Sunday, July 6, 2014

What is this thing called Church?

When I first came home to America, my parents took me with them to church. 

当我第一次回到家到美国,我的父母带我跟他们去教堂。


At first, I thought that church was some kind of school that I didn't know anything about. 
It was really weird to sit there with my new family and hear only English. I didn't understand anything that was being said.  Most of the time I would day dream about other things during church. It took a long time before I really could understand anything.

起初,我以为教堂是一些样的学校,我不了解任何事情。
这件事确实很奇怪地坐在那里与我的新家庭,只听到英语。我不明白任何他们说的。大多数时候,我会每天在教堂梦想的其他事情。花了很长时间才我真的可以弄懂。

I did enjoy the music at church very much since I like music a lot but I couldn't sing any of the songs at that time. It was more than a year before I could try to sing a few parts of songs. But now, I can sing most everything even though some of the words are harder to read still.

我非常享受音乐在教堂,因为我喜欢音乐,但我不能唱任何一首歌曲(在那个时候)。在一年多之前,我可以试着唱歌曲的几部分。但现在,我可以唱一切,尽管有些话依然是难以阅读。



After the large church service, I would go to a classroom with other Middle school students in grades 6-8. A man would stand in front and teach a Bible lesson. I would sit quietly and day dream there too. My parents bought me a Chinese/ English Bible, so sometimes I could read that while others were talking. I was bored often, but I had that Bible that I could read, so that is how I began to learn about God.

大礼拜之后,我会去教室与其他中学的学生在6-8年级。一个人会站在前面教圣经中教训。我会静静的坐着,白日梦也有。我的父母给我买了一个中国/英文圣经,所以有时我会读,当别人在讨论。我经常觉得无聊,但我有圣经,我能读懂,所以这就是我如何开始学习关于上帝。


The first few times I heard about God, it was kind of crazy. It was like a story that was being told, but I didn't really understand that it was a true story. You might think that too at first if you have come from another country where you never learned about Jesus, like me.

前几次我听到上帝,那是疯狂的。这就像当时正在讲了一个故事,但我真的不明白,这是一个真实的故事。你可能会这么想,如果你来自另一个国家,你根本不知道耶稣像我一样。

Although I couldn't understand what the other kids were saying, they were friendly to me and I quickly made friends with many of them. They thought I was cool because I looked so different and because I was good at the yo-yo (no one knows much about yo-yo in America).

虽然我不明白什么其他的孩子们在说什么,但是他们很友好,我很快结识了许多朋友。他们认为我是非常酷,因为我看上去是如此不同,因为我擅长的溜溜球(没有人知道很多关于溜溜球,在美国)。

On Wednesday nights, while my parents practiced in the church orchestra, I went with all the other middle school students and had fun time in the gym.  We did have a short lesson, but it was mostly just fun and games. This is where I learned to play and make friends most quickly. You don't need much English to throw a dodgeball! (For those who don't know, this game is where you throw a rubber ball at other people and when they get hit, they must go sit down). I was very good at this game.

周三晚上,我的父母练习中教会乐团,我会去与其他的初中学生去玩,在体育馆。我们确实有一个简短课程,但它大多只是娱乐和游戏。这是我学会了最快速地交朋友。你并不需要太多的英语抛出一个躲避球! (对于那些谁不知道,这个游戏就是你扔一个橡胶球砸人,当他们击中,他们必须下场)。我很擅长这个游戏。

To those of you who are adopted teen boys, American girls are crazy! The first few times I go to church, the girls were very interested in me and followed me around. They are not shy about talking to new boys. They are not shy about most everything. It is not like girls in China. (In the U.S., people say to you, "I love you" is common) Even though this was a bit shocking to me at first, and even though it is more common here for kids to say these things to one another, I still believe that these are words that you say to your family, and that they are important and should be reserved for special relationships only.

