My Overthinking

Philly Area mom, Life forever changed by adoption

A trip to the theater {Cirque Eloize}

I love the theater–and I don’t mean Masterpiece Theater/Downton Abbey (though I am a junkie and can’t wait for all to go to bed tonight so Mark and I can watch the Season 3 Christmas special online).

I was a theater junkie in my youth in the audience and on the stage. When I heard there was a show in Philly that I knew the big kids and I would all enjoy, we were there.

Just when the after-Christmas blues could hit hard, we ventured out with hot cocoas in hand to downtown Philly where we entered a beautiful old theater on a street all lit up and decorated still for the holidays. I sat in orchestra seats with my children and together saw art and beauty and magic converge in Cirque Eloize. I’m so glad no one was sitting directly in front of them because they clutched the seat backs in front of them and were on the edge of the seats for the entire show. It was simply amazing.
Ashlyn said she hopes Lydia will do this kind of thing when she grows up so we can come watch every show. 
3 more theater junkies in the making–and, who knows, maybe we can get Lydia to use her crazy monkey flexibility to join the troop someday. 

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Hurricane Central

Can you tell the panic we’re in here?

Drew playing an army game

Evan reading an e-book

Ashlyn teaching Lydia

Mark working from home

All while we look outside to see a rainy, blustery day and not much more than that at this point. We’re all just waiting, watching the clock, knowing the worst is coming yet tonight. 
Mark’s telling the kids if they’re good today, we’ll let them stay home tomorrow. 
(schools already been cancelled….shhhhh)

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The Word in Mandarin

I thought I heard God’s voice last year calling me to a task. 
Every Sunday afternoon for 3 hours, I’m at Chinese school while my girls are in class. While I listen to children reciting their Mandarin conversational phrases and watch giddy girls dancing, I bring my own stuff to work on–editing jobs, projects of some sort or another, my Bible Study homework. One Sunday last spring, it dawned on me that I was there reading God’s word and studying while there were hundreds of people, a captive audience of parents like me, who might just want to hear about it. I was sure God had called me to tell them. 
I emailed the principal and asked her if the school would let me lead a small group Bible class there. No. So, I tried again. Would they be willing to add in their weekly newsletter that if anyone was interested in learning about the Bible to contact me to meet privately during school hours? Yes, a reluctant one perhaps, but a yes. And, I was given a name of the one teacher on a staff of many who went to church. Maybe I’d want to connect with her, she suggested. 
I emailed her. And, she came to me filled with energy. She had been struggling with her commitment to teach at the school. It was hard for her to get there on Sundays after church; it was a role she didn’t know if she wanted to fill any longer. She had told her husband she was going to quit, but he told her to stay, telling her that he believed God had a purpose for her yet at the school. Stay one more year, he told her. 
A few days later, she got my email about the idea of a Bible Study. We both realized that perhaps the task God had called me to for now was done. Now, she had a task. She was going to lead this Bible Study, not me. 
I encouraged her to step out and invite people personally. Of all her invitations, two women said they’d like to learn what this book called the Bible is all about. Earlier this afternoon, right inside the door above, I got to sit in with them for a while sitting in classroom desks pulled together to make a circle as my friend spoke to those two women with passion and boldness in words I didn’t understand, introducing them to this book. As the Mandarin sped away and I listened instead to expression and tone and body language, there were a few words I did catch that for some reason were said in my own language. 
One and only and love letter, as she held the book that tells the story of God’s love for us. 
They’ll start studying that love letter next Sunday beginning in John. 

…enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. -Acts 4:29

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Links Worth Lingering On

Since I know not all ya’ll track my postings on Facebook (though you should since I advocate there for some super precious kiddos and share some nonsense sprinkled in with a few good links and such), thought I’d devote a whole post to some links I’ve shared that are worth checking out…or lingering on for the purpose of alliteration.
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As someone who often hears, “Wow! You have your hands full!” This article “To the Mother With Only One Child” is well worth the read. One or Ten, mothering is not easy.

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This article in China Daily starts off with this:

An ancient Chinese philosopher described the perfect society as “living in harmony, treating others as family… there is love and caring for the elderly … nourishment and education for children … kindness and compassion for widows, orphans, the disabled and the sick”. Historically, such harmony is the standard of happiness. But now, after vast economic development, are the Chinese people happy?

Read about the Chinese’s 4 most pressing social concerns.

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Patty Chang Anker reads her manuscript “The Cookie Jar” at NYC’s Listen to Your Mother. Lovin’ her quote from one of her daughters – “Forever mom is forever. That’s her job.”

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Matthew Salesses, adult adoptee, shares his thoughts about building a family when you were adopted yourself.
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A beautiful post from Sara Hagerty pointing us to the God who remembers. Grab a cup of pumpkin latte and sit down for a read and a challenge.
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Got a link worth sharing? Feel free to link it up. I’m always game for a good read–especially if I’ve got a pumpkin latte in hand.

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