Is There Really Persecution Of Christians In China? by Randy Alcorn

One of our family passions and a huge part of our prayer life is for the persecuted church around the globe. It's no secret that one of those countries is China. In the latest newsletter from Eternal Perspective Ministries,Randy Alcorn writes about the current situation of the persecuted church in China...and as Christians we must not be complacent in our pursuit of prayer for the nations supressing religious freedom. Click here and go to page 12 of the newsletter to read Randy's perspective of the underground Chinese church. Randy Alcorn also penned the novel "Safely Home" about an American businessman and his Chinese friend who was an activist in the underground house Churches in Central China. The final moments of this novel are painful and bittersweet as this Chinese man is martyred for his faith in proclaiming the gospel to his countrymen. He is ushered into the presence of the Lord to hear "Well done my good and faithful servant...." Last year Julie was able to meet Randy Alcorn and he signed a copy of 'Safely Home' for our own little China doll..Katie. It sits on a shelf in her room....a reminder of where she came from and those left there we are still called to interceed for. If you haven't read this 'can't put it down' book...please, please do so!!It's a life changing read! It's available from EPM's site and from Amazon. Enjoy the pictures of our Katie Mei's first soccer day....she's definitely the peanut of the team...but had a great time! To make it even better...she did not beat anyone up:)(see previous post)... And...don't forget China needs our prayers!

"I should live not for the dot, but for the line. From the dot---our present life on Earth--extends a line that goes on forever which is eternity in heaven." From The Treasure Principle...by R. Alcorn.

Quick! Someone Tell David Beckham.....

....that the Princess Collection has taken over his job description!!Yes, all 3 girls are playing soccer. Friends Vickie and Mike started a league a few years ago....and convinced us to give it a try. These girls have never done anything like this so it should be marvelous entertainment for the spectators. Here's my predictions:
1. Katie-the only diaper-clad player on the team as it's a 3-4yr. old team...she's 2...will love it until some one takes her ball. Then the A*A* will rear it's ugly head and she just might beat you up. Or try to anyway. (that would be Asian Attitude!!...her forte.) All 34" of her. She's a tiny powerhouse.
2. Kristin aka. Eloise- will have fun until she figures out it involves work...then she will ask for a lawn chair to be placed in the middle of the field whereupon she will place herself...ask for lipgloss, glasses, and a spritz of water with fresh lemon. Oh yea...and an umbrella. She's not afraid make known her wants.Maybe we should have someone stop by and paint her nails??
3. Leni- who is on the same team as Kristin...will run a little...get tired..lay down in the field and begin to make pictures out of the clouds, find a bug, a stray dog to love, and not even notice she's being trampled on by other cleat wearing 5-6 year olds because she's forgotton she's here to play soccer.....until lawn-chair loving sister wacks her in the head with her flip-flop and brings her back to reality.

We'll let you know how it goes. The season opener is Saturday.

Our Easter Story....

Here's some pictures of our Easter Day! We usually do a big shin-dig with alot of families and have a big hunt...but let's just say...who put Easter in March this year?? Isn't it usually in April?? Why didn't someone consult me before they planned the calendar??!! We didn't plan too well...but had a blast none the less. We had a lunch after church with the fam...then had our own egg-citing (ha...ha) hunt for our little guys. The big people had fun too!! Let's see...Leni got the most eggs...much to Eloise's dismay...then climbed a tree, hung her basket on a branch then everly so quietly shoved in candy like she was preparing to hibernate!! By the time we found her...it was too late. Candy was hidden in every available space in her upper quadrant. After figuring out the eggs had candy in them...Katie and Cade stopped after every egg to eat...then threw the eggs on the ground. Katie would only eat candy ducks (no chicks or chocolate...only ducks) and she and Kristin bartered their findings with Grandpa being the auctioneer. Kristin still felt like she got the short end of the stick. She will live. She just has to vocalize the injustice....:) After this....we all loaded up (girls and all) to pay a visit to our resident Barista...at Starbucks. MMMMM....time for a doughnut!! (which are to die for there!!)Check out Leni's dress in the last pic....any suggestions? Maybe buy stock in Shout or Oxyclean?? Maybe not let her climb trees in Easter Dress? Maybe this mommy should've thought of that....

Happy Easter!

