David Day!

Two years ago today our family of six, with my father,

walked into the civil affairs building of Hubei Province

in Wuhan City, China

to meet our son and brother. . .Wu Yue He.

We walked out a few hours later a family of seven!

He was 2 1/2 years old and had been living with foster parents

under the direction of the city's large orphanage since open heart surgery recovery

at six months of age.

Oh how we longed for that moment to see him and hold him and love him

after waiting 11 months from the first time we saw this precious face

on AAC's waiting child list.

I knew this precious child of God was an Achterkirch and the Lord lavished us with

the blessing of calling him our son.

It is hard to believe it has been two years for it is like he has always been ours.

Adoption surely changes the lives of children

abandoned and institutionalized and forgotten
{this month is Adoption Month and I pray many children will find their forever family}

 God has used adoption to deeply change our family. . .

and we are forever thankful for the journey He has set before us and for our own

adoption as Sons of God!

We celebrate Wu Yue He today....how God graciously folded him into our family

from the other side of the world and made our hearts to love him

before we even saw him.

That's what God's love does.

We celebrate the plan God has for David - unknown to us, but known to God.

From Wuhan City to Houston Texas via Phoenix, Arizona through an agency in Colorado.

That's a glimpse of God's sovereignty.

We celebrate all the ways in which David has flourished in our family.

The joy he brings to everyone that knows him.

He is such a happy kid!

That is Christ's peace and joy taking root in him!

We celebrate our family -

authored by God

upheld by His grace day by day.

And we remember with wonderful fondness our journey two years ago to David's homeland

So rich with memories for us....
and a tangible reminder of God's grace and mercy and lavish love for us.

This video was made as a remembrance of God's mighty work in David's life and ours!

Glory be to our great God!

Happy Gotcha Day, David!!!

中秋節

Sunday is the Chinese Moon Festival or Mid Autumn Festival

It is one of the most important traditions and one of the most significant festivals

in asian countries

In Chinese culture it is a time of reunion.

Gathering together.

Traveling, sometimes great distances, to be home.

With family.

For fellowship and food.

We were in China in 2004 for the Mid Autumn festival.

It was truly wonderful to see the preparations and so many people
moving across the cities and the country to be home.

For many who leave home and work far distances away from family,
this time of reunion is very significant and very sweet.

Here are the symbols for reunion of family - the symbols say a lot!

Lanterns are lit and fireworks echo all night long.  Mooncakes are everywhere!
This was a beautiful mooncake stand in our hotel in Changsha.
All those gold boxes are filled with mooncakes!

During our wait for David, we marked the festival time by sending
 a box of mooncakes to his foster family in Wuhan

and pajamas and socks to the orphanage for the children to have for the upcoming

winter months.

David was then two years old and the report back from his foster mother was,

Wu Yue He like cake....very rich so only eat small bite!"

Believe me....I only ate a small bite, too.  

They are beautiful, but the fillings are quite unusual...

like red bean curd, lotus seed curd, whole aged egg yolks or salted duck eggs.

Much more beautiful than our traditional Christmas fruitcake,
but equally dense and not deserving, really, of the name "cake"

This year was a special celebration for our family.
David's friend Joshua, also from Wuhan City, was adopted by a family in Dallas.
We followed their journey and they followed ours.  We've kept in touch.

When we moved to Texas, Joshua's mommy introduced me via email and facebook to
 another family they had traveled with on another adoption trip to China who lived in Houston...
and another family from Florida that has just moved to Houston from Florida.

Melissa, Carie and I reached out to each other this past summer.

Our three families met at PF Changs tonight.

I love the bond between strangers that is in Christ Jesus.

I love the bond that adoption from China brings, too.
We had a really nice time!

Three beautiful girls!

and a little early birthday celebration to add to the evening's festivities

My kids thought it was funny we were meeting strangers for dinner.

But we all became fast friends and rejoice that God drew us together to celebrate

the beauty of those folded into our families from China.

It is a glimpse of the global church responding to the biblical mandate to care for the orphan.
What a really beautiful thing!