对于那些你们谁被领养的青少年的男孩,美国女孩都是非常疯狂的!头几次我去教堂,女孩们对我很感兴趣,跟着我身边。他们毫不避讳地谈论新的男孩。他们并不避讳大部分的一切。这不像中国的女孩。(在美国,别人对你说“我爱你”是常有的事)尽管这个有点令人震惊的,即使它是比较常见的,在这里为孩子们讲这些话对彼此,我仍然相信,这些都是你说对你的家人说的话,他们是重要的,或只有在特殊关系时被说出来。

To parents who might read this blog, if you want your new son or daughter to enjoy church, you might want to explain it to them before they go and make sure they are welcomed into a fun group, not just sitting and listening all the time. That is boring and no fun when they cannot understand.

父母谁可能会读这个博客,如果你希望你的新的儿子或女儿享受教会,你可能要解释给他们,他们去之前,并确保他们迎进一个有趣的群体,而不仅仅是坐着,那是无聊的,没有乐趣,当他们无法理解。

Also, you will want to prepare them for how different teenagers in America act.

此外,你会想要他们做好准备,关于在美国青少年有什么不同的行为。

To kids: Be patient. Church is really a lot of fun and the things that they teach there are so very important. If you don't have a Bible that you can read, ask your parents for one so that you can learn on your own in the beginning. It will help it all make more sense.

至孩子们:要有耐心。教会真是一个很好玩的地方,他们教的东西是如此的重要。如果你没有一本圣经,你可以读的,要求你的父母为一个,这样你可以在一开始自己学习。这将有助于一切更有意义。

Sunday, June 15, 2014

I'm Back!

I guess I should start off this post with an apology. It has been a crazy year with two new brothers, lots of changes at school and I have not posted in over a year. I had no idea that it had been that long.

我想我应该先道个歉。这是疯狂的一年,两个新的兄弟,学校的变化,我不知道一年没写了,

I'll begin by sharing some of the highlights of this past year. As you may remember, we welcomed Cooper and Connor into our family last March. It took awhile before it felt like they were a part of the family. Every time you grow your family through adoption or birth, things change. For our family, life got a little more crazy.

我将首先分享一些过去一年的亮点。你可能还记得,我们欢迎库珀和康纳进入我们的家庭去年三月份。他们花了一段时间才适应自己的新家庭。当您通过收养或出生的时候,你的家庭会发生一些变化。对于我们的家庭,生活变得多一点疯狂了。


It was a big change going from 3 boys to 5!

这是一个很大的变化, 从3个男孩去变成5个!

Easter Sunday, 2013

复活节,2013

Shortly after our new brothers came home, we bought a new home and moved. This new house had more bedrooms, so we had a little more room than before.

不久后,我们的新兄弟回家,我们买了新房。这个新房子有多个卧室,所以我们有比以前多一点的空间。
Now I have my own bedroom!  It is nice to be alone every once in awhile.

现在,我有我自己的卧室!所以我现在我可以自己带着。

In other news, our family now is a full christian family.

其他消息,我们家现在是一个完整的基督教家庭。

When I first joined this family, almost 3 years ago now, Tommy had already asked Jesus into his heart.

当我第一次加入了这个家庭,近3年以前的事了,汤米已经邀请耶稣进入他的心了。


My Mom & Dad told me about Jesus, but also told me that it was up to me if I believed in Him or not. I listened to everything they taught me, and all that I heard at church, but it took some time for me to really understand.

我的妈妈和爸爸告诉我关于耶稣,但也告诉我,这是由我决定,如果我相信他还是不相信。我听着一切他们教我的,和所有教堂教我的,但它花了一些时间才让我真正理解。

Cameron asked Jesus in his heart about 6 months after he came to our family.

卡梅伦请求耶稣进入他的心大约是在他来到我们家6个月后。


Cooper asked Jesus into his heart on July 21st, 2013.

库珀要求耶稣进入他的心在2013年7月21日。



Then, this past Spring, Connor told Dad that he wanted to have Jesus in his heart.

 那么,过去的这个春天,康纳告诉爸爸,他希望有耶稣在他的心。


Still, I wasn't ready. 

不过,我还没有准备好。

I had been actively seeking answers for a long time. There were things that I couldn't figure out and so I asked lots of questions of my parents and of all the pastors that I knew. Everyone was very helpful and patient with me as I searched to make some sense of it all.

