They’re Home! / Lukai / Pics

My mom is now home from China, and she had a blast! I’m so glad she was able to go! It was very obvious God wanted her to accompany Mrs. Berzenji since He provided absolutely all the money for the entire trip, and kept her safe.

She did a lot of fun things! She visited the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, a Kung Fu show, an acrobatic show, and the Pearl and the Silk market. One of the highlights of her trip was a visit to the New Day Foster Home. It is an organization that receives special needs children from orphanages who don’t have the resources to care for them. They often need special care such as surgery, and New Day arranges that. Friends donated money for supplies, such as: special formula for babies with heart problems, medicine for children with asthma, sippy cups, and children’s utensils. They arrived there just as some nannies and volunteers were taking the babies out for a walk, and they were able to join them. My mom loves babies and has always wanted to spend time cuddling orphaned babies in China, so she was in heaven. She said she would love to take a trip back there with me and stay for for a week or two. I would love to go...

The other highlight for my mom was watching Mrs. Berzenji meet Lukai, and get to know him. She said there is nothing quite like watching people become a family.

I met Lukai!! He has the cutest smile! After all this time of waiting and praying, I can't believe he's finally home... and I met him!

Here are some pictures:)

Lukai at the airport

The Great Wall

New Day Foster Home

Lukai

Lukai is very sweet... and definitely “all boy”! He has a big and happy personality and isn’t shy at all! It was very hard saying good bye to him. I miss him a lot, and I really wish they lived nearby...Lukai is so blessed to have such a loving family. He has 2 brothers, 2 sisters, a dog, a cat, and 2 birds! :)

I love you Lukai!!!

They're Coming Home from China Tomorrow!

Hello everyone!

My mom and Mrs. Berzenji are in China! Actually they’re coming home tomorrow...I really apologize for not writing! We’ve been really busy (as you would imagine:). Wow! They have Lukai! Amazing moment! Here is Mr. Berzenji’s blog. He blogged all about it, (and it will fill you in on what happened:). I also added an email my mom sent during the week about it. Wonderful!

Hi Everyone,

Today we went back to the government agency to sign papers and pay fees and make everything official. Shortly after we got back our guide came to say that the foster family wanted to come for a visit. Yay!!! Roberta was so hoping for that. They came to see that Lukai was in a good home, not to see him and confuse him. Foster mom grabbed Roberta's hand the moment she got there and didn't let go for the entire visit. She burst into tears and the first words out of her mouth were, "he is so naughty!". :) She kept saying, "I feel so good, I trust you." She was so happy to hear that Lukai would be learning chinese, and that they want to bring him back to visit. Her son-in-law wrote down her home phone # and skype #. Very emotional for Roberta, and such a blessing. I looked after Lukai, with Dawson in our room. He is a delightful child...he is all boy, and totally out-going (and a little naughty :) He has a smile that lights up the room, and he smiles a lot. He takes correction really well, I think. He likes to throw things, and he loves any moving vehicles. He sat really nicely in the van, and even fell asleep. I am hoping he will be as excited about the airplane! He has a lot of energy, so we are hoping to get out of the hotel more tomorrow.

We are bushed, and are counting the minutes until we can all crash. We are trying to keep Lukai awake for a bit longer in the hopes that he will sleep all night.

I was able to take him to the bathroom on his first outing today. Roberta had gone downstairs to get a photocopy of a document when he let me know that he had to go. Dawson and I raced him to the squatty potty and he went. He beamed when I cheered, and gave me a high-five.

Roberta tried to take him swimming this afternoon, but he did not want to go in. He looked pretty cute in the swimsuit, though.

Yes, I missed her a lot! So did my brothers and dad, of course:) Wow! It went by fast, though! It went a lot better than I thought, and it actually wasn’t that bad! :)

Thank you Jesus for bringing Lukai home!

Guess What everyone!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Hey Everyone!

GUESS WHAT! Mrs. Berzenji received the final approval, and my mom is officially going to be her companion on the trip.....they both booked their tickets for China in November!!!!!! SURPRISE!!!! They aren't flying in October because their travel agency isn't organizing a travel group until November, but it's totally okay with me because then I can start getting emotionally ready:) They are going to fly to Beijing first for a few nights, then travel to Taiyuan to meet Lukai and spend a week there. After that, they need to spend another week in Beijing. They can hardly wait to meet Lukai!

Also, my mom is really excited because she and Mrs. Berzenji are going to visit New Day Foster Home in Beijing! My mom is planning to fill a suitcase filled with things they need, such as: medicine, formula, books...

They are also going to visit an orphanage in Taiyuan that has said they could really use some Ikea high chairs. So, they are going to stop at Ikea in Beijing and and pick some up before they go there. I'm looking forward to hearing how that goes, since Ikea in China is supposed to be pretty busy!

Looking for Joy in the Midst of Disappointment

Today has been a day of working through feelings of disappointment, and self pity.

