first samuel three ten

stuff, literally ....

2010-01-20T20:09:00.000-08:00

Those first few months just after we moved here in late '08 were not easy ones. After a brief warm & sunny welcome period the weather changed drastically to very cold, bitter & uninviting. We all got sick during that time and I was so thankful for people helping us out because at times it was downright miserable. The glimmer of hope I had rested in the excitement & anticipation of our shipment from the US arriving with our things from home. After many delays, it finally arrived 2 months after we did. But that didn't matter because it was like an early Christmas & we were all excited. Then a funny thing happened.

As we began unpacking the boxes, instead of the sense of comfort & familiarity I was thinking they would bring, a huge pit began to develop in my stomach. Our helper was working with us and even though she has worked for foreigners before, I could tell she was amazed at the sheer volume of things we had (and probably was also questioning why we thought we needed all of this). The unpacking took a few days. And as the hours of sorting, organizing, storing wore on, her comments of "so much, so much" morphed into just laughing & shaking her head. And what didn't seem like enough on the US side, now looked overwhelming, exorbitant and yes, even very much comical.

And that is when my eyes were first opened to not only the dawn of new lifestyle, but to how we had grown to live back in the states. Weekly trips to Costco & Target were not uncommon. This resulted in not only unfruitful busyness but the accumulation of random extra stuff that looked so important & useful in the store. Here, excess is a new concept. Unfortunately it is beginning to infect the younger generation and nouveau riche. But historically, especially in the last 60 years, most Chinese have not had enough to eat, let alone the means to amass non-necessities. Most still live in (what we would consider) humble homes or apartments. Although there is a much better standard of living as of recent days, most still only buy what they need. And, believe it or not, they're surviving.

So this is something I have by no means mastered yet, but a lesson that I am very consciously trying to learn. Simplicity does not equal deprivation. In fact, as I'm beginning to realize, it breeds something quite the opposite & something I very much desire - freedom. When our space is clear, my mind is clear & this frees me up to look beyond the trappings of this world and engage in the deep things of the Lord. And although I live in time & space and need to reign over the daily necessities, they don't need to reign over me.

back to blogging, with a twist

2010-01-18T22:43:00.000-08:00

This chapter of our Arns' Adventure blog is devoted now to a new focus.
With a year behind us, the excitement and newness of living in Beijing has begun to wear off. And out of it has come a style of life that lends itself to simplicity, quietness & time to actually come before God and mean the words, "speak Lord, for your servant is listening".
In the past year, He has humbled me more time than I can count,
stretched me in more directions than I can measure
and spoken to me more clearly than I have ever heard before.
-And I don't want to forget any of it.-
So this blog will now highlight what He teaches me,
an American woman in a foreign land trying to learn how to listen.

striking differences..

On the heals of our most recent visit back to the US, it seems like the contrast between our life there and our life here is becoming greater and more defined. We didn't fit into our old shell there anymore. And although it doesn't feel like home here yet, I can tell that we've been growing. Life here is pretty simple.

We live in an international area with families from every corner of the globe along with the locals. Everything we need for daily life is within walking distance, which is good because during the week, we also don't have a car. Taxi's are always available, but this extra step of getting everyone packed and into a vehicle quickly is usually more trouble than it's worth. So most of the time we just stay home.

As a result, I'm finding myself less occupied with shopping lists & what we 'need' to do or get done and more with teaching, shepherding, studying, resting and listening. This more home-bound type of routine is not the easiest for me... by any means... at all. But what I am finding through this season of slowing down, is a miraculous gift from God Himself, the gift of being able to hear His voice. And clearly at that.

This is the first of many things that I want to remember and take with me from our time here in China. An overwhelming & busy life is not something I have to lead. Being still and knowing that He is God, does in fact lead me to really knowing that He is God. That He is faithful, His ways are just and true. He keeps watch over His flock and will go to any ends to keep His own. That He is righteous, glorious, perfect, holy and anything else good I can think of and everything else that I can not. And somewhere in His unexplainable grace He has found it fit to save a me and call me His own. In this new found stillness, I keep preaching these to my heart over and over again in hopes that it will really sink in.

Fun Last Weekend

2009-04-01T23:17:00.000-07:00

Loong Palace

Last weekend we went to a hotel that had an
awesome pool & bowling alley. It was fun
(we think, it's never really restful with little ones)
and a good break from a really busy time right now.