我一直在积极地寻求答案。有些事情,我无法弄清楚,所以我问过所有我认识的牧师和父母。他们每个人都非常乐于助人,耐心与我找答案。

On May 14th, I was in church with the youth. I was listening to the lesson for the night and felt strongly that the Lord was trying to speak to my heart. I began to think about ways that I could share about Jesus with all those who I had left behind in China. Then I saw that I could not do that by myself. I needed the Holy Spirit's help. So, I asked Jesus into my heart as I sat in my chair. The preaching was still going on, but I stopped listening as I prayed to the Lord to come into my life.

5月14日,我在教会的青年组。我正在听课,我强烈地感到主试图讲我的心脏。我开始思考,我以前我一直在想如何帮助中国人认识耶稣。然后我看到,我自己是做不到的。我需要圣灵的帮助。于是,我问耶稣进入我的心脏,我坐在我的椅子。

After the service, I went to one of the Pastors and told him of my decision. 
He was very happy to hear about that!

礼拜结束后,我去了见谅一位牧师,并告诉他我决定了。
他很高兴听到这个消息!

When we arrived home that evening, I prepared to tell my Mom & Dad the good news. 
I told them I had something to tell them that would make them very happy.

当我们到家那天晚上,我准备告诉我的妈妈和爸爸的好消息。
当时我告诉他们,我有件事要告诉他们,会令他们非常高兴。


Then my Mom went crazy with the camera and my Dad started calling his friends to share the exciting news.

然后我妈疯狂地用相机,我的爸爸开始打电话给他的朋友们分享令人振奋的消息。


Since making this decision, I have even more heart for others. I began to know a lot of things that I can't do alone in my own strength. I now know that I need the Lord to help me each day.

既然做出这个决定,我有更多的心给别人。我开始知道了很多东西,我不能在用我自己的力量独立完成。我现在知道,我需要主每天帮助我。



My next step was the be baptized. I was about the do this in the ocean which is really cool.
我的下一个步骤将是受洗。我是在海洋中受洗的。


What was also neat was that my Dad was able to help baptize me which he thought was wonderful.

我的爸爸帮助我施洗,他认为是美好的。


If you are a kid who came from another country and have been adopted by a Christian family, and if you have questions about all this "Jesus Stuff", I'd be glad to talk to you about it anytime. I don't know everything yet, but I'm learning and I understand where you might be coming from. 

如果你是一个孩子,谁是来自另一个国家,并已通过一个基督教家庭,如果你有任何关于这一切的“耶稣”的问题,我会很高兴和你谈谈。我不是什么都知道的,但我正在学习。


Sunday, May 5, 2013

Resources for other older adoptees

When an older child comes home to America from China, there are things that they can use to help them communicate and adjust to their new life.
 
当一个大的孩子从中国来到美国,有一些事情,可以帮助他们沟通和调整的新生活。
 
The first one is a website called "Google Translate".  This is a fast way to help you communicate with your new kid and understand what they want to say to you. (sometimes, though, it is not right). Most older kids from China know how to type pinyin into Google translate and communicate. Your average kid from China will read Chinese "Simplified" rather than Chinese "Traditional". This is how I communicated with my new Mom & Dad the first few months I was home in the states.
 
第一个是一个网站叫做谷歌翻译这是一个快速方法来帮助您与新的孩子了解他们对你说 (有时,虽然这是不正确的)。中国年长的孩子知道如何键入拼音到谷歌翻译和沟通来自中国孩子平均阅读中国“简体中文”,而不是中国传统这是我与我的新爸爸妈妈的头几个月在美国沟通
 
(On the phone. 在手机上.)
 
 
 
There are also portable translators in most smart phones and also available to purchase as a hand held device.
This is what mine looks like.
 
也有便携式翻译大多数智能手机手持设备也可购买

这是看起来什么
 
 
 
 
 
You will use these aids a lot at first, but they will learn English faster than they think so you won't need them forever.
 
您将使用这些辅助很多第一但他们学习英语比他们想象的更快,所以你不会永远需要他们
 
While Google Translate does a good job for translating, if your child can type well in pinyin, you can go here and download a free software that will let them type freely into Word or other programs in Chinese or English.  With one click you can switch between the two.
Once you get to this page, you click the large blue button and download the program.
 
