DVD!

We got a dvd of the kids yesterday. Oh my! How to communicate what it feels like to watch them try to understand that the pictures they're looking at are their new mommy & daddy. How do I describe the lost look in both of their eyes - the inherent sadness that must be from losing the only mom and dad you've even known and being dropped off in an institution. The glazed-over look in the eyes that is afraid to hope and unsure of the future. These are things that even at 3 and 9 months seem to be evident.

Sad, but true, one of my favorite moments on the dvd is when Eleni is plopped down on the floor in the clothes we sent, her little face begins to frown, a cry begins to form, clearly taking over her face, yet remains mute until about 4 seconds pass and it has to come out! Even though she's clearly in distress, we're so excited to see real emotion - upset because her nanny put her down again. It's also at this point that I can see two little teeth on top and two more on the bottom. Each little detail makes her that much more real... that much more personal... that much more our daughter... and that much more painful that we have to leave her in Ethiopia without two parents and 3 more siblings who want to shower her with unconditional love. This also gives a better indication of her age, which really is probably very close to 9-10 months as the 3rd & 4th teeth usually show up between months 7 and 11, and hers have yet to make an appearance. She can also sit-up by herself, but that was pretty much the extent of the showing off that we got to view - besides the beautiful crying demonstration that is!

Another favorite moment, is when Kadin realizes at some level that the gifts we've sent him are truly his, but he's clearly not sure how long he'll get to keep them. Immediately, when he's presented with each precious commodity, he gathers everything he can into his lap - the photo album of us, the soft, black gorilla, the red "cars" t-shirt, pop-up book that won't seem to stay on his lap, so it sits right next to him, and the tonka car-machines that he's playing with if they've left the safety of the lap. As he's playing with the cars, he notices the adult next to him putting his sister's gifts back into the ziploc bag. At this point, you can see a bit of panic creep in as he realizes that the lap may not be adequate protection to prevent his toy's receiving the same fate as his sister's. Kadin begins to quickly stockpile each car and the photo album up close to his chest. How to describe the emotion as we see him protect our pictures, not even really comprehending what this means... At this point, the adult "toy grabber" has caught up to him putting everything back in his ziploc bag, including the album. He is left holding the cars when he's told to move in to the next room. The helper has to lift him to his feet as his hands are otherwise occupied and not about to become available!

There's another moment when M is showing Kadin our pictures and telling him that this is his new mommy and daddy. He looks at M and then back to the pictures as if to ask if this is really the truth - he seems a bit astounded by the possibility that there is another mom & dad in his future. When the translator seems to ask if he understands, he raises his eyebrows, which in Ethiopian culture, means "yes." This is the cutest thing to see and something I'm sure we'll all enjoy and drive us crazy as we try to communicate with each other.

While we may not get much insight into their real personalities from our 3-minute dvd, it doesn't seem as if Kadin will not be a strong-willed child. He seemed quite polite and respectful and compliant. After all, he never complained as his toys were "taken away." One can't tell though if this is just because he's so used to not having anything to call his own and no opportunity to really become his own person in their world largely devoid of much stimulation, and yet filled with so much uncertainty and heartache.

Our kids will be moving into the Addis Ababa (about 4 hours away) within the next two weeks as their paperwork is transferred over to a new license. This is a both a praise and a concern. A praise in that their paperwork has to be transferred over to a new license if the adoption is to go forward, as the original license is not being renewed. It's also quite expensive to get food and supplies to the orphanage that far away from the city as gas and food has gone up exponentially, so it will be much more affordable to take care of the kids in the new center and give them good care. The concern is that this is just more uncertainty for all the kids and for ours in particular, it could mean separation from their siblings. We haven't been told at this point if they're brothers will be able to move with them or not. Very possibly one will and one will not.


