smiling {tapestry}

Interwoven.

Connected in unseen ways.  Unobserved and unknown, the fibers overlap and weave together.

I have firm conviction and expectant hope that when the day comes that I step into eternity, and arrive Home, part of my seeing clearly not only will be beholding my Father for the first time face to face, but will also involve a tapestry.

God is the Master weaver.  Threads of myriad color and hue, pattern and design, stretched thin or left thick with weft and warp.  My life overlapping your life entangled with that one who meets the threads of this person and is blessed by an occurrence of grace missed by eyes but seen with the heart.

It's intricate.

There's a lot of us.

And one day, I just know that I know I will stand and behold in complete wonder and utter awe my Lord who beautifully wove a masterpiece.

Two last night's ago, Emma Kate pulled from a big plastic box in her closet, a photo album.  In China, when we received her, we were given a number of things.  A plate.  A book recounting the history of the orphanage past to present day.  Art and school work.

We brought it home, went to doctor's appointments and dried tears when siblings went to school, folded laundry and emptied dishwashers, drove ice-slicked roads and decorated the Christmas tree.  The information from the orphanage didn't get forgotten.  And it wasn't yet examined closely.  Okay, or really at all.

The photo album.  Inside were photos of our dear Emma, most we have seen.  But then.  Heart stopping.  Two photos.  The youngest we have.  Dear, little Emma.  Held in a foreigner's arms at about 18 months old.  Face tear-soaked.  Tiny and perfect.  Lovely and little.  Two pictures of our Emma Kate as a younger older baby girl child.  Oh, the gift.

Pages turning.

For a long time, we've prayed for a family.  It is a family, we imagined, although it could have just been a person, who changed Emma Kate's life.  They changed her life because once a month they gave about $40 for Emma.  They are Emma's sponsor family.  Without them, Emma Kate never would have attended Love Without Boundaries Believe in Me school in her orphanage.  Without them, she would not have moved from the 10th percentile to the 50th in height and weight in a mere year.  Without them...I try not to imagine.

God has connected our families.  We don't know one another, and in many ways are strangers.  Yet His connections are so different than what we imagine or know of connectedness.

Pages turning, and a letter.

"Dear Emma...


Your Sponsored Family,
                                      "


And I gasp in wonder.  Because I actually do know who they are.  As in, a name and some email correspondence.  And all the prayers whispered.  The prayers of thanksgiving and gratefulness become named.  The gift I've had to send to a sponsor I know not, a token of our regard and a remembrance in keepsake form of their and our Emma, knows who to go to.

God weaves so beautifully.

And oddly enough, morning dawns and with it an email.

You know who it was from, now, don't you?

Yes.  Emma's sponsors.

Heaven smiled as my heart recognized a thread overlapped, lives enjoined.  The Master Weaver's hands fashion beauty and untwist threads knotted and twisted, to make patterns of beauty and strength.

Yesterday we beheld such glory.  And our hearts sang at the seeing.

Love Without Boundaries

 Love Without Boundaries is a non-profit organization that does amazing work loving and caring for orphans in China.  They also do incredible work helping children receive the medical care they need to stay with their families and not become orphans through their unity fund.

In other words: LWB loves China's children.

They've loved Emma for five and a half years.  And our family is indebted to them for the many ways they have upheld her and given her hope and nurture, love and possibility.

Here is a post from their blog that I had to share.  You can read it on your own here.  It is a testament to the hearts of the volunteers who staff their program and work diligently for the sake of the children waiting for families in orphanages all across China:

