Waiting

Webster's New World Dictionary defines "wait" as to remain (until something expected happens); to be ready; to await; and act or period of waiting.

As we continue to wait, we decided to host a teen age boy from China. You may ask, "Where did this come from?" We are asking ourselves the same thing! However, we are sure God put it on our heart to do this.

We met someone on June 10, 2006 who mentioned being a host family for Chinese exchange students, we said that it sounded interesting and we would like more information. June 15 we received a call with more information and June 17 we had a home visit and signed the papers! Our exchange student arrived on Friday, June 30, 2006. Whew!

Now if adoption was this easy, think of how many orphan children worldwide would have forever families sooner!

At first, our student did not seem to speak much English but as he relaxed, we discovered he is quite proficient. He asked us to call him "Fred". Apparently, all of the teens in this program have adopted American names. Interesting! We spent the weekend getting to know each other and he started his classes today. Fred will be with us until July 10, 2006. He is in class Monday - Friday 8:00am-12:30pm then his group will go on field trips 12:30pm-6:00pm. His days are very full.

My major dilemma has been what to fix for meals. Fred has never been anywhere outside of China. Saturday, we all had coffee cake prior to meeting the group of students for a picnic with hamburgers and hotdogs. Sunday, Don fixed pancakes and we had roast beef w/potatoes and carrots for dinner. Today, Fred had cereal and milk. Again, we were not sure how he would like this but he really enjoyed his Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal!

Host families are responsible to send the students with a sack lunch everyday. That was another challenge for me but I decided to pack a usual American style lunch. So, Fred will have a ham & cheese sandwich, Cheese Nips, fruit salad, Capri Sun, and Mini Chips Ahoy. I hope he likes this. We will see! I am planning on making macaroni and cheese (my favorite comfort food) and lasagna. We will probably go to Taco Bell and McDonalds at some point also. So far he likes everything (I think his parents told him to be polite so he wouldn't tell us anyway). Who would have thought something we take for granted could be such a challenge!

We took Fred to church yesterday. We were not sure how he would react, but there were actually two other families hosting Chinese students also. I think that helped Fred feel more comfortable. We gave him a Chinese/English New Testament so he could follow along. We have a very contemporary service and he joined in singing and clapping. He told us he has never been to a church before. When we asked him what he thought about it, he responded, "I always thought church was serious, this church is fun!" Praise the Lord for our opportunity to witness to Fred.

This evening we are going to a minor league baseball game (pray it doesn't rain). There will be fireworks after the game. We thought it would be a great introduction to America.
Baseball, hotdogs, fireworks! I might even bake an apple pie!

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5: 14-16

Making the time pass faster in the waiting room,
Elizabeth