We're also still waiting to find out more about whether the older sibling will be able to be adopted or not. The region he's from has said that they'll allow one child a month to be adopted, yet we have no verification at this point. The agency is trying to get it, which is no easy task in Ethiopia! And so very much would have to happen if he is meant to be in our home. All I can say is that we are utterly dependent on God and His best for both this very precious child and our family. If there was a chance to bring him home, I don't know if I could stand the thought of leaving him behind. Please join us in praying for His best!!!


Wish I could show you all the pictures and dvd. Some of my adoption friends I've met through other forums have recently passed court and shown their pictures. It's so exciting to finally see the little ones we've been praying so long for.


Someday, that'll be us...

Update & Names!

So much has happened in the last few weeks so it's time to update the details...

As I blogged about earlier, we receive the official referral for the kids on Feb. 4th and their original pictures when they had entered the orphanage. At the same time we received measurements, which were interesting to say the least. Our three year old boy is such a little guy and will have to hold his own to stand up to his little sister. According to their paperwork, she was 21 lbs. at 3 months (yes, you read it right) and her "big" brother was 26 lbs. at three years of age! We've heard a lot of comments about malnutrition causing the kids to be very small until they come home, but what gives with the baby?? We think her age is probably off by a couple of months. Right now, according to her paperwork, she's 8 months, we think she's probably closer to 10 months.

We got new pics of the kids that were taken two weeks ago, as well as new measurements (we're still waiting for new weights) and it looks like the kids are doing well overall. They received our gifts and we got pictures of them holding the gifts and wearing their new clothes. Every picture of our little girl is either with a straight face or crying - especially in the new clothes, which are pink... perhaps she doesn't like pink. Either way, it melts my mommy-heart to see her that way and gives me a little foretaste of what's to come. I told TrueDad that I think we'll get really familiar with that whole pouting/crying look. Funny how, more than anything, it just makes me laugh when I hear kids cry - I guess cuz they're just so darn cute. (Okay, I'm not sadistic - I don't cry when they have a really good reason to cry, like they've fallen and hurt themselves... I just love seeing the things that are such a big deal to little ones -and it's so fun to make it better. I wonder if this is how God sees us when we throw our little tantrums. Somehow, I don't think we're nearly as cute... Thank you God, for having so much patience!)

The most amazing thing was realizing, as I looked at a picture of the little boy that he was holding in his lap the photo album that we sent him showing the picture of TrueDad & myself! I have to admit that when I saw that I just broke down crying realizing that it was for real. We are now connected with Ethiopia and the kids are connected with us - they are in the process of becoming Truekids! I desperately wish that I could post pictures, but it's not allowed nor are we allowed to give out their names. I can however, tell you about their new names...

In Ethiopia, a name is an important thing - given out with real meaning behind each name. We wanted to find a balance of maintaining this connection and preparing them for their lives in the U.S. with names they could be proud of: ones that reflect both their heritage and their new life. While this seemed like a daunting task, we've been blessed to experience God's direction clearly in the process, further signifying that these children were chosen for us.

The little boy's name, "D" means "the kind one." in Ethiopia. I blogged earlier about how when we were trying to decide if we really were supposed to pursue the adoption, the main passage of Scripture that God lead me right to is Luke 12:22-34. My favorite verse I've been holding on to in that passage is v. 32 - "Do not be afraid little flock, for Your father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom." One day, I went looking for any verses in the concordance relating to that verse, in particular. The first one I looked up was Eph. 1:5,9 "He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will," and "He made know to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him." I'm so thankful that God's intention to bring us into His family was designed with kindness which is reflected in the name of our soon-to-be newly adopted son.

We decided to keep his birth name as his middle name and give him a new first name that also has special meaning, but is perhaps a little simpler for all of us who are language-challenged to pronounce. C.J. has always wanted a little brother, so we went for the African name, Kadin, which means "beloved companion." We are confident that he will live up to his name and be a "true & kind beloved companion!" - will that mean never a moment of sibling fighting??? Ahhhh... one can dream :).