Spotlight on Waiting Children: A New Vision for LWB Community Posted: 13 Jul 2010 04:07 AM PDT Last month I had the pleasure of traveling to China with two fellow Directors, Amy Eldridge and Sheri Russon. We spent nine days literally running through China visiting orphanages, meeting with government officials and our China staff and visiting many of LWB’s programs. The best part of all was meeting the beautiful children in our care. For me, this experience was profound and life changing. What I experienced will stay with me for the rest of my life. A piece of my heart remains in China with so many very special children. Actually, one child in particular captured my heart but I will save that story for another time! Throughout our trip and since returning home, one need has stayed with me above all others. There are simply too many children waiting for their forever families. There are an overwhelming 1,900 children on the “shared list” currently waiting to be selected for adoption in China…1,900 children waiting to be loved. LWB’s focus has always been on providing the love, care and nurture that orphaned children need and so deserve. We take every opportunity to advocate for the children in our care and our greatest hope is that each and every child know the love of a forever family. One of the results of our trip to China is that the focus of LWBcommunity.org is shifting. Now more than ever, we are more committed to shine a light on individual children who are waiting for their chance at a family to call their own. Beginning this week and continuing thereafter, each day LWB will feature a child in our care who is waiting to be chosen. Our hope is to bring their story to life. We will share what we can with you, our faithful readers, so that you will see for yourself what makes each child so special. On our recent trip to China, we met hundreds of amazing children, each unique in their own way. What struck me the most is the “light” that came from within so many of these children. I could literally see the light radiating from the inside out. That light stays with me today and is the last thing I think of at night and the first thing I think of when I wake in the morning. Despite the many obstacles these children have in their lives, their resilience is remarkable. It gives me HOPE! Hope that someday soon, EVERY child will know love. And, that is what it’s all about! I invite you to follow us on this new journey, as we advocate for adoption ONE child at a time. Please share with others about our growing community, who also love children and may even be considering a new family member of their own! In Hope, Paige Mills-Haag, LWB Director of Operations

There are 147 million orphans in the world.  There are MILLIONS of orphans in China.  The 1,900 who are on the list of adoptable waiting children is only a drop in the bucket.  They are the ones who have a hope of finding a family.  We ARE COMMANDED to care.

I know so many of you do, and put actions to your feelings.

True compassion isn't feeling bad about something.  It is DOING something about feeling bad about something.

A huge difference between those two, isn't there?

Our family looks forward to many years of joining Love Without Boundaries to continue being a part of making a difference to children in China: those in families and those waiting for one.

We would love to have you join us in contributing to an incredible ministry (my words) and organization.  They have literally changed Emma Kate's life forever.  And because of that, our lives are changed, too.  Glory to God.

There are not enough words for that.

Sing a new song!

Notes on Emma YuXiao:

She LOVES to sing and she sang a song for me when i evaluated her.  When I visited the Believe in Me classrooms, she was happily playing and singing as she played!  She seemed to be the song leader, and as she started a song, the other children would join in!!

Psalm 98

A psalm.

 ¹ Sing to the LORD a new song,
       for he has done marvelous things;
       his right hand and his holy arm
       have worked salvation for him.



We sing a song of joy to our King, our Rock and our Redeemer, for He has done marvelous things for us!  
Emma Katherine, YOU are a song in our hearts.
Emma Kate YuXiao, YOU sing a song to your King who put that song in your heart.



 ² The LORD has made his salvation known
       and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
 ³ He has remembered his love
       and his faithfulness to the house of Israel;
       all the ends of the earth have seen
       the salvation of our God.

When I evaluated YuXiao - she seemed very bright and quite functional.  She was able to use her hands quite well and has develped alot of her own ways to do things to adapt for the missing fingers.  The only thing she was having some difficulty with was holding the pencil, and I gave her a special built up grip to help hold the pencil.

We sing a song of joy for the Lord, and sing in hope that our joy rises like a sweet aroma before Him.  The aroma of Christ who saves and takes care.  The aroma of His faithfulness- stretching from one end of the earth to the other.  HIS earth.  Our joy made complete in watching Him care for YuXiao, and show us His care in such glorious, marvelous ways.  Her adapting and the beautiful ways she is growing.  Oh, Jesus, I stand in total awe of you. 




 ⁴ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth,
       burst into jubilant song with music;
 ⁵ make music to the LORD with the harp,
       with the harp and the sound of singing,

Hi Sara,
Just wanted to let you know what a special girl your daughter is!!  My daughter and I became quite attached to her while we were in Jinjiang - I am so glad she is getting a forever home! 