虽然谷歌翻译翻译做得很好如果你的孩子可以输入拼音可以去这里下载一个免费的软件将让他们自由输入到Word或其他程序中文或英文只需一次点击你可以在两者之间切换

一旦你得到这个页面一下蓝色的大按钮,下载该程序。
 
 
 
 
Another helpful thing for me when we came home was getting some movies that had Chinese subtitles for reading.  Some even had Chinese audio options. This was nice since I couldn't understand English right away.
 
另一个有用的事情对我来说我们回家时候得到一些电影中文字幕的阅读有些人甚至中国音频选项这是好的,因为我无法理解英语
 
 
 
 
Lastly, it was really nice to me to be able to have Chinese books to read in my quiet time.  My parents gave me the <Narnia> books for my 14th birthday in Chinese and I read them all in my first few weeks home.  I didn't understand the references to Jesus, since I had never been taught that in China, but I liked fantasy style books and so I enjoyed them very much.
 
最后,这是对我真的很好,能够有中国人阅读的书籍在我安静的时候。我的父母给我《纳尼亚》在我的14岁生日,中国的书籍,我看他们都在我的第几个星期回家。我不明白的引用耶稣,因为我从来没有被教导,在中国,但我喜欢奇幻风格的书籍,所以我非常喜欢他们。
 
 
 
 
If you are adopting an older child, these are some helpful tools that could help their early days in your family and most importantly, ones that will help you communicate with your new son or daughter.
 
如果领养一个较大的孩子,这些都是一些有用的工具,可以帮助他们及早的日子,你的家人和最重要的是,那些将帮助你沟通,你的新的儿子或女儿。
 
 
 


Sunday, March 31, 2013

Two New Brothers

Last week, my new brothers came home.

我的新兄弟在上周回家了。
 
 
Today I will tell you a little bit about them.

今天,我会告诉你们一些关于他们的事情。
 
The first day they arrived home, they were super funny!
Dad, Tommy and I met them at the airport very late one night.

第一天,他们到家到时候他们是超级搞笑的!
爸爸,汤米和我第一次看见他们是在机场,在一个半晚。
 
We had a lot of friends come out to meet them too.

我们有很多的朋友出来,见他们。
 
I began talking to them in Chinese.
I asked them if they had fun in China with Mom and Cameron.
They said, "Yes!"

我开始用中国话与他们谈话。
我问他们,他们在中国和妈妈,卡梅伦过的高不高兴。
他们说:“高兴!”

We became friends very fast.

我们非常快成了朋友
 
We visited with friends at the airport for a few minutes and then went home.

我们待在机场几分钟,然后就回家了。
 
This is them entering their new house for the first time...

他们第一次进入他们的新房子...
 
 
It was very late so we all went to bed as soon as we could.

当时已经很晚了所以大家都上床睡觉
 
When we all woke up the next morning, we first talked about our family. 
 I began to teach them about living in a family and how they should act as sons and brothers.

当我们第二天早上醒来的时候我们首先谈到了我们的家庭
我就开始教他们生活在一个家庭中他们应该如何作为儿子和兄弟
 
Connor likes to play nerf guns, basketball and he is very good at Chinese checkers!

康纳很喜欢玩游戏的Nerf篮球中国跳棋非常好
 
 
He likes to read like I do.  He reads Chinese very well too!
He is super silly and likes to laugh.

他喜欢读书像我一样。他读中国话非常好!
他是超级搞笑的,喜欢笑。
 
Cooper also likes to laugh.  He has a great smile!

库珀也喜欢笑。他有一个非常好的微笑!
 
 
He likes to play games. 
He is super cute.
He is older than Tommy, but he is the smallest brother.
Cooper's special need is Osteochondroma. 
This condition causes small bone tumors to grow in his joints and
usually results in being shorter than other kids the same age.
 
Both boys are very smart!  I think they will do very well in school.
 
One other great thing about them coming home????
 
Tommy now has 2 new brothers to pick on which gives me a BREAK! :-)
 
 
I think these two boys are a really good fit for our family. 
It seems like they have been here much longer than they have. 
We all get along really well.

觉得这两个男孩是非常适合我们的家庭。
似乎像他们在这里非常长的时间。
我们相处得非常好。
 
This will change their life a lot too. 
Before, they have no Mom & Dad.
Now, they have a Mom & Dad and lots of brothers.
They have a place to belong.