It is so important for our chinese daughters and sons to enjoy and embrace their culture...

and the festivals are a fun and easy way to do this for our family.

Our childrens' story - their life story
 includes being Chinese and we celebrate that!

And it was a joy to celebrate with new friends this evening!

Thankful for the gift of these two beautiful children,
a love for their homeland and its rich history and traditions
and new friends in Texas!

Gotcha Day Memories!

September 22, 2004 was a beautiful day.

It was Gotcha Day....the day Yue Hui Ping joined our family forever!

Today we will celebrate Claire.

We will celebrate God's faithfulness in her life.

We will recall His mighty deeds in the life of our family.

We will pray over and bless our precious daughter.

We will cherish memories and share stories.

We will look at photographs from our first trip to China.

And yes, we will have Chinese food - or Tex Mex if she prefers.

We just scrolled through this short summary of Claire's adoption

and her "Gotcha Day"

HERE

We have celebrated 8 "Gotcha Days" -

and I still get teary when I stop and ponder God's goodness to us.

Claire Hui Ping,

You are dearly loved and cherished.

God blessed us BIG when He gave us YOU!

Love to you on this special day!

Happy Gotcha Day to all our Bethany friends, too, who received their daughters at the same time!

These are special "sisters"...sharing a crib room for the first 10 months of their lives.

We love you all!

And our guide Sheyan, Bethany Coordiantor in China, who is assisting our friends

in China right now....8 years later!  

What an amazing ministry she has!

Great to look back and remember!

My heart swells with gratitude and joy!

Precious Ingrid Xingling

Prayer Warriors.....

here is an update from China

(it took several days, but we have a smile!)

and isn't it the cutest smile you've ever seen!?

How wonderful to see Ingrid with her family

(this photo was taken at the orphanage with Ingrid's caretaker)

What a beautiful family!

Keep praying, friends!

Ingrid is doing well, but she is grieving oh so hard.

This is such a good sign that she is expressing it...all a part of attaching to her new family.

But so hard for the boys...and for tired parents living out of suitcases in a far away country!

She is very attached to Matt 

(quite common as her caretakers have all been female and so that is the source of rejection)

She scrams when Kris so much as looks at her.

What a patient mamma my friend is being.

Tenderly loving her new daughter in her husbands arms.

Whispering her heartfelt affection into her ear as she sleeps.

Tending to her every need through tears and clinging to Matt.

While Kris knows this is common and healthy and will slowly subside,

it breaks a mother's heart 

especially when you've anticipated holding your baby for 18 months!

They travel to Guanzhou today, the last leg of this God ordained journey.

It is a beautiful city.

They will enjoy it greatly!

May each new day bring healing to Ingrid's heart

and may our God, who knew before the beginning of time, that Xinling

would be the precious daughter of this family-

and brought it all to pass....

knit their hearts together

help them to savor the amazing memories they have made

and bring them safely home.

All praise to Him - THIS is a great thing He has done!!!

Four Brothers and a Little Sister

Ingrid Xinling Anderson -

Precious darling

Child of God

is coming home!!!

God has provided for her.  And surely she has received decent care in

the orphanage in China.  But her family, our dear friends from Minnesota, leave tomorrow

to be united with her forever. . .and bring her home!

Yes.  God is good.

How my heart aches for every child to know the love of a family.

Ingrid won't be starving for affection

with these four brothers looking out for her....

Noah, Bjorn, Isaac and Oskar....

She's gonna make a darling little Swede!

This family is in our fervent prayers and they journey to China

and fold Ingrid into their hearts and arms and lives.

If God should bring them to your mind,

join me in praying for them the next 12 days....

To God be honor and praise and great thanksgiving

Great things He has done!

WE LOVE YOU ANDERSONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TWO

What a privilege it has been to see the Lord enfold Ezra into the H family just hours

after seeing Neamiah received into their loving arms.

To watch with utter amazement and joy and wonderment 

God enfolding TWO new sons and brothers into the H family

across TWO provinces and

in TWO days!

