shine like stars

Now Daddy's Turn....

2012-01-27T20:22:00.000-05:00

1. What is something Daddy always says to you?

Caleb: Clean this up.

Nathan: Let's go to this place.

Addie: That's cute, little Billy.

Melia: Melia go sit in time out.

2. What makes Daddy happy?

Caleb: When we do what he says

Nathan: When Michigan State wins

Addie: Doing Karate

Melia: Dancing

3. What makes Daddy sad?

Caleb: He was sad when his grandpa died.

Nathan: When Michigan State loses

Addie: Because we won't let him help us clean.

Melia: Um, like, wahahaha

4. How does Daddy make you laugh?

Caleb: When I make him laugh.

Nathan: I don't know

Addie: Tickling me right here (pointing to neck)

Melia: Tickle

5. What was Daddy like as a child?

Caleb: Me

Nathan: Happy

Addie: Um like being naked

Melia: He was like me like when I was a mom.

6. How old is Daddy?

Caleb: He's 33 turning 34

Nathan: Umm 34 I mean 33

Addie: 33 - Mom: How did you know that? Addie: He said he needed 33 m & m's

Melia: 3

7. How tall is Daddy?

Caleb: 5 feet tall

Nathan: 10 feet

Addie: 30 inches

Melia: Bigger than mommy

8. What is Daddy’s favorite thing to do?

Caleb: Go on bike rides with us

Nathan: Watch Michigan State games

Addie: Helping us clean our room

Melia: Laughing with me

9. What does Daddy do when you’re not around?

Caleb: Works

Nathan: Watch Michigan State games

Addie: Do the computer

Melia: He just cleans up our room

10. If Daddy becomes famous, what will it be for?

Caleb: Being Funny

Nathan: Becoming part of Michigan State games. He really likes Michigan State.

Addie: A castle

Melia: Tortilla

11. What is Daddy really good at?

Caleb: Soccer

Nathan: Legos .... kind of.

Addie: Doing the computer

Melia: Preschool

12. What is Daddy not very good at?

Caleb: Baseball

Nathan: The Krakan on Pirates

Addie: Making our bed

Melia: Doing his lunch

13. What does Daddy do for his job?

Caleb: He's a teacher.

Nathan: Teach at school

Addie: Doing the computer

Melia: He works every day and I play

14. What is Daddy's favorite food?

Caleb: My famous recipe

Nathan: Chicken

Addie: Chicken

Melia: Peanut Butter and Jelly

15. What makes you proud of Daddy?
Caleb: How he works

Nathan: When he tells us Michigan State won.

Addie: Driving around in the car

Melia: Tickling his arm like (wiggles fingers)

16. If Daddy were a cartoon character, who would he be?

Caleb: A Jedi Knight.

Nathan: Patrick

Addie: Sponge Bob

Melia: Sponge Bob

17. What do you and Daddy do together?

Caleb: Practice soccer a lot.

Nathan: Sometimes we watch Michigan state games together

Addie: Start a show... hmmm what kind of show... hmmm

Melia: Tickle ourself

*You can tell it's bedtime. They are a bit delirious.*

18. How are you and Daddy the same?

Caleb: Our DNA is the same.

Nathan: We are both boys

Addie: Because of our eyes

Melia: Good, good, good

19. How are you and Daddy different?

Caleb: He's darker than me... a little bit.

Nathan: He's taller and I'm shorter

Addie: Our faces

Melia: Good, like, all of our families

18. How do you know Daddy loves you?
Caleb: He takes me to work with him sometimes.

Nathan: Bednight kiss

Addie: Because of God

Melia: So much.

21. Where is Daddy’s favorite place to go?

Caleb: Soccer games

Nathan: I don't know... A Michigan State store

Addie: Michigan Adventure.

Melia: At American I mean Michigan

Wow- That's what they think of me?

2012-01-27T17:56:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I posted anything. I saw these cute questions on Peas and Thank You and thought I needed a good laugh so I interviewed my kids. I asked them questions separately so they won't be swayed by each other's opinions of me.

1. What is something Mommy always says to you?

Addie: You're so cute.

Nathan: Don't do that.

Melia: Melia Serawit

Caleb: Clean up your room.
*I just told him 2 minutes earlier to clean his room*

2. What makes Mommy happy?

Addie: Me.

Nathan: Doing the right thing.

Melia: Kidalee

Caleb: When we clean our bedroom and do things without you telling us to.

3. What makes Mommy sad?

Addie: Me not letting you think that I'm cute.

Nathan: When I do the wrong thing.

Melia: Um like stepping on your toe.

Caleb: When we don't do what you tell us to.

4. How does Mommy make you laugh?

Addie: Tickling me.

Nathan: When I scare you.

*I'm a bit jumpy and just might scream when I walk into a room I thought was empty. Unfortunately, this happens more than I'd like to admit. Do I need therapy?*

Melia: Like tickle me.

Caleb: You don't.
*That's not true. He really thinks I'm funny. He just forgot.*

5. What was Mommy like as a child?

Addie: A baby

Nathan: You were a kid who looked like me.

Melia: Me

Caleb: Like Nathan.

6. How old is Mommy?

Addie: What does it start with.... come on give me hint, just give me a hint.... what number does it start with?

Nathan: 31

Melia: 6

Caleb: Turning 33
*I ask Caleb often how old I am because I can't remember.*

7. How tall is Mommy?

Addie: 3 inches

Nathan: 9 feet

Melia: Taller than Daddy

Caleb: A little shorter than Daddy.

8. What is Mommy’s favorite thing to do?

Addie: Tickle me

Nathan: Doing the computer.

Melia: Do computer

Caleb: I don't know.

*Apparently, I'm on the computer a lot.*

9. What does Mommy do when you’re not around?

Addie: Just play

Nathan: Sit around

Melia: Play with me.

Caleb: I don't know, I'm not here.

10. If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?

Addie: Going to a pretend castle that's not real.

Nathan: Being a general and make them win the war.

Melia: If you can dance.

Caleb: Having fun.

11. What is Mommy really good at?

Addie: Tickling me

Nathan: Talking and doing the computer

Caleb: Field Hockey
Melia: Preschool

12. What is Mommy not very good at?

Addie:

Nathan: Playing wii.

Caleb: Mario Cart Wii

Melia: You know how to pee but you don't know how to poop.

13. What does Mommy do for her job?

Addie: Fixing Daddy

Nathan: Take care of us.

Caleb: She's in charge of the library at CHUP and teaches at ACE

Melia: With the boys

14. What is Mommy’s favorite food?

Addie: Chicken

Nathan: Rice and Chicken Caleb's recipe

Caleb: My special recipe.

Melia: Salad

15. What makes you proud of Mommy?

Addie: Your eyebrows
Nathan: When you give us grace.
Caleb: How much work she does.
Melia: You're arm. (as she hugs me)

16. If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Addie: Quincy on Little Einstiens
Nathan: Sponge Bob

Caleb: The main character.
Melia: Addie or Melia

17. What do you and Mommy do together?

Addie: Tickle your chothers.
Nathan: Read together.

Caleb: Go on mommy dates

Melia: Tickle your chothers.

*the girls came up with the same answer one their own. word for word.*

18. How are you and Mommy the same?

Addie: Because our eyebrows are the same
Nathan: I think the same color of hair

Caleb: We have a lot of the same DNA
Melia: Very much. Our hair is black.

19. How are you and Mommy different?

Addie: Our hair is different
Nathan: I'm a boy and you're a girl
Caleb: We like different sports
Melia: Like nothing

18. How do you know mommy loves you?
Addie: Because you say 'you're so cute.'
Nathan: Because you give us bednight kisses.
Caleb: By giving us grace.
Melia: So much, really. Very much.

21. Where is Mommy’s favorite place to go?

Addie: To West Virginia.
Nathan: Java Jungle because you get alone time.
Caleb: Flying kites in the summer.
Melia: At Michigan

I love my funny kids.

The Count of Monte Cristo

2011-12-07T18:38:00.000-05:00

I started this book months ago. I was stubborn and didn't heed my momma's advice to read the abridged. I'm still not done. I've run out of steam. I've started another long read, Atlas Shrugged. Hopefully, I'll finish it. One day, I'll read the rest of The Count. There are many quotes from what I did read. Enjoy this one....

There is neither happiness or misery in the world;

there is only the comparison of the one state with another,

nothing more.

He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to

experience supreme happiness.

We must have felt what it is to die,

that we may appreciate the enjoyments of living.

'Live then, and be happy, beloved children

of my heart, and never forget that until the day

when God shall deign to reveal the future to man,

all human wisdom is summed up in these two words

Wait and Hope.'

Christmas decorating for the underachiever

2011-12-04T00:14:00.002-05:00

My family used to call me the elf because I've always loved everything about Christmas. I like to go other peoples house and help them decorate.... some years I've maybe even been pushy about other people getting their tree up. I just love it.

So this year I was shocked when I had no desire to get our Christmas stuff out. We finally did it today. Yes, I'm well aware that normal people have not put up their tree yet, but as stated before, I'm usually an elf. Anyway, Michael made Blinna for breakfast and we got to it. So, this year I let everything go and let the kids have at it. As you can tell from the picture below.....

Here's our Nativity play area...

and another Nativity scene (this one a much nicer)

Here's the one thing I did work on....

our Jesse Tree

I bought burlap and felt at Hobby Lobby and went to work cutting randomly.

I think it looks like a tree. It has some issues but who doesn't?

Addie's sporting her favorite shirt - Go State!

Then I cut green felt into leaves and glued the Jesse Tree ornaments on them.

You can get it here.

Being Pinterest obsessed like I am I found this site.

The names of Jesus on a paper chain. If you'll notice, again I'm

letting the kids take over in the decorating department.

The most embarrassing part is that I wrote CHIRST for Addie to copy

and didn't notice for a few days that it was spelled wrong.

She turned the R into a B further changing the name and then Nathan

with his perfectionist/Monk-like tendencies circled her mistake.

Good times.

The point is each morning we take another ring off and read

the verse about Christ's name.
Maybe someday we'll fix it, maybe not.

I love George MacDonald

2011-11-30T15:17:00.000-05:00

Michael and I are reading The Princess and the Goblin with the boys. The other night I was so struck by the dialogue between Irene and her grandma about Curdie not believing Irene......

'You must give him time,' said her grandmother; 'and you must be content not to be believed for a while. It is very hard to bear; but i have had to bear it, and shall have to bear it many a time yet' ...

'In the meantime you must be content, I say, to be misunderstood for a while. We are all very anxious to be understood, and it is very hard not to be. But there is one thing much more necessary.'
'What is that, grandmother?'
'To understand other people.'
'Yes, grandmother. I must be fair-for if I'm not fair to other people, I'm not worth being understood myself.'

I loved these sentences so much I read it a few times before the boys asked if we could keep reading more.
I am striving to be a person who seeks to understand others and be patient about being understood myself. I am far from that mark most of the time. But it's a goal I'm aiming for.

Other great George quotes....

~We die daily, happy those who come to life as well.

~Afflictions are but the shadow of God's wings.

~I find that doing the will of God leaves me no time for disputing about His plans.

~It matters little where a man might be at this moment; the point is whether he is growing.

I'll stop now. But that's some good stuff!

Melia's Adoption Video

2011-11-16T14:44:00.001-05:00

One of my best friends, Elena, who now lives in Bangkok, made a video of Melia's adoption. It's amazing just like her! Thanks so much, Elena.

Together for Adoption Chicago

2011-11-13T00:34:00.002-05:00

Michael and I got to spend Friday just hanging on in Chicago. We had so much fun walking around. The conference was on Saturday and we had to leave early in order to be back in Lansing for Poppa’s surprise party! So we decided to go early and have a day of site seeing. So much fun.

My new birthday boots, I really love them and felt like they deserved a picture. I walked for miles and miles around Chicago and my feet were happy. Ok, enough boot talk… that was what Michael wanted to say to me many time over the past few days but he’s too nice.

Here’s the view from our awesome Priceline hotel. Yup, that’s the Magnificent Mile behind me.

Here we are on the hotel terrace.

We met up with our friend, Steve, later in the evening for some drinks and dessert at the Hancock Building.

Here’s the amazing view from the bathroom at the Hancock building. The best view in the building. I took a few pictures so Michael and Steve could enjoy it as well.

