Our Cleaning LAdy

I think of all the years of raising a large family in a huge house and how my constant battle seemed to be to stay on top of organizing my home-grown slave labor force to pick up the ever-present messes and keep the house somewhat clean. Sigh. I weary just thinking about it. Last June, after thirty-eight years of child-rearing, our nest became empty and we down-sized to an apartment the size of our former home's family room. And for the first time in my life, I have a weekly cleaning lady. Our apartment's so small that once she arrives, we need to leave to prevent tripping across each other. But we like the feeling of contributing to one Chinese family's economy and especially the feeling of walking into a clean apartment once a week. In addition to cleaning for several families, Mrs. Liu also works at Amanda's orphanage. Here she is pictured with several of Amanda's babies. I just love this picture. It speaks to how loved and well-cared for Amanda's babies are, and the gentle face of Mrs. Lie also shows the years of hard work she's endured to support her family.