Let's keep them in our prayers as they travel back home to Wuhan

and settle in to their new life as a Party of 11

The Lord has done great things for us

and we are filled with joy!

Psalm 126:3

Rejoicing with Friends

We've been praying for our friends the H family.

Will you join me in upholding them?

We met them during our adoption journey to David

and actually got to spend time with them when we traveled to China.

You see, they live there - in Wuhan

With there lovely family.

You can reminisce with me about our visit with them HERE.

And today they received another precious Wuhan boy into their family

Nehemiah is pictured, smiling ever so brightly, in the grey jacket.

We rejoice in watching God bring to pass another beautiful adoption

in His good time and for His glory!

They sleep now as it is night in China,

and when they awake, they board a train to another province

to meet Ezra....another new son who waits for them.

You can read that amazing story HERE.

God, bless the H family.

Bless then BIG!

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more

than we could ever ask or imagine,

according to HIS power that is at work in us,

to HIM be glory!

{Ephesians 3:20}

New Year Happy

 新年快樂 新 = New 年 = Year 快樂 = Happy

This is how the Chinese say Happy New Year

Full of myths and traditions, the Chinese New Year is the longest and the most significant festival in the Chinese calendar.  The customs vary from province to province and village to village, but nationally, it is a time to return home to family to usher in a new year.  Millions of people will travel great distance to be with family.  Migrant workers are given this time to be with family, and for many, this is the only time they will see family during the year.  Large feasts, fireworks, lighted lanterns, traditional dragon dances and red envelopes given with money are signature sights at this time of year.  Many of the traditions are based on superstitions like cleaning the house to rid the family of evil spirits or eating dumplings shaped like coin bags for the promise of good fortune.  The Chinese, do, however use this special festival to seek reconciliation with one another, to forgive debts and extend peace and harmony to each other for a new year.  That's a beautiful thing!

Having two beautiful children from China, we celebrate the New Year as we did last weekend with a traditional dinner, decorations, lanterns and special books about the festival.  It is always fun for our family to do so.  But amidst the customs and traditions, all based in astronomy and superstition, it is always a reminder of the dark side of a culture that does not know Jesus. 

We remember, too, or maybe it is just I who remember and wonder....about the families that gather without Yue Hui Ping and Wu Yue He, our precious children.  Do they think about who is missing in their festivities?  Do they recall the day they parted ways with their beloved babies?  Do they offer well wishes for the chidlren they no longer know?  

I think about those families, unknown to us!

I pray for them!

And it breaks my heart!

For all that we continue to not understand and yearn to know about being knit together through adoption, we trust to God.  And we are mindful on such special days especially of the great work our God has done in the lives of these two children.  His redeeming, faithful work.  Our greatest thanksgiving comes in knowing that they know Jesus and Claire already trusts Him for her salvation through faith.  Our prayer is that the same will be true for David one day.

It is the fantastic year of the dragon.  Here is a hand print dragon Claire and I made. . .actually we decided it looked a bit more like Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar, but oh well.  We saw this idea on Pinterest and gave it a whirl!

The dragon is the most auspicious and powerful creature of the Chinese zodiac associated with high energy, prosperity and power.  This year, it is significant because it is not just the year of the dragon, but the water dragon.  This rolls around, we are told, every 60 years.  No doubt, as in other dragon years, the birthrate in Asian countries will soar.  What a matter of prayer this is.  How many more baby girls will be aborted?  How many more children will be abandoned because of this superstitious stronghold?  Makes my stomach turn and my heart weep!

On the brighter side, we are mindful of the many millions of people with their families during the next days and weeks and the hope we have in God and His sovereign hand over all the nations, over all the peoples and his redemption power even in the darkest places like superstitious China.  No doubt he is at work there.  

If you want to be encouraged in that fact, spend some time reading the blog of our dear freinds the H family living in Wuhan City.  We got to know them before traveling to China and spent time with them when we traveled for David last year.  They have adopted several children from David's city and are waiting for two more boys to come home!  They are a light in a dark place and you will be blessed to read how God is working in mighty ways ....MIGHTY WAYS...through this beautiful family.  Maybe you will even consider supporting their work there.  I don't know of another family who has been granted favor on such amazing levels in that country as the H family.  Truly amazing!

