Hi Everyone!It is time once again for our update letter! The month of April, and now May also, has flown by with incredible speed. I can't believe that Brad and I will be flying home in 18 days! My heart is constantly in conflict at our departure—delight in seeing our families and friends and homeland again, anxiety and excitement as we anticipate a baby and an unknown future, and sadness in leaving our life here in China. In many ways we can't wait to leave, yet in many ways we wish we could stay. We've made so many sweet memories even in the last six weeks. Here are a few of our favorites:
Exercise: Peter and Brad spent Monday mornings running together, and Shannon and Shamblee also ran together often. In an effort to find some form of exercise I could still do with my new figure and to spend some quality time with Brad, I began walking. I walk about five laps around the track with Brad while he runs about twelve. Four or five days a week, it has become a great reason to get out of the apartment in the hot sunshine and see the campus and students.
Baby Preparations: I continue to steadily gain weight and girth as Naomi grows inside of me. The doctor tells me she is in a great position with her head straight down and her feet kicking the top of my belly. It's been fun reading baby books and magazines and registering at Babies R Us, Walmart, and Target. I've researched everything from birth options to cloth diapers to cribs. Shannon and Jessica Shamblee threw me a fantastic surprise Baby Shower on April 11 (which I wrote about in an earlier note) that really got me psyched about our new arrival!
Playing with Kids: Jane asked me to teach her how to French braid her hair like mine, and Brad taught O.K., Forrest, and Melody to play Settlers (but I won the game!) Brad played basketball with the guys and I hosted Easter Egg dyeing and decorating in two of my classes. I taught a lesson on Love and a lesson on Sacrifice, and had at least three different students ask me to teach them how to write in cursive. Danielle and I met most weeks to create art together, Cassie and I studied and watched movies together, Gracie and Apple joined us for a visit to the orphanage, and Sky and Angie joined our team for dinner in the students' dining hall. This week the team hosted an “American Homestyle Dinner” complete with barbecue chicken, green beans, carrots, watermelon, cornbread, brownies, and chocolate chip cookies. We had a great time catching up with Laura, Felix, Jane, Victory, and Victor over a delicious meal!
Team Fun: Shannon, Jess, and I finished watching Beth Moore together, but continued our weekly lunch meetings. Jess served Brad and me her delicious veggie burgers one night, and Peter joined us in watching “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.” As a team we hosted our last two English Clubs (one on each campus), and Brad and Shannon hosted a very special guitar concert covering some of their favorite songs as well as some they wrote themselves. Last weekend Brad recruited Shamblee and me to help him make a music video Dr. Hook's, “Sylvia's Mother.” This latest creation using his new Vegas video-editing softward (a gift from his best friend), is his most professional yet. The results will be posted on Youtube and Facebook when we get home at the end of the month. I joined Brad in becoming a vegetarian for a month, and enjoyed the challenge of learning to cook vegetarian meals for the two of us.
Easter: Easter was a great time of fellowship with our friends from Baoding (Tim, Ryan, John, Amelia, Emily), Tianjin (Wil, Courtney), Qinghuangdao (Andy), and Melissa (America). While the girls threw me a surprise Baby Shower (also including our students Danielle, Cassie, and Sunshine), the guys played basketball (also with a large group of students) on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday morning we had a big American breakfast together, and then Jess and Shannon led our very large Sunday meeting. Afterward, we headed to the tropical greenhouse Jade Harbor restaurant for a very special Easter lunch. It was difficult to say goodbye, knowing it was probably the last time the IECS Team 2008/2009 would be together.
North Face 100K: On April 25, we had a great adventure with most of the IECS team! Brad competed in the North Face 40K, while Peter, Wan Li (Peter's Friend, a PE student), Shannon, Jess, Amelia, Ryan, Courtney, and Wil competed in the North Face 10K. Wan Li and Peter were thrilled to bring home fourth and fifth place out of 2,600 10K racers. For all but Brad, Peter, and Wan Li, it was their first 10K ever and they did great! I brought Cassie along for the overnight weekend event, and we had a great time cheering on the runners as they began and finished the race with excellence. Each runner had an adventure, and some saw miracles! Brad managed to step on a sharp stick at 8K that pierced his shoe from sole to shoelaces, narrowly missing his foot by snaking between his toes. It is incredible to think that even a slight variation could have left him with a bloody hole in his foot to nurse on the side of the mountain he was climbing.
Family: It's been an eventful month for our families at home as well. My Dad (Jeff Head) spent eight weeks in excruciating pain due to a herniated disc in his back. He slept very little and was able to work less and less. After seeing his doctor, then a back specialist, and finally a neurosurgeon, he underwent major back surgery in Baltimore on April 16. The four hour surgery was very successful, and he awoke pain-free. Last week he went back to work part-time, and this week he returned to work full-time. In the meantime, Brad's parents (Bonnie and Ed) were in Iowa from April 2-16 while they helped Bonnie's father to begin preparations for leaving the family home to move to Maryland where Bonnie and Ed can care for him. The packing, selling, auctioning, and moving will continue through most of the summer months. Finally, my sister Kristy surprised everyone by accepting a job for next year teaching music in the little one-horse town of Sublette, Kansas. From April 4-6 they all but rolled out the red carpet for her, by flying her out to Kansas, giving her a tour of the town and school, arranging some apartments for her perusal, and performing a concert during her visit.
Job Update: Finally, as many of you know, Brad and I will not be returning to China in the Fall of 2009. During the winter and spring Newt has continuously advocated for us in the East Coast regions including Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. After numerous inquiries, it appeared that New Jersey and Maryland were the most promising. So Brad and I were very pleased this past week when Brad was invited to interview for a position in Maryland during the first week of June. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts as he interviews for this position, and we make decisions about the future of our family. Most of our plans for the summer and beyond are still up in the air, so we deeply appreciate your thoughts and encouragement through the waiting.
As Brad and I look forward to coming home in 18 days, and having a baby in about 51 days, we cannot imagine how we could have come so far in the past two years without the Father's provision, your thoughts, and your support. Thank you for your unfailing encouragement and kindness. You have brought home to us in a foreign country and lessened the distance with your love.
Love Always,
Jessie, Brad, and Naomi