Now for the conference….

It was awesome. I think having a day sans kids was a blessing because we were able to sit down and listen and not need to decompress from life with kids (if that doesn’t make sense to you than you probably need more kids).

Vermon Pierre from Phoenix spoke in the morning session….. The God who adopts. Michael said it was the best exposition on Ephesians 1. That he’s ever heard. And yes, he said exposition, he’s cute like that. Since it was awesome, I’ll share some of my notes--

We can’t speak about adoption until we begin to grasp God adoption of us.
His wonderfully scandolous adoption of us.

Ephesians 1:3-5
God chose us before the creation of the world
He talked about the paperwork you fill out to do foster care. The page tthat most people pass by that says would you be open to a child who likes to start fires? Run around with knives? Act out sexually? Severely impaired- emotionally, psychologically? These are the files that are in the back of the caseworker’s cabinet. The ones that scream UNADOPTABLE.
We were like that. UNADOPTABLE. Full of sin, broken, unruly, we were dead in our sins, He chose us in spite of us.

Within the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) there was perfect family. God was lacking nothing. True Oneness.
God broke up His family for selfish people when He sent Jesus to Earth.
God planned the violation of his family for the purpose of our adoption.
God was willing to choose me after looking at my file.

Implications of our adoption-
1. We have a new identity in Christ. A sustainable identity.
2. Eternal blessing and acceptance..
.The Holy Spirit . We are blessed and will remain blessed . When he sees us He sees Jesus.
3. Purpose behind our adoption.
-We would be holy and blameless (like God)
-We are placed along side of God – Be like our Father
-Act like God- Graciously place our love on others as He does. Have choosing love.

Why did he do it?
-He wanted to. He wanted to show love and grace towards us.
-The heart of our adoption comes from the very heart of God.
-All of it is God initiative.
-God says to us ‘You are son because I choose you!”
Praise God for His glorious grace!

**We also listened to a great talk on global orphans by Dr. John Fuder…..
Making God Visible
Isaiah 1:17 Defend the fatherless
Psalm 82:3 Vindication of the fatherless
Psalm 68:5 Father of the fatherless
Psalm 10:14 Helper of the fatherless
Exodus 22:22 He hears their cry
Zech. 7:9, Prov. 31:8-9, James 1:27- Invites us to care for the fatherless too
Psalm 68:6 God sets the lonely in families
-God’s heart is bent towards the broken
James 1:27 don’t let this say you from going into the world. Light always wins.
The early church in Antioch took compassion on the orphans. www.adoption-by-grace.com

**Then we heard about an awesome ministry to at risk youth in Chicago – GRIP. Helping youth is all about building relationships with them. If you live near Chicago you should look into getting involved with this group… http://gripyouth.com/

We had to leave after this breakout. But were so blessed by the day!

Melia's new do

2011-11-09T16:05:00.001-05:00

Melia’s got a new ‘do. This is my first attempt at boxed braids. Unfortuntely, I’m not very good at making the parts straight but luckily Melia’s so cute she can make any hairstyle look awesome.

I got a couple really cute pictures of the kids a last week, so I figured we could take a cute timed picture before we left the park. Nathan thought he’d make the picture more fun and made this crazy face. Not sure if you can read the caption…… Class Clown a.k.a. Weakest Link.

Blessing Bags

2011-11-08T15:33:00.001-05:00

I have a new love in my life… www.pinterest.com. I have a long, drawn out excuse explanation as to why I can get sucked into this site. The short of it is that in the long run it makes me more productive because I do more projects than I used to because of all the great ideas I see pinned. So who cares that I don’t have time to wash the dishes or do laundry, I’m super busy spray painting random things in my house… tables, shoeboxes, handles (I might need an intervention).

All that to say that I saw an amazing thing on pinned from this site Blessing bags! And I thought we can and should do that.

Last year we bought a bunch of McDonald’s gift cards and keep them in the car to give to people in need. It was great and I loved blessing people with the gift cards but I wanted my children to be more involved in the process.

The kids were so excited about helping.

These ziploc bags are filled with things that someone living on the street might find useful, snacks, socks, tooth brush and paste, etc. I went to a few stores and stocked up on enough stuff to fill 30ish bags. Then we had an assembly day (thanks for helping, Grammy). Now we just need to put some cute hand-made cards inside and add some notecards with verses and they’ll be all set to bless someone.

This was such an easy thing to do and it helps my kids to think of others who are in need. I hope that the people who receive them will feel the love of Christ.

Grace

2011-11-06T20:51:00.002-05:00

My life is fully of teaching my children -- to listen, to love, do right, and more with the listening (and there's all of that school stuff, but that's another story). Well, I realize that I have the privilege of learning from them if I just stop instructing all the time and observe them. This week I've noticed grace, real grace from my children.

I think I understand grace, unmerited favor. I actually say to my boys at times, "I'm showing you grace right now by allowing you to do this since you don't deserve a privilege because you did ...." After the words pop out I am hit with the fact that I'm not really showing grace because I am being huffy about the fact that they did something wrong earlier. Sometimes, it's more of a real grace moment where I am happy to see them blessed by the unmerited favor I'm giving. Sometimes, not so much. Regardless, I realized today that trying to teach them with my words what grace is may not be the best way.

Earlier this week, I overheard a very comical conversation Caleb and his friend were having regarding when he's in heaven "I'm going to tell Satan to come here and then I'm going to tell him to say sorry for everything he's done and ask God to become an angel again." I giggled, thought 'where does he get this stuff' and moved on. This morning at church that conversation popped into my head. Singing about grace is much different than experiencing grace. I realized that Caleb gets grace. He knows that God gives to those who don't deserve it..... he believes this so deeply that he sees hope for Satan even.

I started thinking about situations where my children show grace. Brotherhood is a great example of that. Wrestling goes bad one kid gets an elbow to the face and then there's an outburst from the wounded one very shortly later there's an apology and an forgiveness. It's awesome to see as the boys get older how this process often happens without me. I just get to listen. The same is true for sisterhood, but with much more drama! When my girls fight, they love making up. They love to say "I forgive you" and jump right back to playing house.

When I think about it the thing that strikes me the most about my kids and grace is that they forgive and let go of the fault they found in the other completely. They don't say "I am playing with you again but I really shouldn't be because you did the wrong thing before." They move on.

Another thing I love is being on the receiving end of my kids grace. Anytime I've apologized to my kids for something I've said or done (I know, I know, shocking- I make parenting mistakes) they are quick to forgive and, unlike me or some other other adult interactions I've had with difficult relationship stuff, I feel accepted by them immediately and like they get the crap that comes with me is just part of the package, a package that they really love.

So that's the lesson on grace that my babies are teaching me. I'm thankful that I get a taste of heavenly grace daily. I pray that the Lord opens my eyes more often to the beautiful things my children can teach me, instead of constantly thinking about what I need to teach them. Lord, may our home be full of grace. Help me to follow my children's example of grace in action.

Expose Human Trafficking at Son of God Orphanage in Haiti

2011-10-17T00:22:00.000-04:00

I have no words to explain what I have just read. Read this for yourself

Poor sweet baby sleeping naked, on a cold, cement floor. No one to fight for her no one to protect her from the horrible realities of her life.

Sign this petition...

Expose Human Trafficking at Son of God Orphanage in Haiti

We are petitioning CNN to bring their international media voice and passion for ending slavery into the Son of God Orphanage. Please urge CNN to expose the corruption within the Haitian government, and allow international organizations to secure the children from the child traffickers who are now controlling the orphanage.

The evidence in hand shows:

> Children have been and are currently being trafficked from the Son of God Orphanage. The evidence on human trafficking leads back to the Son of God orphanage. The orphanage director was imprisoned in July as part of a police-led operation that resulted in his conviction of trafficking a child.

> Haitian investigators have told our team the evidence suggests organ harvesting and trafficking as well.

> Numerous photos show extreme physical abuse and neglect. U.S. and Haitian doctors have documented cases of severe abuse and neglect including burns and broken bones.

> As recently as October 10, American volunteers took children with late-stage starvation out of the orphanage and to local doctors. Without this intervention, the doctors confirmed the children would have died of starvation.

> After boldly bringing these facts to the attention of government officials, American citizens received death threats from those associated with the current orphanage leadership--documented by the Haitian police.

This orphanage must be shut down. Other orphanages are ready and willing to take these children. Please urge CNN to cover this story and work to close this orphanage and re-locate the children immediately.
----------------

Sincerely,

[Your name]

My baby is 3!!

2011-10-16T01:11:00.001-04:00

I can't believe that Melia is 3. Yesterday we celebrated her birthday

and we had a blast.

We started our day with a party.

One of the coolest parts about having a huge family is

impromptu parties. All of this kids are home schooled

so it worked to have a weekday party.

Eating pizza bagels :)

Elli and Silas

Silas is the newest addition to our Deslippe clan.

Isn't he cute?!

Micah and Melia-- the Ethiopian cousins.

She was so cute and turned shy when we sang to her.

Addie's pretty cute in the background, too. She was

so excited for Melia's special day.

Goofy girl! I'm not sure what this was about.

After the short party we went a pottery painting place.

Everyone picked their piece and went to work.

Caleb hard at work.

Lots of paint. The girls painted and painted and painted.

True to Nathan form, he was very meticulous with his work.

He chose to make Melia a 'M' for her birthday.

He's so sweet and painted it her favorite colors.

Yay! Ethiopian food! Let's party.

My girl loves shiro and injera!

After dinner she enjoyed a game of guess who.

We are so blessed by Melia. Even though I can't believe she's 3 and I wish that I could keep her as a baby forever, I'm more excited to watch her grow and into her cute, spunky self! Thank you, Jesus, for blessing our family so much.

2 Year Referralversary

2011-09-29T16:41:00.001-04:00

Two years ago yesterday we got the call that we'd been waiting and waiting for. (Click here to read about the day we got "the call"). Then we saw the pictures of our beautiful girl that took our breath away. She stole my heart with her eyes and those lips, oh how I love those lips. It makes me tear up a bit as I remember staring at this picture for ridiculous amounts of time as we waited to travel. I thought 'I just want to hold her and kiss her.' Now, 2 years later, I receive at least 50 kisses a day from those sweet lips~ yup not exaggerating sometimes I wonder if the amount of kissing is inappropriate but I think she's just making up for lost time. Boy, do I love those kisses.

Then there was this picture that broke this waiting momma's heart. It tore me up inside knowing how much she needed me and I needed her and I had to wait.

Here are a couple of quotes I found in my journal. Of course, I didn't write down where they came from cause apparently that's the way I roll, but nonetheless they are good quotes:

Yes, the sweetest joys of life are the fruits of sorrow.

Human nature seems to need suffering to make it fit to be

a blessing to the world.

and

Isn't it glorious to know that no matter how unjust something may be,

even when it seems to have come from Satan himself,

by the time it reaches us it is God's will for us

and will ultimately work for our good.

Two years ago our lives were completely changed by "meeting" our baby girl. I am forever grateful for the blessing she is to me and the ways the Lord has taught me patience during our journey to her.

I can't believe how much our lives have changed in the past two years. I cannot imagine our family, my world without Melia Serawit! Happy Referralversary, Melia.

My Boys and Teeth

2011-07-17T21:23:00.001-04:00

I am so in love with these boys. They seriously crack me up all the time. I love that they are great buddies and have such an incredible bond. Today I am so thankful for them for coming up with a way to remove teeth that I don't have to be involved in.

Yup... Remove teeth. Caleb's tooth was loose. The boys decided to use pillows to get it out. Yup... Pillows. Caleb bit on pillow then Nathan took another pillow and hit the one that was in Caleb's mouth. I didn't work the first time but they didn't give up. They tried it again and POP out came his tooth. I was thoroughly impressed!

Oh, the things they say

2011-06-18T00:40:00.000-04:00

Addie while looking at a bunch of rubber bands that fell in the grass days ago...
"Those are going to be there for ears and ears"

Michael asked me what I wanted to drink. The answer 'Anything alcoholic'. (p.s. I was mostly joking)
Melia says "I want milkaholic"

Addie often finishes her sentences with "or sumping like that."

The cute little girl across the street is named Nahrain.
Addie calls her "not gonna rain"
Melia calls her "not her name"

Melia calls any eating utensil a "spork"

I wish I could remember more because they're always saying something funny. My favorite is when the boys laugh at their craziness, too. Super cute.

