Chinese New Year

We rang in the Year of the Horse with our annual Families with Children from China party. This was Annie's first, and as expected, she wasn't a huge fan of the lion dancers. This is always a fun time to see friends, particularly those precious College boys!

Waiting for the lions

Not a fan

Lucky lettuce

Check out these Henan cheeseballs!

Father-daughter - warms my heart

2 of All God's Children's sweetest kids

Year of the Horse

Gong xi fa cai!

Happy New Year!

Here we are, in the year of the Horse. It's hard to believe that at this time last year, we were anxiously waiting for the CNY festivities to end so we could hear from the Chinese government and get on a plane for our sweet Annie!

It's almost a year later, and we're curious to see how she enjoys celebrating her first Chinese New Year with us. We have a party tomorrow where the Lion Dancers will come. We have no idea how she'll respond, but we've been watching YouTube videos to help prepare her.

Tonight, I made jiaozi (dumplings) and Dayna had a friend eat dinner with us.

Dayna gave lucky red envelopes to her class filled with chocolate coins, and later tonight, she and Annie will receive their own envelopes with "real" money.

I know we're a poor substitute for authentic Chinese culture for the girls, but it has been so much fun to learn more about their heritage as we've walked through life together with them.

Happy New Year to you all!

Chinese New Year Book List

I was just sharing with a friend some of my favorite Chinese New Year books for the girls. So to put all of these in one place:

My First Chinese New Year
This is a cute beginner's book to CNY. It clearly spells out some of the traditions surrounding the holiday.

D Is for Dragon Dance
C Is for China
These are good books with pictures and illustrations of things related to China.

Red Is a Dragon
This one was a gift - a fun book using Chinese ideas to teach colors.

The Dancing Dragon
This is one of my favorite books to use in the classroom. When you reach the end of the first half, you turn the book around and it folds out into a long dragon. 

Not CNY related, but other great books about China:

Kindergarten Day USA and China
I bought this as a gift for Dayna's Kindergarten teacher and class. When you go through the book one way, it walks you through a typical school day in the USA. Flip the book around, and you see a typical school day in China.

Tikki Tikki Tembo
A fun Chinese folk tale about two brothers.

Seven Chinese Sisters
Another fun folk tale.

And Dayna has become a huge fan of anything by Grace Lin.

If your family embraces Chinese culture, what books do you enjoy?

All the Tea in China

When I was packing almost 7 years ago to go to China, I called my mom and asked what kind of tea I should bring. I'm pretty picky about my tea. I knew that it would be an emotional trip, and I could use the comfort of a familiar cup of tea.

My mom told me in no uncertain terms that I was NOT to take tea with me. After all...I was going to China.

It turned out that every day the hotels we stayed brought us brand new bags of tea every day. I couldn't read the writing, but they very definitely bore the Lipton label.

Being the tea snob that I was, I promptly found a tea shop and the "real" stuff. And my mom....well she got several bags of Lipton tea as a souvenir.

Guess what, Mom? The tea's in the bag...3 kinds of loose leaf with an infuser and tea bags. I think I'm set!

And I'll have to find something other than Lipton for you this time!

On Your Mark, Get Set...

GO!!!

We got the go ahead to travel to China yesterday. It's been a crazy 24 hours. We were originally told we could choose between leaving April 3, April 10, or wait until May. None of those options seemed very good to us. Almost a month until we get to leave!?!

So, a bit tongue in cheek, I responded that my first choice was March, but if I had to choose between the others, I'd take April 3.

I was surprised to get a somewhat quick response that they would see what they could do to give us a March departure.

We were called this morning and told they could fit us into an "atypical" travel schedule, possibly with 2 other families. We won't be eligible for group discounts, and we'll have to stay 2 extra days. But...we can leave on March 16 and return on April 3 or 4.

We weighed the options...if we go early, it's about $500 more. If we go later, it will be about $500 more (because we'll be there during the Trade Show.) Seeing that it's a wash, we opted to go earlier and stay 2 extra days.

