Provision 4

What's cooking? Spaghetti. (This is one word I ALWAYS spell wrong. Thanks, Michelle, for pointing out my typo!) Nobody complains about dinner when I make spaghetti. I like that.

Today I want to thank God for Olivia.

And for all the ways He has provided for Olivia.

When Olivia was sixteen months old, even though she wasn't a U.S. citizen yet, we were allowed to bring her back to here (which in itself was a miracle!) to go to Shriners Hospital for Children in Portland, Oregon to have her cleft lip and palate repaired, completely free of charge.

It was a provision that she was even admitted into the program at Shriners because they usually don't accept children from other countries. But they made an exception for our baby girl.

That was seven years ago last Christmas.

Since then she's had one other major surgery -- a procedure to attach her palate to the back of her throat. This was primarily to help her speech, since she had a short palate and constantly had air escaping through her nose when she tried to talk. That surgery was also done at Shriners Hospital, also free of charge.

This Thursday, Olivia will have her first orthodontist appointment. Soon she'll have to start a spacing procedure to get her ready for a bone graft surgery. Shriners will do this surgery when she's ten or eleven.

Not only does this particular orthodontist have a lot of experience with cleft kids, but I also found out that his office accepts Medicaid for cleft lip and palate patients. Our kids happen to be on Medicaid, so ... perfect!

Next month, on April 16, Olivia is scheduled at Shriners for a lip and nose revision surgery. The surgeon will try to even out her lips and nostrils a little more. This isn't a "necessary" surgery. The last time we were there the doctor asked Olivia how she felt about her face and she said, "I sometimes wonder why one nostril is up and one is down." So, the surgeon said they would schedule this surgery. They want to do everything they can to make sure Olivia's not only functioning normally, but feeling good about herself, too.

Isn't that great?

So, on this beautiful, spring-is-in-the-air Sunday, I want to lay out my remembrance stones one by one. I don't want to forget how faithful God has been in providing for our little girl.

Provision 3

We're in the process of buying our first home.

All I can say is Wow.

Wow.

And now I'll try to elaborate on that.

There are Wows on various levels.

I've been following the Prosser housing market for about a year, ever since we were pretty sure we'd be moving back to America this year from China. I followed online through a real estate agent who sent free email updates.

And Wow, there are really not that many houses for sale in Prosser. Most of the places I was getting on my email updates were three bedroom houses or less, approximately 1500 square feet, which was not too much bigger than the apartment in which we lived in China.

There was nothing wrong with our apartment in China. We loved living there, which is why we stayed and didn't move for six years, even though we qualified for a bigger home.

But as we were thinking about BUYING a place, we wanted something our family could grow into. With Olivia going on eight years old, we wanted to make a good investment so we wouldn't have to move again in five years.

So, Wow, I wondered how we were going to find anything we wanted to buy in Prosser.

Enter Aaron's friend Marcus, who also happens to be a real estate agent.

He told us about a place up the hill from Aaron's parents house. The owners were considering selling, though they hadn't put the house on the market.

We went up there and looked at the house and ... Wow.

What a great house! Four bedrooms and a fifth room that could be another bedroom, but is now being used as an office; three bathrooms; a daylight basement....

And, wow, a gorgeous view of the valley.

It's on a quiet street. Check.

Has a nice, private, fenced backyard. Check.

Has enough space to grow into. Check.

And that view. Wow. That's a bonus.

And there's a gorgeous deck on which we can sit and enjoy the view. Wow. Another bonus.

Now, how can we afford all this Wow-ness, you may ask?

Well, the house does need a little TLC. As our friend Marcus says, "the bones" of the house are great, and if this house were "dialed in" it would be way over our price range. But as it is, with all the updates it needs, it actually falls into our price range.

Wow.

So, we made an offer last week and heard on Friday that our offer had been accepted with a closing date of October 31. So, if everything goes according to plan, we should be spending American Thanksgiving settled in our new house.

And that will definitely be something to be thankful for.

Wow.

Provision 2

I told you that my husband Aaron (a.k.a. Golden Boy) recently landed a high school teaching job.

I didn't tell you the story behind the job.

Every summer we came back to Aaron's hometown, we inevitably ran into prominent people in the community, like the superintendent and the high school principal, for instance. And every time we ran into these prominent people they made comments like, "Anytime you need a job, Aaron, just let us know!"

So, Aaron believed they meant exactly that. When he needed one, he'd have a job in Prosser.

That was before the country slipped into a recession.

That was before last summer.

When Aaron went to see the superintendant last summer, knowing there was a good chance we'd be moving back after one more year in China, there was no job on a silver platter after all. The word on the street was, "We've got a math position and a fifth grade position open, and no inidication that we'll have anything else to offer next school year."

Aaron is a science teacher. Nope, no science positions available. Sorry, buddy. Try your luck elsewhere.