Addie fell asleep on the couch. When I came downstairs to

check on her, I found this...

Crazy girls

Playing "pretend"

These two are hilarious when they make up pretend games. I'll hear one of them saying "mommy" and I'll respond. They'll tell me "no not you." It's actually quite refreshing to hear someone else fielding the questions.

I love my girls. They crack me up!

For all you mommas out there.... read this

2011-06-18T00:11:00.000-04:00

I was super encouraged by this from Desiring God....

Motherhood as a Mission Field

There is a good old saying, perhaps only said by my Grandfather, that distance adds intrigue. It is certainly true — just think back to anything that has ever been distant from you that is now near. Your driver’s license. Marriage. Children. Things that used to seem so fascinating, but as they draw near become less mystical and more, well, real.

This same principle certainly applies to mission fields too. The closer you get to home, the less intriguing the work of sacrifice seems. As someone once said, “Everyone wants to save the world, but no one wants to help Mom with the dishes.” When you are a mother at home with your children, the church is not clamoring for monthly ministry updates. When you talk to other believers, there is not any kind of awe about what you are sacrificing for the gospel. People are not pressing you for needs you might have, how they can pray for you. It does not feel intriguing, or glamorous. Your work is normal, because it is as close to home as you can possibly be. You have actually gone so far as to become home.

Home: The Headwaters of Mission

If you are a Christian woman who loves the Lord, the gospel is important to you. It is easy to become discouraged, thinking that the work you are doing does not matter much. If you were really doing something for Christ you would be out there, somewhere else, doing it. Even if you have a great perspective on your role in the kingdom, it is easy to lose sight of it in the mismatched socks, in the morning sickness, in the dirty dishes. It is easy to confuse intrigue with value, and begin viewing yourself as the least valuable part of the Church.

There are a number of ways in which mothers need to study their own roles, and begin to see them, not as boring and inconsequential, but as home, the headwaters of missions.

At the very heart of the gospel is sacrifice, and there is perhaps no occupation in the world so intrinsically sacrificial as motherhood. Motherhood is a wonderful opportunity to live the gospel. Jim Elliot famously said, “He is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Motherhood provides you with an opportunity to lay down the things that you cannot keep on behalf of the people that you cannot lose. They are eternal souls, they are your children, they are your mission field.

Faith Makes the Small Offering Great

If you are like me, then you may be thinking “What did I ever give up for them? A desk job? Time at the gym? Extra spending money? My twenty- year- old figure? Some sleep?” Doesn’t seem like much when you put it next to the work of some of the great missionaries, people who gave their lives for the gospel.

Think about the feeding of the five thousand when the disciples went out and rounded up the food that was available. It wasn’t much. Some loaves. Some fish. Think of some woman pulling her fish out and handing it to one of the disciples. That had to have felt like a small offering. But the important thing about those loaves and those fishes was not how big they were when they were given, it was about whose hands they were given into. In the hands of the Lord, that offering was sufficient. It was more than sufficient. There were leftovers. Given in faith, even a small offering becomes great.

Look at your children in faith, and see how many people will be ministered to by your ministering to them. How many people will your children know in their lives? How many grandchildren are represented in the faces around your table now?

Gain What You Cannot Lose in Them

So, if mothers are strategically situated to impact missions so greatly, why do we see so little coming from it? I think the answer to this is quite simple: sin. Discontent, pettiness, selfishness, resentment. Christians often feel like the right thing to do is to be ashamed about what we have. We hear that quote of Jim Elliot’s and think that we ought to sell our homes and move to some place where they need the gospel.

But I’d like to challenge you to look at it differently. Giving up what you cannot keep does not mean giving up your home, or your job so you can go serve somewhere else. It is giving up yourself. Lay yourself down. Sacrifice yourself here, now. Cheerfully wipe the nose for the fiftieth time today. Make dinner again for the people who don’t like the green beans. Laugh when your plans are thwarted by a vomiting child. Lay yourself down for the people here with you, the people who annoy you, the people who get in your way, the people who take up so much of your time that you can’t read anymore. Rejoice in them. Sacrifice for them. Gain that which you cannot lose in them.

It is easy to think you have a heart for orphans on the other side of the world, but if you spend your time at home resenting the imposition your children are on you, you do not. You cannot have a heart for the gospel and a fussiness about your life at the same time. You will never make any difference there if you cannot be at peace here. You cannot have a heart for missions, but not for the people around you. A true love of the gospel overflows and overpowers. It will be in everything you do, however drab, however simple, however repetitive.

God loves the little offerings. Given in faith, that plate of PB&J’s will feed thousands. Given in faith, those presents on Christmas morning will bring delight to more children than you can count. Offered with thankfulness, your work at home is only the beginning. Your laundry pile, selflessly tackled daily, will be used in the hands of God to clothe many. Do not think that your work does not matter. In God’s hands, it will be broken, and broken, and broken again, until all who have need of it have eaten and are satisfied. And even then, there will be leftovers.

Rachel Jankovic is a wife, homemaker, and mother. She is the author of "Loving the Little Years" and blogs at Femina. Her husband is Luke, and they have five children: Evangeline (5), Daphne (4), Chloe (2), Titus (2), and Blaire (5 months).

House Church and toots

2011-04-29T13:14:00.001-04:00

Here's an article about house churches....

Here's post from Jared, who happens to be one of our house church peeps. He addresses some of the issues that people have with house church.

The last 4 months of us experimenting with house church has been great for our family. We don't have anything against the institutional church. It has just been such a rich time for us to really dig into the Bible, lots of prayer and holding each other accountable for living out what we are reading. We practiced being a family together and each time we meet we eat together, pray, read and all the while laugh a lot. A few weeks ago Addie contributed to our meeting by tooting ridiculously loudly throughout our communion time-- as always the Gothros are keeping it real! I love it because everyone in our house church rolls with it and that, my friends, is what adds to the family feeling.

I was scared

2011-04-26T23:26:00.001-04:00

We've known since we met our sweet Ethiopian that she was an amazing communicator. Here's a post I wrote just one week after having her in our arms. At that point in time she would communicate (without words) about how she wanted us to hold her bottle while feeding her or how she wanted to be held while we read her a book. Sixteen months later and a whole world of vocabulary she's able to communicate emotions.

We have a picture book that has Melia's referral pictures in it and a few pictures of our family all together. I wish it was the book we sent her while she was in Ethiopia but I promptly lost that within months of bringing her home. That's how I roll, I lose things a lot. The good thing is that because of my forgetfulness I've learned to hold loosely to possessions. Anyway, I found Addie picture book the other day and it's become one of the books I read with Melia before nap.

Tonight while Michael was putting her to bed they were looking through the photo album when they got to the picture that was just Caleb, Nathan, and Addie.
Melia asked "Was I borned?"
Michael replied "you were born. You were in Ethiopia. We were waiting to bring you home. Do you remember when we brought you home?"
She nodded.
Michael asked "What was it like?"
She said "I was scared of Mommy and Daddy."
Michael asked "Are you scared of us now?"
Melia giggled and said "No, mommy and daddy always come back."

Here's some pictures of the first time we met her....

Yeah, it was really sad. They aren't pictures that will be posted on the cover of any adoption magazine. But she's right there was definitely fear here. She grieved heartily. She wasn't so sure about the Lord's choice in parents for her (I don't blame her, we're real white) but now 16 months later, there's no place she'd rather be than with us. Michael and I weren't surprised at her response to us. The amazing woman who runs Hannah's Hope, Almaz (for some reason this is the only picture I can find of her), warned us that Serawit was very attached to her special nannies and would have a hard time coming to us.

It's incredible to me that in such a short time she's completely comfortable with us and knows that she's safe. Her confidence in me "always coming back" makes me feel so content. I praise the Lord that He used us to heal her broken heart while blessing us with the joy that comes from being with this magnetic little girl.

I'm also completely shocked that she was able to verbalize her fear of us when we first met. It makes my heart so sad that in her short life she has had to go through so much but I'm amazed at her resilience. What an amazing child, thank you Lord that she's mine!

"Mommy always comes back"

2011-04-25T22:47:00.000-04:00

Aren't they so cute? I know I'm biased but really I just want to eat them up.

I was a little nervous about leaving the kids. In the 16 months since Melia's been home we haven't left her for more than a few hours at a time. She has only been put to bed by someone other than Michael or I 2 or 3 times. So I was worried she'd be sad and worried that we left her for good.

After we retrieved them on Saturday, we were driving home and from the backseat we hear "Mommy always comes back.... and you (pointing to Michael)". This made my heart melt (and I cracked up over Michael being "you"). She is secure in our love and trusts us to come back. This makes me so happy.

Some Easter pictures.

Whoa 10 years!

2011-04-25T22:14:00.000-04:00

Michael and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary last Thursday. The week before we decided to take a trip to the beautiful town of Puerto Morelos, Mexico. We had an awesome time. The resort was quiet and beautiful. Puerto Morelos is a cute little fishing town with lots of great restaurants. We absolutely loved it!

Here's some pix of our trip...

On the plane...

side note- we had 3 separate flights

each one I had a kid behind me who

kicked my seat the whole time :)

Pinguinos for Annie....

Our room

Amazing chicken cilantro dish at

La Paucho es Primero

Michael found a conch. After a two days of battling

with it to come out he ended up throwing it back.

Hiding from the sun. We spent lots of time reading

on the beach.

At the bus stop heading back to the airport.

We feel so blessed to have been able to escape for 3 days and know that our littles were well taken care of. Thanks to all our family who pitched in and loved on our kids while we were gone.

Caleb's Debut

2011-04-15T23:06:00.000-04:00

Ever since we saw Pippi Longstocking a few months ago, Caleb has been asking to be in a play. My parents signed him up for an acting class at the rec center for his birthday. He really enjoyed it and even though he complained sometimes about going to practice it was really a great program. So after 2 months of weekly practices they were ready for their performance--

Food Glorious Food

Waiting for the big show to start....

Lots of cute singing about food.

Caleb recited Shel Silverstein's "My Beard"

2011-03-30T16:26:00.000-04:00

I love reading. I've been off my reading game lately because I've been so busy with life. Well this weekend I'm going to see Les Mis, which is one of my favorites. I've been rocking out to the soundtrack in the car for the past week. So, yesterday I pulled out my Les Mis book and all morning I couldn't put it down. I don't usually just lay on the couch all day. The kids were enjoying the change of pace for the most part. By eleven the girls were getting antsy to get dressed and kept saying "in one minute." Caleb took pity on them and got them dressed. Then he decided to do the girls hair.....

I've been getting a lot of compliments on Melia's new twists (one lady stopped me at Costco and asked if I did it myself and was impressed). It only took me 3 hours to do.

Addie was more patient and ended up bedazzled.

Meet Alonto

2011-03-24T08:15:00.000-04:00

Addie and Melia were eating breakfast and I was getting ready in the bathroom.
I hear....

A: This is our new monkey friend.
What is your name?
Oh, Alonto. It's so nice to meet you!
Melia say hello to Alonto.

M:

A: Oh, Melia are you too shy to to talk to him?

M: No I'm too beautiful.

(the monkey was imaginary, in case you were wondering)

In other news, I realized yesterday that laundry really needed to be done when Nathan borrowed his sisters socks and Caleb wore sandals in 30 degree weather because they had no socks to wear. That's part of my home schooling plan - learning to think outside of the box.

Spring and a "string bandaid"

2011-03-19T21:27:00.001-04:00

I took this picture yesterday thinking I would write a post about how much we are

loving the awesome weather we are experiencing. We've spent the last 3 days playing outside.

Addie and Nathan played with these really fun laser for hours one day.

So I took this picture of them playing with the laser guns

meanwhile Caleb got to spend the afternoon with his cousins.

They also played a game of laser tag...

During his game he collided with his cousin and got a gun to the head.

He came home with a small but deep gash on his head

so we took him to the er.

This was our first stitching incident. Which I find surprising

cause we have so many little people around here.

We waited a long time for the doc to see him.

When he came in and took a look at it he said

"we're going to have to use a string bandaid on that one"

Caleb responded with

"you mean stitches?"

He wasn't going to be fooled.

Caleb was determined to document the time with pictures

so that he could share the experience with Nathan.

So here are the pictures...