When C.J. was born, we knew that we wanted to call him Ellie if he was a girl, but would have chosen a longer name to shorten to Ellie. Alas, it was not to be and while we were quite thrilled with our new boy, (yes, son, we still are :)) we were more than a little sad to never use the name. (Silly us, we thought we'd never have more kids... or was that our formerly practical selves trying to will some good sense into our what-could-be-viewed-as not-so-practical current versions?) So when we learned that one of our new children would be a girl, TrueDad was adamant that she be called Ellie. As he hasn't been too adamant about the details in this process, I was all too happy to go along with him. We did want to keep her Ethiopian heritage in there somewhere and so were trying to figure out how to best do that.

We learned that her given name, "W" meant "golden one." Her name doesn't translate easily into English and could cause other problems as well in the translation but we wanted to honor her given meaning in some way so we decided that we would look for a name that meant something close, like "valuable" or "light." I began to look down a rather extensive list of Ethiopian names, looking at the meaning column versus the name column. I found nothing meaning "valuable" and only one meaning "light." I think I just about fell over when I saw what it was... "Eleni." What a gift to see how God put all that together from almost 14 years ago, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart," Jeremiah 1:5

Now for the last name... in Ethiopia, the children take their father's first name as their last name. So all the children in the family with the same father have the same last name, but different from their mother's last name. When God really planted the adoption seed, I was in church listening to our pastor teach on the first chapter of Isaiah and verse 17 completely leapt off the page and into my heart, especially, "Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." I thought... this is what our church should be about. It was about that time that our pastor and his wife took in two little bi-racial boys who needed a home within their family - literally overnight. As TrueDad & I decided to go forward in our pursuit of adoption, we've always had the feeling that it would represent our church somehow or be linked in some way. Well... it turns out that the kids last name, "G" translates as "grace." Oh, did I forget to tell you that the name of our church is, "Grace?"

Their names now have a world of meaning to us.

We've also decided to incorporate their last name into Eleni's full name, so she'll be called "Eleni Grace True" - Ellie for short.

Our little 3 year old will be "Kadin 'D' True."

So now our dossier is on a plane on its ways to Ethiopia. After it's translated then we normally would be in line for a court date, however there's a slight issues going on... I'll explain in my next post cuz we need prayer!

Holding on to God and loving the ride!

TrueMom

Roller Coaster Life

I've not been a great blogger the last couple of weeks - I didn't even realize it had been so long til right now when I looked at my last post... well, the last two weeks have been anything but boring. I feel so blessed to be an active part of what God is doing.

I was just reminded of this verse on one of my student's blogs -

John 10:10, "I came that they might have life and have it more abundantly."

These are Jesus' words. I clearly am "they" and realize that this pretty much sums up my life and the way I embrace it. That's the reason it resonated with me so strongly when I came across it. I guess I'm not one to capture complacency very well or sit on the sidelines and think about the things I wish I had gone after. I don't ever want to be accused (even if its just me doing the accusing) of not doing something God invited me to participate in because I didn't have the means right in front of me. I don't ever want fear to paralyze me into staying in my comfort zone and miss out on the wild ride that God promises if I step out believing that He'll lead and forage the way.

I guess it reminds me of riding a roller coaster that I've never been on before. You know the kind - where you can't see what's over that ginormous mountain you're ascending or on the other side of the corkscrew, but when you're falling, you've never felt more alive (maybe cuz you've never felt closer to dying!) and at the end , arriving safely at the dock, feeling exhilarated, relieved, maybe a little sick and wishing you could do it again and again (at least when you're my kids' ages).

Figuratively speaking, I don't ever want to be the old person (this is definitely up to interpretation as some of my kids' friends never wanted to go on the roller coaster & I remember my mom who was younger than I am now watching us go. But there's a reason we don't see many senior citizens running from ride to ride - well, except for that wacko old guy on the Great America commercials...) who watches every one else go on the rides.

OK, so maybe my body doesn't like them as much as it used to, but I find it way too easy to go down that virtual road of "sitting this one out" as time goes on if I don't remind myself of what could be.

