our aunts, uncles, and cousins that lived in South Alabama. The trip down took 10 or 12 hours because there was no I-65 to bypass all the little towns along the way (anybody else remember those days?). For the entire drive down, my sister, my brother, and I would talk about our favorite part of the vacation. It was always the trip to Dauphin Island for a day at the beach. It seemed like that day lasted a week (maybe it was a week?), with all the fun that we had. Well, if it's possible that God put some of me into Lily Grace, she too was given a fondness for the beach. Every morning she is eager to get to the beach to play in the sand and swim in the "lotion." She is so excited by it that she finds it difficult to waste any time eating. We're probably going to have to double up on her food intake after the vacation just to get her back on track.

Austin really enjoys the beach too. His favorite thing is building sand stadiums - we've already built AT&T Park (SF Giants baseball stadium), Turner Field (Atlanta Braves), Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox), and the New England Patriots home stadium. He also likes to check out the local golf courses - he played Shalimar Pointe and Indian Bayou this week. Oh yeah, as Austin was telling Connie about Indian Bayou, every time he would say Bayou, Lily Grace chimed in "No Austin, Boo-ya!" [Boo-ya means no in Chinese]. It was hilarious!

Some other things that Lily really enjoys include swimming in the swimming pool, chasing sea gulls, and watching people. Connie always says I stare too much and Lily Grace apparently has that trait as well. She'll stop on the beach to watch whatever someone is doing, occassionally turning to one of us to say "What's doing?" She likes picking up shells and covering herself with sand. She really enjoys pouring water on mommy to cool her off. "Skin red mommy!" We thought about getting one of those canopies before coming down, but decided to wait. Turns out it would have been a waste - Lily wouldn't be under it more than 5 minutes a day! She loves going out to dinner each night (remember, we spent all that money at Publix, but have no food for dinner!). Tonight, she told mommy to "get her party dress for dinner - it's my birthday." She has met and played with some older kids of friends of ours while here in Ft Walton Beach, even allowing them to take her swimming or to the playground without mommy, daddy, or Austin!

As for Connie and I, we have really enjoyed watching the kids have a great time on the beach. We've also enjoyed the dinners (Hog's Breath, Fudpuckers, Pompano Joe's, and Anglers). We got to visit with some our very favorite friends who live here in Niceville. We hadn't seen Chris and Debbie and their girls Nikki and Becca in a long time. Austin enjoyed spending time talking with the girls while we caught up on old times.

Tomorrow, we'll take a short Dolphin cruise and visit the Gulfarium so Austin can teach Lily Grace about sea life. Can't wait to see what she thinks about the dolphins and sea lions. Anyway, here's some more pictures from the beach and the "lotion."

Love,
Green, Party of Four

Goin' to the Beach, Swim in da Lotion

2007-07-09T10:00:00.000-04:00

All she could say the whole past week was "goin' to the beach, swim in the lotion" (Lilyese for ocean). Somehow she seemed to know exactly what the beach and the ocean were. Maybe from TV or something (probably Austin), but obviously, she had never been to the beach, so we were surprised at how excited she was to be going. She buckled into her car seat early on Thursday morning and said "Let's go!" Turns out she's a pretty good car rider on a lengthy trip. She played in the back seat and sang to herself when there wasn't much conversation, occasionally interrupting herself to tell each of us that she loved us - and to be told be each of us that we loved her. She told us when she needed to stop and when she was hungry. And we only had to stop twice the whole way!

When we finally arrived in Ft Walton Beach, the weather couln't have been better for her introduction to sand and sea. It had rained and was still a bit overcast, keeping the temperature down a little. Good, no sweating and searing heat to contend with - at least not yet. Lily was so excited about seeing the beach that we went straight there - even without the obligatory stop at Wal Mart to purchase all the food we never eat! "Goin' to the beach, swim in the lotion!"

Enjoy the initial pictures of Lily and Austin's Beach Vacation below. I'll post some more a little later. Right now, Austin and I have to leave to make his Tee time at Indian Bayou Country Club.

