Easter

Even though this was Ian and Jovie's first ever egg hunt it only took them a few seconds to catch on. Easter egg hunts are a whole lot more fun with 3! 

This Easter meant so many things, it's significance of having a Savior has always made it my favorite day, that alone makes for a day full of rejoicing. This Easter was three months to the day that Ian and Jovie were placed in our arms. And we especially are very aware of the celebration of us being HOME from the hospital with a baby who's heart is now restored.

The love of Christ for us was more real to me this year than ever. Jovie's open heart surgery was incredibly scary and emotional. I remember vividly standing in my closet at 4am getting dressed the day of her surgery and just going through the motions but in disbelief that the day had come. I remember thinking that if I could, I would trade places with her. I would have saved her from having to go through all of this if I could have. When the surgery was over Jovie spent 3 days in the cardiac ICU. She was sleeping for almost all of that time and I spent hours in a chair beside her just staring at her. She was the most beautiful sleeping baby despite all the tubes and IVs everywhere and my heart could have exploded just looking at her. Even now thinking about it I am getting so emotional. I love her so much and in the moment that my own child's life was in question, I couldn't hardly stand the amount of love I felt... when people use the expression "they were about to burst" that was never truer. Love is powerful and I can't say that I've ever experienced it quite like I did last week. Going through this experience I have felt overwhelmed by a simple truth I've known all my life. 

“Jesus [loves] me; this I know

For the Bible tells me so.

The Love of Jesus Christ:

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19)

How, exactly, does Christ love us? 

"The love of Jesus Christ manifested itself in His giving Himself, laying down His life for us. His was a self-sacrificing love. The death of Christ was not the only sacrifice He made, but the crowning one. His whole life was a sacrifice, from the manger to the cross. His becoming man at all was a sacrifice of immeasurable greatness and meaning.” (A. Torrey - see Philippians 2:6-7.)

 Nothing can separate you from Jesus’ love for you. Nothing can stop you from being loved forever. We don't deserve it. We are helpless without it. His love is invincible.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)

Easter

Our Neighborhood Egg Hunt

This is our peanut last year.  We had only been home for 2 weeks in this picture.  She was so little, wasn't she?! I remember how timidly she would pick up each egg.  In fact, it was a chore to hold her little pail. (: Her Easter basket on Sunday morning wasn't anything special since everything in her world was new... and it actually overwhelmed her a little.  What a difference a year makes!

This year's Easter egg hunt was very exciting for our Maebelle.  I don't think she remembered what it was about, so at first I had to tell her to find the eggs. She would pass several to go for the one egg that she had her eye on.  She was not timid about getting them though, and thought is was a blast.  You can see her joy in these pictures. 

Oh yeah, and there are treats inside!  She was really more interested in breaking them open than really caring about what the prize was. 

Dyeing Eggs! 

Mae is my little artist and loves to color and paint, so egg dyeing is right up her alley.  The kit came with a little wax crayon to color on the eggs first and the dye would color everywhere that wasn't colored.  She took great care in coloring her eggs with the invisible crayon.

And then we soaked our eggs and waited for them to become beautiful.

And beautiful they were... then we got colorful egg salad. (:  Mae LOVES hard boiled eggs.  We eat them almost everyday for breakfast.

Easter Day

A little Easter basket full of goodies.  She got a great shapes book called "Round is a Mooncake" that is full of shapes that are Chinese objects.  (I do recommend it for anyone with little China chickens.)  We also have "Red is a Dragon" -a book of colors.

Mae got to do another egg hunt at her Nonna and Boppy's house on Easter.  She was fully prepared for this one and found the eggs pretty well.  She needed some help to finish, but it was precious to this momma watching her pick them up and set each one delicately in her basket.

This is probably my favorite picture.  Mae has such a sweet little spirit.  My nanny (Mae's great-grandmother) bought her this little dress.  She also got the one she wore last year.  I love her taste.  (:

Our family of three!!

Easter is a reminder that Jesus has the victory over death and sin.  I often don't let this sink in... I live in America, go to church and pray... what if I had not been born here, and the name of Jesus was hardly spoken in whispers.

Recently, I have been overwhelmed by sadness as I read a book, Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother: Stories of Loss and Love. Can I just say that I feel very differently about everything that I thought I knew about China after reading this book. My heart has felt so heavy for the people and my prayers have felt especially necessary for the woman that I am so deeply connected to in China—Mae's mother.  She has had to endure the loss of our precious girl. I don't know how someone can endure loss without the strength of our Savior.  My heart cries out on her behalf that she would come to know Him.

I think everyone who has a heart for China or has adopted from China would greatly benefit from reading this book.  There is so much loss in China... and the greatest loss is what I/we take for granted, their need to know their Creator.  I'm ashamed at how little time I spend getting to know my Creator and Savior. 

I know that it was God that moved Cody's and my heart to love China. We have been extraordinarily changed and have changed the life of our daughter; just by being her mom and dad.  She is no longer an orphan.  Her life is different, to say the least, by being a US Citizen... but far greater than these, Cody and I have an opportunity to share with her what Jesus has done for her.  Jesus has paid it all so that we may know Him... it is our responsibility, and joy to be able to share this with our little girl, who would otherwise maybe never hear the name Jesus.  This brings me to my knees.