Let the Rain Fall

Today is a dark and stormy day and I am enjoying being inside. 

Patrick and I both believe that our son has the gift of prophecy, especially when it comes to weather. It is amazing the insight he has. Last and today he demonstrated this again. 

We first questioned this about a year ago when I was taking him to the park. Amariah was very insistant that I bring an umbrella. I kept telling him, "It's not raining." He was mad at me, so he grabbed the umbrella himself and tried to force it into my hands. I tok it away and put it back, again saying, "It's not raining." And I didn't think that it looked like it was going to either. I was puzzeled as to why he was so persistant and upset over this issue. I scooped him into my arms and forced him out the door without an umbrella. As we arrived at the park I noticed that the clouds forming overhead were looking a little dark. "Interesting" I thought to myself. Amariah played and I kept watching the sky wondering what was going to happen. Sure enough, we had to cut our play time short because of the rain, which I didn't come prepared for. This was the start of several occasions where Amariah has told us the weather before it happened.

We have learned over the year that when Amariah says to take an umbrella, we just do, whether it looks like rain or not. Today was one of those days. Amariah never looked outside this morning and we had all of the drapes drawn, so there was no way of him to know what the clouds looked like. But once again as Patrick and Amariah were leaving for school, Amariah was insistant that daddy take an umbrella. Sure enough, by lunch time it was pouring rain. 

Patrick unexpectantly came home at lunch. I asked what he was doing home and he replied that one of the other teachers had to go home for lunch, however, they didn't come to school prepared for a down pour of rain. So, Patrick offered to walk him home and then come visit me. Patrick said, "I would have been caught unprepared too, if it weren't for Amariah." PTL. We are thankful for his gift and pray that we will be an encouragement to him in whatever the Lord has planned for him. 

Eternity Update:

Third Week: Today she lost the last bit of her umbilical cord. YAY!!! I saw her roll on to her side for the second time. She wet her bed for the first time (leaky diaper). She started sleeping 4-5 hours at night, PTL. And still a few more days to go in this third week of life outside of mommy.

Her second week: she rolled on to her side for the first time, and we had our first poop up the back experience. We also left the house for the first time, a trip to pick up big brother from school, who was very proud to show her off. 

Answered Prayer

When Patrick's head ache subsided in the afternoon, he headed off to Macau this time instead of Hong Kong. The reason being that at the Macau border you can actually just walk across then turn around and walk back. Where as in Hong Kong you actually have to take a train in a ways and then back to a different part of the border, so going to Macau is actually cheaper, even though the time of the trip is a little longer. PTL that he is feeling alot better today and was able to go to work. 

Amariah is feeling and looking alot better too. Thanks for praying. 

Please Keep Praying

Thanks for praying for us. We feel as though we are facing an attck at the moment. We were supposed to have some people over for dinner, but because of Amariah's illness we decided it was best to re-schedule, we then found out that one of our guest had gone to the hospital ill. 

Then last night Patrick took Amariah to the hospital because Amariah was screaming that his ears hurt, and it was just what we suspected, ear infections. So, now we have eye and ear medicine for him. 

This morning Patrick woke up with a bad head ache and is still in bed, yet he must go to Hong Kong today for his visa. 

Please continue to think pf us in prayer. Our Father is good and we have our trust completely in Him. 

Please Pray

Please Pray...

Amariah has pink eye. We completely trust that our father has protected us all from catching it too. Please agree with us in prayer for Amariah's healing and protection of the family and also join us in praising Him for the healing and protection too. 

Yesterday we went had to go to the hospital to pick up Eternity's birth certificate and so we decided that we would take Amariah too and get his swollen pusy eyes checked out, and sure enough, it was pink eye. The doctor used some sort of vapor medicine for his eye and we have to take him back for 2 more days to get this treatment. We also have 2 oral medicnes and 3 different eye drops for him. Poor guy, but we will do whatever takes to get him healthy again. 

Upon arriving home we decided to wash everything he could have possibly had near his face, bed sheets, towels and clothing. What is the saddest part is how he doesn't understand why he can't love on his sister like he likes to do. 

Eternity officially has her Chinese birth certificate. YAY!!! I think that it is so cool. The space provided for the names of the baby, and parents on the certificate wasn't enough space for our names, as a result, the lady issuing the certificate had to hand write the last part of our names. Then to show that the handwriting on the certificate was official there was a Chinese stamp placed on top of each hand writing. So Chinese, so cool. We will have stories to tell for a life time. 

Eternity- The Story Behind Her Name

The name Eternity was inspired by this story that was told to me for the first time during YWAM. I had heard the story used since in other sermons and found it so incredibly inspiring and encouraging.

