No luck sleeping in this morning! Darn it!! I woke up again at around 5am - i was able to shrink some pics to send but i have since found out that they might be too small for the blog - so sorry:( I wil try it again tonight.
Our morning gathering time was really good - they all are really good and seem to be just what we need to hear! Today we talked about being obedient and taking a step to do G. will (not what we think that we "should do" or what everyone else thinks that we should do but to listen closely and to do G. will - which was also the same message that i read in my own personal b---le reading time this morning) - And we talked about what will we do with this experience once we get back home...hmmmm....
For our morning "work" time, i helped with painting the bike shed (i will take pics of it tomorrow - it should be done by then!) We started to paint it on Mon. but after a days work we found out that we used the wrong color! So, we have been having to repaint it -oh well. It has been some great team bonding:) It was kinda cool because at about 11am here - i instantly thought about CalvaryCTC and then i figured out that it was actually inservice at that time. Lance later emailed me that they had talked about the group here at CCTC and talked to the BIG DADDY about it too - i am thinking that it was at about the same time - very cool:):)
After lunch, we quickly got ready for VBS stuff - we talked about how J. grew up and how G. made us and loves us -so we did lots of heart stuff. I have some pics that i will try to send of the kids walking towards the Inn for VBS - it is so awesome! They just love it and always have huge smiles on their faces! We usually cheer for them as they are walking in - and they just light up!! I wish that you all could experience it... maybe someday:) We gathered to sing - which they LOVE! There was one song that Andrew (song leader) accidentally did the wrong verse and the kids caught it - it was hilarious! We ALL laughed and had a great time continueing singing. At one point - i noticed this precious little boy - and i'm not kidding he is PRECIOUS - if Hayleigh didn't need a sister, i'd put him in my suitcase:):) He had tears in his eyes - so, i swooped him up and he instantly started to burst out crying - his nanny figured out that he needed to go potty (now - this little boy is MAYBE 1yr.old) Their potty training practices are kinda crazy here! So, his nanny took him potty -which then set off another child and then another child - it was quite the chain reaction!! They settled down quickly though once they returned... They were then off to their first centers - they have really gotten the hang of the routine and are doing very well. About half of them really like the sensory table - today we had shaving cream in it - the nannies kinda got a kick out of it but as soon as a child got some on their clothes they instantly cleaned it off:) it was awesome playing with the kids that liked it - one little boy learned some english today he repeated after me when i said "uh oh" -it was too cute!
As soon as VBS was over - we emptied out the Inn hallway and set up seating for about 150 people. We treated the nannies (and children) to dinner. We had dinner brought in - thank goodness we didn't have to cook! They loved it - i wished that i had my camera with me at the bldg. where they dished up their food - it was great to see them all gathered together (Steve thanked them for all that they do and told them that we think they are wonderful). We made ourselves available to help them dish up bowls of food for them and the kids and then we had them all gathered at the Inn to eat. While they were eating we gave them a small gift bag of lotion, hair clips, a chinese note and i'm not sure what else... I think they were quite surprised but we just wanted to tell them thank you for taking such good care of the children and it gave us an opportunity to share G. love on them.
It took us some time to clean up but what happened during that time was great. Wendy is a girl who is much older than the other children - maybe about 15yrs.??? and is in a wheelchair - she is beautiful but very shy. PHF is trying to train her with a skill - that is their desire for all of their children that may "age out" of the system here - to train them with a vocational skill to be able to do something - For Wendy - she has a desire toplay the piano. so, they are hoping that she will one day be able to teach pianno lessons. She came to the dinner and stayed a little while after during our clean up time. Steve was really trying to get her to play but she is super shy after ALOT of prodding she finally began to play and it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. it was really cool too because the team all knows her story and as soon as we heard the music we stopped what we were doing and just listened - she didn't know that we had stopped - she was so into her music:) Then she noticed a camera flash and quickly glanced around and stopped:( She was embarrassed but we showed her our appreciation of her music and wanted her to do more but didn't:( We are hoping that she comes out to dinner with us tomorrow - she is such a beautiful girl.
Our day's work was over by 6:30 - so about half of us are relaxing and will go to bed early (like me) and the others are off to the university area - they took a taxi - i hope they make it back okay:)
Tomorrow we are doing more work around here - i am planning on ditching the work and am going to go play with the kids instead:) then we have our last day of VBS - we are then going out to dinner and massages. i'm not sure when we'll get back and may not be able to post for a few days. Sat & Sun we will be going back and forth to Beijing and it looks like they might be early mornings and late nights... i will do my best to post though:)
PS. please p__y for G. provision here with the $ that PHF needs to raise - There was a few people here today that we are hoping will find it in their heart to help.
Thanks so much for your p___yers - love and hugs to all!
the massage place
At the garden restaurant
The ladies at the workshop -you can see the banners...
Melanie and Bonnie painting the shed
Melanie and JEff (aka Big Panda - the kids named him that:)) in their painting attire
Dinner for the nannies
Shaving cream fun!
Precious little boy that needed to go potty and started to cry
Kids are coming
Kids are coming
Judy telling the story
Carly - she is precious!!! If she wasnt already being adopted - i'd love to snatch her up and take her home! She is VERY attached to her nannies - it is precious:)
The children coming in to hear the story for VBS
Kids enjoying washing the babies in the water tub
The man at the fruit stand peeling the sugar cane that we bought -it was yummy!
The turtle at Walmart
Melonie giving Brooke a ride.
Our kitchen - the walls have writings from people all over the US that have been here - very fun:) The last group was a group from Calvary in St. Petersburg, Florida.
This is our "hallway" of the Inn where we are staying and we were sorting out our suitcases with supplies.