He made us stand up so that he could get a picture of the chairs.

Keeping Grammy and Aunt Meg updated on the process

or lack thereof.

(Thanks Meg for staying with the sleeping kiddos).

Caleb was such a good patient. The numbing gel didn't

work as expected and he could feel as doctor stitched him up

but he was such a trooper.

Here's the final outcome at 2am...

Today this cutie decided she was going to potty train herself.

She had quite a successful morning actually.

Cuddly sisters...

This petition

2011-03-11T09:01:00.000-05:00

The Joint Council for international children's services is going to send this petition to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia.

It's really quick and easy to sign this petition. Please show your support of Ethiopian orphans and take a moment to sign this petition.

loved this..

2011-03-11T00:45:00.001-05:00

i had an awesome time watching My Name is Khan with the lovely Elena.

being a dearborner i have a great love for muslims.

i have amazing neighbors and it's great to live in a community that's so full of hospitality.

watching this movie reminded me that not everyone shares my view of muslims

and often times muslims endure hardships because of hate mongers.

here's an example

anyway, this is a great movie and you should watch it.

really watch it!

it's on netflix instant play--- thanks lara!

here's another thing that i loved today....
a sweet friend of mind sent me this email

As I read the devotional in my Women's Bible for John 20:29, I thought of you. Here it is:

Sitting on my bookshelf is a book published several years ago called The Myth of Uncertainty. The title alone catches my eye and speaks to me with a ring of truth. How I long for a world of black and white, good and bad, yes and no; a world of clear-cut distinctions and effortless decisions because the good and bad can be easily identified. No blurring rationalizations. No complicating considerations.

But clear-cut distinctions and effortless choices aren't true to my experience of life. Between black and white are shades of gray. Between good and bad are confusing questions. Between yes and no is a strong maybe.

he fact of the matter is, no matter how black and white and absolute some defenders of the faith portray the gospel, I simply can't buy that line. My experience and the experience of people of faith throughout the centuries, is one of a God who meets us in the questions, who honors our seeking, and who created us to be intelligent beings. When it comes to faith, if we're looking for proof and certainty, we won't find it.

Living at the heart of faith is living with uncertainty, trusting in the unseen. Somewhere along the way, we have to leap the chasm between that which we know absolutely and that which calls us from within. Yet even in our uncertainty, we walk in the presence of the holy.

God is far more interested in our honesty that our piety. We have only to offer him a willing heart and truthful spirit and He'll take it from there, meeting us in the chasm as we make the leap.

Tears (someone else's this time)

2011-03-11T00:13:00.001-05:00

Before Christmas my sister told me (via google chat which I'm sure was purposeful because she knew I'd yell loudly-- really it was because she could say it in front of her kids, they waited until Christmas morning to surprise them) that her family was planning to adopt. Her and her husband then spent a few weeks in serious prayer about where they would adopt from. They were sure that they wanted to adopt 2 boys, but not sure if they should go the domestic or international route. They felt lead to Ethiopia!! Yay more Ethiopians in the family!

Side note: as the youngest of five children I have been so blessed to watch how my siblings deal with situations and learn from them. I have found this so helpful in so many areas of my life. I am glad that they share their journeys with me so that I can learn from them.

I felt the need to share that side note because as Megan is dealing with the news that the Ethiopian adoption process is almost certainly going be slowing down, she has been very calm about it and then goes and writes this amazing post.... (and yes, I'm the ugly cry face girl mentioned)

tears

I really haven't cried or wigged out too much about the adoption slow down in Ethiopia. I know that God has the hearts of kings in his hands, but tonight as midnight began to roll around my heart became super heavy. Now I don't get the "cry face" like some sweet people I know, but I am having a hard time shaking this heavy feeling. I decided to check the time in Ethiopia...midnight here is 8am there...the new procedures are taking place. Families who have had referrals in hand will wait for court dates. Babies will be in orphanages longer. All is not well in God's creation-it hasn't been for a good 6,000 years. There is a problem. The spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places are working hard to get us to not trust our mighty King. We pray for the truth to come out through this process, we pray that the adoptions that are done in a righteous way will continue to move along quickly. We pray that the name of our LORD will be glorified through our adoption and the adoption process in Ethiopia. We pray for HIS will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

I don't know for sure that we will bring 2 little Ethiopian boys home. I do know that the Lord has called us to adopt and that he has put Ethiopia on our hearts. I also know that I am learning more and more to walk by faith and not by sight. I am glad we serve such a mighty God.

Lent trees

2011-03-09T21:27:00.000-05:00

I don't know much about lent. I the basics like the day before lent starts is

paczki day (which is amazing, but I sadly went the day without a paczki yesterday) and

that you fast from something for 40 days. All the while focusing on Christ and his amazing sacrifice.

So that's all I know about it and maybe I made that stuff up.

But it's always interested me so this year when I read about doing a Lent Tree on Andrea's blog.

Opps... I guess they're called Easter Trees.

Anyway, I thought I'd give it a try. My version is a ghetto one compared to Andrea's.

I bought my trees at Target's dollar spot (the boys were bummed they weren't read) and

I'm just going to use random stuff to create ornaments each day.

Today we read about having faith like a mustard seed and glued seeds on to a piece of paper.

Today as the kids and I had our tree time I shared a bit from this website and this website.

We also talked about fasting. I shared with them that I'm fasting from facebook

and from eating after 7 (tonight's just the first night and I'm already really wanting a snack).

Nathan decided to fast from Caleb's I-touch

and Caleb's fasting from chocolate.

I'm interested to see how serious they are about their fasting :)

What do you do for lent?

Sad news and a glimmer of hope

2011-03-05T11:48:00.000-05:00

This news is really upsetting. I love that MOWA is trying to ensure that all adoptions from Ethiopia are on the up and up. Believe me I really do appreciate that. But it seems like making sure that systems are in place for providing support to struggling families would be the first step in this process, not slowing down the process to a snails pace. There are an estimated 5 million orphans in Ethiopia. Last year the number of international adoptions rose significantly but at it's height only .05 - .10% of orphans were adopted internationally last year. There are so many children who need to be loved and cared for. It breaks my heart to know that there are going to be even more in the coming years.

My sister is in the process of adopting 2 boys from Ethiopia. They are just finishing up their dossier and are ready to be put on the wait list. I know several other families who are in process to adopt from Ethiopia. Please pray for peace and wisdom for their families.

For the last few months I've been thinking about how sad it is that there are so many orphans in Ethiopia and wishing that there were better solutions for those children. I've also been hearing about really great church planting movements that are spreading throughout Ethiopia. So my prayer has been for those churches to embrace orphan care.

Then the other day I stumbled on Seeds Adoption.

Seed Adoption is a pastoral training workshop that brings together influential pastors of evangelical churches from across a country to discuss (1) the plight of orphaned and vulnerable children, (2) a Biblical perspective centered on the gospel, adoption, and the local church, and (3) appropriate strategies to bring holistic and lasting change to the lives of orphaned children, all for the glory of God.

We believe that the gospel, when understood and applied, must work through the local church and in the lives of Christians to effect such change. Therefore, in order to help address the orphan crisis, the Seed Adoption training aims to create, maintain, and encourage a national conversation with the indigenous church.

YOU CAN HELP....

click here and you can help bring adoption to Ethiopian churches by sending a pastor this conference.

This is really a huge God thing for me. I have been praying and praying for something like this and it's happening. It couldn't come at a better time with this new process taking effect in the Ethiopia adoption process.

I love this Bible

2011-03-02T22:19:00.001-05:00

I really love reading this storybook Bible with my kids. I think that every person should own one whether you have children or not. Every story points back to the awesomeness of Christ and how He really "is all and in all."

Here's a little snippet from the beginning of the book. Sally (yes, I'm on a first name biases with her because we've read the book so many times) is talking about how some people think that the Bible is a book about rule or heroes....

"No, the Bible isn't a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It's an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It's a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne -everything- to rescue the one He loves. It's like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life!

You see, the best thing about this Story is - it's true.

There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them."

I don't know where you are at with the Bible, what your past experience has been when reading it, but I encourage you to read it with the above idea in mind. It's really changed my life to read it this way.

Candid camera type days..

2011-02-10T00:04:00.001-05:00

Cute kid pictures first...

Nathan's our little theologian.

He was reading this children's lift the flap Bible this morning and noticed

that there were Bible references on the pages.

So he went through each story and read from his Bible and the kiddie Bible

and pointed out the differences between the stories.

All of this was on his own. I would never had come up with this idea especially the

way the last couple of days have gone.

Cute cheese!

Addie is hard at work with a card for Ms. Austia.

They wanted me to take a picture to send into the Lego magazine people.

Now on to my candid camera kind of days....

After coming home from the amazing conference, I was hoping to have a normal fun

week with the kids. But I felt sick, Addie was sick and Melia was getting over being sick

so she was very cranky. For some reason I decided Monday was the day to clean out

the kids trashed room and I had the boys help me get rid of a lot of unnecessary toys and simplify.

(This may not seem like an important part of the story but it is)

Doesn't the room look cute? It's been covered with junk for the last few months....

So the kids have these round rugs from Ikea that were on the floor

and I decided it would be a good idea to wash them.

After all I just washed my couch cushions for the first time ever and I was amazed at the results.

I had no idea I could wash them. I was ~~too~~ excited about that for days.

So I threw them in the washer.

Fast forward to Tuesday...

Candid camera moment #1

Still feeling sick, still wishing my girls were feeling better.

During a diaper ~~wrestling match~~ mishap, I wind up with Melia poop

all over my favorite pj pants (the amazing zebra print pants), my sweatshirt,

the floor.... you get the point.

SO after bathing the baby I run downstairs to take care of the crap.

Only to find that my washing machine has some kind of crazy code blinking on it.

I looked in the wash tub there was a ridiculous amount of a substance that looked like sand in it.

After way too long of trying to just get the stupid door open I gave up and collapsed on the couch.

Then I had another go at it and ended up having to take it apart in order to get the water to drain.

While the water was draining all over the floor, the floor drain pipe became clogged and water

was everywhere, my poor girls were a little traumatized by there momma pretending to be a plumber.

I finally ended up going to bed.

This is what the situation looked like this morning....

So somehow when washed an insane amount of sandy stuff came out of these rugs.

Am I missing something? Are Ikea rugs secretly made out of sand? Do I actually live by

the seashore like I've always imagined in my head? WHERE the heck did this come from.

Oh, and the rugs are a soaking, stinking mess.... nice.

Picture of the poop clothes minus the zebra pants.

Picture of the wound incured while trying to repair the washing machine (don't ask).

Melia has been very distraught about this cut all day. "Mommy owwiee?"

I was doing fairly well with all of this, especially while feeling sick. Thanks to "The Song"

I'll tell you about later.

THEN...

While I was rocking Melia to sleep Addie ran upstairs and said

I made a big mess. I thought, no surprise just one of the 10 spills we have a day.

I told I'd help her in a few minutes.

Addie had extremely underestimated the mess and misunderstood that she was the cause.

My awesome husband, who did an amazing time taking care of the kids while I was gone,

in order to remove perler beads from immediate use threw them on top of this cupboard,

on top of a puzzle, which is on top of some wires

(don't be too jealous of my stellar housekeeping skills)

When Addie opened the door to get a puzzle out

BAM! Perler bead explosion.

I didn't get a picture of the ridiculous mess, but it was bad.

The kids spent a long time cleaning it up and there's still so many

Ahh, a breath of fresh air

2011-02-05T12:54:00.000-05:00

I'm having an awesome time at the Created for Care retreat. I didn't spend much time preparing to come and didn't have many expectations of the weekend but I have to say it's been amazing so far.

Last night we were challenged by the speaker to live life at well and not wail. She talked about Genesis 16 and 21 and how God saw Hagar in her distress and being in His presence allowed her to do what he called her to do. Good stuff.

There's been a recurring theme in the things that I've been learning in my life lately and I've been hearing it here too... that I need to be seeking the Lord and not looking for an exact formula on how to deal with issues in my life. Each of my children are different and I need to parent them the way that the Lord leads. So, pretty much I need to spend more time in the Word and less time concocting plans.

