Lily With Lilies

Here's another picture of Lily...and notice the lilies in the foreground. Is that providential, or what? Remember, you can click on the image to see a larger version in another window. We proud parents want you to get a good look at our darling little girl!

We don't know for sure yet when we travel to China, but it should be in the next 6 to 8 weeks. It's very strange knowing you have a daughter, but you still cannot touch her, hold her, talk to her, or play with her for another several weeks. All we can do is pray that God will watch over her and care for her through the loving hands of the orphanage caretakers. In the meantime, we have plenty to keep busy with...paperwork, preparing the house, and preparing myself and Julie's cousin Jan to travel. And of course, you know that a pastor's life is not all that busy during the Lenten season (did you notice my tongue in my cheek as I wrote that?).

Also, we learned that "Ping" is our daughter's Chinese first name, so that is what her middle name will be...she will be "Lily Ping Onken." If you remember, in an earlier post I mentioned that her name given to her at the orphanage is "Ning Kang Ping." Apparently, "Ning" is the surname given to all the babies who are cared for at the orphanage, which is in Ningdu county. We don't know where the "Kang" comes from at this point.