Charlotte’s Big Adventure with Grandma Tricia

 It has been several years since I have been able to visit with my Chinese son’s daughter, Charlotte, and this summer was our time to take an adventure together. Alex is in China much of the time now due to him running his parents company, but thankfully he gets to come back to the States. I’m so grateful I got to see him for Mother’s Day both this and last year!! He asked if I’d be interested in spending time with Charlotte this summer, which of course I said yes!

We had 5 days alone together in Yosemite National Park and saw amazing vistas, conquered some fears (mostly mine), took in the scenery and wildlife, read lots of books, practiced lots of English grammar and vocabulary, and my favorite…taught Charlotte about God as I read to her from The Lamb, by John Cross. I often would pause along a glorious mountain trail and look up and say, “Thank you, Shangdi, for this beautiful mountain!” (The Chinese word for God). We would stand in awe of His creation and it wasn’t long before Charlotte stopped once and said, “Grandma Tricia, LOOK!”, as she pointed to a majestic view then said, “Thank you Shangdi.” One of the highlights of my trip was that moment. More precious than the sunsets, waterfalls and mountains was that moment! I’m so grateful to have had this time with her to experience Yosemite for the first time. We had two miraculous encounters with two women, both Christians. The first was a Californian who just hiked to the top of a trail where we “just happened” to be walking past her the very moment she called her husband to inform him that there wasn’t a shuttle back down the mountain as she had incorrectly been informed and she physically just could not do it by hiking! She was calling him to ask him to pray with her for a safe way down as I walked by her and heard her say she didn’t know what to do. So in typical Tricia fashion, I stopped and asked her if she was ok and she explained the predicament to me. It was my assignment that God placed before me and God’s way of blessing her and me and showing Charlotte how God works in our lives! We had the most sweet God conversations as I drove her back to her truck at the bottom of the Valley and I hope we continue to keep in touch! She sells fresh artichoke hearts and I hope to order some when I get home. Check out her website at Monterey Farms She has an amazing testimony of how God has blessed her life and it was truly a miracle meeting of my sister in Christ!!

The second woman I met in Yosemite was as I was climbing a huge bald rock and feeling fearful of failing. I wanted to turn back but Charlotte wasn’t scared and wanted to go further up. I wished I could have, but fear stopped me. Then I noticed a family of Chinese English speaking people a little ways away and figured it must be less steep where they were so we started in that direction. Indeed it was easier! We passed them and I noticed a water bottle left behind on a rock where they had just paused for a photo so I asked if it was theirs. It was and the woman, Sofia, was so kind and grateful. She asked about us because of Charlotte being Chinese and we got to chatting. Come to find out this 60 something year old woman was once a teenager from China that had an American host family that she lived with and she had just spent time with them (now in their 90s!!) and she was so grateful to ME for the love and sacrifice I’ve probably poured into Alex and his family!?  Because she was the recipient of an American mom who did that for her, she assumed I have loved them as much and wanted to thank me!! She went on to share how grateful she is because they taught her about this country and God and she shared that she’s now a Christian because they planted those seeds. In fact Sofia talked to Charlotte for a few minutes in Chinese about how God loves her. I was amazed at these Divine appointments and pray that God will use them to open Charlotte’s heart and mind to a relationship with Jesus. While I didn’t get a photo with this Sophia, it’s because of this vista that we met and where she and her family stopped to take a picture and where she forgot her water bottle. 

Charlotte enjoyed having crayons and a drawing tablet to color the beautiful, iconic Yosemite nature. 

We hiked for about 5 hours one day while learning about the giant Sequoias (one was 3000 years old!) and Charlotte found great entertainment in aiming at a tree and throwing a pine cone at it…This slowed our hikes down significantly and it was worth every minute!

The breath taking vistas were surreal. It’s like walking inside of a postcard being in Yosemite! I had to pause once again and thank God for feeling well enough to experience this! 

From a health perspective, I only have one little issue. Not sure if it was from a poison ivy encounter or from a spider bite but my forearm doesn’t seem to be getting any better after a week!! I do have a call in to my oncologist to see what she thinks as sometimes the medications can cause rashes but this definitely started out looking like a bite that has grown and blistered.