Dear Family and Friends,
Happy summer! As you all know, Evan and I are in the process of adopting a little girl from China. This child will not be born from my womb, but she has already been born in our hearts, which is very powerful. We are anxious for the day that Faith will be placed in our arms. God willing, we will be traveling to China this fall (October or November) to bring our daughter Faith home. Please, keep her in your prayers.
While we wait for this momentous occasion, we would like to honor a tradition from our daughter’s homeland ~ the making of a 100 Good Wishes Quilt. The following is a brief description of this tradition:
"To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. It is a custom to invite 100 people to contribute a single square patch of cloth. The 100 patches are sewn together into a quilt that contains the luck, energy, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation."
We are inviting you to join us in this tradition by sending us two 8” x 8” squares of fabric (preferably cotton) along with a scrapbook quality card on which you have written a “wish” for our daughter. The card should be one-sided and have a small sample of the material attached, as it will be displayed in a scrapbook. The fabric can be something you purchase new or pieces cut from clothing or other item of significance. Cut both squares from the same fabric. The wish can be a simple statement, a favorite poem, song lyric, Bible verse….something that speaks from your heart to our daughter. The reason we are asking for 2 squares of fabric is so that we can use one square in making the quilt and place the other in an album along side your wish. When Faith is old enough she will be able to match the fabric in the quilt to the fabric and wish displayed in the album and read your message to her.
We hope that you choose to participate. It will be something from you that Faith will have and cherish forever. Imagine how special it would be to look back upon the well wishes that were sent for you. Better yet, imagine being covered by all those good wishes every night.
I am requesting that you sent your squares and wishes to me by August 31, 2005. This will give me plenty of time to put together the quilt and scrapbook. Thanks so much!
If you have questions or would just like to get in touch with us, feel free to email Christy at Christy@masyr.com.
Sincerely,
Evan and Christy Masyr