BIG changes!!

What a difference a day (and a ton of prayer) makes!!

Yesterday was WAY better.
But before our day as a family began,
I had gotten up early....really early.
I spent time in the Word,
and on my knees in prayer.
But I kept feeling so unsettled.
Then all YOUR emails and comments
started pouring in and God used them to really
encourage me.
I captured every thought of doubt and made
it obedient to Christ.
(2 Corinthians 10: 5)

I was determined to have a positive attitude and to be
the best mom I could be to our new daughter.

So when Shu Li woke up,
Lucy and I went in to check on her.
I was a little worried because Lucy's attitude
at bedtime had been really negative.
But to my surprise, Lucy said to her,

"Good morning, Sunshine!!"

It was so sweet and it set a great tone for our day.

We all loaded up in the mini-van (it's pretty full these days!)
and went to a Chinese market.
To back up just a bit, one of the things I had been
praying early in the morning for was that God would
direct our steps...literally, and bring into
our paths people that would be an encouragement to
our new family and to Shu Li.
Well, while we were at the market
(which is about 45 minutes from our house),
an elderly couple came up to us and asked if we
remembered them.
Then they said,
"Bob's Big Burger!!"

OH YES!!

From the time K-man and I were dating until
about ten years ago,
we frequently ate at a WONDERFUL burger joint that
was owned by this lovely Chinese couple.
Interestingly,
it was a constantly-busy place to eat...
but yet, they were always so gracious to us.
Well,
they eventually retired and we never got to
say good-bye because we hadn't been in in a while
(it was far from our house).
We were so sad to go in one day and find that
there were new owners.
So,
when we saw them yesterday, it was like a direct
answer to the exact prayer had I prayed just hours before.
They talked to Shu Li
and she seemed tickled to talk to someone who
shared her language.

We had never been to that market before,
and decided to try going there at the last minute.
It was a God-appointed encounter, no doubt.

We loaded up on food that lit up Shu Li's eyes!
She was thrilled to see familiar things!
When we got home,
she and Lucy shared some dumplings,
and later, some noodles, tofu, red peppers, and HOT sauce.
It was cute that Lucy still craved this food!
And btw,
it gave them both DRAGON breath.
Oh my.

Sorry this is so long, but there's more.

As we were still struggling with the name thing,
my sweet friends Mary and Patty
(who are the new mothers of two of Shu Li's
friends, Lina and Ellie)
came to the rescue!
Patty had called so Ellie could talk to Shu Li
and help straighten out the name thing.
The girls chatted away!
Then Patty told me that Shu Li told Ellie
that because another friend of theirs now has
the name Katie,
she DOES NOT want that name.
I was so relieved to get a definite answer on that!!
Then Mary called shortly after that
and had her daughter also talk to Shu Li (online) about
it and tell her that we like the name Macy.

SO.....
as of right now,
and we are pretty determined to end this
name game,
Shu Li is now Macy Shu Li!!!
Interestingly,
while in China, we did not have the chance
to change the paperwork to from Macy to Katie
once we found out that (at that time) she wanted Katie.
We had decided to change it (which wouldn't
be all that easy or cheap, I'm sure) once we
got home.
Well, as it turns out,
we don't have to change a thing now!!

I hope all that makes sense!!

Macy and Lucy...warming up!!