Change......

I have been such a slacker when it comes to my blog! I hope to do better in the coming year. Yesterday was our last Sunday at Fairfield Christian Church. We have shared life with the folks there for 14 years. They have loved us and cared for us so well! Tom starts his new ministry as the Senior Minister of Amazing Grace Christian Church in Grove City Ohio. We are looking forward to sharing life with our new church family there. We are going to get the house ready and put it on the market. I am praying is sells so we can move to Grove City no later than the middle of the summer.

Merry Christmas!

Well, it has been a while since I last blogged!  Life has been rather crazy for all of us.  We hope this blog post finds you enjoying the celebrations around the birth of Christ!  I simply can not imagine life without Him!

A brief update on our children.  The big news is that TJ is back home!  He has been home for almost two months!  There have been huge changes since he came home!  We are grateful that God has His hands on TJ, protecting him while he served ten months in the Corrections Receiving Center in central Ohio!  He is working HARD for a local company, pouring concrete walls.  He is making plans to get a degree in Construction Management.  We welcome your continued prayers for him!  Tyler is officially a sophomore at Mt. Vernon Naz. University!  He is double majoring in Accounting and Business Management.  We are really proud of him!  Dane is busy in his sophomore year of high school at Fairfield Christian Academy.  Besides the violin, he has added the electric violin, the bass guitar and the acoustic guitar to the list of instruments he can play!  He plays in the worship bands both at school and with the youth group at church.  He played on the golf team this past season and will continue with that.  He will be getting his drivers liscense in February....yikes!  The girls are doing great!  They bring such joy to our lives!  They are both in the second grade at Fairfield Christian Academy.  Lily continues to play the violin.  Sarah is content with her drawing!  They are both serious readers...for which I am glad!  They are also playing basketball this year.....and I am their coach once again!

Tom and I are doing well.  Tom continues to serve Fairfield Christian Church as the Teaching and Worship Pastor.  I am subbing at several schools while I am looking for a full-time position.  I have a great possibility in Higher Education and hope to be able to announce that the first of the new year.

Again, we hope this blog entry finds everyone well and healthy!  May you all know "Joy" like never before!

Kathy

Ty's picture was in the local paper today for signing to play golf at Mt. Vernon Nazarene University.  It certainly is a blessing for him to be able to go to Mt. Vernon next year!  He'll stay in Ohio!  It's about 1 hour 15 minute drive from home so we'll get to see him often.  I do think he has major senioritis these days!  He has some fun things planned before he goes to college.  In May he is going to do some hiking/rock climbing with a few of his buddies.  In June, he will be going west with Tom and Ty.....and back again!  We are very proud of Tyler.  He's done exceptionally well at academics....has excelled in golf....more importantly, he loves the Lord!  We are very proud of him!

Snow Run Brothers 2011

TURN THE PLAYLIST SONG OFF AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BLOG TO HEAR THE VIDEO>
We do a snow run challenge every year at our house.  We recently did this one with Ty and Dane.  The girls did it two years ago, but have since refused to do it.  I will MAKE them do it next year!  Enjoy!  Oh, I'm glad my boys wear hats when it is cold out!

Pray for TJ

I am close to being able to be totally transparent regarding the heartache we have experienced in this last year with our oldest son, TJ.  I've been given an assignment that I have not wanted and yet I approach that assignment with all my heart, soul, and mind to pass with flying colors.  It's an assignment that can only be passed with the help of the Lord.  He is certainly faithful!

The Sunday before Christmas my husband and I stood before our church family because there was a huge elephant in the room.  The day before, our son made the front page of the local paper and two news stations in Columbus, Ohio.  We were several days into knowing what was going on, but had hoped that it would not be made public.  Not so.  It was the assignment we were given. 

The same day the news hit the front page I got an email from Carol Kent.  She new that we would be going before our church family and offered some godly encouragment.  She said, "Kathy, when we are vulnerable before the people of God, they respond with love and compassion."

I can't recall what Tom said, but I know exactly what I said.  I said, "There are many questions we do not have the answers to today.  So we rest in the things that we do know.  We know that we love TJ very much.  We know we are committed to him as long as we live on this earth.  We know that God loves him even more than we do.  We kow that God began a good work in him over 19 years ago and He will be faithful to complete that good work.  We know that Tom and I stand together strong with the help of the Lord.  We know we have a church family that loves TJ and loves us.  Thank you for praying for him and for us."

Our church has been wonderful through these times.  What a blessing. 
I'll share more soon.  Thanks for your love and compassion.  Pray for TJ.  God wins when it is all said and done.  We anticipate a great victory!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!  2010 is nearly behind us and can I just say, "I am looking forward to 2011!  It has been a year of much joy and many heartaches.  I am grateful to know a God that cares and loves not only each member of my family, but myself included.  2010 has been the year that I can say with resounding joy.....I can not imagine walking this earth without the Lord!

I'll start with the girls and move my way up.  First, we had an amazing opportunity to visit China in March of this year.  You can check out our journey by clicking on the tab at the top of this blog.  TJ was unable to go with us as we journeyed for 21 days through China, visiting many historical places.  The highlight of the trip was being able to visit the birthplaces of our youngest children, Lily and Sarah.  Check out the travel blog if you are interested in more details!

