Crossing the Ocean Between Us: 1/2 The child we have come to love

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

1/2 The child we have come to love

Here are some of our favorite photos of Jen so far.

Momma and fruit-on-a-stick in the bustle of Guangzhou

A visit to the museum

Climbing her favorite tree for the last time at the orphanage

Adoption day -- Jen walks out to meet us and it is love at first sight

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: That little hand is Momma's bigger hand just says it all! We just love all the pictures, and find it easy to see why you both fell hard for that beautiful little girl at first sight. Steven, the shot of you at the window with your new daughter touched my heart so deeply! See you soon, Lynn B.; January 3, 2008 at 11:01 AM

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The StarThrower of Costabel

Somewhere in the world today, ocean waves break along the shores of a place called Costabel. And once, not long ago, a man searching for meaning in life found himself along those shores. Early one morning he rose to walk the beach after a stormy night of wind and crashing seas. And as he walked he passed by kelp and driftwood cast up on the sand. He passed by broken shells and the flotsam and jetsam of life washed in by the waves. And then he saw the starfish. Starfish all along the beach and too many to count. Starfish everywhere...left on the sand by the storm. Then, in the distance, he saw the figure of a man stooping at the surf's edge. As he reached him, he watched as the man grabbed up a starfish and hurled it across the breakers into the sea. He greeted the man then said, "What difference can you possibly make? There are thousands of starfish on the beach." Quietly, the man stooped again and clutched a starfish that clung to life beyond the reach of the tide. And with a heave it sailed out into the waves. Then he simply replied, "It made a difference to that one".

And leaving the starthrower behind, this traveler walked on in search of the meaning of things. Then gazing back over his shoulder, he saw that a rainbow was stretching down from the sky and touching the beach behind him. And standing in the rays of that rainbow was that starthrower of Costabel -- stooping and casting little starfish back into the sea. And in that moment, he began to see things more clearly. Then kneeling down, he fetched up a little star and sailed it homeward to the sea. He too had become a thrower of stars...in a place called Costabel.

(adapted from "The Starthrower" by Loren Eiseley in his work, "The Unexpected Universe")

Crossing the Ocean Between Us

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

1/2 The child we have come to love

1 comment:

Visit our new blog at:

Jen Hope (Hai Zhen)

Safely home

Our Christmas Journey to China

Journal entries

The Long and Winding Road

The StarThrower of Costabel