I Have a 16-Year-Old

Rosalie turned the big 16 on Friday. Where does the time go? Below are 16 interesting facts about my oldest child.

1. Rosalie used to have a British accent and occasionally used words that we didn't know.

2. One week before Christmas, Rosalie entered our family as a 4.5-year-old; however, it took 3.5 years before her adoption was finalized.

3. During Rosalie's first-grade year, Megan homeschooled Rosalie in core subject matters.

4. Like her brother and sister, Rosalie's middle name is Chinese - Jinmin. The "Jin" comes from the city she is from and where we used to live, Tianjin.

5. Like her dad, Rosalie has consumed salted scorpions. Yum, yum to the tum, tum.

6. Last year, Rosalie participated in cross country, swimming, and track & field. This year she has returned to the soccer field and is playing on my high school squad.

7. Rosalie was placed on a "B" team for an open futsal tournament in 7th grade, and she ended up leading the team in goals and helping the team win the tourney. Her coach was a short intense dude that wouldn't shut up.

8. I served as Rosalie's assistant volleyball coach during her sixth-grade year, her first of two years of playing organized volleyball.

9. Rosalie played on the middle school basketball team at her international school in China for two years. Despite standing at a gigantic 5'2", she still can't dunk a basketball.

10. Rosalie has a TCK blog that she started in 8th grade. I've encouraged her to keep writing, but I think she needs to hear that from others.

11. Rosalie played the French horn for five years and once left her $3600 horn in the back of a taxi. I praise Jesus for the help we received from our local friends, expat community, and the police in retrieving the horn. Did I mention how crazy expensive French horns are?

12. Grace Noel and Rosalie have always shared a bedroom, and although they may prefer having their own rooms, I think this brings them closer.

13. Rosalie has done well in some elementary Bible memorization competitions and has forced me to work on this spiritual discipline.

14. This past year Rosalie took Chinese language lessons on Sunday afternoons. I went fishing instead of participating in language studies.

15. Rosalie will be getting her learner's permit soon. Pray for us.

16. I baptized Rosalie in a hotel pool several years ago. I'm thankful for the privilege it is to train Rosalie in God's ways and hope she will always seek hard after Jesus and bring Him all the glory.

12 Years Ago on June 12th...

12 years ago on June 12th, Megan and I adopted our 12-year-old, Grace Noel. Below are 12 interesting facts about my first child.

1. Grace Noel is our first child. We adopted her when she was nine months old and six months before bringing Rosalie into our family as a four-year-old.

2. Grace Noel is from the southernmost part of the central province of Hubei. Her village of one million people is surrounded by rice paddies and water buffaloes.

3. Like her little brother and big sister, Grace Noel's middle name is Chinese. It's Siyuan, and it means to remember your origin.

4. Grace Noel's favorite sport is Association football or soccer. I might have played a part in this. She also participates in track and field and recently attended a basketball camp.

5. Grace Noel is a much better middle school student than her dad. Unlike her daddy, she didn't get paddled by the principal for fistfighting.

6. Like her daddy did, Grace Noel plays the alto sax. She took piano lessons for many years when we lived in China. She can also play a mean recorder.

7. In China, I've been mistaken as Grace Noel's English teacher. People sometimes found it confusing that she spoke English so well.

8. During her fourth grade year, Grace Noel earned second place at an international school badminton tournament. A little birdie told her to play.

9. When Grace Noel was two-years-old, we rode our bikes to a nearby stadium and watched some Women's World Cup matches. The next year we rode our bikes to some Olympic soccer matches.

10. Grace Noel has lived in five apartments (all in Tianjin), one townhouse (Newburgh, Indiana), and one house (Evansville, Indiana) in her twelve years of life.

11. On her "All About Me" kindergarten poster, Grace Noel said beef tongue was her favorite food. Moo.

12. Grace Noel was recently baptized, and she's a God-given gift that I don't deserve. I'm thankful that God chose me to be her father, and I look forward to seeing what God will do in her life as she grows in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Coaching Little Girls

This week I had the privilege of conducting a four-day soccer camp for 1st to 2nd-grade girls. It has been three years since I've coached girls that young. I quickly learned that lower elementary girls are quite different from middle school and high school girls. Below are ten things I learned when you are coaching 15 girls who are six and seven years old.

1.   Hot pink is a popular color.

2.   Be ready to tie a bunch of shoes.

3.   Dragonflies and moths will become more important than you.

4.   Personal space won't be considered at times.

5.   You'll get hugs and hand-drawn pictures.

6.   Water breaks are needed.

7.   Assistant coaches can be a big help.

8.   There will be tears.

9.   Little girls can get feisty.

10. Coaching little girls can be a lot of fun.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:1-3