So it is the year of the water dragon.  He is no match for our great God and King who is redeeming every tribe, tongue and nation!  Amen to that!!!  And New Year Happy friends and family!!!

Claire's Gingerbread Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Claire's birthday with her friends.  It was a sensational gingerbread party!

We decorated gingerbread men. . .

Made gingerbread ornaments. . .

and gingerbread aprons!

Then we got to work on gingerbread houses built around pint sized cartons.
It was fun to see everyone's creativity!  What messy, messy fun we had!

This is Claire's classmate Abigail.  I learned today that Abigail is from Hunan Province China as well.  And not only that, but she is from Yueyang City like Claire.  I got teary just hearing that.  Abigail's mom relayed the sweet story that after the first day of school, Abigail came home and told her mom, "there is a new girl at school and she looks just like me!"  Yueyang friends.  My heart melted!

Claire has such a sweet group of friends.  They were delightful!

After decorating, we played a book exchange game.  Each girl brought a wrapped Christmas book.  I read the Christmas nativity story which was written with lots of "lefts" and "rights" in it.  Each time they heard those words, they passed the book around the circle in the coresponding direction.  When the story ended, they opend the book they were holding and got to take it home. . .along with all their gingerbread fun!

Happy David Day!

A year ago today, our family was in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, The People's Republic of China to meet our beloved son and brother, Wu Yue He.  He was 2 1/2.

God, in His amazing providence, purposed David for our family and ordered each and every step to bring him safely home to us.  We praise Him for His wondeful works of redemption and the power of the gospel as witnessed in the adoption of an orphaned child.  For spiritually speaking, that is our condition without Christ!  How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God. (1 John 3:1)

It was Thanksgiving Day 2009 that this photograph captured my heart.
His reported long wait for a family on a special needs list broke my heart.  God is so good.

David's Gotcha Day was such a wonderful and most anticipated day.  And it was a spectacular blessing to be there as a whole family, with my father, too.  Little David was so brave.  So trusting.  So loving!

This video captures our first meeting and a bit of our time together in David's homeland.
NOTE:  It is best viewed as is and not full screen. It gets a bit blurry.

To God be the glory - great things He has done.

We love you sweet David Wu Achterkirch.
You are treasured and adored.
Loved by God and your family.
Now and forever!!!

Happy Moon Festival

Moon Festival 2000 Yin Chang Zhong (b.1968 Chinese) Watercolor Red Lantern Folk Art, Mukashi Collection

Today we celebrate the Chinese Moon Festival or

Mid-Autumn Festival.  It is one of the most celebrated festivals in China.

It is particularly special to our family because we were in China

to receive Claire Hui Ping during the Moon Festival in 2004.

It is a celebration of the end of the harvest season and reason for

families to come together and enjoy the full and beautiful moon.
{Think American Thanksgiving}

Mooncakes are the traditional sweet or savory treat enjoyed during the festivities.

We sent a box to David's foster family a year ago for the Autumn Festival.

They are given as gifts and shared together during this time with family and friends

They are quite an interesting delicacy -

Usually round in shape, they are a thin pastry shell filled with an array of fascinating fillings:

whole egg yolks, minced meats,bean curd, dates or lotus paste to name a few.
The top is marked with the symbols of the festival.
{Think American fruitcake}

You guessed it - not a family favorite!  We usually just enjoy Chinese food for dinner.

Tonight:  Chinese Chicken with Walnuts and Brown Rice



This is our favorite Moon Festival book:

and over the weekend, the kids made lanterns which are traditionally
taken outdoors with candles inside for moon gazing fun!

The heart of the Moon Festival is reunion.
Families travel home (sometimes all the way back to China) to be together.

We are apart from our families today, and even apart from our Baba who is traveling,
but as we gaze at the glorious full moon,
we pray that we will, God willing, be united for a special time together very soon!!!