Mr. Sean Patrick

Miss Erin Elizabeth

Miss Ellie Anne

.We went to an arcade at a mall. They were a little
overwhelmed with all the noise, lights and stuff

There's a little smile though..

Ellie and her friend Jasmine

The hardest part about bowling is
waiting your turn, Sean found out

But we still had lots of fun!!

I'll get a actually ministry update on here pretty soon.
In the mean time, I hope that everything is great with all of you!

Erin's Inventor Review

2009-03-09T07:10:00.000-07:00

Tony found a cool book about the 100 most famous inventors.
We are on # 4 and tonight had a review.......

Ya know, if all else fails, go with God.

A Year in the Life of Ellie Anne

2009-03-08T05:38:00.000-07:00

One day old and now.....

Exactly one year ago, 3.8.08, at 8:38am, our little Ellie Anne was brought into this world........ and what a year this past one has been.

What's she up to now? She is....

A World Traveler: Back and forth to Ohio 1x and China 3x . First China trip was at 4 weeks, good job sweetie!
Happiest: outside, especially with the wind in her face. My kind of girl!
Sporting: 6 pearly whites & cruising but still waiting on those first solo-steps.
Not liking: to sit in her car seat at all! We don't spend much time in cars, so the US is always a big shock.
Saying: "ma ma", "da da", "ba ba" (daddy in Chinese), "go go" (brother in CN), Ayi (our helper), "up", "go", "uh oh", "hi", cookie (repeating Sean), and signs milk, more & all-done. This tri-lingual thing is fun to watch.
Funny! She's already adopted the comic relief role and fulfills it well!
Eating: eating, eating! Her favorite foods right now are rice mixed with hard boiled eggs & seasonings and green grapes.
Such a delight! Her smile & giggle light up the room and we are all completely in love with our precious Ellie Anne.

To celebrate we had a panda-stravaganza weekend! We hit the Beijing zoo on Saturday to see the cute & cuddly natives and then a panda party on Sunday. It was a lot of fun. Happy Birthday sweetheart!!

"chir-balla" -
the mis-spelled but technical term for,
"stick a fork in me, I'm done."

"Thanks for the great birthday family!"

We're Back.....

2009-01-23T08:45:00.000-08:00

Safe & Sound!

Comin' Home...

2009-01-14T05:35:00.000-08:00

After 3 months (to the day, weird!) we will be travelling back to the states for the first of our 2 annual visits, yea! Jan 20th we'll be heading out & 18 hours later we should be walking into our home in Marysville. We will return to Beijing on Feb. 14th and with the travel time-warp going this direction, we miss Valentine's Day. Bummer, but more of an excuse to celebrate how much I love my husband every day, not just once a year! Anyway, we are so excited to see our beloved family & friends and to see how much these last 3 mos. have changed us. Hopefully a lot and for the better. For those reading who interceed and could do so on our behalf, please lift up:

Safe travel and for the kiddos to do well on the plane. Even though they're become seasoned travellers, it still makes this mommy a little anxious.
Adjustment to the time change and to stay healthy.
Reunions with family and friends... especially with the girls. And that the Lord will make time to see everyone we want & need to.
Tony will be travelling to Ohio the first week in Feb., for a safe trip and very fruitful time with his parent company.
And, that he will have some much needed time to relax and check out for awhile. That guy has been working his socks off!

Thanks and we can't wait to see everyone. So much has happened since we've been away!

These past weeks...

2008-12-18T03:34:00.000-08:00

It is weird now that we have been here for a little over 2 months. The feeling that we're just on vacation has worn off but this doesn't quite feel like home yet. We're kind of suspended somewhere between the two. But the transition is still going well, all things considered.

Our life in a nutshell is pretty busy as we are getting into new routines. Tony is putting a lot of time and energy to work right now, which is great but also hard on him because he's away quite a bit. The Lord is doing some amazing things though and His testimony is keeping us going through the tough times of no daddy home and new life to get used to.

Sean, Erin & I started BSF last month and wow! I am so thankful it has finally worked out to do so. We are all learning so much right now and making some friends also. Homeschooling is gaining momentum and Sean is also taking Chinese classes from a school next door.

A couple of weeks ago we visited an amazing foster home called New Day (I talked about it a bit in our last e-mail update) that we are hoping to do more work with in the future.

http://www.newdaycreations.com/foster

Part of Tony's team came for the visit.

Sean & Erin had a fun time playing with the kids.

