Stumbled upon treasure...

Don't have much time, but I wanted to briefly share with you a photo that was stumbled upon here the other day. It is a photo of Steven Curtis with Maria here at PHF, most likely during the trip that he first met her. When I saw this, I cried, then I smiled. She is in Heaven now. What a cute picture!

I have now been here in China for a week. Sometimes it just seems that things are more complicated over here. Getting from place to place and trying to communicate in a language without an alphabet aside, I am speaking of a much simpler issue: writing a blog. Apparently, many blogging sites are blocked here. I have been trying to start one since I got here and was finally able to, only to discover that it wouldn't let me upload photos. Seeing as how this is one of the main reasons to have a blog in the first place, I decided to find another way. Thanks to a good friend who is computer savvy, I learned how to "conceal" myself in the internet world and I now have a blog. Thanks Phil!

A lot has happened this first week. It is so cool to be back here and see some of the same kids and how much they have grown. Many of the same ones are still here, many have been adopted and new ones have come in, and unfortunately, 3 that I knew from last year passed away due to health problems.

One of my favorite things about being at PHF (besides the ministry and the kids) is all the interesting people that come through here to visit. Already there has been a group from Chicago that live in a development called the Jesus People USA. The people that live there basically share everything and pool all their resources, share cars, and live together in community as a big family. I have never heard of this before! Another interesting group is a family from Canada. They are on a 6-month trip around the world (England, New Zealand, Fiji, Uganda, etc.) and had to stop in China because they have an 8-year old daughter adopted from China. They went to visit the orphanage she came from before stopping at PHF and have been here this week. The 8 year old girl is so cute with all the orphans and her favorite is Tristan, who is 6 months old, has a cleft lip and pallet, and is also missing a part of his arm (his hand is attached close to one of his elbows). That's so cool that they can do that and take their kids to all these different places! Now that is how to live!

I will have some pictures on here soon, but until then here is a picture of me and Drew last year, and this year :)

Greetings from China!

It is currently Saturday evening here, Saturday morning for most of you reading this. I left for China on Wed. at 10:30 AM with a delayed flight out of Nashville. I had to run to my connecting flight in Chicago, and a shuttle bus ride and a few terminals later, I made it to the gate as they were boarding. I arrived in Beijing on Thursday afternoon around 3pm, went grocery shopping, and then made my way to PHF.

Upon my arrival, I was sadden to hear the news about Maria Chapman. I have a brief video from last Friday of her saying hello to the people at PHF (where she lived before she was adopted). Pictured is Maria and her cousin Tommy a few weeks ago.