So here are where your prayers come in. We can't book tickets until we have a confirmed appointment at the US Consulate. That can take 1-3 days. If it comes tomorrow, we can book our tickets and still have over a week to spare. If not, we're not booking tickets until a few days before travel, and that may likely increase our airfare considerably. So, prayers are appreciated for a confirmed appointment TOMORROW, that we can get everything done in the meantime, and still enjoy each other's company by the time we get on the plane. It's going to be a crazy 8 days.

Chinese New Year - FCC Style

Once again, we celebrated Chinese New Year with our friends through Families with Children from China. The Lion Dancers are always a hit.

A fun family tradition

Here comes the lion tamer

Colorful lions

Of course, the orange one is my favorite

The kids get to be lions

The tail

With her buddy Eli

...and the head

Dayna asked to sing her Chinese New Year song. Well done, sweetheart!

Chinese New Year - Wilson Style

When our friends, the Peng family, were living in Nebraska, we were able to sample many of Cailian's famous dumplings. Before they returned to China, I was able to get a photograph of her recipe in her own handwriting. So for Chinese New Year, we gathered with friends and tried our hands at making Cailian's dumplings. Who would have guessed the secret ingredient would be sauerkraut?

We greatly missed the Pengs, but were able to share some great memories together.
 

Assembling the dumplings.

They're getting the hang of it, but Ted won't look at the camera.

The dumplings look pretty good. Of course, they turned out REALLY big, so we had to photograph them on a huge platter to make them look more normal-sized.

Kid tested - and approved.

Getting Closer

As our travel dates get closer and closer, we have established an online travel journal for our trip to Annie. You can find it at http://www.dawilsonfamily.com/Anne. Enjoy!

My Baby Wrote Me Some Letters

HS - check (Home Study)
USCIS - check (United States Center for Immigration Services)
DTC - check (Dossier to China)
LID - check (Log In Date)
LOI - check (Letter of Intent)
PA - check (Pre-Approval)

What do all of these mean? Our family has been cleared and approved by the State of Nebraska, US Dept of Homeland Security, and the Chinese government to bring home a little girl. As of today, we can officially publish her information. Enjoy the video in the next post. (You'll have to scroll down.)

Hard Things

We've always been open and honest with Dayna. When she asks a hard question, we give her a prayerful, thoughtful, age-appropriate answer.

Earlier this spring, we had a hard conversation about her first days. And because Dayna's story is exactly that...her story, I'm not going to share details here. But it started to sink in that her other Mama made a very sad decision. And she started thinking about her identity. We haven't discussed this further, because she's still processing, and frankly, isn't ready yet.

We have intentionally tried to build positive feelings in Dayna about her first family and her country of origin. We celebrate China for the wonderful cultural things it has to offer.

So imagine my surprise when Dayna and I were reading a juvenile non-fiction book about China that we checked out from the library. It talked about how families in China are small because they are only allowed to have one child. Innocuous enough...but my girl wants to know what happens to second children.

And now she's processing even more...wondering if she was a second child (we have no way of knowing.) I certainly don't want to hide anything from Dayna...but there's a time and a place. I'm just not sure a non-fiction book geared toward children needed to bring that up.

So...prayers are appreciated as we continue to be sensitive to Dayna's questions and give her appropriate, truthful answers that don't degrade the positive feelings she has about her first country.

San Francisco, Part 2

While in San Francisco, we also enjoyed showing Dayna around Chinatown.

That's us on the left in front of the gate.

Decent food...it seemed a "safe" Westernized version of Chinese food...not so sure about using mayonnaise on shrimp, though...

Chinese New Year

We had a fun time celebrating the Year of the Dragon.
Dayna and her dragon buddy (Eli)

I think Dan has a soft spot for Noah
Love my girl!
Best buddies!
I really love these kids!
Our Chinese New Year tree. (Don't you have one?)