This morning we heard about parenting children like Samuel, who hear from the Lord themselves, not just from us. 1 Samuel 2:18 and 1 Samuel 3, really the whole book is good so you should read the whole thing. But she highlighted a few key things...
~Eli encouraged Samuel to lay down quietly and listen for the Lord.
~Our children don't receive a baby Holy Spirit, the spiritual things they say aren't just cute, it's from the Lord.
~Isaiah 45:3-4.... God's going to help me know who my children are and can show me how to parent them.

Then I went to a breakout session about adopting siblings and older children. Cris did an awesome job of sharing so many amazing things that she's learned along the way. She had really good insights here's her blog if you want to learn about her family.... Adopting our Little Sweet Peas.
Here were a couple of things that struck me...
~You view adopted children by their "family age" (how long they've been home) not by their actual age. This helps with having accurate expectations of our children. If they've been home a year then they'll deal with things emotionally the way that one year olds do. For those of you awesome people out there who haven't been called to adopt but you are really supportive to us adoptive mommas (I have some of you in my life who I don't know what I'd do without you!) This might be helpful to remind me of on hard days :)
~I need to initiate connecting with my adoptive child (but really should do with all my kiddos)
~Our children from the outside my look all put together but they are broken inside and need healing.
~As hard as it is for us, it's way harder on them--- treat them with grace!!

Oh, and it's also been great to meet blog and AGCI mommas face to face that I've been connecting with for awhile :)

I'm outta here and a recap of house church tonight

2011-02-04T01:05:00.000-05:00

I signed up for the Created for Care retreat months ago. I think it's going to be an amazing time of rest and fellowship with other mommas. I'm a excited about getting away but I'm also a bit nervous about leaving these little people. I know, they have a really great Dad who's going to take good care of them, but since it's my job to do this all the time I feel the need to act like life at home can't go on without me. :)

It's super strange to be packing just for myself. I actually haven't started packing, instead I made some goodie bags for the kids so they will remember just how cool I am even though I'm not home. And I figured the novelty of a couple toys will help Michael this weekend.

Here are a few random, cute pix of my girls...

On another note, tonight we had house church and it was so great. In our internship we do a lot of reading about house churches and how they work. After doing house church for a month, I'm realizing that the authors of those books aren't just making things up, real community, fellowship, growth, accountability and most of all love happens in houses! I love how simply reading the Word and praying with a group of people can feel like such a profound thing has happened.

It's also amazing how real we are with each other and how genuinely excited we are when people share the good things that are happening in their lives. I'm looking forward to continuing to have times of sharing when hard things are happening in our lives too. Really, it just feel like a family getting together to learn more about Jesus, there's laughing and talking, some drinking (maybe of the malt kind) and eating, and lots of prayer, which unfortunately I didn't experience that much in traditional church. Not because people in normal churches don't love to pray. I know that is not true, it's just the the structure of church, no matter how informal it is, does not put me at ease like hanging out in someone's house and sharing life with them. Maybe it's just me. But regardless of what it is, I'm just happy to have meet with the Lord and some really cool people tonight.

Oh, one more thing.... my heart almost burst tonight when I heard Caleb, my almost 7 year old, join in our prayer time by praying Ephesians 6:16-17. A sweet heart felt prayer about being ready to share Christ with others. It was precious.

Snowapalooza or snow apocalypse and a really cool brush

2011-02-02T23:28:00.001-05:00

Everyone was all hyped up about how much snow we were going to get today.

It didn't turn out to be that much snow but it seemed like a lot!

Michael spent most of his day shoveling snow-- ours and some of the neighbors.

Some friends came over to play in the snow....

Elena and Kimmie building a snow couch for Addie.

Pretty impressive couch

Cool Igloo

Now on to hair stuff...

This brush is amazing. Hair time with Melia has never been better. Seriously, I don't understand why it works but for some reason it does and for that reason I love it. Hair time isn't Melia's favorite. It has gotten better since she started enjoying watching shows. "I want Wittle Einstiens." So she gets to watch her show and and I work on her hair. But this brush makes the work so much easier! I love it.

Here are some pictures of her new do.

Isn't she ridiculously cute?

Hair time went so well she got a sucker for a reward.

Addie also got a sucker for being affiliated with Melia.

I obviously slacked on her hair, but she's still cute.

Speaking of cute today this little girl started saying

"Oh, this is widiculous!" (ridiculous)

She has said it numerous times today. So cute.

Awesome Freebie

2011-02-02T01:51:00.000-05:00

Last Summer I started reading this amazing book, Adopted for Life. It's a great read.

Great news.... You can download it for free on ChristianAudio.com this month.

If you'd rather read it here's a link to it...

Good ole' snaggle tooth finally comes out

2011-02-01T23:13:00.003-05:00

Before

snaggle tooth

Caleb, who will be 7 in a few weeks, lost his first tooth tonight. He was beyond excited. Many of his peers have lost numerous teeth and I think he was starting to wonder if his teeth would ever come out.

I on the other hand was quite happy in my world without creepy, wiggly, jiggly teeth. The first good wiggle I felt made my stomach churn. The days of watching him mess with it threw me off too. I know, I know this should not be about me but he hasn't asked to write on our family blog so I get to tell it from my point of view.

Oh, and Michael was also kinda freaked out about it too. So after about a week of the wiggliness, it was time to make it happen tonight. I tried my sister's floss trick cause there was no way I was going to pull it out with my fingers, but the floss was a fail. Then Michael decided to call in the troops and have his mom talk him through it. She did and with a big yank the tooth came out. A little traumatizing for the parents but the kid was a trooper.

and couldn't stop grinning. Now we start the awkward picture phase of our family....

The creepiness of the jiggly teeth isn't my only aversion to the situation. It's just another sign that my baby boy is no longer a baby. He's getting old. That's the funny part about having little kids. So many days I long for the times when I don't hear "mommy" said a gazillion times a day and when I can sit and read a book quietly or have an uninterrupted conversation with an adult. But at the same time I treasure these times when they are young and we are their world. Lord, give me the grace to treat them as the treasures that they are, and as I'm giving requests make them limit the number of times they say mommy a day.

New Look Disclaimer

2011-01-31T01:04:00.005-05:00

Today as I was posting on the blog Caleb was watching me and said "Why does it say Growing Gothros?" He wasn't too impressed by the title and honestly I've never been a big fan of the name either. So we spent some time brain storming (all potty names were quickly eliminated--pun intended) and we remembered the Bible verse about how we are supposed to shine like stars in this rough world. So we are gonna work on shining over here. Good news is that Christ can still shine through us even when we're ugly and cranky and undeserving.

My boys did get to shine some light on a few men who are without homes today. I have a feeling that seeing Caleb and Nathan with their tender hearts brought a little light into lives.

A month ago as they were leaving a hockey game, the boys met a man named Clayton who does not have a home. He left quite an impression on the boys and they have been wanting to help him. Today armed with MickyD's gift certificates they set out to find him. They did and he told them a bit about his life. He lost both of his legs due to frost bite and he spends his days bundled under numerous sleeping bags trying to get through the day.

Michael was really touched by the time he spent with this man and mentioned him numerous times today. At dinner he asked the boys what they thought God wanted us to do for this man. Their first answer - "Be his friend" followed by "bring him hot cocoa." Michael's planning on following through with those ideas and praying the next steps fall into place.

Have I mentioned how much I love all three of my tender hearted boys?

So back to the title.... We're not trying to be rock stars but just shed some light on a sad and lonely world. Stay tuned for how God works through weak and tired, sometimes really cranky vessels.

Oh and, why does blogger have to have that picture be so huge? I'm not computer techy enough to know how to fix my it. Any ideas?

A peek into our Sunday

2011-01-30T15:12:00.005-05:00

These days our Sundays are much more relaxed than they used to be. One of the requirements of the internship we are doing is to take a break from traditional church-going and meet as a house church with the other interns. We are on week 4 and it's been really awesome. Here's a little blurb from the beautiful Elena about our time last week and here's another one from Jared.

I love our house church and I'm amazed at the grace that's poured out on our children. It's one thing for Christian's to talk about how we want to be like Christ, but then not live that out. As we spend time in a small setting together, we get to witness the living out of the Word. Our family is especially blessed because we get to watch 7 people love on our children and show what the Body of Christ is like.

So, here's a peek into our Sunday...

After sleeping in late,

Caleb styled the girls' hair.

We also did a lot of reading books and the Bible on the couch

A little dancing (cause that's how we roll)

Some eating and more with the Word

Boy Adventure time....

One of the coolest perks of house church is that we get to pray about how we want to spend the money that we usually tithe to the church.

This month we decided to go out and buy lots of gift certificates to the golden arches and Michael and the boys are off to find people to deliver them to. I'm excited to hear about the adventures the had and the people who the Lord leads them to.

In case you're interested, here a book that I've been enjoying The House Church Book

Top 10 Things Not To Ask...

2011-01-23T12:17:00.002-05:00

It's been a long time since I've blogged. I've missed it. I felt like my first post after my long break should be a good one and I have no energy for a good post :) So, I decided to share someone else's really good post to break my no-blogging streak.

Shonda wrote this great post about questions not to ask adoptive families IN FRONT of their children. I love talking adoption. I feel so privileged when people call and ask me questions about the process or about our adoption. It's seriously one of my favorite things to talk about. I also love to talk about adoption in front of my children but there are some questions that are not appropriate to ask when children are present. I thought this post was written with a great tone, most people are asking questions with great intentions, they just don't know what lasting affects the questions can have on children.

Top 10 Things Not To Ask

In honor of November being National Adoption Month, let's talk a little adoption semantics. There are those things, sometimes completely well-meaning, that people say and do that make every adoptive mama cringe a little. Here's my top 10:

"Which ones are your real kids? Oh, you know what I mean." Well, in my case the difference between my biological kiddos and adopted kiddo is a little obvious, so I've never had this question. But, this isn't always the case. In general I don't believe people intend to insult or offend. But, think of it from the kids' perspectives. Imagine growing up, and constantly hearing questions as to your "realness" or the feeling of having to prove your place in your family. And, don't fool yourself ... kids are always listening. Adoptive parents already have extra battles to fight to instill a sense of confidence and security. Don't make it harder for them by asking insensitive questions. I assure you, Joseph is my real kid as much as my three other kids are, and I would not hesitate a millisecond to jump in front of a bullet for him.
If you meet a family with more than one adopted kid, don't ask "are they real siblings." Yes, they are real siblings! Timothy has a real brother, and his name is Joseph.
"What a blessing your family is to Joseph." I know this is a well meaning comment. I've heard it numerous times. But, let me tell you, I am a blessing (and a curse) to all my children equally. And, I believe wholeheartedly that I am receiving the greater blessing. So, if you are tempted to say this, just turn it around. Say: "Oh, what a blessing Joseph is to your family," because this would be more accurate.
"Oh, what an awesome thing you did. You are so amazing. You must be a saint." Honestly, I throw up a little in my mouth every time I hear this. Trust me folks, this isn't false modesty. I'm perfectly flawed and, just like most every other mama, I spend way too much time selfishly ignoring my kids and losing my patience. If you've said this to me, no worries. I forgive you. Just cut it out! :)
"Oh, I hope he knows how much you've done for him when he grows up." I hate to break it to you, but generally kids don't appreciate their parents until they have kids of their own (and sometimes not even then). Why should we expect anything different from adopted kids?
Please don't generalize horror stories and apply them to every adoptive family you know. Yes, some adopted kids grow up to be punks. Guess what, so do a lot of biological kids. And, yes, adoption involves money, and where money is, so is corruption. But, don't assume, because you saw a news report on CNN about a corrupt adoption in Ethiopia, that every Ethiopian adoption is corrupt. Unfortunately, the good stories don't make prime time but they are the majority.
If you see a multiracial family in the grocery store, maintain a little bit of self composure. I mean, if you're going to stare unceasingly, at least follow it by a smile so we don't feel the need to watch our back all the way to the car.
Be sensitive about asking questions (even good questions) in front of older children. While some kids soak it up, not all children like being in the spotlight their whole lives. If you have a genuine desire to know more (besides unbridled curiosity), politely tell the parent you would love to know more, and do they have an email address or could you pick their brain sometime. Most adoptive parents I know LOVE to talk about adoption (myself included), but their first priority is the protection of their children. Right now this isn't really an issue for me, because Joseph is too young to comprehend any question or conversation I might be having. But, in a few years brace yourself for mama bear should you get too inquisitive in front of him.
Don't leave out the bio kids. This has happened to me numerous times. I see strangers in the store, and they ooohhh and ahhhh all over the brown baby, completely ignoring the beautiful pink babies in the same shopping cart. I get it. He stands out (because he's brown, but also because he's gorgeous). But again, keep in mind the kids. You never know if that middle child isn't crying out for just a portion of baby brother's public attention.
Unless you have a really really good reason (like you are the child's Godparent), don't ask about the birth family or the reason for relinquishment. Some parents are very sensitive on this issue, and rightfully so. Joseph has an absolutely amazing birth father, who had a tragic story that involved nothing less than pure sacrificial love, that led him to take Joseph to the orphanage. It undoubtedly saved my son's life. I hope Joseph grows up with nothing but love and honor for him, and one day I hope we all get to go back and meet him again. Not every adopted child has such a story. But, as beautiful as his story is, it is still tragic and involves a lot of loss. As he gets older, we can't pretend that this won't affect him, and casually discuss it while picking out bananas at Wal-Mart. As he gets older, I hope Joseph is at peace enough with his story to want to talk about it, but I won't force him to.