All of the children at New Day have some sort of heart problem or other birth defect, many of them have had one or more surgeries in their short life so far.

New Day Creations Formula Project

http://www.newdaycreations.com/foster/formula/

This project is something that we are beginning to help with and will see where the Lord leads from there. It is an incredible ministry that is saving the lives of many infants living in orphanages who don't have access to healthy formula. Babies are starving on diets consisting of water, rice powder and cow's milk and New Hope provides the enrolled little ones with formula supply and monthly monitoring to ensure they're thriving. Anyway, it's really amazing. Anyone can help and if God lays this on your heart it's very easy to donate to.

Now we're settling in for an extremely cold week (it's way below freezing with wind-chill) and prepping for Christmas. This will probably be our only year away from family, so we're experiment with trying to make it as stress-free and non-material as possible. We'll see how it goes. We did get a few gifts today though, it's hard to shake that pull!
Merry early-Christmas everyone!!

De-Americanizing, starting with Christmas

2008-12-03T00:36:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving this past week was good, not great because family is so far away, but good. The travelling, cuisine stress & tradition expectations gave way to a quiet evening of tape the beak on the turkey and some reflection on how we've done holidays past. Every year I want to simplify, make it not about the presentation or gifts, to teach & learn, but I always end up defaulting to the material when that vision gets lost.

Being abroad is providing a rare opportunity to step out and observe my American patterns (good, bad & really ugly) and this year with Christmas especially, we're going to actually do it & make some changes. It really is going to be about this:

and hopefully, prayerfully the result will be kids who look forward to seeing Christ asleep on the hay & all that means, much more than how many gifts are under the tree. Tape baby Jesus on the manger here we come and hopefully some new patterns stemming from where we should have been all along.

New Day, New Perspective

2008-11-18T23:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a really hard day. I woke up tired and as all of us moms know, if we start the day behind, sometimes we just never get caught up. The kiddos had their first tough day with being here & missing home and I was pretty much in the same place. We ended on a good note, but I was glad when it was over.

This mornings quiet time was short and to the point, "Lord, I need something to get me outside of myself and move me & us in the mission you have for us here. Please give me eyes to see." Wow, did He answer.

A couple of days ago our Ayi invited us over to her house for lunch today and to meet her husband. I didn't know much more than we were walking there and leaving at 10:30. On the dot we got on our coats, hats & gloves (it's freezing here now, about 45 degrees in the sun) and headed out of our neighborhood. Out the gate guarded by 3 men and down the street to the right, we then turned onto a narrow alley/road, and into the real China. 10 minutes took us into a whole other world.

Out on the main market street.

Ellie on Ayi & her husband's bed.

It's a little bit smaller than a double and has no padding.

This is their whole house. One room w/ a bed, table, coal stove, TV, 2 bureaus, cooking area (to Erin's left) & a bench. Outside the door is a covered room/stoarge area and there are 3 other "homes" adjacent.

Ayi's husband is in the background and one of her really sweet relatives.

I don't know what is going to happen as we spend time there, but I hope and pray that we can get to know these neighbors more and shed some light. I tried to post some videos below, but they don't always come through from PRC. If they do, the first one is a note to all of you who we know & love and a look at our lifestyle. The second is what we can be lifitng up. Today was a good day!

First Weeks

2008-11-07T06:56:00.000-08:00

10 Reasons I love being in China...

10: We have a neck & foot massage for $6 place 5 doors down from our house.

9: The Great Wall is only 45 minutes away.

8: No seat belt laws. So when Ellie is screaming on a long road trip I can get her out, nurse her and volia, happy baby.

7: Our Ayi (house helper) is such a gift. She loves our family and only speaks Chinese so we're picking it up fast.

6: At the Forbidden City and Tinnamen Square more people were taking pictures of Sean, Erin & Ellie than the monumental historical site. (slight exageration, but not really)

5: Shopping "Chinese" is an experience.

Local meat market, not for the faint of heart. Carrie, this would not be your fav. But everything is fresh, it didn't really smell and getting 5-10 lbs. of premium meat for $8 is not bad.

4: A smile can really break down language barriers.

3: The Chinese adore children so ours are very well taken care of, by everyone, especially when they don't have coats on, "ahem, it's 75 degrees outside!!", yet I hear about it anyway.

2: Authentic Chinese food, need I say more.

1: I have never been anywhere else like it in the world!