You know how some people are addicted to the adrenaline rush - like my nephew who's an amazing snow boarder and doesn't care if he breaks a thousand bones in the process - I'm addicted to the rush of when I'm a part of something greater. Something that only God can do. Something I can't do on my own. Something I don't have the natural means for. I see Him accomplish jaw-dropping things and in some little way, I was a part of it - along for the ride.

I know that somewhere on the way I may throw-up a time or two at the sheer velocity or stomach-dropping cliff I've fallen down at breakneck speed. But I have absolute confidence that I'm on the track and I can't fall off as long as I keep that super heavy shoulder harness on. The one that gives you the freedom to throw your hands in the air, scream along the way and trust that somehow you're going to make it to the end. This seems to be the Word of God and I find myself clutching it through every turn and cliff.

Jesus said, "If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, you can ask whatever you wish and it will be given you." - John 15:7. It's a constant thing. Not something you can choose to look at once in a while. Well, you can, but you're in danger of falling off the ride and missing out on God's track with the safety devices in place.

I'm so fortunate, blessed, grateful... to have a husband who wants to get on the ride with me.

This is huge as to why we're adopting. So much common sense says that we should sit out this ride and we get that. Yet, when God offered the invitation to get on the ride, we found we just had to go. Of course, we had the choice - God pretty consistently gives us that option - but every ride He's taken us on up to this point has been more than we could have anticipated. How could we miss out on this one?

Rascal Flatts has a great song that talks about this...
See you on the roller coaster -
TrueMom

Bad News/Good News

How to begin... this is the end of a somewhat frantic, at times nail-biting, completely humbling and glorious week. As I consider the "week in review" (to speak the language of a late night talk show, or perhaps more correctly, your favorite cable news channel) I'm a little in awe that so much has happened in 6 days. Of course, that's all it took for God to create the world and everything in it... I guess He can handle the issues in my life :).

How many of you when asked if you'd like to hear the good news or bad news first, choose the good news? Honestly, I never quite understood that, because who wants to end on a sad note? Well, I guess that would be all of you who chose the good news first... Since it's my blog, I get to choose (and if you'd rather have it your way, you can skip a few paragraphs and come back to this at the end) ...

Yesterday, I lost my son. For a total of 42 minutes he was missing. It was an eternity.

Honestly, I thought I was past that whole worrying thing when you go places in your mind as you realize your child is not where he's supposed to be. You know the drill - kidnapping, torture, accident... need I go on? For real, I get sick even thinking about yesterday. But really, he's 13 and able to take care of himself... uh... yeah, right! (We must here take into consideration that upon recently entering the teenage years, he has officialy lost his brain and I'm told, as well as personally experienced with other children close to me that will remain unnamed, that he's not due to get it back until about age 25.)I'm his mom and I believe it's well within my rights and quite possibly, my duty, to worry for him.

It all started at 2:38, when I had finished a rehearsal at school and realized that I had time to make some copies before leaving to pick up C.J.. Upon reaching the studio, I happened to glance up at the clock on the wall and thought maybe I was seeing things. It now said 3:40. I checked with another nearby clock and darn-it-all, it said the same thing. I immediately struggled with the sick lump rising in my throat as I realized that the first clock I looked at in the rehearsal hall couldn't have been right - or could I possibly have read it wrong??

Okay, I know, mom's aren't supposed to do that. Aren't we always aware of exactly what the time is if it involves our children... even in another time zone?!? C.J. normally gets out at 3:15 and we meet on the corner. This is one of my favorite times of day - watching him walk towards the car and finding out how his day was. We don't always get past the "normal" or "boring" response right away, but I love catching up, even on his terms.