Adoption is a beautiful, amazing thing, so let's talk about it. Never, never be afraid to talk about it. Just think a little before speaking, especially if the kids are within earshot. I've only been an adoptive mama for six months, and so I'm sure I'm missing a lot. So I would love for other adoptive parents to chime in on this, and add to my list.

Sleeping beauties

2010-12-15T00:17:00.004-05:00

Melia has had some issues falling asleep lately. She usually falls asleep really quickly and has no problems sleeping in her crib. For about a week now she's been insane when it comes to sleep time. She screams and freaks out.

We've been doing a lot of rocking her to sleep but she knows that we're going to put her down eventually so she's been resisting falling asleep.

Last Tuesday she had (sorry this is gonna be gross) an explosive poopy when I went in to get her in the morning. This is highly unusual for her, in fact it's never happened before. Since then she has had a really hard time sleeping. So, we've been trying some unconventional things.

Addie's bed (which she doesn't sleep in because she likes to sleep in the boys room) is a day bed and I turned it so the opening is now facing the wall and it's like a really big crib. She was a little bit happier about sleeping there but it didn't quite do the trick, she still flipped out when we left the room.

Then I got really smart. I talked Addie into sleeping with Melia and bang! She now sleeps! The trick is to get Addie to fall asleep first (which isn't really a trick cause she falls asleep 2 seconds after she puts her head down).

Aren't they ridiculously cute?

Melia loves unbuttoning her shirt.....

So, who knows how long this system will last for, but I'm just so glad that Melia's screaming cycle is over. It was really sad.

While I was talking to our agency's family life education lady today. I realized that the poop in the crib was maybe a trigger to her early days as in infant. When we received her referral last September she had an enlarged spleen. All the doctors we talked to said that she could have had a case of malaria or something earlier in her life. So, I'm thinking that she maybe had a lot of messy poopy incidents as babe and last weeks incident triggered emotions in her. Of course all of that is speculation. But it helps for me to think through all of those things so that I can try to help her move past bumps in the road.

Happy Melia Day!!

2010-12-13T23:50:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it's been a year since we finally got to hold our baby girl.

She wasn't so sure about us for the first few hours but she quickly realized we weren't giving her up and gave in. I am amazed at how much she has grown since we first met.

Here's the post we wrote a year ago about our first week with Melia Serawit.

I'm pretty amazed that all the things we learned about her in those first 7 days are still true,

well maybe not the shy part.

p.s.

sorry these pictures are so huge, i've got issues...

I am amazed at the joy (and the volume) this girl has brought into our home.

The wonder of Melia has not worn off. All of us are still pretty enamored with her. Just last week Caleb got in trouble for waking her up from her nap because he "missed her".

Anyway, she's super great.

I can't believe it's been a year since she saw us and broke out into tears.

It's amazing how love can heal and how her love has forever changed us.

Advent Devotional

2010-12-03T20:42:00.006-05:00

This year we are doing this advent devotional..... The Jesse Tree Journey. It's so easy to do and it's all on line. You can print out each day's devotional or you can just read it online which is what I am doing. It also has all of the ornaments available to be printed. So yesterday we printed all the ornaments, cut them out and glued them on construction paper. Then we painted our tree....

We started out with paint brushes....

Then we decided to dive in and just use our hands.

Melia wasn't too sure about it at first but then she loved it.

Occupational hazard

Cute cast girl!!

Here's our finished project. A little, funky tree.

Each night we will do our devotional and add a paper ornament.

We are also reading this book .... Barthlomew's Passage

I'm all about advent over here!!!

Done and done.

2010-11-30T23:42:00.003-05:00

Our kitchen floor is finished! Yay! I've hated our floor since the day we moved in almost 6 years ago but I just lived with it. The last couple of years I really started to hate it. I felt like I was always cleaning it yet it still looked dirty. We were planning on having my dad help us put ceramic tile in and when we pulled up the old floor we found hardwood underneath. It was underneath years and years of adhesive glue and lots of other layers of flooring. We found a guy who said he would finish it for us for cheaper than we could have bought materials for the tiling project so we went for it. Here's how it turned out....

It's a lot darker than our other floor (as you can see)

but it's a heck of a lot better than what we had before

so I'm happy.

The older kids got to sleep in our room tonight

since their room is downstairs and it's

really smelly down there.

They were excited about the impromptu sleeping party.

Now for Kids Say the Darnest Things....

Nathan spent a good chunk of his day with my dad aka Bubba. We had to be out of the house all day and my dad stopped by this morning to check on the floor situation. Nathan hitched a ride with him and hung out with him for the rest of the day. Which was great for him. He's my little introvert who's forced to be around all of us all day. He enjoyed being the only child with Grammy and Bubba today.

For some reason, he decided my dad was an "old man" and told my dad that numerous times today. Tonight at dinner he looked at my mom and said "Grammy, I have bad news for you. Bubba's an old man." Hahaha. I love that funny kid.

Then tonight as I was tucking the kids in Addie asked me to pray for her. I started praying... "Lord, I pray for Addie." She interrupts me... "Mom, my first name is A-dul"

Another funny kid. I love it.

Inside out?

2010-11-29T23:32:00.002-05:00

Maybe I'm the only mom that thinks this but my children are way harder to parent while we are around other people. They are excitable and attention-seeking, they are mommy-needy and sometimes do inappropriate things.

I know I'm not painting them in the best light.... they really are amazing kids. At home we have a pretty good flow going on and aren't as crazy. And the other day I took them to a playplace at a busy mall and while we were leaving I thought "Wow, my kids are great. Those crazy kids at the playland made them look like angels." So, they really are great... but shocker of shockers.... they're kids!

I realize that the busier that I am the more irritable I am with the poor cuties that are stuck with me. We have a lot of things going on around here and we drag our kiddos along on that ride. I need to be better at saying "no" to some things so I won't be quite so cranky. I also feel the need to care less about what others think of my children and my parenting. I'm not a super self conscious person, but sometimes when we are around other people I feel this yucky feeling rising up in me. I want my kids to behave well because that reflects well on me. My focus often turns from caring about what's going on inside of my kids or myself and quickly turns to having a good outward appearance.

Earlier this week I was reading about a time when Jesus was talking with the religious leaders of his day and they were challenging him because his disciples had "unclean hands" and didn't wash as the religious people did before eating meals.

Then Jesus in his amazing way of calling people out said "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of man."

Jesus wasn't (and isn't) concerned about outward appearances. He cares about what's going on inside our hearts. That is super reassuring to me. I don't need to be concerned about what our sometimes crazy family looks like to other people. I need to focus on blessing the little people I have been blessed with and as I continually refocus myself on His Kingdom then I have no space to focus on my/my kids outward appearances.

Maybe that makes sense to you. Maybe not. It felt good to write out some of the thoughts that have been bouncing around in my cloudy head.

I enjoyed these posts about mommy busy-ness and the need to slow down. Thanks Angel and Aimee.

All I want for Christmas...?

2010-11-15T00:04:00.004-05:00

Tonight at dinner Caleb randomly asked "So Dad, what do you want for Christmas?"

Michael was pondering his answer when Caleb piped in with...

"Now that Melia's home you don't want anything, huh?"

That cute, random boy made me realize that Melia hasn't even been home for a year yet! It seems like she's been here forever. I love that every Christmas time we will get to remember the awesome gift we have in her. That's going to be a fun thing to think about as advent is coming up around the corner.

Last year our Christmas season was a whirlwind. Usually, I'm an elf. I love to decorate (I usual end up putting up my sister's tree and help my parents with their's, I love Christmas music and just get really excited about everything. But last year we were preparing to leave the country and I was a basket case. I just wanted to have Melia in my arms and I did not want to leave my other babies. In all the chaos my Christmas elfiness was lost. This year elf will be back (Caleb's my sidekick) and I'll be decorating away! I'm so glad this year we'll get to relax and bask in the blessings the Lord has given our family!

Ouch

2010-11-11T23:15:00.002-05:00

This is our dishwasher.

We found it on the side of the road 5 years ago. It works great. It's a little irritating that you

have to move it to the sink in order to turn it on but it works and it was free so we're happy.

Just so we're clear, it is not attached to the floor.

This is our beautiful daughter....

Addie vs. Dishwasher...

The dishwasher won.

I'm not exactly sure what happened. I was in the dinning room. She was in the kitchen talking about the colors of the plates in the dishwasher (we were actually discussing the differences between dark and light blue) then I heard a crash and ran just in time to pull the dishwasher off of my baby. Lots of screaming and dishes breaking and other children running to the scene to find out what happened.

She was such a trooper the doctors said she was an amazing patient. She was a shell of herself for hours as she tried to cope with the pain. Meanwhile I was running through the worse case scenarios wondering if the dishwasher hit her in the head and knocked her senseless because she wasn't acting like herself and didn't want to talk, just wanted to cuddle and looked really pale.

While the docs were examining her arm she was so brave. She didn't want to cry and did a great job at coping with the pain.

Then the x-ray lady showed her face. I know she was just doing her job but it takes a special

person to be able to twist a baby girls broken arm through all the screaming in order to

take a picture. To add to that she made Michael hold the hand in place while she took the x-ray. That was the worst part though and it was over quickly.

When the doctors came in and said she needed a cast I was relieved. I was envisioning surgery and a closed head injury.

Literally a minute after the cast was on Addie completely perked up. She started smiling and got off my lap for the first time in hours. It was amazing. Her arm felt so much better!

I feel blessed that she wasn't hurt more and that we had

a great experience at the hospital.

Of course in 8 weeks I probably will be complaining about being sick of the cast,

but for now I'm praising the Lord!

I (heart) AR

2010-11-07T23:56:00.002-05:00

I love Africa Revolution and I think you will too. Check them out. Oh, and I'm happy to say that we're related to this awesome couple!!

What this video about their vision to include Africans in their volunteer work. It's an awesome idea and they need help in supporting the Africans volunteering this next year. Allan explains it better than I do....

Great chapter...

2010-11-02T23:53:00.003-04:00

So weeks ago I shared that I was reading this book... Christ of the Indian Road. Well I finished it and I loved it. I wrote a little about it here.

This chapter so stuck out to me that I'm going to share it. I know most people won't read it and that's cool with me. I just feel compelled to share it.

.....

Jesus taught but he did not speculate. He never used words such as "perhaps," "maybe," "I think so." Even his words had a concrete feeling about them. They fell upon the soul with the authority of certainty.

He did not discourse on the sacredness of motherhood-he suckled as a babe at his mother's breast, and that scene has forever consecrated motherhood.

He did not argue that life was a growth and character an attainment- he "grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men."

He did not speculate on why temptation should be in the world- he met it, and after 40 days' struggle with it in the wilderness he conquered, and "returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee."

He did not discourse on the dignity of labor- he worked at a carpenter's bench and his hands were hard with the toil of making yokes and plows, and this forever makes toil of the hands honorable.

As he came among men he did not try to prove the existence of God- he brought him. He lived in God and men looking upon his face could not find it in themselves to doubt God.

He did not argue, as Socrates, the immortality of the soul- he raised the dead.

He did not speculate on how God was a Trinity- he said, "If I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you." Here the Trinity - "I," "Spirit of God," "God"- was not something to be speculated about but a working force for redemption.

