Posted in Ministry on March 24, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Ryan and his daddy
Jasmine frosting an Easter cookie
Ernest's eggs
This past weekend, our church hosted an “Easter camp”. We love these church community events because it gives us a chance to invite our students and their families to participate in something that is not only fun for the family, but also teaches the real reason for the season. Here are some pictures of our littlest friends enjoying the day.
Posted in Life on March 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Red Bean Soy Milk and Egg Tarts
Noodles, Tomato Eggs, Potatoes, and Dried Bean Curd w/ Chicken and Peanuts
There are many traditions for helping a family who has a newborn. In our area, our church and friends have always supplied meals for 2-4 weeks following the birth of a child.
When some of our Chinese students heard of this tradition, they wanted to join in. But what a difference in food! From the Americans, we are receiving pasta bakes and casseroles, chicken, fruit salads and brownies. But from the Chinese, we have received egg tarts, red bean soup, purple rice, a whole steamed fish, red bean soy milk, dried bean curd, sweet and sour pork ribs, and I am expecting medicinal chicken stew any day now. What a pleasure it is for our family to enjoy a mixing of traditions and to experience the different ways to keep a new mother and new baby healthy!
It is also a pleasure to be loved by our church members, friends, and students. We praise God for the gifts, the food, and the thoughtfulness of each person. It has been a time of renewal for me and I can’t wait to be back serving those who have served me and my family.
Posted in Life, tagged By Rachel on March 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Life on March 13, 2010| 1 Comment »
Rachel got home this morning and as my father-in-law says, we are adjusting to a “new norm”. The kids absolutely love their new brother. Josiah gave him a tour of the house and he is already settled into our hectic life. Thanks for your prayers as we “circle the wagons” for the next few weeks.
Posted in Life, tagged By Toby on March 11, 2010| 8 Comments »
Hey there, just a quick note that Reuben Rui (pronounced /ray/) decided to join the clan today.
On Wednesday (3/10) Rachel started having heavy contractions around 8pm and we called the doc at 11pm, he said to come on in, especially since we were 10 days past the due date. We didn’t see anybody and were alone in the room till 12 midnight (it was nice to labor in peace, but for me a little unnerving, HELLO PEOPLE, WE’RE GOING TO BE HAVING A BABY SOON). The nurse checked and Rachel was already 7cm dilated and 100% effaced. The doc gave us options, Rach got a pain killer to take the edge off the pain (the first time she ever took anything for any of the birth, “all-natural”), and he broke her water. Around 1am the “urge” to push came, and at 1:21 am we FINALLY met Reuben.
Thanks for all your prayers and support. This was a great birth, if you can call a birth great. The atmosphere was relaxing, as were the nurses and doc, everyone did a fabulous job. The doc and the nurses were totally impressed with Rachel and how she handled herself and the pain (very cool and collected under pressure); they said it was wonderful to be a part of such a “great” birth.
I’m bringing the kids over this afternoon to meet the little bugger. We’ll have a birthday party (which is really for them), and we’ll take more pictures (I’ll put them up on picasa (see About Us).
Again, thanks for all your prayers and support, and please continue to pray for our family, especially mom and Reuben. We’ll write more after this first stage of fatigue wears off a little.
Posted in Ministry on March 10, 2010| Leave a Comment »
About a month or so ago, we applied for a $4,400 Mission Grant from Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML). Yesterday, we received notification that our grant proposal was approved and will be on the ballot for the LWML convention in June! This does not mean that we have received the grant, but it does mean that we made it through the “first round”.
If received, the grant would cover operating expenses for one year of our ministry. Please pray for the LWML women as they vote in June. Please pray that if it be God’s will, our ministry will be one of the ministries to receive this generous grant. Thanks!
Posted in Life, tagged By Rachel on March 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »
I just got home from my final doctor’s visit. It is final because they will not let me go past next Tuesday (42 weeks and 1 day). Today the nurse hooked me up to a fetal heart monitor and a contraction monitor to observe the baby’s reaction to contractions (NST – Non-Stess Test). Everything looked great! Both the nurse and the doctor were pleased with what they saw and saw no need to “rush” the baby.
My doctor also checked my cervix and said I am a “good 3cm and 75% effaced”. She then made plans for an induction next Tuesday at 7:30am. So either way, we have no more than one week left to wait.
My prayer is that this baby will come on his own and, God willing, he can be delivered by my female OBGYN. (She has delivered two of my children and I feel most comfortable with her.) Thanks so much for all your thoughts and prayers! We will keep you posted!
Posted in Life, tagged By Rachel on March 7, 2010| Leave a Comment »
At 1:02am Saturday morning, this baby officially became the “most overdue” baby we have had! It is now Sunday evening and we are still waiting for the little one to make his appearance. This coming Tuesday, I will have a “no stress test” observation where the doctor will check the baby’s movement and heartbeat and how he is affected by the contractions. There has been no talk yet of induction, of which I am very happy. (I have never been at this point before!) We will keep you updated!
Posted in Life, tagged By Rachel on March 4, 2010| 4 Comments »
Yesterday a friend called me to tell me of an email she had received from a church member, the church member wrote that she had a lasagna in the fridge waiting for the Schmidt’s and wanted to know if “Rachel has had that baby yet.” My friend responded, “You might want to stick it in the freezer.”
As you can guess, my doctor’s visit yielded
another “no change” verdict. I left disappointed and so stopped at Jimmy John’s and ordered my favorite sandwich, the club tuna, to make myself feel better. I think they laugh when they see a very pregnant woman walking in and ordering a tuna fish sandwich.
When I got home, I was happy to see that my kids were outside enjoying the weather. Toby had gotten out their bikes and riding toys and what began as a disappointing afternoon, turned into a wonderful day outside.
Posted in Life, tagged By Toby on March 1, 2010| 3 Comments »
Across cultures names are incredibly important. Parents and grandparents painstakingly search out advice and help to pick the best name for their coming child. Typically a change of name indicates a change of status. Like when God changed Abram and Sarai to “Abraham” and “Sarah” when they are told they will be the father and mother of many nations (Genesis 17:4, 17:15). And Chinese emperors changed their names to something grander, more powerful, more fear inspiring; more what they esteemed to be.
I can only speak about the U.S. and Asia…but in the U.S. annually people buy hundreds of baby name books and visit websites like babynames.com (which is visited by 1.5 million people a month), while in Asia parents and grandparents spend much time and money consulting family histories and fortune tellers…all in the hopes of finding the most auspicious name, something their child will esteem to.
Why do we put so much emphasis on names? Typically we all have nicknames, and usually go by them. In upper elementary and junior high we begin questioning, and even hating, our names and our parents for giving us the name we have. As we get older though, we tend to like our name, maybe for its meaning, or our namesake, or the way it rolls off one’s tongue, but eventually we accept our name and make it our own.
I like my name and Rachel likes hers. We easily decided on Josiah’s, Karis’, and Micah’s names. However, for whatever reason we are having a hard time with #4. If #4 were going to be a girl, that name was decided a long time ago, but the boy name, that’s been rough; a lot
of unnecessary stress. His middle name will be Rui (pronounced “ray”, it means wise/wisdom in Chinese), but neither one of us is 100% satisfied with what we’ve come up with for the first name.
So, I guess after he’s born we’ll know, and hope we and he are satisfied with it. God-willing he will grow into his name and make himself, and us, proud of his name and who he has become.
Cup Overflowing 