I got to share about CNY with Dayna's class.
We read a story, she sang a song, and we gave red envelopes to her classmates filled with chocolate coins.

Xin Nian Kuai Le

Being Chinese

Dayna has been preoccupied lately with being different at school. She is particularly sensitive to comments about her nose. (You can read about that here.) It's worth pondering that 1 out of 5 people in the world is Chinese, but she's the only one in our town.

Earlier this week, Dan & I were able to share with her class (and the other Kindergarten classes as well) about Chinese New Year. We read some books, she sang a song, and I taught the entire Kindergarten a song I learned in China. We finished it off by giving red envelopes with chocolate coins to her classmates.

It was something else to watch Dayna shine. She wore her red silk Chinese dress and was instantly bombarded with all sorts of compliments from her classmates. They were truly interested in Chinese New Year and some of the traditions that go along with it.

The look on her face was priceless. And, though we know this may all change again tomorrow, she was proud to be Chinese and be just a little bit different from everyone else. Hopefully this is a lesson in how EVERYBODY is special and has something to offer, and that we can celebrate our differences and appreciate our unique individuality.

It's difficult to watch your little one struggle with her identity, and I'm sure we're going to fail her in this area. I can only trust that she continues to love who she is...nose and all!

My Story

Tomorrow, I'm having a 25th Birthday celebration. I hope this will be a time of worship and praise for what God has done not only in my life, but in the lives of my friends. I've asked my friends to share a brief story of something God has done in their lives. Here's mine (not very brief, but hardly everything I need to say, either.)
It’s amazing to look back at 25 years of life in Christ. I don’t even know where to begin as I think of the lessons He’s taught me along the way, the blessings He’s so graciously given me and my family, and the times He’s carried me and held me close when I just couldn’t seem to take another step.

For some reason, God chose to give me the thorn of anxiety and depression. At various times in my faith, these have hit me with a vengeance. I even remember a slump when I refused to open my Bible for several months. I’m so glad God didn’t go through a similar slump and ignore me. When I was finally able to forgive a friend (whom I blamed for my slump), I saw that God had never really left me. I see that these times have prepared me for other trials by imprinting Scripture on my heart.

These lessons came back when I foolishly agreed to marry a man who was absolutely NOT the man God intended for me. After almost a year and half of being mistreated, God extracted me from this relationship.

As the initial shock wore off that day and the uncertainty about the future started to sink in, I called a friend for one of those heart-to-heart talks. I cried, I sighed in relief, I worried, and I asked my friend to pray. Knowing that sleep would probably not come to me that night, my friend opened the Bible and read these words to me over the phone:

Psalm 121

A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
2 My help comes from the LORD,
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

My friend gave me permission to sleep, knowing that God would keep the night watch for me.

You know, I ended up marrying my friend...

Early in our marriage, it became evident that becoming parents by traditional means was not a probability. By God’s grace, we realized that our plans for a family were shutting out God’s plans.

Meanwhile, Dan was working at Back to the Bible. After hearing the stories of a coworker who regularly traveled to China, the seeds of passion for the Chinese people were planted in his heart. In fact, Dan gave up his dream of getting a short wave radio for his birthday one year so he could send one to China instead.

During this time, I read the book Safely Home by Randy Alcorn. After reading this book, she was awakened many times in the middle of the night with the overwhelming need to pray for the people of China. “Why China?” I asked. The message gently came, “I have plans for you there.”

After about a year of separately praying for China, we visited a church in another town. The guest speaker was a missionary on furlough from China. After the service, one of us mentioned to the other (we forget who now), “I think God wants us to go to China.” Imagine our surprise when we realized that this desire had been planted in both of our hearts without the other’s knowledge.

We attended an informational meeting with the adoption meeting in November of 2003. The morning session was about international adoption (specifically Chinese); the afternoon was about domestic. We walked into this meeting open to whatever God would have us do. By the end of the day, we realized that God had brought our hearts to China “for such a time as this.”

