Behold, children are a gift of the LORD,The fruit of the womb is a reward.Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,So are the children of one’s youth. Psalm 127:3I read this today and was reminded that this reward comes from the LORD, only through mothers.

Currently being tutored by a young man who is a student-Chinese-teacher.  He and his roommates came up with a new given name for me.  They wanted something that sounded more like “Sean”.  He was so excited explaining it to me — claiming it ‘so cool’.  潇恩 pronounced:  |shou-ən|I’ve decided to adopt it because of the meaning.  The characters are not a real word, but each has it’s own meaning… put together it means “unrestrained grace”.I am the object of God’s unrestrained grace… and so I have a responsibility to reflect His grace to others.  May it be so.我叫是韩潇恩。

Today Michael took his last two AP exams. It was a weight off of his shoulders. We celebrated by going to Haru-Haru for sushi. (Only the four of us like sushi: Michael, Rachel, Susan, and myself.) The fish was fresh and beautifully prepared. We talked and laughed; and with only four of us, no one had to raise their hand or cut-in to make a comment! 🙂

During Spring Break we traveled with two other families to QingDao, China, located on the shores of the Yellow Sea and also the site of the Beijing Olympics Sailing venues.   I had traveled to QingDao a few weeks earlier to attend our organization’s annual ladies retreat. One of our sister schools is located in this city, and staff there have arranged special deals with certain hotels in the city.  We were so blessed to be able to stay at the Shang-Gri-La hotel.  The offer for us was to have a hotel suite, with two extra beds, for about one hundred US dollars a night.Upon checking into the hotel, the staff asked if they could take our family picture in the front lobby.  This is not very unusual in China.  One other important note about hotel check-ins in China, is that all guests must show their passport and all the information of each guest is recorded.  Shortly after we arrived in our room, which turned out to be very lovely, we received a call from the front desk.  The hotel guest relations lady, Ms. Chen was on the line.  She noticed that this day we checked in was Megan’s birthday and asked if they could send a cake up for her to celebrate her birthday.  I was completely shocked!  I said, of course.  We scheduled a time later that evening.   After a late lunch we returned to our room in time for the cake delivery.  When the door bell rang, we were surprised to see the housekeeping lady for the evening turn-down.  She saw Megan and immediately offered her a pair of small hotel slippers and a little stuffed teddy bear.  She also brought fresh flowers and fruit for our room.

Soon after the bell rang again and it was Angela and her colleague with the cake.

Megan was very surprised and we all sang Happy Birthday and took pictures.   The cake was delicious!!  Which is not always the case for cakes in China.

We felt so special.  I am thankful for the way that the Lord blessed our family in the celebration of Megan’s 4th birthday.  Although I do admit that I miss being with extended family for special holidays, I see how clearly God provides for those absences.Now one big difference we have noticed as we have traveled a bit in Asia, is that most hotels have a buffet breakfast included in the room rate.   And we’re not talking about the continental breakfast that you might find with many American brands, like coffee, juice and a few pastries.  These breakfast buffets include a full spread.  One can find a full American breakfast including omeletes and eggs to order, pancakes, bacon, juices, and fruits.  Also included in these breakfast buffets;  Chinese foods like fried noodles, steamed dumplings, rice and noodle soups.  The favorite items of our family is the bread and cheese area.  This particular hotel had various types of cheeses; parmesan, swiss, gouda, and even goat cheese, along with smoked salmon and french baguettes.   My favorite breakfast was a green salad, with french baguette and cheese.  And to top it off, I could order a cappucino for my coffee drink at no extra charge!We spent most of our three days in Qing Dao indoors at the hotel, either at the pool or in our room.  The girls enjoyed the ladies locker room, which included a steam bath, sauna, hot and cold tubs, showers, a hair and makeup room, and a relaxation room.One of the days we had to venture out to try to find Rachel a dress for the spring banquet (coming up in four days)!  But that is a story I’ll let Rachel write.

Sean left for a trip to the United States on his birthday.   He attended an advanced training class for PowerSchool; and got to spend his birthday with his parents, who decided to fly down to San Antonio to see him.   Michael and Rachel were so sweet to be sure to make Sean’s evening special.    Friday before he left they secretly slipped away and went to Paris Baguette to get him a cake.