The music of God's love, poured out for YuXiao.  The splendor of His graciousness, displayed in who she is...because of WHO she belongs to!  She is special, and beloved, and treasured, wanted and needed.  We, who thought we were complete, learning of a bigger, better, fuller completion with her in our family.  


⁶ with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn—
       shout for joy before the LORD, the King.
 ⁷ Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
       the world, and all who live in it.
 ⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands,
      Let the mountains sing together for joy; ⁹ let them sing before the LORD,
       for he comes to judge the earth.
       He will judge the world in righteousness
       and the peoples with equity.

When I explained that I was taking a few pictures of your daughter and one of the other little boys (JianFeng) so that I would have them to pass along eventually to their adoptive parents, the staff were thrilled that she was getting a family (I don't think the staff usually find out that the kids are leaving until right before the go).  She seems to be a favorite!!!
 
We sing for joy at the people God has raised up to love His beloved little ones.  That the "least" of us- the most vulnerable and needy- are being tended in love and affection.  Jesus, make it so.  And draw those precious caregivers to you- to know the Hope they are called to in You, the fullness of being loved by You.  The depth, height and width of your love for them in Christ Jesus.  




I think of Emma Kate and hear a song in my heart.  And I know the God of glory is connecting our hearts from here to there with a song that is true.  He is even now tuning us to resonate and fit together in a song that is beautiful and full- because it is His song!


The picture of our little girl singing as she plays is such a treasure.  I am treasuring the picture that gives me in my heart.  Treasuring and loving to hold that picture.


We do sing a new song of joy to our Lord and King.  Great things He has done for us.  Great things indeed.

Manna

Sara,
Hello from China!
I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet your daughter several times over the past 2 days.  What a smart and charming little girl she is.  She loves to sing, and sang a song for me when I evaluated her.  She loved the play jewelry we gave her as a gift and came back in to see me today so that I could tie the necklace she made back togther!  I was able to take some pictures of her, some of them with my daughter playing together.  She is quite an amazing little girl - you are one lucky family!!




THAT note is what I woke up to in my inbox yesterday morning.  Oh, thank you, Lord!  The woman who wrote it is an American woman who is a physical therapist.  They are doing service work at Emma Kate's orphanage.  


Updates like this, in care you are wondering, are NOT the usual.  At. all.  Jim and I have been, really, in complete shock at all the photos and information we have about Emma Kate.  It is so reassuring, so helps a waiting parents heart, and brings us such joy.  


So onward to my day which was a mad scramble of activity, and then late last night when I should have been tucked away asleep (but Jim was traveling and I tend to be up late when he is gone) THIS came in my inbox:

AND this:

and if that were not enough, THIS TOO!:

Say it with me, "God's lavish love".
Here's more!  YES, more!:

The kiddos were PILED up in my bed now (it was really only 10:10- don't be mean at me for that!).  


Jeb, to this photo says, "Mom.  This is total proof she is meant to be a Silburn. You have to love legos to be in our family and look at her!"  He's a funny boy.  But speaks truth!  There's the black olive test, too, but we won't go into that now (especially since half the family has now failed that test and are still part of the family).  And I won't even start on the cheese test.  That is how we know that while we LIKE Ian Achterkirch, he will never really truly be a part of the inner circle.  :)  


Okay, so we have sliding criteria.  


Her lego-loving ways, however, brought such an endearment to her siblings who already have plans to make sure the box is out when she arrives home.


Included in the email was the following information.  Gird yourself, this is SO fun to read!:


She is a happy girl !!

1. Yu Xiao does not have a nickname ,she is called as Yu Xiao !
2. Her personality is quite gentle ,outgoing,friendly,she loves to learn new things,does not scare strangers ,she is very kind and patient  , love to help her little friends and love to share her stuff with her little friends too.
3.Her best friend is Jiang Yu Jun (江玉君),these two girls are roommate too,jiang yu jun is a very lovely girl !
4.She loves to sing ,play outdoors ,loves to play games and dolls .
5.update measurements below :
height :105cm
weight :19.5kg
head :49cm
chest :57cm
feet :15cm
teeth:14




Luke snuggled up as I was tucking him in and looked at me with those sparkly brown eyes of his and whispered, "Mom, I can tell from those photos that Emma Kate is really kind.  I think we are going to be really good friends".  


