Wow - we have been studying China for the past three weeks. We have learned so many interesting things. My intention when I scheduled China for these few weeks was to follow our dear friends on their journey to China to adopt their second child. I cannot even begin to express what this has meant to our family. We first met our friends a little over two years ago when they brought their first son, Micah, home from China. GMan and Micah turned into fast friends and have been best buddies ever since. In fact, Micah and his parents have turned into lifelong friends for our whole family. Micah's parents, Karen and Bruce, have a special love for children; here they are with my children after last year's blessing of the animals at church.
My friend Karen gave me all kinds of resources to share with my children as we study China - I am grateful for her knowledge and openness as they have gone through such a long journey. Tomorrow they will meet their new son, Noah. We have been following Micah's blog and it might be of interest to all of you homeschoolers out there. It is the trip to China from a five year old's perspective.
To make things even more meaningful for us this week, we found out Miss B's Sunday School teacher and her family were traveling to China this week as well - to adopt a little girl! Miss B told me all of the fourth graders made a wall of protection around her and prayed for safety in China. I was so moved by this - and clearly Miss B has been touched as well. Follow the Sisler family journey on their blog! I noticed today they had met their daughter and she ran to them with open arms when she saw them - get out your Kleenex when you read this one.
We've been watching a great BBC documentary - "Wild China" - which is giving us quite an interesting glimpse into the wildlife in China. If you click the link you can watch a short segment - you may get hooked! My children are enthralled with it. Yesterday we watched a segment about the bamboo forests and my neighbor happily cut some of her bamboo for us to examine. I think tomorrow's segment is about the Giant Panda, and we are planning to visit Zoo Atlanta next week to see them for ourselves. Another friend's husband has a factory in China and has brought us some things back from China - we will get them on Friday.
Another amazing resource (and this was purely for me, but it enabled me to learn more so I could share with my children) was a book - "Silent Tears" by Kay Bratt. Kay in an American who volunteered in a Chinese orphanage while her husband was working in China. Her stories of the orphanage will move you and want you to find a way to help these children in any way you can.
We have been blessed to have such a personal and enriching experience with this unit study. I am certain our family will never forget what we have learned, not only about China, but also about love, caring, acceptance, adoption, and most importantly - God's amazing love for each one of us.