I missed that yesterday, and after talking with TrueDad, realized that he didn't get that privilege either as C.J. certainly wasn't with him. As I ran down all the options I could think of and called all the friends I knew of in trying to track him down my panic level began to rise. At this point, we called in the calvary and pulled out all the stops (besides commandeering the police car that passed me by - but I was really close and it was next on my list) in our attempt to find him. My mom & dad, Sissy and I drove in separate cars everywhere we could think of, stopping in his favorite after-school haunts (this is with prior permission, of course), such as Starbucks, Subway and even SavMart. Have you ever tried looking for someone in a grocery store? I've always thought that one could be looking for the other one forever and still never find each other... we circle the aisles moving in opposite directions, always just on the other side of the aisle that the other person's on... Because of that I went in the same store more than once. I also accosted a large group of unsuspecting Jr. Higher's in the parking lot and I'm sure you know how very unapproachable they can try to be. Thankfully, these ones didn't manage to scare me too much, being the former Supermom that I was (I offically lost that status upon not being there for my son at pick-up - never-mind that I lose this status continually for several other reasons only known to other former Supermoms) on a True mission. Unfortunately, even being the all-knowing Jr. Highers that all Jr. Highers are (they're not told about the whole losing-the-brain-issue upon first entering the teenage years), they didn't have a clue where C.J. was either.

The call came at 4:22. It was Sissy saying, "You do know we found C.J., right?" I have to admit that this was said rather casually as they thought that, of course someone would have told me. He had decided to walk home (it's a good couple of miles uphill) after realizing he'd been momentarily abandoned. I had already driven both of the options one could take to get to our home with no luck. I hadn't considered the walking trails, however... Unfortunately for him, he had and ended up getting a little lost. His anxiety upon realizing that he wasn't in our neighborhood receded somewhat as he realized that he was lost in the neighboring retirement community! If you've got to be lost somewhere, that's probably a pretty safe bet... it was here that he was picked up by Sissy.

I immediately rushed straight home, asked Sissy where C.J. was, and went right upstairs to hold him for awhile. It didn't matter that he is 13. We both felt such an immense sense of relief. We just sat close on the couch for a bit and talked it out. We came up with a great plan if, God-forbid, anything were to happen like that again and decided that yes, bringing the cell phone with you to school is a priority! This really was why he had been given a phone - so we could stay in touch with each other as needed (even though he thinks that its to maintain that texting IV to each and every one of his friends throughout the day - LOL).

When the shock first hit that I really didn't know where he was, an overwhelming feeling of love struck as well. I knew that C.J. was irreplaceable. So special in his own right, and nothing could fill the chasm that would be left if anything really were to happen to him. Not Guy or Sissy, or any future children - biological or adopted. There is not another C.J.. I feel this way passionately about each one of my kids.

I was given a true gift yesterday - a glimpse of how God views us, either when we're right next to Him or when we've chosen to go our own way. I am not just one of a number of children that God has. I am His daughter and, in His eyes - irreplaceable. Made in His image, yet with my own idiosyncracies - and He knows each and every one!

How He must feel when, like the prodigal son, we choose to make our own path, deviating off the road and out of His protective care. I know He doesn't rest when one of us leaves His fold, but pulls out all the stops to go searching for His missing one. While He is God and knows where we are, He also knows just how lost we really are when we're not in sync with Him. What lengths He must go to in His attempt to bring us home where He can love us and care for us and enjoy us in all our idiosyncracies.

I wonder how many of us are afraid to come home because we're not too sure of the response we'll get, when what I really imagine He wants to do is throw His arms around us and just be with us?! When the father saw the prodigal son way off in the distance, he didn't sit passively waiting for him to arrive. No, really He didn't. He actually ran to meet him, demonstrating how passionate he was about seeing him. God knows what habits and issues we need to let go of. He knows the right timing to help us confront them. He also knows that it's only in the safety of His arms that we'll be able to face those and release them once and for all.

So, in reality, my bad news is quite good news, after all. My son, who was lost, is now found and my home is once again on its way to being complete.

Now if we could just get our precious Ethiopian babies home...

About that... some more good news...