Our adoption journey was bumpy, filled with detours and potholes, and often roadblocks where we would simply stop and wait on the Lord.

But holding my daughter today, I see that she was EXACTLY the child God planned for our family, and that we are the parents she needs. I can’t imagine giving birth to a child whose personality and interests would complement our family more.

Today this little girl, who for reasons known only to God, survived the first few days of her life, has been hand-selected by Him to come to the United States, become a Wilson, and ultimately be part of His family. On February 8, 2009, Dayna asked Jesus to be her savior.

Somehow, God has seen fit to entrust us with a child who has a compassionate heart, especially toward others. At least once a week, we hear her wish to grow up and go to China so she can tell people about Jesus. She prays for people who worship Buddha, that they would know Jesus is the only true God.

She also cares very much about orphans. Last fall, she enthusiastically wanted to give food to hungry kids in Africa and reluctantly shared one dollar to send to them. Through word of mouth (but ultimately God’s purposes), that dollar stretched and grew to over 1,000 dollars, providing over 4,000 meals to children in Sierra Leone. To further impact her little heart, we had the chance to physically package many of the meals that were sent to these children.

These are just a few stories of God’s faithfulness in my life. We’ve seen God provide through unemployment (and underemployment). We’ve experienced the heartache of leaving a church that we took part in planting. We’ve learned to depend on God’s Word alone as the authority of our lives. We’ve also learned to depend on those Words for comfort, conviction and daily Spiritual nourishment.

My story began in God’s heart in eternity past. My physical life began 9 months before I was born. My eternal life began 25 years ago when a faithful teenager shared the story of my sin, God’s grace, and Christ’s sacrifice. I’m so glad my parents sent me to Bible Camp that year.

I only pray that through these past 25 years, and however many more the Lord gives me here on earth, I can likewise be as faithful as that high school volunteer. I pray God gives me the courage and compassion to share what He’s done for me, and what He longs to do for others.

Farewell Four

There's a happy hum of excitement in the Wilson house tonight. The kitchen smells of a freshly baked chocolate cake. Little (and big) fingers have sampled the peanut butter frosting. Special gifts are waiting in the trunk of the car to be wrapped as soon as our little girl goes to bed. When I tuck her into bed in just a few moments, I will forever kiss my four-year-old goodbye. It's a happy, but bittersweet day. I'm getting excited about having a five-year-old, but four has been an awful lot of fun. I hope I've documented the memories well and will give us all something to remember about this past year.

In spite of our excitement at tomorrow's birthday celebration, I can't help but reflect that somewhere across the globe, it's already May 1. And that mysterious woman, to whom I owe so much, this is a difficult day indeed. Because five years ago, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. A girl with special medical needs that she simply couldn't help. I can't help but think that she's wondering about this little girl, not even sure if she survived infancy. It must be a day filled with sadness and regret. I wish there were something I could do, something I could say to let her know that her little girl is well. She's happy. She's healthy. She's thriving. And she is reminded almost daily of her Mama in China. But there is absolutely nothing I can do. Nothing but pray. And somehow, that has to be enough, because I worship and trust a very big God who can do anything. Even comfort a heartbroken woman on the fifth anniversary of the most wonderful and heartbreaking day of her life.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Gong xi fa cai! A traditional Chinese greeting during the Chinese New Year wishing you good luck and prosperity. Enjoy some pictures of our Chinese New Year celebrations.

Lion Dancer
Dayna and the other kids were excited to talk to the dancers before they put the lion costume on

Beautiful, beautiful girl!

Dayna and her friend Isabel

Levi, Isabel and Dayna

Dayna's feet are the ones in black tights and "clacky shoes"

Dayna and her buddy, Eli

Forever friends!

Wilson family

Dayna and her doll "Dong Ling" - Dong Ling is the name of the nanny who found Dayna; she is a favorite of all the children adopted from Gutian.