As Winter turns to Spring, Track & Field season practices are off and running!
My 8th grade middle school son climbs into my car each afternoon with sore, aching muscles, tired and hungry. Throwing a shot or discus for the first time. Discovering whether he is a fast-twitch sprinter or truly a slow-twitch cross country, long-distance runner. Braving the hurdles with determination to master the pace, stride, and form to fly with courage.
Tuesday afternoon, however, I attended one of my most track practices of each year…
Special Olympics Track & Field Practice
Each year, Peiwu joins her friends to prepare for the annual Special Olympics Track & Field Meet. Last year, the actual meet had to be canceled due to severe weather, so the two practices became the defining moments of her experience.
My Princess participates in all the events she can:
100 meter dash,
softball toss,
and standing long jump.
Her favorite part?
Medals,
friends,
and potato chips with her lunch.
As the three coaches divided the children at practice into three groups, I followed Peiwu's group outside to practice running or walking to race on the track. The coach walked to the finish line to time each child and asked me to help call out the start for each racer so she could record the most accurate practice time. Even after Peiwu's group finished, I continued to help the coach with each child.
SO MUCH FUN!!!
Whether walking or running, rabbit fast or chasing a turtle, my other daughter Keziah and I cheered each athlete down the sidewalk.
I love working with kids! Discovering each child's name, helping them place their toes on the starting line and face the right direction, rehearsing "On your mark. Get set, GO!" so they knew when to start, and then landing them into their own race, filled my heart with so much joy and delight.
In the midst of all our fun, I suddenly felt the familiar ache and pain of my heart. Face-to-face with a new little friend and then cheering his walking race down the sidewalk, while silently praying that his muscles, rigid and stiff from cerebral palsy do not cause him to trip, stumble, and fall, my heart longed to return to see "my China kids."
250 days ago I met these precious children. We didn't speak the same language but communicated volumes during our days together. So many of the older boys we met had Down's Syndrome and cerebral palsy, yet we laughed and played together.
The ache in my heart from missing these children has not diminished as the days have passed. Instead, the longing to return to see them again grows stronger each day.
The staff at the orphanage told us that only an average of 15 children were adopted each year. Knowing that 25 children have already gone home or been matched with their family and now wait to meet their mamas and babas to go home leaves me humbly amazed each day. Watching the daily miracles God performs to bring families and children together just overwhelms me.
I have posted on Facebook and even written in this blog about the America World Storyteller Missions team (formerly called ACT Mission Trips) I will be leading in November to return to this same orphanage. But I haven't posted much about another team that will be returning in July. The July team is full to overflowing with volunteers, primarily because not only are Miranda and I planning to return with this team but my hubby and four of my other children are also longing to travel to China and serve the children in this orphanage.
Today, I'm sharing this with you because we will need the support of an army of prayer warriors on the front lines and on their knees.
Plus as hard as this is for me to ask, we will also need some financial assistance to make it happen. I always long to be independent and self-sufficient, but God desires for me to obediently ask others for help and to join the mission and the blessing of this journey through your donations. Though crowd fundraising sites are popular and often effective, part of the donation us used to pay for the service and fees. If you feel called to help our family return to an orphanage in China to love on the children and staff, please use the Storyteller Missions donation site. Just make sure to add the note that your donation is for my family and the July 2015 trip to Guangdong. - Storyteller Mission Donate
Thank you! Thank you for your prayers and for your financial support.