He did not teach in didactic way about the worth of children- he put his hands upon them and blessed them and setting one in their midst tersely said, "Of such is the kingdom of God," and he raised them from the dead.

He did not argue that God answers prayer- he prayed, sometimes all night, and in the morning "the power of the Lord was present to heal."

He did not paint in glowing colors the beauties of friendship and the need for human sympathy- he wept at the grave of his friend.

He did not argue the worth of womanhood and the necessity for giving them equal rights- he treated them with infinite respect, gave them his most sublime teaching, and when he rose from the dead he appeared first to a woman.

He did not teach in the schoolroom manner the necessity of humility- he "girded himself with a towel and kneeled down and washed his disciples' feet."

He did not discuss the question of the worth of personality as we do today- he loved and served persons.

He did not discourse on the equal worth of personality- he went to the poor and outcast and ate with them.

He did not prove how pain and sorrow in the universe could be compatible with the love of God- he took on himself at the cross everything that spoke against the love of God, and through that pain and tragedy and sin showed the very love of God.

........

Ok, I was too ambitious. That's only a couple of pages and I'm too tired to keep going. The chapter is called The Concrete Christ. I love ESJ's focus on the person of Christ.

Mommy Confession-- I don't want what's best for my kids

2010-10-28T00:11:00.004-04:00

There's an attention getter for you!

I have moments where I second guess myself and my choices, recently-- "Should I really be homeschooling these boys?" My boys are smart, and I'm not just saying that because I'm their momma. They pretty much taught themselves how to read and they can soak up insane amounts of information. I'm not saying that they are smarter then everyone else's children, but they are pretty bright kids. So, I have moments when I think are we doing what's best for them? Should they be in an actual school, where people who get paid to teach them and are not constantly distracted by toddler girls and the desire for more coffee. Is this what's best for them?

Then I thought.... I don't care about what's best for them. Ultimately I do care, but as a Jesus-loving momma, I care about showing them Christ and that means me following Christ. And right now I feel like this is where He's leading. So my job isn't to do and figure out what's best for my kids but rather to point them to Christ. Now, don't get me wrong-- this is not a blog post about how homeschooling is best and that every Jesus loving parent should homeschool. It's exactly the opposite, everyone should experience Christ and figure out what that looks like in their family.

Speaking of experiencing Christ. Caleb has been struggling with some fear issues. He's got macho man type tendencies and instead of telling

us he's afraid of something he changes the subject and uses distraction techniques to avoid the issue. Tonight I put the girls to bed then went out with some friends. Before I left the boys were well on their way to snoozeland so I figured they'd be sleeping when I got home. I walk in the door and Michael says "you have to deal with him, I'm done." To which I laughed because I used that phrase many times when comes home from work about any given child. :)...I digress.

So I got Caleb out of bed, sat him down and said let's talk about what you're afraid of. He says poisonous bugs (ok, really?). So I go the route of 'there's no poisonous bugs in our house you are completely safe'. He wasn't buying it so I said 'who made bugs? who made you? who can take care of all your needs?' 'God, God, God.' He knew the answers but I could tell it wasn't going to make a difference in his mind tonight. So I told him to get in bed and that I'd come lay down with him in a minute.

Meanwhile I prayed. What makes the difference in my life when I'm stressed or tired or scared. Experiencing .Christ. makes .the .difference. When I'm stressed I think - the Lord has faithfully gotten me through many crazy times in the past. When I'm tired I think - the Lord longs for me to rest in him.

So I climbed into Caleb's bed and we spent some time remembering the cool things Jesus did while he was on the earth. Healing people, calming storms, loving the unloved, defending the defenseless, feeding the hungry and other stuff. We talked about how Jesus was with Caleb all the time and he's able to handle anything Caleb's afraid of. He's a big God. Then I prayed, and my sweet boy nodded his head the whole time in agreement. When I was finished I said I believe Jesus is going to bless you with an awesome nights rest and good dreams. He said 'me too.'

It was a good moment for me to lead my boy to experience Christ instead of pushing his fears aside. Because in his head those fears are really big. But in my life I've seen how no matter how big the problem, Christ is bigger.

My biggest hope is that my kids experience that too. It's not that they have the best of everything available but that they live in the knowledge of Jesus being a radical guy who is still asking us to live radically with him. I trust that if they are loving Jesus they're getting the best. So ultimately I do want what's best for my kids, it just looks a little different and my decision making process has to reflect that.

Matthew 7:9-11

Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, as bad as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Sibling joy

2010-10-27T00:22:00.004-04:00

Sometimes it's rough having siblings....

you have to share your parents with other little people,

you have to exercise a lot of patience since someone is usually have having a meltdown,

you have to share everything,

while riding in the car you have to wait until your sister stops screaming so your mommy can hear you, the list could go on and on.

Even though having a lot of sibs can be difficult at times. It definitely has it's perks.

I love that my boys love and understand each other in ways beyond me-they have some serious brotherhood happening.

I love that my girls freak out when the other one cries (even though many times the non-crying girl is the culprit for the tears).

I love that when one kid reaches a milestone the others are freakishly excited ~ Nathan riding a bike, Melia walking, Addie pooping on the potty, and so on. Sometimes it's weird things like "wow, Addie can stick a raisin up her nose!"

It's also great that when one sibling is in a bad mood you can always find someone else to laugh with.

All that being said, being a mommy to 4 little ones can be rough at times.

Like going out to dinner or going to Bible study or trying to have a conversation with an adult or even completing a thought.

There are times, like tonight, when little people want me to cuddle them at night because they are scared, and I'm all 'No thanks, I'm kinda done with the mommy thing. How 'bout you hop into bed with your sister.' I recommended the sister because she often climbs into my bed around 4am with a blankie and a boatload of other random things she sleeps with. So I'm hoping she'll feel the warm body and stay in her bed. He does and this happens....

I slept with one sister or another until they each moved out of the house (it's rough being the youngest). The running theory on why my siblings and I married young is because we hated sleeping alone. Good times, good times.

2010-10-23T22:57:00.002-04:00

Yay!! My new Tom's. Do you see Ethiopia on my foot?

So cool. I love them!

My first cornrows.

Not the best work but my girl did such a good job and was

so patient with me.

It took a long time to do these 6 braids. I'm planning on doing

the back tomorrow.

Where's Toto?

Melia really wanted the wig on then

left it on for 3.2 seconds.

Cuteness

2010-10-21T15:26:00.003-04:00

My friend Trenda took pictures of my kids last spring. Since I haven't put up new pictures in a long time. I asked to create a collage for me and this is what it turned out like. Isn't it amazing?Check out her blog 6 Little Feet.

Tea Party

2010-10-18T22:43:00.002-04:00

Apparently, clothing was optional at this tea party....

Between the two of them they have a whole outfit on...

By the looks of it, Melia's tea was spiked :)

While the boys were away this weekend, we did some girly things. Mainly stayed in our jammies all morning and just hung out. Addie spent some q.t. with aunt Meg so I could get some homework done, it's amazing how productive I can be with just one little person around. Then I watched a scary movie with my friend, Elena (cause that's the smart thing to do when your husband's not home!) At least I got some exercise out of it. During the really freaky parts I was jumping around like a crazy person..... I hope Elena still wants to be my friend after that crazy display.

I'm excited about this...

2010-10-16T11:17:00.002-04:00

Christ of the Indian Road by E. Stanley Jones

Amazing book written in the 1920's. I'm just going to share quotes that I'm loving. Enjoy....

~The Mayflower that carried the Pilgrim Fathers to religious liberty in America went on her next trip for a load of slaves. The good ship "Jesus" was in the slave trade for our fathers. Is it to be wondered at that race and color prejudice still exists in the West in spite of Christianity? It came in with it.

~It is a most significant thing for India and the world that a great people of amazing spiritual capacities is seeing, with remarkable insight, that Christ is the center of Christianity, that utter commitment to him and catching his mind and spirit, and living his life constitute a Christian.~

That is awesome reminder to me what a Christian is. It's not dependent on what church we go to or what semantics we use. It's about Christ and catching his mind and spirit-- to do that I have to spend time with him.

~As Bossuet says, 'Whenever Christianity has struck out a new path in her journey it has been because the personality of Jesus has again become living, and a ray from his being has once more illuminated the world. ~

All of that was just from the Introduction. I have a feeling I'm gonna love this book. Anyone want to join me in reading it???

More Birthday Fun

2010-10-14T21:36:00.003-04:00

We usually don't buy our kids big gifts.

I outdid myself this time- I bought her a package of

ping-pong balls and pretended that putting in different

plastic bowls was really fun.

She had fun with that for a few minutes then decided

shaking them and wearing the bowl on her head was more fun.

She was right.

These two were "helping" me make dinner while the

other ones were at soccer practice. We had breakfast for dinner.

Melia always covers her ears when the blender is on because it's

"too woud"!

Tonight she was busy eating a frozen strawberry so Nathan being the

sweet boy he is covered her ears for her!

Daddy and Birthday girl

Swapping tastes

Happy 2nd Birthday Melia

2010-10-14T17:41:00.003-04:00

Bubba met Melia and I at an Ethiopian restaurant for lunch

My girl loves Ethiopian food!

Impromptu birthday party at Aunt Mamee's house,

Melia thought she should try out Micah's new costume.

Cute Birthday Girl!!

Sweet cousins..

I love that just getting part of my

family together looks like a party...

Yummy cake kiss

More to come when we celebrate when Daddy gets home.

The dreaded birth date post

2010-10-12T21:53:00.002-04:00

Sounds horrible doesn't it? To be clear, I've been dreading sharing that we officially changed Melia's Birthday. I figured maybe people would piece it together when I posted pictures on Thursday about her turning 2, since she just turned 1 last May.

When we received Melia's referral last September and according to her birthday she was only 4 months old, but she looked much older in her pictures. At that time we were not thinking at all of changing her b-day, we just wanted to get her home and give her lots of kisses!! We also wanted to put some meat on her bones (she only weighed 14lbs.). Hannah Hope got that process started and chunked her up while she waited to come home (she gained 10 pounds in her 3 months there)! Then when she came home all we were thinking about was loving her and bonding with her or "cocooning" if you will. When we broke out of our cocoon every where I went people would comment on the kids (lots of people wonder if I have a daycare!) and ask about their ages. People were always shocked when I would say Melia's age, sometimes they'd argue with me "there's no way she's ___." Really, folks?! I feel the need to say that my friend, Georgia, is often amazed at the advice and crazy things people feel free to say to me, really I could do many posts on the comments I get.

Based on the adoption reading that we had done we knew that it was frowned upon to change your child's birthday. There are a lot of really good reasons for that. A few of those reason are: for adoptive children to get caught up developmentally and it's a date that was given by their birth family. It all made sense to us so we didn't spend much time thinking about switching the date.

Then we had to fill out forms to get her birth certificate and on the form it has a section about changing the b-day. So I started thinking about it and pray about it. After lots of praying, Michael and I decided that changing the date made a lot sense. Developmentally she is tracking with all the other 2 year olds that she hangs with. We really are amazed at how quickly she has developed in the short time she's been home. 10 months ago today we met her for the first time and she was not even crawling yet. She's now a runner, yeah it's a waddly run, but a run none the less.

Then there's the idea that her birth date was given by her birth family..... well folks, the reality is that not everyone is like us Westerners who are a little over the top when it comes to celebrating birthdays (don't get me wrong, I love me so birthday fun but we can go overboard with it). In many parts of the world dates just aren't very important. Things are based more on the seasons than on a specific date and even exact minute of birth. Melia was born in a remote village in southern Ethiopia, it's such a small village it was difficult to find a map while we were in Ethiopia that had her village on it. So I'm guessing that the day that my wonderful baby came into this world wasn't documented and that the documented date came from a social worker who was helping a sad mother as she relinquished the rights to her beautiful baby.