So, we tossed around the idea of him going back to school. We thought about getting him emergency certification in math. None of these were ideal options, but we figured we didn't have a choice. There were no science jobs in Prosser.

Meanwhile, Aaron's brother moved to town with his family. He left a football head coaching position on the west side and came to Prosser with the intention of taking over the head football position in Prosser when the current head coach stepped down.

The Prosser head coach's sons were going on to college to play football and he wanted to have his Saturdays free to watch them play. He told Aaron's brother that he wanted him to have the head coaching job when he resigned. So, Aaron's brother packed up and came. He planned to spend a year as an assistant coach and step into the head coaching position the following year (this year).

Then the unthinkable happened. The head coaching position opened. Aaron's brother had to apply for the job ... along with everyone else.

His jaw dropped, but he dealt with feelings of betrayal. He put all his effort into the interview and landed the job all on his own.

The other finalist for the head coaching job happened to be a high school science teacher. When he didn't get the head coaching job, he decided to leave. He packed up and moved to another town.

And left ... a science job open behind him. For this year. Ninth grade physical science and tenth grade biology.

We arrived back in the States just in time to complete the application and go to the interview. And now Aaron's a science teacher here in Prosser.

Perfect.

Provision

Eleven o'clock Friday night. We're leaving China in the morning. The living room is filled with boxes and suitcases. Fourteen at last count. We've spent most of the afternoon repacking because after borrowing a bathroom scale from a friend we found that all our suitcases were overweight.

And now we've run out of packing tape.

"What should we do?" I say, staring at several repacked boxes, full but still gaping open.

Not to mention that the sofa is covered from one arm to the other two feet deep in clothes and children's books. Yes, clothes and children's books we still need (want) to pack.

One solitary, empty backpack sits in the middle of the living room floor. One solitary, empty backpack that has to fit all these clothes and children's books we still need to pack.

I look at the sofa. I look at the miniscule backpack in the middle of the floor. I look at the boxes, packed full, still unsealed.

"What are we going to do?" I say.

Aaron looks blank.

I sigh. "I guess I'll go out to the Hao Hao store and see if they sell packing tape."

I need a walk; I need a break from this crazy house and all these piles. Hao Hao is the only store in the neighborhood that stays open 24 hours. I have no idea if they sell packing tape.

I walk through the night, cool on my skin. My last night in China. I try not to think about that. I'm still in denial. But my mind won't stop working ... last time down this path ... last time leaving this gate.... Trying to wrap my brain around all of that.

At the store, I check the only non-food aisle. Paper underwear, soap, toothpaste, towels, and toilet paper. No packing tape.

I buy a few snacks for tomorrow's trip, stand in a line that's not really a line; more of a jumble. My mind is humming. "What are we going to do without packing tape?"

Then I see James, one of the guys on our team. I wonder why in the world he's at the Hao Hao store at the eleven o'clock at night. We make small talk. He just came back for the weekend from Beijing where he's taking a master's course.

I tell him my woes: "We're leaving tomorrow for America and we're out of packing tape."

James tells me how sorry he is and then he leaves.

When I finish my purchase and leave the store, I find he's waiting outside.

"You know, I have some packing tape at home you could use," he says.

"Really?" My eyes widen. "That would be awesome."

We walk back towards our housing complex. I find out that James is from Minnesota, that he teaches sixth grade ELAP. I guess I've never really talked to him before. When we reach his building, I wait outside. He's on the first floor. I hear him in the hallway, rummaging through is bag.

"I can't find my keys," he calls.

"What?"

"I think I must've left my keys in Beijing."

"Great," I think. "There goes my packing tape."

"Well," I say, "you're welcome to crash on our sofa if you need to...." Then I remember our sofa, buried in stuff, and wonder how that invitation is going to work.

"I'll go upstairs and see if Grace is awake," James says. "She has a spare key."

I hear him climb the stairs. Then I hear him pounding on Grace's door. "Grace! Grace!" No answer. I'm beginning to think I may really have to put this guy up on my sofa tonight. How in the world are we going to finish packing with someone trying to sleep on our sofa?

But then, lo and behold, I hear the door creak open and Grace's voice in the stairwell. Grace is home!

James gets his spare keys; I get my hands on that precious packing tape. James gets to sleep in his own bed tonight; I get to keep packing.

With a thankful heart, I head home, climb those six flights of stairs for the last time ... and open my front door.

The first thing I notice is the empty sofa. "Where's all the stuff?"

"In the backpack," Aaron replies.

I look at that itty-bitty backpack. "Are you serious? How'd you get it all in there?"

Aaron looks just as shocked as I feel. "I just packed it and it all went in. I kept thinking, 'There is no way this stuff is all going to fit in here,' but as I put stuff in it just all seemed to disappear."

I smile. Then, I laugh. "You know, I'm not worried about this trip anymore."

"Why?" Aaron asks.

I look down at my packing tape. Such a simple thing, but so important. "Because it's obvious that Someone's looking after us."