Day: 38

Day: 38
Sept. 28, 2012

One of the Craziest Most Impossible Days Yet but We Praised HIM Through It All!!

It started by wanting to buy some friends of ours a plant. Phil and I stayed at their apartment for a week while they were in Northern Asia adopting their little boy Ian. They were finally bringing him home after the long process it took to get him and we were just watching over their place. We wanted to have a small gift for them when the got back so Linds said that we can all go to the bird and flower market to pick something out. 

Linds, the five kids, Phil and I all jumped on a bus around 1:30pm to head down town. 

The Bird and Flower Market

I guess the local pet store: Snails, Turtles, Rabbits, Beetles, Kittens, and Mice  

Mil-worms, Mice, Snakes, and Tarantula  

Random guy carrying beautiful furs.

Us walking to our plant guy.

Thousands of fish! 

It should be the fish market too. 

You can get big turtles, median turtles and mini turtles, eels, neon frogs,
 snails, and newts.

The beautiful plant we bought.  

Fish, Fish, and More Fish! 

Big building we went into! 

They tattoo designs into their fish here!  

We bought about 20 gold fish here. Sadly 5 have already died.
 The kids don't mind though they have a blast cleaning out the dead ones and watching them get flushed down the toilet. 

A scroll shoppe where they sell scrolls with bible verses on them in the language.
How awesome! Phil and I want to buy one before we leave!
They were so beautiful! 

Okay here is where it got crazy! 

 We were only at the bird and flower market for an hour. 

We started on our way home close to 3:00pm. It took until 6:45pm before we actually got home. We spend nearly 4 hours trying to find a taxi or bus that would take us back. It's a national holiday right now so we expected it to be a little busy but nothing like what happened to us! It was nearly the most impossible thing! We seriously thought we would never ever get home! We would spend 30 mins waving our hands for a Taxi, then walked 20 mins with all 5 kids (ages: 7, 6, 4, 2, and 1), a flower pot, a big bag of goldfish, and only three adults to hold everything and everyone to try to find a bus stop that had our bus. It was crazy: kids crying, trying to walk through traffic holding everyones hand and/or carrying someone, getting lost under bridges, nearly getting hit, tired, everyone hungry.... I carried Olivet (1) and held Lily (7) hand the whole trip. We eventually, after 3 1/2 hours gave up and found a small restaurant to sit in since we were exhausted. Phil and I had our Youth Group at 6:30pm that we volunteer at so there was no chance of getting there on time. We knew it had to be God because it was an unbelievable situation. Thankfully I had read Job in the bible this morning. God had prepared me to laugh and praise Him through the whole experience. Job was constantly on my mind. How Awesome was that!!!! Linds tried to call Josh to pick us up somehow. Their chu (3 wheeled) bike had been broken so we were just praying. Josh finally answered and had just fixed the bike. He drove all the way through traffic and finally found us in this hole in the wall in an ally. We had ordered food to go. So not only did all 4 adults and 5 kids (9 people) of us have to ride this little moped booth bike but we had goldfish, a potted plant, three bookbags, and now bags of to-go food. 

Oh and did I forget to mention it started to RAIN! 

Linds and I laughed the whole ride home. 

How could this really be happening??

What an adventure! 

Sitting at the table resting... We made a huge mess, and were so noisy.
 All the kids did so good but were really worn out, ready to eat and get home!
We all were!

Obie and I hand lots of bonding time.  

Phil and Cade being troopers and putting on a smile for me. 

Youth Group

We finally made it to Youth Group. We really weren't that late for the leaders are the ones who get there early at 6:30pm. We made it there around 7:00pm so the kids were just arriving. 

We had a blast. I love my small group girls. We are already planning a sleepover at the center, and a dinner night for us just. I have about 10. It is awesome the influence I can have over their lives.

 I am just soo thankful! 

After Youth Group was over we all climbed on Chus, Bike, Taxis, or walked to a local Shao Cao dive. 

Totally new experience for Phil and I but we loved hanging out with all the kids. 

There had to be about 30 of us loud, crazy foreigner there. 

Here is the buffet table!
You select what type of mystery food you want on a stick and they grill it for you.
(Fish Balls, Chicken feet, Chicken wings, Green beans, Pig hoof, Brains, and so much more! )

Half of our group. What a bunch of kids!! 

This picture is actually staged!! haha

Like I said 'What a Day'!! But it was beautiful in its mess! 

Every day it seems like there is something different going on. Sometimes nothing here seems easy! 

 Hope everyone enjoyed the pictures. Love and Miss you All!