Beginning in the 1930s Arthur Stace spent his early morning hours writing the word "Eternity" in a distinctive cursive style in every doorway, on every street, and major entrance to a public area that he could find in Sydney.

For years, the citizens of the city wondered who was writing the "one word sermon" and why.

Every once in a while, someone would claim responsibility for the graffiti and the newspapers would print the stories.

In 1956, Stace was a member of the Burton Street Baptist Church, where he also served as the janitor and a prayer leader.

One day, the pastor of the church, Rev. Lisle M. Thompson, stumbled across Stace while he was writing his chalk message on a sidewalk and the mystery of the "Eternity" messages all over Sydney was solved.

Stace said that after his conversion to Christianity, he heard a sermon in which the evangelist said  "Eternity! Eternity! Oh, that this word could be emblazoned across the streets of Sydney!"

In his simple way, Stace decided to do that.

 

There is a huge illuminated sign on the Sydney Harbour Bridge that says "Eternity" in Stace's distinctive handwriting, a sign that was clearly seen by hundreds of millions of people during the fireworks display at the end of the opening ceremonies at the Olympics in Sidney in 2000.

Those who know Patrick and I well know that we can't just name our children because we think that a name sounds good. We are the kind of people that put a lot of thought into the meaning and believe that the meaning is incredibly important. Anyway, the quote, "Live for Eternity" has been inspirational to us over the years and decided that we wanted our child to hold this strong message. So, the search was on to find a name that meant, "Live for Eternity," or something close to it. And to our surprise we found the name Eternity on a baby name website. It was an instant winner for our daughter's name.  We explored other names, but nothing else ever seemed 'right' for this child.

Patrick and I had decided long ago that we would honor significant people in our lives with our children's middle names. Again the meanings of the names are taken into consideration. Angela (Ang) is one of my best friends who has been there for me, has been a huge encouragement spiritually, and is a great example of a woman who lives for the Lord. Joy is the middle name of the woman who was my mentor for years. Her and her husband have played a significant role in Patrick and I's lives, encouraging us spiritually, praying for us, and always being there.

We put the name together and our daughter's name means, "Eternal messenger of Joy." I think that is so powerful, and I pray that she will always feel valuable as a woman, and that she will know that she is an eternal Joy. 

Venturing Out

Today Eternity is 9 days old. The time has gone by so fast. The whole birthing and hospital experience seems so long ago and I can't imagine my life with out the new baby. It is crazy how we were created to adapt so well to these life changes that we can't image life the way it was before.

Today I will venture out of the house for the first time since coming home from the hospital. Patrick got a tutoring job for Wednesdays and is unable to pick Amariah up from school, so that leaves me the privilege. Eternity and I will be in the great outdoors of our little Chinese community for the first time. 

Conflict-Free Living

Today Eternity is one week old. I can't believe it has been a week already.

 

It is interesting how when you start studying a spiritual topic you either become grossly aware of the issue all around you or the issue becomes exaggerated in your life to test you. I am currently reading "Conflict-Free Living" by Joyce Meyer and I feel like conflict has become all that more evident in everyday life. Last night our Landlord came by to collect rent. Many of you who read my blog regularly know that we have been having troubles with our landlord. We had no fridge for 2 weeks, we lost all our food and he refused to do anything about it and still does. We had the fridge 'fixed', even though it is not totally fixed, it still leaks water, but at least it is keeping things cold now. But we paid for it. Our screen door is still broken, the kitchen sink leaks, we have no hot water in the kitchen, the shower leaks water all over the floor, the washing machine floods our deck every load, and not all the electrical outlets work.  I am incredibly frustrated because our landlord doesn't care and says he won't do anything about it.

You would think that the easy solution would be just to move, but it really isn't that easy. We have been here long enough to know that it is hard to find good landlords and an apartment that isn't completely filthy and in need of a lot of work when you move in. At this time we really don't want to move again and start over.

Anyway, I had to keep myself in the room last night and let Patrick talk to the Landlord because I was bound to say and/or do something that I really shouldn't. Patrick is far softer than I am. I would have given the landlord "a piece of my mind." Anyway, this is clearly a conflict, one of the many, that seem to have popped up forcing me to put to practice the lessons from 'Conflict-free Living."

One of solutions in Conflict-Free Living is to pray for your enemies. Not such a new concept, as it is a well-known Biblical principal, but I will admit that I am struggling with how to pray for this man and his wife. Every time I go to pray I find that I start dwelling on the negative and getting myself all worked up. Then the thought comes to mind, "pray for him." And I respond to myself, "Oh yeah." But the only word that comes to mind is "God." "Teach me Lord to pray for those I am in conflict with."