It’s now the Year of the Tiger. As we move past our two year mark of first seeing Wei Wei’s file we continue to wait. She just celebrated her 11th birthday in December. I am not sure she has ever had a surprise party but the orphanage went out and purchased a cake on our behalf to go along with the treats and gifts we sent her. They set up in another room and brought some other kids in to share in her surprise. Seeing our girl smile and enjoy cake and gifts for her birthday makes us happy for sure. Wei Wei continues to grow and I love showing pictures of her to friends and family. We sent some tiger lanterns and candy for the Lunar New Year. She seemed to enjoy making the lanterns. It also reminds me of our wait that is without any knowledge or promise of ending. Even when we are having a great day or we are enjoying a happy moment we can let misery in to destroy it. We are all acceptable to this. Staying positive is not as hard as we like to pretend it is though. Even in a world where so many things are wrong, the beauty of life is still so wonderful. I think maybe we look at the negative more because we like the idea that it is out of our control and it is someone else’s fault we feel the way we do. It is true we are not in control of what others do but we are in control of how we react to the situations we are in. Is that always easily done? Not by no means but it is possible. It takes effort to stay positive. It doesn’t take much effort at all to be negative about the things we wish were different. Pointing out these things seem to make us feel better and without noticing the consequences it has on us. Attitude, relationships, outlook, motive and lack of grace are just a few victims of not staying positive in life. We all know this but we still for some reason still follow the wrong path at times.
I would encourage you no matter your circumstance to stay focus on the positive of life. Some say that there are no positive things in there life but that is so far from the real truth. Even in death and sickness there is hope. My dad died this past year and I can think about how he is not here and wonder why God took him but that helps no one. I like to think about all he did for me, taught me and how many years God gave us with him. Shelly’s dad is sick and trying to recover from his cancer treatments also. Yes we wish he never had cancer but I think his struggle has sharped our knowledge of how precious life is. We should not need sickness to make us realize this but God can bring good from all things. Jesus is that hope. He is our salvation.
Wei Wei is not here but we love her. We have to wait but do so with great anticipation. We miss life events with her but smile when we get pictures. She goes asleep on the other side of the globe but not without our prayers. Our lives are in transition but when is that not true. We can think of what we don’t have and miss all we do have. Thank you Jesus for everything. My wife that loves me, my son who challenges me, my daughter and son & law who remind me of young love, sickness that reminds me to slow down, the wait for Wei Wei that brings endurance and the cross that gives us hope.