"Hurry, Austin. Hurry Mommy."

"Here we go!"

"Take sandals off, Austin!"

"So, this is it!"

"Whoa swimmin' pool, big swimmin' pool!"

Now, about those groceries? You'd think that after at least one trip a year (or maybe two) for the last, er well several, years that we'd have figured out how to economize at the grocery store when on vacation. Naaa. We haven't a clue. Tracie, help please! This time was even worse. We decided to go to the Publix because it was closer and we'd probably spend more than necessary at Wal Mart (don't we all?). So after viewing the beach, we unpacked the truck (the idea of a small moving company like 'two men and a truck' did cross my mind) and headed to the grocery store. After and hour or so and a whopping bill, we got back to the condominum and unloaded (yet again). What we discovered was that we had very little to eat and more toys than we needed. Seems Publix has figured out that Wal Mart impulse buying thing. We even had a bottle of ketchup and nothing to put it on. Not even and Oscar Meyer hot dog! So we had to go out to dinner after all. Oh well, Hog's Breath is better than no breath at all. Check out the pics from the ill advised shopping spree.

A Soldier's Day Off ...

2007-07-01T23:36:00.000-04:00

Austin and Lily Grace's cousin Dave is a soldier in the U.S. Army National Guard and has been deployed to Iraq for a long time. We are very thankful that Dave and others like him have the courage and the patriotism to do the things they do to ensure that we as Americans don't have to endure another 9/11. You don't hear much positive said about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan on the news and the soldiers don't often get the respect they so greatly deserve. The sacrifices that our soldiers make provide us the luxury of taking for granted the freedoms that we enjoy. A soldier once told me that the reason he fought was so that those who would protest have the freedom to do so. A funny twist on things, wouldn't you agree. Our soldiers are doing a hard job, a job that many of us would simply be unable to accomplish. They face life and death circumstances each and every day, sometimes many times a day. The stress they endure is immeasurable, and so they need our prayers. Lift them up with Psalm 91, the Soldier's Prayer, when you get a chance - this is an amazing prayer that has worked miracles in the lives of many who have faced combat. I know this because they told me so. And there cannot be a stronger witness to God's glory than testimony of answered prayers to specific requests like Psalm 91. Dave's been in the service nearly 7 years now and plans to retire to civilian life after his last tour which starts next week. Please pray for Dave and his wife Tiffany and for his mother Carol.

Psalm 91: My Refuge and My Fortress
91:1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say [1] to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refuge [2]—
10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

http://home.insightbb.com/~armedforcestribute/

Where Are They Now?

2007-06-27T23:10:00.000-04:00

Huntsville, AL. 26 June 2007., The Athens FCC was expecting to welcome two new additions to its "booming" membership today as the Carter family and the Ogles returned home from long trips to China. Unfortunately, the expected arrival of Lily Mei Carter and Paul William Ogles today at Huntsville International Airport did not happen, much to the disappointment of the massive crowd that had gathered to officially welcome them home. I should say that both the Athens FCC and the Decatur FCC were very well represented in the welcoming committee. But, alas, problems with Northwest Airlines resulted in cancelled flights and disappointed well-wishers. We were so disappointed because all of us know how important and how moving it is to arrive back in the United States and to have an airport full of friends and family there to show their support for you. So, we pray that alternate travel plans will result in both families arriving home safely tomorrow - or even later tonight.

On the other hand, it did make for a nice reunion for four little "Jiangxi Girls." Lily Grace, Grace Anna, Katie Lin, and Addie Liu all hail from Jiangxi Province in China. Is God up to something here or what? I mean, how else could you explain four little girls from the same province in China, half a world away, ending up in North Alabama within a few miles of each other. That is awesome. We also know of at least three other "Jiangxi Girls" who live in Limestone County. Check out the pics below. And yes, Sonya, you may pirate these till your heart's content! In fact, I have a really good one of you and Katie Lin - if you wish to have it I will send it by email. A good one of you and Addie Liu too Alisha - I can send it by email too if you wish.

