Merry Christmas ... from Beijing

"Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born unto you. He is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11

"St Joseph's Cathedral"

"In the Foyer"

"History of East Church"

"How do you like our Christmas dresses? Aunt Tracie made them for us!

Merry Christmas from Beijing, China. We arrived safely in Beijing yesterday, after leaving Guangzhou first thing in the morning on Christmas Eve. Our first stop here was the East Church! Wow, what a wonderful blessing God has given us in our new daughter Lia Faith and getting to take her and Lily Grace and Austin to church in China. In Guangzhou, we went to the Christ Church on Shamian Island. Here in Beijing, we will go again to the East Church, otherwise known as St. Josephs Cathedral on Christmas Day. This is a beautiful church and holds very special meaning for me personally.

Unfortunately, we were not able to attend the midnight mass on Christmas eve because we didn't have a ticket and the crowd was overflowing - another blessing! And besides, the girls were sound asleep - very tired from the day's travel. There aren't any more services at St. Joseph's Cathedral while we are here, but we have met a few artists who work at the gallery in the back of the church - maybe they will let us see the inside tomorrow. We spoke with them and they gave us some tea and showed us their works. Wow, they are really, really good. They are a real credit to their beautiful country and this beautiful city. Just to look at the paintings and drawings they have done in the name of helping the children affected by the earthquake in Chengdu sends chills up and down your spine. They sell their work and donate 70% of the money to earthquake relief. Once you have seen an artist's work and listened to him describe it's meaning, you are able to feel the emotion that inspired the art. We look forward to showing Lily Grace and Lia Faith the beauty of the East Church and telling our daughters "Who this Jesus is."

"Anybody know how to get to Whoville?"

"A Charlie Brown Christmas!"

We really, really miss our family and friends back home. While we have enjoyed the blessings God has given us here in China, we do miss several things. Like waking up at the crack of dawn and seeing our children's eyes light up when they see that Santa came, ate the cookies, drank the milk, and left a few toys for them to play with. Opening stockings and acting surprised even though we saw each other stuff them Christmas eve. Like going to Granny's and Memaw's for homemade turkey and dressing or honey glazed ham with deviled eggs and baked beans. Orange blossoms and chocolate cake!!!! Football on Christmas Day (using an oblong shaped, leather ball with a white stripe around either end) the way it's supposed to be played. Who won anyway? Christmas music from 6:00 pm Christmas Eve until midnight Christmas Day. Houses decorated with white lights, not all the colorful glitter that we have here. Santa Clauses with big round bellies that shake when they laugh, like a bowl full of jelly. Running from place to place to see everyone and coming home stuffed, but still with enough room for one more orange blossom. Christmas Eve come and go communion. Silent Nights. Holy Nights. Stores that are closed after 6:00 pm on Christmas Eve, instead of open through Christmas Day (we had Christmas Dinner at McDonalds!).

"Did we mention our Christmas dresses that Aunt Tracie made for us?"

All that said, we have had the most wonderful Christmas ever here in Beijing. Because our Lord and Savior lives and He has granted us our wishes and given us a new baby girl to share our lives with and to teach. We had our own Christmas here, complete with a Ficus tree decorated with little girls hair bows. We got up and had the girls see what Santa had brought. Even Austin got a few things delivered by Santa, mostly things he already had seen, but that's OK.

"How do you like our Bama dresses? Aunt Tracie made them for us!"

Merry Christmas from Beijing
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace, and Lia Faith
Green, Party of Five