Our home study was officially approved by our social worker and our placement agency, Children's House International, Friday, Jan. 30th and Tuesday, Feb. 3, respectively. Our home study approves us to adopt 2-3 children under the age of 7. It was then sent off to the U.S. Department of Immigration so they could move forward in approving our I171H - the paperwork stating that the U.S. government considers us to be suitable adoptive parents. We now began the wait to receive our fingerprinting appointment. Yes, once again, we get to be fingerprinted. After all, once, twice, no, three times is just not enough! It seems every agency needs their own reassurance that you didn't just recently rob the neighborhood bank (although some may contemplate it when paying the monies involved for an adoption ;)) or take up flashing, as I wrote about earlier.

We received the official referral of our two siblings waiting in Ethiopia on Wednesday, Feb. 4! This was the same day that AWOP's director was traveling to ET bringing our packages and several others to the kids at the orphanages. This means that she can give them to the kids, tell them that they're from their new family waiting to bring them home, and get pictures of them receiving the gifts and photo albums.

I must admit, it's been rather comical to look at the completely blank looks on my family and friend's faces when I tell them excitedly that we got the referral. I know they're thinking... "and so?" Or perhaps, "Referred you for what?!" A referral, in the world of adoption, is an official assignment that will go to the Ethiopian government, upon our acceptance (since we have to have it notarized, we're doing that Monday) signaling that these precious two orphans have been assigned and chosen to be adopted by the True family. In the world of adoption, getting a referral is a HUGE thing. Adoptive parents can sometimes wait several months to years to receive a referral of a particular child. It's not because there are a lack of orphans by any means, but a whole host of other factors slowing down the adoption pipeline. Consider the fact that there are only so many spots in any one orphanage and as the paperwork has typically been taking longer to get an Ethiopian adoption completed, there are less spots for new orphans to enter the orphanage. That's only one reason of many as to why people might have to wait for a referral. This does not hold true, however for a child already waiting in an orphanage, as ours were, without a family to claim them and call them their own.

Have I mentioned yet that getting the mail around our house these days is something I look forward to like a kid looks forward to Christmas? Okay, maybe not Christmas, but definitely a school holiday. Christmas will be passing our court date... What new form, letter, approval will I get that I've been anxiously waiting for? Today, it was our fingerprinting appointment letter! Our appointment is set for Valentine's Day (this might just be TrueDad's and my big date although we'll be sharing it with Guy, since he's over 18 and must be fingerprinted, yet again, as well) early in the morning. They kind of make it sound like you can come on a different day at the same time and not have it be a problem. We're going to try this coming Tuesday morning...

We also found out this week that the orphanage the kids are at is moving into the city. This will be a huge move for all involved. The good news is that with the famine, it's been increasingly difficult to get adequate food and supplies into their current orphanage, several hours outside of the city. The facility they're moving to looks quite nice by ET standards and should be a much better situation.

Please pray for our beautiful babies during this transition. There are a couple of concerns I'm not free to talk about, but God knows what they are and we've experienced firsthand the amazing ways He moves when His people pray!

And now to close (I know... finally...) I admit, it's becoming harder and harder to keep an emotional arm's distance from these little, innocent ones. With the referral, we received another picture of each of them when they were first brought in to the orphanage. I can't begin to tell you how their eyes pierce right through me, melting my heart, calling up my protective instincts as God prepares me to be their mother. They're not ours until we pass court and yes, something could happen so that they don't become ours. But I find that I can't dwell in that alternate reality.

God is preparing our entire family to bring these babies into our fold. Now that we've chosen them, we have officially begun fighting for them and won't stop until that privilege is taken away. After all, if not us, who? Who will fight for these children? Who will wipe away their tears, show them how to tie their shoelaces, pray with them at night and hold them when they may feel lost and never let go? Lord, let it be me...

Amazima Ministries

I just found this amazing and beautiful woman's blog and ministry in Uganda. She is truly demonstrating what it means to be His hands and feet. I promise this will not leave you unaffected, but will leave you more than a little humbled...

http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/

Yeah, it's Superbowl.

Can you tell from my writing that my reverence for the game is slightly non-existent? Today, we have a group of youth over from our church and our home is filled with bursts of gut-laughs and whoops. Mostly during the breaks - yes, the commercials are inarguably one of the best parts of this American tradition - and during the card game going on with the ones who don't care about the game.

