Lovely Day with Sophie Mei

Yesterday was quite a sweet day. It started off a little rocky when I couldn't put Sophie's carseat back together. I had taken it apart so that I could wash the cover but there ended up being one piece whose original place I could not find. I love putting things together so it became especially frustrating when I couldn't do it. I searched all over the internet for a diagram on how to put the carseat back together but couldn't find it. I had tried not to bother Marc b/c he was working on something but finally I put out my distress call. Thankfully, it only took him looking at it for about 30 seconds and he told me where it went. My hero. This small crisis put us way behind going to the grocery store. It was 11:30 and I knew Sophie would be way too sleepy to make it through the grocery store without falling apart. I decided that my chances for a successful shopping trip were a lot better if we ate lunch first. There's a small Thai "food court" upstairs at Lotus (grocery store). We ordered Khaw Mon Guy (baked chicken and rice) and Phad Thai (stir fried noodles). We ended up sharing the Khaw Mon Guy as the Phad Thai was inedible for me, full of fatty pork and tiny dried shrimp. Because I generally eat anything, it has to be pretty bad for me to leave a full plate of it.

Well, to my surprise, Sophie was an angel all through the grocery store. She was quite content, just talking to me the whole time. We were even serenaded by a man from Whales, seriously. He was a character. We got finished in record time but I knew that a good nap would be ruined if Sophie fell asleep in the car. So, there began "Operation Keep Sophie Awake". It wasn't as difficult as it has been on other occasions. I have even resorted to feeding her candy to keep her awake. This time I just talked to her, asking her all kinds of questions. I could tell she was getting sleepy when all of a sudden she just yelled out, "my tummy hurts... I eat too much food around here." Where did that come from? Sophie is a very sweet child but it just seemed that she was especially sweet that day. Or was it just that I was in a good mood, able to appreciate her sweetness? I just couldn't keep my hands and lips off of her. I probably told her I loved her 85x's. She replies with "tank you, mom."

We get home, get a nap and all is well. Later that night I made spaghetti and invited a friend over. My friend, Blaa, is Thai and she used to be on staff with our ministry. Now, she has opened a Christian bookstore in the city. She asked if a friend could come with her. The guys were on campus for dinner so, for me, the more girls at my house the merrier. Her friend was a sweet girl from Taiwan. She was a Christian who was here teaching Mandarin at an elementary school. Her name is Wendy and she is very homesick. She just walked into my Blaa's bookstore looking for a friend, for fellowship. I was so glad she came. We ate dinner and talked for while. She told me how she became a Christian 10 years ago. She had been looking for meaning in life, her purpose. She asked her teacher and she gave Wendy an encyclopedia and told her it would have the answers. Sad. One day she went to get a new haircut, hoping it would make her feel better, less depressed. The hairdresser was a Christian and Wendy could tell there was something different about her. Long story short, Wendy heard the gospel and placed her faith in Jesus. I was very encouraged. I hated to cut the conversation short but I needed to give Sophie a bath and get her to bed. You could tell Wendy didn't want to leave. I went upstairs, gave Sophie a bath and then came back downstairs. They were leaving and Wendy asked if we could all pray together. It was precious. Sophie sat in my lap for about 10 mins. while we prayed. I prayed in English, Wendy prayed in Chinese and Blaa prayed in Thai. A beautiful picture of heaven, people from every tongue, tribe and nation gathered around the throne of God. I love that praying is such a normal thing to Sophie already. She would never let us forget to pray before we ate. She's precious. I know all mom's think that about their children so I make no apologies :-).


Blaa, Wendy and Sophie


It was a sweet day with Sophie Mei.