Oh.  Manna.


So JIm and I then translated (via phone and internet since he is in Seattle) all her measurements into inches and pounds...I, of course, couldn't really decide what 42.5 pounds meant, so where do I go?  Gap Kids.  Sad and true, but BRILLIANT!  


Emma Kate is only 3 pounds lighter than Anna!  And they are close height, too.  So fun!  And yet perhaps being weighed in 5 layers of clothes influenced the weight, so I will hold that information lightly.


I went to sleep last night with a smile on my lips, a song in my heart, and a profound gratefulness.  I woke up that way, too!  


Great is His faithfulness and lovingkindness.  Look at this sweet girl He's held all these years, so far far away in China.  


I cannot wait to meet her!  And as both emails indicate: WE are the blessed ones.  Blessed to have Emma Kate as our beloved daughter.  Our treasured sister.

Lavish, abundant and MORE: the Father's love in action

The following is an excerpt from a post about the Believe in Me School that Emma Kate is attending.  It is in her orphanage, and allows her to spend her days being actively engaged in learning, growing and using her mind and body.  


I CANNOT believe she is experiencing this.  As you read, please note that this is NOT typical for the kind of life children have in most orphanages.  Additionally, while the school is an incredible blessing for her, it is worth noting that she IS living in an orphanage, and as amazing as her care is, it is still life in an orphanage.  ALL of these children deserve a home and a family of their own.  They do.  Nothing replaces that for anyone.


Here is the teacher information:
The teachers are assigned a class. There are two for each. We have a very good
teacher/student ratio. Also, we have sent all our staff to Beijing to receive
Montessori styled teaching instruction, with the exception of one teacher who
will be attending in March. Our teachers are all qualified teachers, with the
exception of one, who is a nurse. Our goal has been to have a high quality
program for the kids, not just to keep them busy. We also send our teachers to
other Believe In Me Schools on occasion to have them learn from one another.
The students are all brought together for special times and parties. There are
generally about 35 kids in the school at any one time. Luckily, some of the
children leave for their Forever Families, but sadly, many of them do not. Our
goal is to give them the best experience we can to prepare them for public
school or adoption. Some of our children will never attend public school
because of their special needs, so we are teaching them and will have them in
our program until they are much older.

I will try to post our daily class schedules from last year. Class C was
attending only morning at the time because they were so young and we were
acclimating them to going to school. They have been attending all day since the
fall, although this schedule does not reflect that.

I welcome your questions about the school. We are so happy to be able to provide
this program for these children.

Believe in Me: Emma's Preschool

Emma lives in an orphanage in Fujian, China. She is sponsored through the incredible work of Love Without Boundaries (here is their website address: https://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/index.cfm. This organization is doing amazing things to love the children living and waiting in orphanages in China. We cannot wait to be able to give back to them for the ways they helped Emma.

Love Without Boundaries helped build a new orphanage for the children of JinJiang, and started a school called, Believe In Me Preschool. I cannot put into words how it feels to be able to glimpse our daughter in these photos and see that she is receiving care and nurture, stimulation and learning. God's grace poured out for these sweet little kids.

Here is how LWB describes the school:

Jinjiang, a city in the beautiful province of Fujian , is located on the coast bordering the Taiwan Strait of the East China Sea . The school opened in January 2008 in the old orphanage. Happily, the children moved into the beautiful new building in June 2008. They have bright, cheery classrooms with a playroom and lots of new materials and supplies. There is a wonderful playground for the children to use to develop their large motor skills and plenty of class time for their academic development.

Our school has 3 classrooms to better meet the needs of the children. There is a preschool for the 2 year olds, a pre-kindergarten class, and a classroom for children with mild special needs that prevent them from attending the public school.

Our teachers have all had Montessori style training so there is much interaction between the teachers and the children. The children love to attend school in their beautiful classrooms where they have lessons and celebrations. We have seen so much progress this past year and look forward to a brighter future for these children.

Loving friends at Believe in Me preschool