Here are the little girlies....freshly washed, ironed, hair-doed, and nice and momentarily shiny....on the way to church Easter Sunday morning. We spent considerable time lately discussing the meaning of Easter, what the cross means for us and our resurrected Lord and Savior. In fact...Saturday evening was big, when the girls told the Easter story back to me. They did a great job and got their facts so very correct!! So you see... in the second pic...as we're talking up going to church to celebrate Easter and all it's meaning...Miss Katie decides it's time to do a rousing rendition of 'I'm a Little Teapot" just in case the photographer wanted entertainment during our photo shoot. There you go...tipping the teapot and pouring her out. Evidently...she was done with the Easter Story, and wanted the subject matter diverted elsewhere. The third pic this mommy loves! Nothing better than little girl hugs and kisses! Aren't they beautimous??!! More pics to follow soon. They weren't shiny clean for long....but boy, oh boy did they enjoy Easter!

p.s. I got several queries about the baskets in the post below....they're from Pottery Barn Kids...but purchased 2 years ago before we went to China. I didn't look at their Easter catalog this season to see if they're still available or not. They're washable and I wanted an heirloom for our girls and the Cadester. AND a big thanks to those that sent book suggestions both on here and to me privately.(see post below).. Thank you and I look forward to looking at your suggestions!

Poised....And Ready....

....for 3 little girls and one little boy!!

Lest we not forget..." Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations...!!" Luke 24:46

Happy Easter!

"Miss Thang"

Yea. Meet Miss Thang. With lots of 'tude'. Attitude that is. She's had it since day one in Nanchang, and not much has changed.:) This 34", 27lbs. of 2 year old likes to think she runs the entire VanLue show! Sometimes we laugh (you just can't help it!!) and sometimes we cry...but mostly we give her some good 'tude' right back....lovingly of course:) Take for instance this situation in the car. Kristin sits behind Katie in our van...and lately has started provoking Miss Thang by kicking her seat. On an action-packed interstate, this mommy hears..."YIN-YIN (Kristin)NOOOOKIIICCCKKKKSSSEEEEEAAAATTTT!!!" Sometimes actions speak louder than words..so Katie enforces her loud shreaking decibels with a superior-arm-folding-humph-lip-pouting-eyebrow-furrow-mean-stare. It's ugly and funny at the same time. Now, understand, there is nothing Kristin likes better than getting under Katie's skin and proving her stance as queen bee. In other words....more kicking resumes. Entire previous scene is repeated...LOUDER. Leni thinks they're nuts. Mommy wants quiet. So....mommy corrects both K's (while driving 50+mph. on interstate...)and both quiet down...but Katie holds pouting-arm-folding-mad stance to prove her point. And the next look in the rearview mirror shows these pics above.Yes, Miss Thang fell asleep (whew!) while look closely...Kristin is still kicking. Next time you see a swerving white mini-van on a Florida highway...get out of the way!

I Love These Kids....and more!

We did ANOTHER garage sale last weekend. We added more families and wanted to get rid of more stuff...so sell we did! Here you see 6 of the cutest, most adorable kids in my book hangin, and throwing rocks in our lake canal.That's Taylor, Colin, Lauren, Leni, Kristin, and Katie. Then you will see Julie and one of our bestest friends and T, C, and L's mama, Ms. Medana taking control of our sale. "Mizdonna" as our kids say is due with #4 next month and tomorrow is her shower to welcome Sadie Cox to this world! Only loyal friends show up at your yard sales..and she did!! The Easthams came to our last sale and this mommy did't have a camera or I would've photographed Miss Hope at her first yard sale:)..And here in a nutshell is what happened this week....
1. Sale begins....
2. Big girls had spent the night with Mom Jo...Katie had popcorn for break
fast at sale...along with fruit roll ups...who needs nutrition????
3. Kristin wakes up...comes outside and gets stung by a bee. Mommy runs
for ice while others are climbing trees...
4. 5 min. later Colin falls from about 6 ft. up out of
tree...with a giant thud. He did not bounce.
5. Mommy's prize sale (a lady was coming back for it)...a solid cherry
floor mirror, blew over in the wind and shattered the glass :(
6. Mommy and Julie and Katie ate an entire bag of chocolate pretzels
7. end of sale
The daddy says that's the end of garage sales for us for a while. I think he's right.

P.S. Today is Lauren's 2nd birthday! Happy Birthday Lauren!