12 Hours and a Capitol Visit

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 ...

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!

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 ...

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 ...

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

"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?

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

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!

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!

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

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)