Earlier in the summer, my brother Ashton, and I, found out that our church youth group was going on a trip to some super, amazing water slides. Now, you have to understand that we have never been to these water slides (or any water slide park, in fact), and it seemed that all our friends have been. Once we looked up pictures and you tube videos, we were beyond excited! (Even though we weren’t quite sure that we would be going:) After a whole summer of hoping, this Monday morning, everything started falling into place, and we got permission to go! We were going for sure! We couldn't believe it, when later that same day Ashton came down with a super high fever, and by Tuesday he had a full blown cold. Wow. I can't tell you just how long and hard we prayed that God would heal Ashton by Thursday (today), so we could still go. Yesterday afternoon we started getting hopeful because Ashton climbed out of bed and went outside to play (for a little while). We both woke up early this morning very hopeful that he would be well enough to go, though we could hear in his voice that he still had a cold. When my mom took his temperature, he still had a slight fever. So, needless to say, I am at home blogging, and all my friends are at the water slides. (Not that I don't enjoy blogging or anything, I'd just of course prefer water sliding today:)

To be honest, I am excessively disappointed and Ashton and I have been having a very hard time controlling our emotions. Earlier today, my mom, Ashton and I, sat down and had a talk about how to handle disappointment in a way that honours God, and how to invite God to turn this situation into a good one. I decided in my heart that I didn't want to give in to self pity, and I invited God to help me choose joy instead.

Just a little while later, I started reading Mr. Berzenji's newest blog post. He wrote about the disappointment they've been feeling, because their paper work hasn't arrived yet. (Instead of 30-50 days of waiting, they are now on day 125, and that's just for one step of the process). I think the disappointment I've been feeling today, really helped me relate to the disappointment that they've been feeling. And as I was reading it, it really helped me to snap out of any remaining self pity I had in my heart.

The biggest feeling that I've experienced today was missing out. Missing out on hanging out with our friends, cool water slides, and the grand finale of the summer before school starts next week. (These water slides are going to be closing for the year in just a couple of days).

I can't help but think of all the things that the Berzenji's have been missing out on while they've been waiting for Lukai over these past weeks and months. The cute things he has done, and the things he has learned. And Lukai has been missing out on living with, and being loved by his forever family. Even though it is hard, Mr. Berzenji wrote about how he is choosing to look for joy in the midst of his disappointment about not having Lukai home with them yet.

It feels like God has something that He wanted me to learn today. I'm thankful for Mr. Berzenji's words, and the talk I had with my mom and Ashton, to help me learn it. The lesson I learned today was; if you invite God into a situation, in the mist of your disappointment, he can help you find joy. Even though nothing exciting happened today, a change happened in my heart, and I have had a good day. :)

Please Pray!!!

Hey everyone!

The Berzenji family hasn't received their invitation to go and bring Bing home from China yet. Their adoption agency's next trip is in September and we are all hoping and praying that they will receive their invitation before then. Please pray for them!!!

I have exciting news! My mom is planning to go with Mrs. Berzenji to China to bring Baby Bing home, so she won't have to go by herself! I'm very excited for her, because she has always wanted to go to China and cuddle babies. She might not be able to this time, but it's a starter! She's going to basically help Mrs. Berzenji with whatever she needs. Because Bing needs to learn who his mom is, Mrs. Berzenji will be the only one holding him, feeding him, bathing him and comforting him.

I'll post immediately when they get their invitation! And again, please pray!!!!!

In case you haven't watched this music video, I'm posting this in honor of Bing.

We can't wait for you to come home Bing, your parents are trying so hard to get you here!!!!

Birthdays and Celebrations

Hello everyone!

I took a break to finish off my school year, but now I'm excited to start blogging again!

First off, I just turned 13! (I was born on my Dad's b-day in June). To celebrate, my Dad and I had breakfast in bed with the 'Red Special Plate'. We had apple crisp! (Well, what else is there when you have food sensitivities to dairy and eggs? :) My mom made it with: spelt flour, coconut oil and maple syrup. It was really good! After the delicious breakfast and fun presents, we went swimming as a family at the pool. After that we went out for dinner with some of my Mom's side of the family. It was all so much fun! Thanks Mommy and Daddy!

A while back on May 14, my mom and dad held a very touching blessing celebration to celebrate my first steps into Womanhood. It was amazing! I literally cried for an entire day. (And yes, I went to bed with a headache, and my eyes were puffy and red the next day :)

When I woke up in the morning, my mom took my two best friends (one of them is my cousin:) and I out to get up-dos. I loved getting my hair done! What a treat! Before I knew it, my dad was putting a corsage on my wrist and taking me out for a special lunch at the beach- Sushi!! It was so delicious, and very special! While we were at the restaurant my dad gave me a very beautiful ring. He said that it's a promise ring, but he's the one making the promise. He promised that he will always be there for me, and be my protector and provider, until God brings the right man for me to marry. (Thank you so much Daddy, the ring is so special to me, and I will treasure it forever!)

When I arrived at the celebration, I was greeted by (30!) very special women and girls who are a very big and special part of my life. They all brought letters and gifts, and one of them even wrote me a song and played/sang it on her guitar. (Thank you so much, Mrs. St. Pierre!)

My Mom showed a slide show of pictures of me that she had put together. Then one of her friends who traveled all the way from Winnipeg, gave a power point presentation. She was encouraging me to keep God's opinion of me as the most important (instead of other people's opinions and messages from the media.) She also talked about making Jesus 'the fairest of them all' to me, as I am to Him. (Thank you, Mrs. Peter!)

After the presentation, everyone read an encouraging and touching letter. Each letter had such kind and beautiful words. (Thank you everyone!) I have never felt so blessed in my entire life! And like I said before, I cried through the whole day!!!! It was amazing and I will never forget any of it! Thank you everyone!!!!!!!

Just an update about Bing - His parents are still waiting for an invitation to go to China. We are praying that that will be soon. You can read their blog here.