As I think about what's going on in with our family this Superbowl it causes me to look back and consider years gone by with other memorable Superbowl get-togethers. They seem to mark distinctive periods in our lives...

There was the year I was a freshman at Stanford University and they were hosting the Superbowl at their stadium. My friends and I were so pumped to go down and hang out around the excitement. I don't remember seeing any of the game on TV, nor did I see it live, but I had a great view of the outside of the stadium and the craziness before and after...

Then there was the game that our oldest son, Guy, was 13 months old and we had friends and family over - the first President Bush was in the white house. We had a magazine with his picture on the cover and Guy pointed to it and said, "Wook, George Bush!" I never did figure out how he knew that...

One year, TrueDad and I spent the Superbowl on an airplane back from Texas coming back from a church conference. We arrived just as the game ended at our friend's house, who had been watching our three kids for several days. I'm not sure if I asked who won, or who played for that matter.

Then there was the game following 9/11. I can remember watching the half-time show where the names of everyone lost in that tragedy scrolled down the screen. The names seemed to go on forever.

This year, as I listen to the sweet chaos fill my home, I recognize that I'm on the verge of inviting that chaos on a regular basis as we bring in a 3 and 1 year old permanently into our home! The games mark changes in our family's lives and they've also marked changes in me, personally, That first game we had people over, I know I cleaned like mad so if any guests needed to lick their dip off of the floor they could. Now, in my infinite wisdom as a mom, my cleaning strategy included having my oldest vacuum two days ago, and the other two tackling their cleaning chores after the game is over!

I've definitely become more easy-going as the years have gone by. I find myself more than ever just enjoying having friends and family in one place and knowing that they're having a blast with each other. Right now as I write this, 8 boys are enjoying their youth or re-living their youth (I'm just hopeful that my husband doesn't kill himself winning the title) as they re-enact plays they've seen on the screen, several girls are watching the boys, a few are playing cards and two are kind of watching the game. Even if the game's a bust, maybe I do like the Superbowl after all... well, I'm off to join in the fun (not to worry, I'm thinking about the cards or the girls watching the boys, not the game with the football on the street...)

Happy Superbowl to you all!

Yeah! the packages made it to Spokane, and now... on to Ethiopia! It's exciting to send things to the kids and really the whole orphanage. They don't get much there. I know the director of AWOP was telling me how excited she was that someone had donated a playset that would be set up at the orphanage soon - what fun for the kids!

Recently, I decided to do some fasting and it was wild to note my deteriorating thought processes as I it was getting later in the day. I don't know how many of you have experienced what I did, but I found myself as the fast moved on coming up with all these rationalizations why I should be done earlier than planned. After all, how am I supposed to prepare for my class I'm teaching if I can't think cuz I'm starving!?! And then it hit... oh yeah... that's what's going on every day around the world... and the reason so many children are being given up for adoption. So much hunger and despair - so many children who's brains don't fully develop because of malnutrition. I have the option any time to stop my fast and open the fridge (okay, so maybe it's not smart to do major shopping on the day you fast, or did the devil make me do it...) and get rid of ache in my belly. Somehow with my new perspective, fasting doesn't seem quite so difficult. Although I must admit, I don't know how Jesus did it for 40 days. Clearly, He demonstrated wisdom in choosing the desert for his hang-out - no refrigerator there!

My poor family - I do find that I shop with different eyes as I ask myself, "Are we really going to eat that?" The words of my mother come back to haunt me, "You better eat that. There are starving children in Africa." Yes, kids, I have turned into my mother. Mom, there could be no finer compliment anyone could give me!

I've heard of some adults who come over from poor nations standing in the middle of a supermarket and just crying. It must be so overwhelming.

It is sad to see so many businesses shut down with our economy, but I have to admit, it seems like it's time to streamline and simplify. Choice is a great thing and we're so fortunate to have so many of them every day. Maybe now we'll just make them a little wiser.