February in Shenyang
March 2, 2012

Dear Folks,

After all the furor that was January and Spring Festival, I guess it is natural that February would be fairly quiet by contrast. This was especially appropriate since Migyeong and I spent a good part of it fighting the flu! I think it was the worst case I’d had since I was a teenager! Fortunately, the worst part of it was high fever so we were spared the usual uncomfortable and messy aspects of it, PTL! It was still a little scary to be so “spaced out” at my age, if you know what I mean!

We had missed getting together with Cindy’s folks during Spring Festival so that was taken care of early in February. I really enjoy having them around and so does Migyeong. The niece, Barbara, has become an especially good friend that I hope to see much more of as the weather warms up and it gets easier to get around.

Since the three boys were off for winter vacation until the end of February, we wanted to do something special with them. My young friend, Rainbow, was happy to aid and abet so we planned to take them to a showing at the IMAX: the new Tom Cruise flick “Mission Impossible: the something protocol”. We made the date and I even drove down to the shopping center where the film was being shown so I wouldn’t get lost on THE day. This was a case of “the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray…”. The boys were to meet us at the van so we were surprised to find LiangLiang knocking at our apartment door: the elevator was not working and he’d walked up ten flights to let us know! What a guy! We gathered our stuff and walked down to the van only to find that the van was totally DEAD! I had just bought some jumper cables so I hoped and prayed that they would do the trick BUT more complications: it was TOO dead for a successful jump so on to Plan B. LuPing was the navigator for the trip so he had the instructions about how to get there so he went in the taxi with Migyeong and the other boys. I was left on my own but I’d already been there so I was ok. We made it just fine and even found our friends, Rainbow and another young Chinese fellow. We located the IMAX and bought the tickets and then went to have lunch. Korean food seemed satisfactory to all so that’s where we went.

Because of having a wheelchair and also other guys with disabilities, we sat on the first row of the theatre. This meant that we were “up close and personal” with all the action and the sound was super loud. In the past when trying IMAX with little kids, we’d lost many to extreme fright but this time, they hung in there but it was still a bit much for them. At least the two young Chinese and I enjoyed ourselves!

After the movie, we decided to look around the mall a little and happened to find a huge electronic game arcade! This appealed to our boys as well as the young Chinese so we indulged ourselves for quite a while with the young Chinese providing the boys with all the tokens they could use! It was fun for the boys that are so limited in what they can do physically to actually sit astride real looking (and acting) motor bikes and cars as the motion on the screens in front of them led them on very realistic chases of all sorts! After a while, we were able to disengage them and get them back in taxis for the ride back home. It had been an exciting day, overall, and I’m sure we all slept very well that night. I know I did!

The rest of the month was pretty low key with the boys visiting our apartment one or two times a week while they were on vacation. I took advantage of one relatively warm and not so windy afternoon to visit the “night market” to stock up on some fruit and veggies. While I was there, I took a couple of what I hope are interesting photos to share with you. That was February in SY!

Migyeong and I are taking off March 26 for Korea and will be in the States March 27. Because we are still recovering from the flu, we are not booked solid as usual but we hope to see some of you while we are there. For those in the Bastrop, Texas area, we will be sharing at BCOC on April 11 starting at 7pm.

FYI: JiaHao has had his second hip replacement surgery and is doing great! Please pray that he continues with no mishaps along the way to perfect mobility!

Migyeong and I covet your prayers as we prepare for our trip to the States. We need for our health to keep improving and for connections to be smooth once we get there.

Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your faithful prayers and financial support for us and our work here. We keep saying that it is a team effort and we truly mean just that. There are no “lone rangers” here! We are hoping that we can soon announce that our friend and colleague, Alice, is here in the trenches with us! The devil has worked long and hard to keep her on the other side of the “pond” so we know that there are super things in store for her once she gets here! We can’t wait, either!

Love,
Migyeong and Elaine

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