Maddie and Jessie, unfortunately missed the “party” since they were at the Middle School Lip-Sync Party.  They performed a duet to the song, “What is this Feeling?” from the musical Wicked.  Megan was so excited to help daddy blow out his candles.

When Sean returned the following weekend, I ordered a lemon cheesecake from a new bakery/restaurant just opening in our area called Aaron’s Kitchen.  Unfortunately, the cheesecake never was delivered on the evening I ordered it to be delivered.  When I called to inquire about it the next day,  Aaron told me that one of his staff persons sold the cake to another customer!  Apparently the cake was on display in the front refrigerator case.  The Chinese worker told Aaron  (the owner of the restaurant) that a foreigner came in and said they were here to pick up the cheesecake they ordered.  The case of the Missing Cheesecake was solved.   The girls were terribly disappointed.  But Sean wasn’t since I had meant it to be a surprise.

Last night in Bangkok while waiting for the clock to strike midnight year 2010, we held a family meeting to discuss pros & cons of taking a vacation during the Christmas holiday.I’ll start with the con because we all felt the same way:  it is bad enough that we can’t be in America on Christmas, but it is even less special without our favorite family traditions.  We can’t complain too much as we were basking in the sun on a beautiful beach.  But even with our best efforts — miniature tree in the hotel room, stockings stuffed for the kids; and Megan throwing a party for Jesus’ birthday — there is nothing like being home in America for the holidays.The same day American Christians celebrate the Messiah’s birth is just an empty holiday across East Asia.  Asian retailers have learned they can make more money by putting up tacky Santa decorations, garland, and string lights.  But among the people in Thailand (or China for that matter) there is no appreciation for the real meaning of the season.  To me, Christmas in Asia is essentially the same as St. Patrick’s Day in the US.  Just a day to wear green (so you won’t get pinched) or go out and get some green donuts, green beer, or McDonald’s limited-time-only green shamrock shake.  But I have to admit I don’t know if this guy St. Patrick is real or myth and what did he do that deserves drinking green beer and eating bad green donuts?  I don’t miss St. Patrick’s Day [please forgive me Uncle Rich and my Irish St. Patty-Day-loving-friends].  In the same way, I don’t think these Asian’s would miss Christmas.I think being away from our apartment was especially hard for Susan because she had no kitchen, hence no cookies to offer; no vegetable tray with the famous Luttmann dill dip, no turkey with potatoes and gravy.As for the pro — the kids told us that the best part of our going away was family time together.  Over the past two weeks all seven of us hung out non-stop.  Each morning started with breakfasted together out on the patio reading-listening to the Advent devotional Bartholamew’s Passage (by Arnold Ytreeide).  Each day spent playing in the sand/water; reading books aloud on the beach — Sweet Volet (by Catherine Palmer).  Eating every lunch and dinner together; shopping; and watching Survivor (Season 19) in the evenings.  Over the years I’ve discovered that there are few things more important to building a strong family than spending many uninterrupted days alone together.

By the way, it doesn’t often work for us to have family time at home — even on a long holiday.  There are too many distractions — chores; home repairs; meals to prepare; cleaning; homework; email; FaceBook; friends calling; etc.  Instead our most memorable family times have been traveling away from home:  no school, no work and staying off the internet.  (Oh, the internet was down at our hotel in Thailand — a very good thing!)

Excellent performances by Rachel and Michael last night — the story was both grave and touching.Hundreds of thousands (including 15,000 children) passed through Terezin, the last stop before Auschwitz. This play is based on a true story and poetry created by children including Raja [played by Rachel].Honza [Michael] is Raja’s dear friend who brings life and purpose to otherwise dead and hopeless days.  I almost cried when Honza told Raja he would be in the next shipment to Auschwitz.Certainly I am proud of Rachel & Michael.  I was also affected by the story.I want to tell Rachel what was told to Raja:  “Now you are not alone.  And you must not be afraid.”I want to tell Michael what was told to Honza by his father: “You are a good boy [man]… you are not a coward…”I want my family to give to the community what Honza gives to Raja:  a reason to go on another day and find hope,  True Hope — forever not alone, and not afraid.I Never Saw Another Butterfly a play by Celeste Raspanti