Waiting patiently for Paul William and Lily Mei

Let's Paint Our Fingernails and Toenails

2007-06-21T22:33:00.000-04:00

Yes, I have gone off the deep end, but no I am not planning soon to take up the habit of putting good model car paint to use on my fingers or toes. It's a reference to a cool little birthday party Lily Grace went to. It's been awhile since this birthday party, but the pictures were just too good not to share. So here goes.

"I'm the birthday girl, can you tell?"

Kate is one of Lily Grace's best friends in life. And she just turned three. She shares a special bond, along with Sarah, in their heritage and the circumstances of their lives. It really amazes me to see these three little girls together. It's almost like they each know deep in their hearts what the others have been through. They seem to know instantly what each of the others is thinking. Kate is the silly one, always stirring up laughter with the other two, while Sarah is the more reflective one. The look Sarah often has on her face when she watches the other two seems to say "There they go again, I told them not to do that." Lily Grace seems to be somewhere in between the two. She can be silly or reflective, depending on the cirmcumstances. However, good luck to Kate and Sarah if they try to get a word in edgewise around Lily Grace. Lily talks a blue streak. For Heaven's sake, sometimes we can't even get a word in! When they hug each other, it's as though Kate and Sarah and Lily Grace have known each other all their lives but haven't seen one another in years. It's as though they are saying to each other "I know, sweetheart, me too."

"Kailee in a reflective momemt."

"Karlee has that wind-blown look!"

Anyway, Kate celebrated with her sisters Karlee and Kailee by having a totally girl party and they invited Lily Grace to come over and join them. Somewhere I missed the memo on what this party was about and that the men were supposed to stay home. Last time we went to this house for a birthday party, we painted a real horse blue, so naturally, I was expecting something similarly manly. Other than Kate's dad (Drew), Austin and I were the only men there, like two bulls in the china shop. The girls kept looking at us like "Are they leaving yet?" We were seriously outnumbered, so we were thankful that none of the girls came up with the idea that the men should participate in the party goings-on. Because this was something totally foreign to me and to Austin. They were fixing their hair, putting on fancy dresses and headgear (I think they're actually called headdresses, I'm not too sure), painting fingernails and toenails, and even putting on lipstick (or gloss or chapstick). Then if that wasn't enough, they all went for a stroll with their babies. The only thing us guys recognized was that there were birthday presents, cake, and cool aid. Finally, something familiar!
"Strap those baby dolls in tight and let's get ready to rumble - buggy bumpers!"

But Lily Grace had the time of her life, as she always does when she celebrates with her bestest best buddies (sorry, had to get something manly in here). She loves spending time with Kate and Sarah and Karlee and Kailee and Lily and Ashleigh. Thanks Drew and Lori for inviting Lily Grace to the party. Hopefully, Austin and I didn't shock anyone by hanging out and tryin' to learn something new about how little girls work! I think we're going to check into how old they have to be to sign up for softball!!

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace

Father's Day Musings

2007-06-17T17:17:00.000-04:00

Trying to get things back to normal ... There are some other posts that I need to get to, things like birthday parties (the pics are coming Lori and Laura, and the'll be worth the wait!), Memorial Day, and Christian concerts, but for now, I'll focus on our little miracle, Lily Grace, and her big brother, Matthew Austin and her big sister Amanda. I really feel like I'm the most blessed Dad in the whole world, but I'm certain that every Dad feels the same. So please forgive my biased and unmitigated boasting about Lily Grace and Austin and Amanda in the following paragraphs.