Sarah turned six in July.  She is in the first grade at Fairfield Christian Academy.  She is extremely bright.  Miss. Cassidy says that she is extremely quiet throughout the day.  I have reminded her that Sarah is not that quiet at home...especially when she is mad!  Sarah continues to play the violin, but her greatest love is reading, writing and art.  She says, "I will be an artist when I am older."  She draws much of her time when she is not in school.  Sarah and Lily are both taking dance through Leaps of Faith.....learning to praise God through the art of dance.  Sports?  We are venturing into that territory now as Lily and Sarah are both playing Upward basketball.  Dane and I are the coaches of their team!

Lily turned 7 last month.  She is also in the first grade at Fairfield Christian Academy.  I don't know a more pleasant child than our Lily!  She is a pretty easy-going little girl and her girliness brings a smile to my face most every day!  Like Sarah, she loves to read.  But when home, Lily seems to like to track down her blanket and cuddle up and suck her thumb.  We have begun talks about when it is the right time to give up the blankee.  She only sucks her thumb when she has the blankee!  One day!  Lily learned to ride a two-wheeler this year so that was a big milestone.  Lily plays the violin as well....and loves to have Daddy teach her on the piano.  Tom says that she is giftend musically.   I trust his opinion!

Dane will be 15 in February!  What a guy!  He has one of the best hearts I've seen in a young man!  He is a wonderful big brother and a great help to me.  He is in the ninth grade at Fairfield Christian Academy.  He played on the golf team this year.  He is also part of the choir.  And I think he got a role in the musical this year.  He, too, is gifted musically.  He is also a good student and works extremely hard academically.  Oh...and does he have a sense of humor!  He cracks me up!

Ty is completing his senior year at Fairfield Christian Academy.  He does well academically as well.  He played on the golf team again this year.  He qualified for the second time in his high school career!  The best part is that the FCA Knights golf team made it to state as a team.  They placed fourth in the state of Ohio!  Ty has taken up rock climbing and repelling......an interest that has me a bit anxious.  I find some comfort in knowing that he is a smart guy and is doing these things with good kids that I hope are also smart guys!  We haven't confirmed anything, but it is looking like Ty will end up at Mt. Vernon Nazerene University next year. 

TJ graduated from high school this past year!  Right now he is working through some things that are certainly a challenge.  We stand strong in knowing that God began a great work in TJ and will be faithful to completion!  I look forward to seeing how God moves in his life in the coming years!  I know it is going to be something big!  And I look forward to celebrating with him and sharing the story as it unfolds. 

I have had some changes this year as well.  I no longer work for the Fairfield County Board of Developmental Disabilities.  I took a few months off and have been subbing in local schools here in town.  When the new years starts, I hope to find something fulltime that is agreeable with being a mom to five and wife to a pastor!  We'll see!  I have had a difficult year with some back issues and am hoping 2011 is a better year on that level.  I continue to teach a Women's study through our church and count the women in my group as some of the best friends ever!  I am enjoying serving on two ministry boards that mean a lot to me....Grace Haven Place and Orphan Voice.  Grace Haven Place is a home here in town that houses women who are transitioning from jail into the community.  It is a home of faith.....filled with grace for women who certainly need and know the grace of a loving, forgiving Father.  Orphan Voice is a ministry near and dear to my heart.  OV serves the widows, orphans and poor of Central Vietnam.

Tom continues to serve as the Lead Minister of the Lancaster Campus of Fairfield Christian Church.  He is still involved with the worship aspect of the church as well.  I have a great deal of respect for the pastor Tom has been over these past few years.  I even have more appreciation for the father he has been to our five kids!  He's a wonderful dad!

I know this is just a brief update for those who may have received our Christmas card.  Since I listed the blog address, I just wanted to write a little update.  Thanks for checking in!  Thanking God for being so evident in our lives this past year!  We are looking forward to seeing His plans unfold for 2011.  May you be blessed in big and mighty ways by Him!

One day........

First, let me say to anyone who might still look at my blog from time to time....sorry I have been so negligent!  We have had an on-going crisis in our life that tends to take up a lot of my time and sometimes I am just fortunate to get the necessary things done.  One day I look forward to sharing publicly some of the things we have been experiencing regarding this crisis!  One day, there will be a victory and testimony that we will allow us to share more openly.  Praying that victory is soon!  In the meantime, we welcome the prayers!

One day this crib was the sleeping place of a little girl named Yang Xiao Jing.  The orphanage staff called this little girl "Jing Jing."  Jing Jing was found at the gate of that orphanage in Yangjiang on the estimated date of her birth, November 17, 2003.  For the next 11 1/2 months the Yangjiang Social Welfare Institute was her temporary home.  The crib was her crib for part of that time.  The photo in the crib is an earlier picture of Jing Jing.

Jing Jing no longer lives there.  In fact, she is no longer "Jing Jing."  One day God opened the door for Tom and I to travel to China to take Jing Jing out of that crib, out of that orphanage.  She is now Lily Kathrine Xiao Jing Alexander!  She has taken up residence in our hearts and in our home.  She has a forever family that can not imagine life without her!  She also has a much more comfortable bed that is so comfortable that there are many mornings it is difficult to get her out of it! 

This month has been an important month!  It was November 1 that we celebrated her "Gotcha Day."  It was on November 1, 2004 that we first got to hold Lily!  It was less than two weeks later that she got to meet her three brothers!  And just a few days after returning home with her, we celebrated her first birthday, November 17, 2004.  So, soon we will celebrate her seventh birthday!

November is also National Adoption Awareness Month.  Many children sleep in beds around that world and do not know the comfort of a bed in a home with a forever family.  That shouldn't be!  I'm glad there is a month to bring awareness to adoption.  I wish we could empty all of those orphan beds!

One day.