这将改变他们的生活有很多
之前他们没有和爸爸妈妈
现在,他们有一个妈妈和爸爸很多兄弟
他们属于的地方
 
 

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Sorry

Sorry this week I was really busy helping my Mom get ready to travel back to China.  She usually helps me type my blog posts, so while she is gone, I will probably not post much.  You can read up on everything that is happening with my two new brothers by visiting her blog at www.rylandsfamily.blogspot.com Thank you for praying for us while they are in China.  My brother Cameron will go with Mom this time and I am staying home to help Dad and Tommy.
 
很抱歉,这一周,我是真的很忙帮助我妈妈准备旅行去中国。她平时帮我打字在我的博客,所以,当她走了,我可能会不发布多少。你可以阅读一切关与我的两个新兄弟在我妈妈的博客www.rylandsfamily.blogspot.com,谢谢你为我们祈祷,我的兄弟卡梅伦将和妈妈一起去,我留在家里帮助爸爸和汤米。
 
I am going to be guest blogging for Mandy Joy over at http://www.seeingjoy.com/ on Saturday, so feel free to check that post out over there and read the rest of her series "You Are Not Alone".
 
要写邀请博客三月九日在http://www.seeingjoy.com/      Mandy Joy的博客,可以随意去读.“你不孤独”是博客的主题.
 
Thank you,
Colin
 
谢谢你

科林

Monday, February 18, 2013

My "Gotcha Day"(我的“领养”日)

This week I will share about my first day with my new family.  Many American families call this day, "Gotcha Day" because it is the day they got a new family member.

这个星期,我将分享我的第一天和我的新家庭。许多美国家庭称这一天,“领养日”,因为这一天,他们得到了一个新的家庭成员。
I woke up that morning with feelings of sadness, excitement and nrevousness.  I got up out of bed and began straightening my things.  I said bye-bye to my bed. :-) Then I waited for my friends to go with me to the cafeteria to eat breakfast.  I knew that was the last time I would be eating breakfast with my friends.  My friends and teachers wished me well and said they would miss me. 

我今天早上醒来时,我的感觉是悲伤,兴奋和紧张。我起身下床,开始整理我的东西。(我和我的床说拜拜)然后,我的朋友和我一起去食堂吃早餐。我知道这是最后一次,我会和我的朋友吃早餐。我的朋友和老师说他们会想念我的。
I could only remember one other older boy being adopted since I had been there and he lived in a foster family and was only in the orphanage for about 1 month before leaving, so he was not a kid we all knew very well. Most of the children that I saw leave the orphanage with new families were much younger. My adoption day was the first time that my group of friends had to say good-bye to one of us. 

我只记得另外一个年龄较大的男孩被领养,因为他住在寄养家庭,他在孤儿院约1个月后离开了孤儿院,所以他不是一个孩子,我们都清楚地知道。 我看到了新的家庭,离开孤儿院的孩子们年轻得多。我的领养日是第一次,我的一群朋友说再见,我们中的一员。

When teacher Tan (assistant director) arrived to work that morning, she loaded me up in the van with three other young children who were also being adopted that day.  We drove 1 hour to the Civil Affairs office and went up the elevator to where I would meet my new family.

老师(副主任),早上到达福利院,她和我与其他三个年轻的孩子一起上了面包车。我们驱车1小时,到了公务员事务办公室,我们走上电梯,我就要看见了的新家庭了
We were there waiting for about 10 minutes before my parents walked in.  My family walked around the corner and saw me sitting at the counter.  I knew right away that it was my family because I had been given pictures before that day.  The first thing that raced through my mind was excitement. There I stood with my bag of belongings, ready to walk into my new life. In my bag were two shirts, a light jacket, a letter written to me from my foster uncle, a photo album full of pictures of my friends, an address book with their QQ addresses and several books that they allowed me to take. That is all I had of my old life.

