Our social worker called today. She's out of the hospital and doing better. Praise God! We will be rescheduling our last visit with her in the first few days after the New Year. She promised that this won't hold us up a bit since she has almost everything written.

Our social worker was scheduled to be here yesterday afternoon for our last homestudy visit and the one we were a little anxious about - the one in our home. Sharon spent the day cleaning and tidying and getting things looking just right.  About an hour before our appointed time,however, her husband called to let us know that she was taken by ambulance to the hospital. We are in the dark about any details, and so we can only pray - thankfully to the God who knows every detail and who has the power to heal. Our social worker's name is Debbie. Please pray for her! While this may set us back a few days or even a few weeks, the delay is rather inconsequential with all things considered. Our family is gearing up for Christmas, Sharon's parents will be arriving in a few days, and now the house that was cleaned from top to bottom for the social worker is ready for Christmas guests.

Have a wonderful Christmas season. Thank you for your ongoing prayers for Grace and for us through the adoption process. (Pat)

A quick update. Sharon and the boys are getting their TB tests tomorrow. I got mine the other day and was cleared of one more potential obstacle.

Last week we had our second visit with the social worker. It went very well. Sharon decided to simply tell the social worker that we first met at a college talent show where she was doing her ventriloquism and I was singing. Neither of us chose to elaborate on the fact that I was singing with my stomach - complete with a cartoon face painted on my belly, my arms and head hiding inside a giant top hat. It's a long story, but let's just say I have been blessed with the genetics that makes rolling my stomach possible. That, coupled by the fact that the college swim team I was on had a friendly rivalry with the Men's Glee Club, made for an interesting opportunity that I couldn't pass up. My group was known as the Wee Club, and we brought the house down. Of course Sharon won Most Talented, and even though this was my first encounter with Sharon I knew as I watched her perform that I wanted to marry her.

The one line of questions that I was a bit anxious about pertained to how we discipline our four boys. I am confident that the approach Sharon and I take is appropriate, but how would China view our approach? Thankfully, we weren't asked to elaborate. In fact, our social worker creatively skirted the issue of spanking by asking us, "is it okay if I write that you don't do corporal punishment?" Well, I wanted to be truthful, and the truth is we have found it necessary to spank our children, so I asked her, "how are you defining 'corporal punishment'?" She answered, "extreme beatings and imprisonment." I smiled at her and said with all honesty, "it is definitely okay if you write that!"

This coming Monday the social worker will be visiting with our children in our home. I wonder if she'll ask the boys if we've ever imprisoned them?