Adventure Begun...

2008-10-24T23:51:00.000-07:00

First post from a foreign land. Prep done, hard work just beginning. Tears of joy and sadness. Unbelievable excitement, unbridled fear. Thankful for where we've come from, ready to know where we now are. Brain overload, the retreat of family. And how overwhelmingly thankful I am to the Lord for giving us this assignment!

After a long flight of corralling preschoolers and battling a sinus infection, we arrived at our new home last Wednesday. If I didn't realize I had the most amazing husband in the entire world before this, (which I thought I had), I now know for sure. On top of the stressful new position, in the time we were apart he set up the perfect home for us complete with an espresso maker and treadmill (thanks to some creative shopping and an ex-pat family moving)! All we had to do was walk in and unpack our bags. I love you sweetheart, thank you for all your hard work!!

Now that I'm back to blogging, I'll take processing all of this slow, but want to share todays learning-curve moment. We've decided that we need to hire someone to help with general household stuff and have begun interviewing Ayi's (pronounced I.E.). Today we had two ladies come in, neither of which speak English. Tony headed up the conversations, but with the second woman got called away for an urgent work something. So I got to finish the interview. Somehow we were able to communicate through the few Chinese words I know, lots of smiles and holding the children. And she may be the one that will fit into our family. Helpless is not even a strong enough word to describe how much I wish I already knew the language, but now at the end of the day I'm pretty happy with how it all went. I just pray for the brain capacity to take all this in, patience to not get frustrated and the vision to see the amazing things that are happening each moment. Thank you Lord that we are finally here!!

I am amazed!

2008-08-29T18:27:00.000-07:00

I was out working in the garage today when a strange SUV pulled up. I went out to meet my guest who turned out to be a florist with this beautiful bouquet of roses. What surprised me most was who they turned out to be from. The CEO of Tony's company in Ohio sent them with a note attached welcoming me to the Beckett team and thanking me for sharing Tony's calling and passion for their vision. Wow! The Lord has really blessed us with an amazing group of people to work with and I can't wait to spend 2 weeks with all of them at the end of next month. And what awaits in China? I can't even imagine or wait!!

Have you read it yet?

2008-08-27T15:37:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since my last post. What have I been doing? Among the chaos of getting our house on the market (and then taking it off again), doctors appointments, passports, driving 2 active teenagers around, packing up our 7 years of (junk) belongings, I've actually been reading a ton. My first favorite is Francine Rivers "The Last Sin Eater", super great and then I just finished the most thought provoking book I've read in a long time, William P. Young's "The Shack". I won't say anything more other than, read it and you won't be the same. You'll either absolutely love it or absolutely hate it but no matter what, it's time worth spending.

If you do read it, I'd love to hear what you think!

ps. it's only $8.49 at Costco!

Sean's Quote of the Day

2008-06-18T11:40:00.000-07:00

"It's a long way to the park from China, mom"

Yes, yes it is. At least he is kind of getting what lies ahead.

Sweet Ellie Anne

2008-06-17T22:46:00.000-07:00

Only 3 months and 9 days ago, where has the time gone!

Frogger Anyone?!? -click here to see-

2008-06-17T21:59:00.000-07:00

this is exactly what every intersection looks like in beijing!
and why I'm probably not crazy enough to get my Chinese drivers license.
we'll have to see though......

Olympic 101

2008-06-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

With the opening ceremony quickly approaching, 8-8-08, here is a fun little mascot lesson to share with the kids. There are so many layers to them it gives some good insight into Chinese culture as a whole. They put meaning and thought into everything!

Fish – Bei Bei

Fish in Chinese is pronounced “yu2” which has the same sound as “yu2” meaning surplus or abundance. The headdress of this doll is a “fish in water” which represents a bountiful harvest of medals and money for everyone. The fish is blue to correspond to the blue Olympic ring.

Panda – Jing Jing

Jing Jing is a giant panda from the forests of Sichuan in Western China. There are only about 1,000 wild pandas left in the Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan. The giant panda symbolizes the harmony of man and nature. The head dress of Jing Jing is a lotus flower
pronounced “he2” which is the same sound as “he2” meaning harmony. The lotus flower has a lot of other meanings as well. Jing Jing the panda is a friendly, optimistic and energetic fellow. Jing Jing stands for the black Olympic ring.

