Mandarin prayers and earrings

Annabelle had her first solo play date today–with Evangeline!  I’m not sure how many 3rd graders get to play with college students, but that’s how we roll!  They spent the afternoon hanging out on Barbie.com, dressing up some physical Barbies, and chattering away in Mandarin.  It was so cool to hear Annabelle talking, just like any normal kid would after school.  She peppered Evangeline with questions about her family, where she has lived, how she learned English…so cool.  The other Sublett kids were off at various musical theater rehearsals, and as I left to pick them up, Joyce was driving up the snowy driveway.  She brought us an assortment of fresh Chinese noodles!  Both Joyce and Evangeline stayed for supper, which was a delicious mash-up of quiche, stirfry, noodles, and rice.  Yummy.

Annabelle’s been asking about getting her ears pierced even before we left China, so we loaded the van and headed to the mall after dinner.  Actually, we took three vehicles:  Kim had to take Levi to another musical rehearsal, then had a meeting at some coffee shop downtown with some PSU girls.  Joyce drove her own car so she could help translate then head home.  I took the truck so I could bring the girls home for homework and baths before bed.  Annabelle likes to ride piggyback whenever someone’ll carry her.  Levi obliged for the walk into the mall.

To say she was nervous would be an understatement.  She stared at the earrings for a long time.  Joyce was so helpful, talking to Annabelle about the process.  We made sure that she knew she didn’t have to go through with it, that it was totally her decision.  She looked scared, but decided that she wanted to get it done.

Her hands were sweating, and she gripped Kim’s arm like a vise, but she was determined to get those little sparkly things in her ears!  After the first one was in, she was golden!  No tears, no fuss, no worries.  Isn’t it funny how the anticipation of pain is sometimes worse than the actual event?  She didn’t let go of Kim’s arm, though!

Following the ritual ear piercing, Kim ran off with Levi, Joyce headed for home, and I took the girls to Radio Shack.  We bought Lilly a phone in August for her birthday, and the screen quit working a week ago.  When Levi broke his phone, the sales rep said that we could send it back to the Sprint, telling them that it just quit, and they’d send us a new one.  I wasn’t on board for that, so we paid for a new phone.  But Lilly’s screen simply failed.  The guy at the Shack was less than helpful.  It’s past the 90-day warranty, so our only option is to live with it, or buy a new phone.  I’m less than thrilled with Sprint/the Shack.  I’m thinking that we’ll be moving our business to another provider when the time rolls around.

Coolest moments of the day:  We know that Annabelle has no religious background whatsoever.  She doesn’t understand church, and has no concept of God.  At one point this afternoon, Evangeline told Kim, “Joyce is telling Annabelle about Jesus!”  I’m sure that there will be many more follow-up discussions about Jesus, but it’s such a blessing to have these beautiful Christian young ladies become part of our family!  We asked Joyce to pray for our dinner tonight, and she prayed in Mandarin!  I didn’t understand a word of it, but my heart was about to bust wide open as she prayed!  I love the way God is working in the Sublett family!