Austin is having a really busy summer. He has more energy than anyone I've ever seen. He finished the school year at East Limestone on the "A" Honor Roll for the entire year. He accomplished this while participating in band, managing the high school football team, and playing on the jr varsity golf team. Wow, no wonder we hardly ever saw him during the school year. After school let out for the summer, Austin immediately set off for Petra camp - a week of Christian youth fellowship and worship. He really enjoys his time in the Word and we couldn't be prouder of him for that. He's even teaching Lily Grace about Jesus and how much God loves her. He has a passion for Christ and for the music that leads him to worship. This week he had one of his goals fulfilled in that he met the lead singer for Hawk Nelson and talked with him a little while as we waited out the thunderstorms at Faith and Fireworks Night at the Joe. Austin showed Jason (that's the lead singer) a drawing of the group that he had made on the way over to the concert. Jason was very impressed and didn't want to autograph it because he didn't want to mess it up (he autographed the drawing after we told him it'd be ok). After the concert and after the baseball game, Austin spent a little while talking to the drummer, getting tips for his own drumming at Isom's Chapel. When we left, Austin was so excited at getting to meet and talk to them, you'd have thought the Red Sox had just won the pennant or that the 'Noles had just claimed the national championship.

Some early summer golfing

Austin and Jason, Buds! "Don't Even Think About the Earrings and Hairdo, Austin!"

A Drawing of Hawk Nelson's Latest Album Cover

As for our little miracle, Lily Grace is doing just fine, thank you. She's completely potty trained now (sorry for the graphics, just had to get that in there), telling us well in advance of every need to visit the potty. One night at a local pizza restaurant, she and Connie visited the potty and when they returned, Lily Grace made certain that everyone in the room knew that she'd just used the big potty! A few clapped at her achievement! (Others finished their meal quickly and left in a hurry for fear of what future announcement might come from the little prodigy.) Memaw has taught her to count to 10 and she usually gets all the numbers in. She occassionally tries for twenty, but the teens get her confused. Last night, as we were relaxing together and having some snacks, Lily pulled a Doritos chip from the bag and said "Look Amanda, a triangle!" We all laughed and she thought she'd just told the funniest joke ever. Her clothes and shoes have to match (which of course relieves me of most of the dressing responsibilities) and she'll tell you if they don't. Yesterday, we took Lily Grace and Austin to a party at "Pump it Up" in Pelham. The party was sponsered by the International Adoption Clinic in Birmingham. So we got to spend some quality time with Lily's doctor (Jennifer Chambers) and her twins Lily and Kate. After a few nervous minutes, Lily Grace was off and running (literally), mixing it up with all the other little international kids and having the time of her life.

Jesus said "Let the little children come to me."

Getting Ready to Swim - More on this in a Future Post!

As for Father's Day, it was kind of tough. It seemed as though there was this gaping hole that needed to be filled, something that needed to be done, but there wasn't. I tried to fill it many ways, but nothing worked. One father said that the best way to do it is to keep God at the center of your life, show love and respect for your wife and children, and pray continually. Sounds like good advice to me.

But having children to be a father to certainly helps. This was the first of what I hope are many Father's Days that I get to spend with Lily Grace and with Austin. It's the coolest thing in the world knowing that God let me be a Father to Austin and to Lily Grace, especially after the rough start she had in life. I am so blessed to have this privilege (not lucky mind you, because with God there are no coincidences or luck - He plans it all) and I praise God and thank Him for that. And if all that weren't enough, just when I really needed it, Amanda comes in with a big, no gigantic, chocolate chip cookie that says "Happy Father's Day!" Thanks Amanda, I needed that. You're one special "daughter" too!

Lily Grace and Amanda, Sisters Forever!

Oh, one last thing. Since my own father passed away Memorial Day, I guess God decided to comfort me with a cool little present of His own. This week I pulled a book off the shelf in my study that I hadn't touched in 20 years - oh come on now, you have books you've not touched in a while too. This book was about Aristotle. My father had given it to me when I finished high school or maybe college, I don't remember. Anyway, just out of the blue, I picked up the book and noticed something folded up inside it. I pulled it out and discoverd a newspaper article from June 20, 1973 announcing the opening of "The Music Center." There above the half page ad was a picture of my father, proud owner of "The Music Center," a new full service music store set to open in Athens on Saturday the 23rd of June 1973. How cool is that? Thank you, Father!!

Next post ... a birthday party in Florence - lots of pics!

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace, and Amanda