Fire - Huan Huan

This is the only mascot that’s not an animal. It’s a “Fire Doll” representing the Olympic flame. The flame on Huan Huan’s head is reproduced from the picture of a flame on a Dun Huang Cave painting. (Dun Huang is a city on the famed in Western China where there are many caves with Buddhist paintings and scriptures.) Huan Huan is an outgoing character adept at many ball games.

Tibetan antelope – Ying Ying

The symbol of a “green” Beijing 2008 Olympics. This antelope that roams the Tibetan highlands is being hunted for its wool which is finer, softer and warmer than lamb's wool and cashmere. It's been estimated that only 75,000 to 100,000 Tibetan antelopes are left in existence. The headdress is a motif from the Tibetan and Xinjiang cultures in North Western China. The Tibetan antelope is a an alert and fast creature, and represents the track and field events of the Beijing 2008 Olympics. It also corresponds to the yellow ring.

Swallow – Ni Ni

The idea for Ni Ni comes from the traditional Beijing Swallow kites which are frequently flown over Tiananmen square. Swallow, pronounced “yen4” in Chinese also refers to “yen jing” the ancient name for Beijing. Ni Ni will be featured in gymnastics events and represents the Olympic green ring.

So not only did they include the olympic ring colors, China's traditional "Five Fortunes" of good luck, prosperity, longevity, happiness & wealth, but lining up the first words of each name gives "Beijing huan ying ni" or "Beijing Welcomes You". Pretty cool!

factory site

2008-06-09T14:24:00.000-07:00

This is the industrial park where our facility is located. Just south of Beijing in Daxing.

it's beginning to sink in

2008-06-09T13:16:00.000-07:00

This past week we sealed the deal. Tony officially signed the contract which puts us in a 3 year commitment to Beckett Asia Pacific in Daxing, China as GM of their new manufacturing facility. A really cool part of the contract is a ministry component that we will need to establish and maintain some sort of ministry & service to the local community or our position could get terminated if we don't. This shows a ton about the parent company, R.W. Beckett (in Ohio), and the mission they have for the organization as a whole. It is Christ centered from the top down and the reason for them starting this factory in China is partly smart business but more so, the CEO and his son truly believe God is calling them to make an impact on China for Christ. It is humbling, exciting and a little hard to wrap our brains around that they have entrusted our family with so much, but it is beyond evident God is leading this so all we should and really need to do is dive in and hang on for the ride.

Now the hard work begins. I have begun the massive project of closing down our house and overwhelming does not fully describe it. How did we collect so much junk in 8 years?!? 60 bath towels, boxes and boxes of empty binders, storage bins of Christmas bows, agh, come on!!!! So I am just going for it, not looking back and trying to get rid of everything. Sentimentality is no longer an issue and the freedom of simplifying is so contagious that I can't wait to see what it feels like to have no material strings attached. I just pray that with this new start, I'll learn from the past and get how to create a home with just what we need.

Are you excited?

2008-06-09T11:22:00.000-07:00

It is such a blessing to have happy and adventurous kids!

2008-06-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

Ellie Anne (right, almost 3 months) with cousin Carly Ann (4 months) at Aunt Maggie's sip 'n' see.

As China Approaches......

2008-05-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

It looks like China is now a green light. The final contract offer is done and all we have to do is sign. With this being the first official blog of our adventure, a quick background re-cap. Tony was approached be the Beckett Company (based in Cleavland, OH) just before Ellie was born in March and was asked to consider the General Manager position of their new joint venture in China. We went forward with it, not really knowing where God was leading and everything since then has fallen so perfectly into place that we are confident this is the next step for our family. When Ellie was 6 weeks old, Tony, her and I took a week trip to Beijing to meet with the current staff and get a feel for the area. We both loved it (and Ellie, too, she was happy the whole time!) and could see moving the family there. Since that trip, Tony was able to get in to have colon surgery, with a Dr. that is normally booked out for months, and things with family, finances and beginning to pair down all our stuff is moving forward. As things look now, Tony is going to give his one month notice to Boeing on June 1st and he will be moving on July 1st. I'm going to stay here with the kids until probably October to get everything sold and so Ellie can get the bulk of her vaccinations before we hurl her into a cultural peitre (sp?) dish. It is a day to day roller coaster of emotions, from completely excited to completely terrified, as I try to process the reality we are about to transition into. But knowing that God has, is and will go before us makes all the difference and I'm excited to now have a new reason to completely rely on Christ. Because there is no way I would ever do this without Him.