我们在那里,等待约10分钟,我的家人来了,看到我坐在柜台。我立刻知道了,这是我的家庭,因为我有他们的照片。在我脑海中的第一件事情是兴奋。我站在那里和我的包里随身物品,准备一起走进我的新生活。在我的包里有,两件衬衫,一件薄外套,我的叔叔写给我的信,我有朋友的照片的相册,地址簿与自己的QQ地址和几本书。这是我有我原来的生活。
My new Dad took some pictures of me with my Mom and new little brother. 

我的新爸爸拍了一些照片,我,妈妈和新的小兄弟。
Then, the staff took us all to a back conference room to sign some papers.  There were several families in there getting their new children that day too. 

然后,工作人员带我们到后面的会议室签署一些文件。有几户人家也在那里领养。
One of the younger boys that was from our orphanage seemed scared with his new family, so I went to him and held him and helped him feel safer.  When it was time to go, I made sure he didn't see me leave because I didn't want him to come to me instead of his new family.

其中一个年轻的男孩,仿佛害怕他的新家庭,所以我去找他,抱着他,帮他感到更安全。当是走的时候,我确信他没有看到我离开,因为我不想让他到我这里来,而不是他新的家庭。
As we prepared to go, we said good-bye to Tan teacher and went with our guide, George back to the hotel.  We dropped off our things in the hotel room and then George took us to lunch.

当我们准备离开时,我们对谭老师说拜拜。我们跟乔治(翻译)回到酒店去了。我们放下我们的东西在酒店房间里,然后乔治把我们带到了饭店去吃午餐。
After lunch, we returned to the hotel and George assisted us as my Mom asked me to try on some clothes that she had brought for me. Luckily, most of them fit me! That didn't stop my mom from taking me clothes shopping anyway! (She loves to shop!)

午饭后,我们回到了酒店和乔治协助我们,我妈问我去试试,她给我带来了一些衣服。幸运的是,他们中的大部分适合我!这并没有阻止我的妈妈带我去逛街买衣服,反正! (她喜欢购物!)
As I think back now on this big day of my life, after being home for 18 months with my family, I want to share some things with other older kids who might be more nervous or even scared to go with their new family.  I want them to know that getting a new family is not super scary.

  因为我觉得现在我的生活在这个大日子,为18个月,我的家人回家后,我想与大家分享一些东西,与其他年龄较大的孩子可能会更紧张,甚至害怕去与他们的新家庭。我想让他们知道,得到一个新的家庭不是超可怕的。
Those families are coming there because they love you and want you.  They want you to have fun in their family and have a good life.  I know it is not easy going with a family that does not understand you but it does get easier.  You will learn English faster than you think. You will make new friends.  American kids will like you.  I will post more later about what life in America is like. Stay tuned!

这些家庭都因为他们爱你,想你。他们希望你在他们的家庭和有乐趣,有很好的生活。我知道一个家庭,不理解你,这是不容易的,但它变得更容易。您将学习英语比你想象的更快。你会结交新朋友。美国的孩子会喜欢你。在美国的生活,就像我稍后会发布更多。敬请期待! 
For me, one of the biggest lessons that I have learned since that day is that God loves us. I know now that God loves everyone.  You many not know what His plans are for you now, but you need to know that God loves you.  When I was in China, I did not know God, but He knew me.  He knew that I was meant to be Colin Rylands someday. My parents showed me a verse in the Bible that tells us this.  It was written a very long time ago. 
现在我知道,上帝爱每一个人。你不知道现在他的计划是给你的,但你需要知道神爱你。当我在中国,我不知道上帝,但他知道我。他知道,我的意思是科林·赖兰兹有一天。我的父母给我看一节经文在圣经中告诉我们这个。很长一段时间前写的。
It is Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you", says the Lord."Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."
                                                                 这是耶利米书 29:11

                                                                   
         耶和华说:“我知道我向你们所怀的意念,是赐平安的意念,不是降灾祸的意念, 
         要叫你们末后有指望。     

This verse tells us that God has a plan for each of us.  God's plan for each of us is for good things.
I do not know what His plans are for my whole life, but I know that right now, He wants me to tell my story and for me to help other kids and their families.

这节经文告诉我们,上帝有一个计划给我们每个人。上帝的计划对我们每个人都是好的。
我不知道他的计划在我的整个生活,但我知道,现在,他要我告诉我的故事,去帮助其他孩子和他们的家庭。