Another Talker?

Over the last few days, I have reflected on what God has done. Never had I dreamed that I would ever set foot in China, let alone twice. Never I had ever given any thought to adopting--I assumed any and all children I had would be biological--and now God has given me two beautiful daughters by that very means, and in the process he has deepened my understanding of reinforced my gratitude for his adoption of me in Christ Jesus (Galatians 4).

As I write this Sunday evening, half way around the world our own church family at Northside Missionary is gathering in the sanctuary to join together in corporate worship. Those are our brothers and sisters and Christ. And yet here in China we have millions of brothers and sisters as well, practically all of whom we don't know yet, but we will one day.

How's Callie doing? She's doing great. She appears to be a happy-go-lucky kid, though she may have a bit of stubbornness, too. We had a great day with her today.

I previously described Callie's voice as husky and low. It's not super-low, and it's not really husky. It's clear; it's just not as high-pitched as other toddlers. And when she's comfortable, she says quite a few things. We've had our guide, Isabel, listen to her a few times to see what she's saying. Isabel indicates it's mostly toddler talk, not real words. Could've fooled us, because it's nonetheless Chinese toddler talk.

She always calls my hat a "maugy" (hard "g"). Tonight, whenever I took it off, she would start saying, "maugy, maugy," retrieve it, bring it to me, then grin real big when I put it on, thus hiding her brown eyes and displaying two rows of tiny white teeth.

Isabel told us that Callie talks more than any other adopted kid she works with (at that age, I assume). That's what I was hoping for.

We went to a national forest in Fuzhou this morning. It was beautiful--bamboo plants, a bird sanctuary, a 1000-year-old banyan tree (enormous), palm trees, mountains and water in the background. After lunch, Sara, not feeling well, slept most of the afternoon. So the girls and I took a walk to a new park, and we had a great time.

Despite her mild symptoms, Sara enjoyed her Mother's Day. I close by wishing my own mother a Happy Mother's Day. Thanks for taking care of Andrew and Caty while we're gone.