Writing this is difficult for me. So is talking about it when people are insensitive to the topic. Everyone (well, most people) is so good natured with their comments "maybe she's this old" or "wow that's crazy that you don't know her actual birthday". People are quick to say the first thing on their mind without thinking about the people they are talking to. It's hard for me to know that I don't have a specific birthday for her, I don't want her to be different than the rest of our family. It's also strange to have people decide her age in front of me based on her development "she must be older because my kids never spoke so clearly at that age" umm... not to be mean, but maybe she's really smart! Don't get me wrong, I love talking about adoption and I really don't mind these comments too much, but I'm done with dealing with them. It really only bugs me because these comments are always in front of my kids. As she gets older I don't want to feel the way I feel when people say things. I feel like I'm not communicating very well, this feeling. And I can't explain it so I guess that's as good as it's going to get ;)

So we officially changed her birthday to October 14, 2008 and since we changed it we felt such a peace about our decision! It feels right and good and we praise the Lord that He lead us in that direction.

Even though I wasn't excited about writing this I'm glad I did. It's a little like therapy for me. Most things about adoption are incredible but I want to be real about the stuff that is hard. And I also want people to stop talking to me about how old they think she is. hehe :) If I sounded bitter about comments I've received, I'm really not- I promise. :)

Check out

2010-10-11T00:20:00.002-04:00

this blog for information on a give away......

The lovely Lisa is giving away 3 copies of The Connected Child and Created to Connect. The Empowered to Connect site has lots of information on these resources if you want to check it out.

Fall Fun

2010-10-09T16:04:00.004-04:00

Wild Child running down the apple rows singing,

"happy, happy apples"

Tracker ride. Addie started to feel sick while we were there.

Melia loved the apple orchard!

Picking her first apple.

My boys are amazing...

2010-10-08T22:17:00.005-04:00

Many times I'm very consumed with the girls. They are alway creating drama or I'm tired from chasing them around so I don't always notice how fun my boys are. I'm trying to notice more of the cute things they do these days. A couple days ago, I walked outside and found this...

and this on the other side of the yard. I laughed and laughed. They are always creating games and are usually oblivious to the rest of the world (which can be frustrating). They were totally entralled in there little world that they barely noticed me, even with my loud laughter.

Here Caleb's making us pizza bagels for lunch. He did a really good job and even cleaned up after himself. I just had to cut the bagels. Oh, and he said he really needed a thing that covers up your stomach before he started. And didn't mind my flowery one that hasn't been worn in years, or maybe ever---good thing my grandma doesn't read this.

Then there's this cuteness.

We just got the boys their own "real" Bibles, not the children's abridge ones. Nathan reads his in the morning while he eats his breakfast, just like his daddy. He's so funny. I was encouraging him to start in the New Testament, but he refused. He's now on Genesis 6. I'm hoping some awkward conversations don't come out of this. The other day I heard him read "and then he laid with his wife" and I ran out of the room! That's good parenting for you.

Cute boys on the soccer field.

Caleb's super competitive and always knows what's happening during the game and where the ball is. I call Nathan our little intimidator these days. His main goal is to distract the other players (usually the other team) by running circles around them and making goofy faces at them and just being as crazy as possible. Hey, I'm just glad he doesn't pee on the field anymore!

I just wanted to share some thoughts about how awesome my boys are! I'm so blessed by them and I'm amazed at how much they love each other and their sisters.

You can help bring my nephew home.....

2010-09-29T22:39:00.002-04:00

My sister and her husband are in the process of adopting a special needs baby boy from China. This is their 3rd adoption in 4 years so they could use all the help they can get with the finances.

They had a marvelous idea to have a fundraiser using "squares" the Michigan vs. Michigan State football game. You can find out more information here. This is a fun way to help out a family and maybe win some cash-o-la yourself.

It's been a year!

2010-09-28T15:03:00.003-04:00

A year ago today my life was deeply changed. We got the call we had prayed and waited for. The wait seemed so long and miserable. It's amazing how life on the other side of waiting flies by.

A year ago today we got the call! We met our sweet girl through pictures. We got the call...."I'd like to tell you about a baby girl." We heard about our baby girl. The girl of our dreams, the girl we had been praying about for over a year. As I write this I cry bitter sweet tears. I am so blessed by Melia Serawit and it's insane how much I love her and how immeasurably happy she has made our family but it breaks my heart to think about her birth mother who a year ago at this time was mourning the loss of her baby, and she probably still is.

From the time we started praying about adoption and praying for our babe, we also prayed for her birth family and we still do. I don't know how the spiritual realm works but I do feel a connection to her through the greatest Father of all. I've also been amazed lately as I've read my Bible at the references to the Lord being close to the poor and the broken hearted. I trust that He's comforting Melia's birth family.

Click here to read last year's post about "the call"

Cute kids for your viewing pleasure....

They are the boys' biggest fans at the soccer games!

Addie looks like she's crying but she's really cheering:)

Addie's Antics

2010-09-13T00:42:00.008-04:00

Running to me crying in the reptile house at the zoo...

I think something horrible must have happened, someone tried to kidnap her, she almost fell into the turtle pond....

Nope.

Through sobs she says,

"I don't want other people to look at my favorite animal."

Seriously, kid. What is going on. That's crazy! Wow. I've got to deal with that insane idea before I can even get to the bigger one...An alligator cannot be your favorite animal- Mommy hates them. They are creepy and ugly and give me bad dreams.

____________

Me: Addie, please take that pop tab out of your mouth. (One of Caleb's many collection pieces).

Addie: It's not a mouth mommy, it's a bathtub for it.

Me: Huh?

(She's not mad in this picture, she makes faces like this all the time to be funny)

________________

Addie: Mommy where is Melia's Daddy?

Me: You mean your Daddy, too?

Addie: No, you my Mommy and dat's Melia's Daddy.

Me: Can't we both be your Mommy and Daddy?

Addie: No. Daddy's Melia's and you're mine.

Me: What about the boys? Am I their Mommy and Daddy their Daddy?

Addie: No

~She's been keeping this idea up for about a week now. She really calls Michael Melia's Daddy most of the time. Sometimes she slips up and calls him Daddy but she's pretty sure of her theory here. She's proud that Melia's her sister and the boys are her boys, but I'm solely her mommy. I feel badly for the boys who at ages 5 and 6 are parentless. More craziness from the cutie.

Although, upon further thought maybe she is thoroughly confused...Michael has been hammering it in Melia's head that his name is Daddy. She called him Michael for a few months. So maybe Addie's thinking that since he doesn't tell her 50 times a day his name 'is Daddy' like he does to Melia he's not her daddy. (Melia is now successfully calling him Daddy)

__________

I love my nutty little girl!

Goodness and Love

2010-09-13T00:25:00.004-04:00

So much in life is uncertain. Of course my days seem very uniform. Wake up, feed kids, drink coffee, clothe kids, direct kids, redirect kids, more coffee, more with the feeding, more with directing and redirecting... you get the idea.

But the rest of the stuff in life like jobs and health and the questions of will Addie always take a binky, will the boys remember how cranky I am with them, will we move, will we stay, how, when, and where...

I don't know about the future.... how many poopy diapers will I change tomorrow, how many fights will break out, what major mess will the girls make, how many tears there will be....

but what I am super convinced of is that

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23:6

When the days of little kids seem long and mornings seem longer (because I stay up too late enjoying the quiet) it's good to know that my God has good things for me each and everyday of my very blessed life.

Melkam Addis Amet

2010-09-11T23:25:00.006-04:00

Happy Ethiopian New Year! Here's a great website that explains a bit about Enkutatash... http://ayannanahmias.com/2010/09/02/happy-ethiopian-new-year-melkam-addis-amet/.

We spent part of the day celebrating my sweet niece, Elli's birthday. She really is one of the sweetest girls in the world. I love her so much. It's amazing to see how she already has such a servant's heart at such a young age.

We spent the evening celebrating Ethiopian New Year by taking the Ethiopian babies out to dinner at A Taste of Ethiopia. Micah and Melia loved the injera and all the attention that was given to them at the restaurant. I was so impressed by Melia's ability to pick up the food so daintily with the injera. I enjoyed the little touch of Ethiopian culture we had tonight. It made me miss Ethiopia!

Later in the night Caleb read this awesome book that was given to us from a friend....

It's a great book that explains some of the Ethiopian holidays and talks about how amazing the Ethiopian people are. I recommend it!

Golfin' with Dad

2010-09-10T23:48:00.003-04:00

Michael finally caved to Caleb's pleas and took the boys "real golfing."

Here's a couple of thoughts about the day from Michael.....

They were both ecstatic about the chance to go. I found a par 3 golf course that cost $5 for me and $4 each for the boys. I thought it was only 9 holes, but it was actually 18! What a deal! Well, we only made it through 5 holes in an hour and a half, and the boys and I had had enough. At that point Nathan was so frustrated that he was walking back to previous holes on the mostly un-inhabited golf course and taking the flags out and laying them on the green. He was taking his frustrations with golf out on the course! As we walked off the course, after some counseling from me, the boys were in better spirits. (to be fair, Caleb really enjoyed the whole experience and kept his frustration under control). I asked the boys, "did you guys enjoy your time, even though it was really hard?" Nathan quickly responded, "It's not hard for me." Caleb agreed, "It's not hard for me, just frustrating." They both said they would like to go again...maybe next time we'll get through 8 holes!

Both the boys have some perfectionist tendencies. Sometimes Nathan's emotional and perfectionist tendencies collide and form a big storm. It doesn't happen too often but when it does -- watch out!

Michael took some cute videos but I'm not sure how to upload them on blogger.

2010-09-10T02:44:00.004-04:00

This was a summer highlight...

The boys called 911 and hung up. When I say the boys....here's how it went "Nathan you want to call 911." "Ok."

Minutes later I look out the front window and see police officers getting out of their car and the boys running up to the house. They were freaked out. The police saw the rage in my eyes and for some reason they literally played the "good cop" role. It went something like this...

"Oh, boys, you'll never do that again right? Great! Now do you want to see the police car? I'll let you turn the lights on."

Really cop-per you're encouraging this behavior? The boys were so freaked out and felt horrible about the whole thing so it was good that he was nice, I of course played the bad cop role and after I took the pictures sent them straight to bed.

The cops were so nice. They really were excited about hanging out with the boys. It was super cute. As the cop was showing them the car I heard him say, "sorry the car's dirty, we were just in a dirty part of town." I wanted to to discuss the fact that he was apologizing to my 6 year old about the car being dirty and I was really wondering about the dirty part of town. Like so many times in my daily life, I'm too shocked by what is happening to ask questions.

Happy Birthday Adeline....

2010-09-10T00:46:00.008-04:00

Yup... Late again, but only by a month.

Addie was so excited about turning 3. Ever since Addie saw Melia's ladybug cake she's been asking for a blue birdy cake for her b-day. I wasn't sure how I was going to accomplish that task so one day I took my little errand runner, Nathan, with me and went to the crazy craft store in our neighborhood. We found a real looking blue bird and some little cute birds. And the birdy cake was created with a little help from all the kids...

Addie has really come out of her shell this past year. She was a very calm, quiet baby for the first two years of her life. The past year she has really become a silly, sometimes feisty little girl. I think much of her feistiness began when she was ousted from the baby role in the family and became a big sister. After a good four months of being a big sister she finally embraced the role and her and Melia are getting along quite well. She loves her little sissy and has now embraced the role of being a little mama, which mostly means taking good care of her sister but there are also those times of rule enforcement going on too (I think mainly just to keep me on my toes). She's an awesome big sister.

She's also quite the little sister. She provides lots of entertainment for Caleb. She is often doing little crazy things, that can go unnoticed with all the activity we have going on over here. But sometimes I'll catch Caleb laughing and he'll say "mom, look at Addie, she's crazy." And yup, sure enough she'll be lip synching, making crazy faces to some song, or dancing like a crazy person really the list could go on and on. Nathan has taken her on as an apprentice. He likes things in order and he has decided to take her under his wing and I often hear him giving her lessons on something or another. A few weeks ago her and Michael were the first ones awake and she randomly looked at him and said "I love my boys." He made sure she was indeed referring to her brothers and she confirmed. She has since been calling them her boys.

Grammy found the cutest tea set!

I made her a little baby sling for her dolls.

Snuggling with Bubba.

Happy Birthday Nathan.....

2010-09-10T00:25:00.007-04:00

yeah, so I'm really late but he still deserves a post :)

My sweet boy turned 5 at the end of June.

I can't believe he's this old. I mean really he was just a baby. At least he still lets me cuddle and smooch on him all the time.

Nathan is such an amazing child. He really is. He's sensitive, has an awesome sense of humor, is smart and is so loving. He tells me many times a day that he loves me. He's a great boy. I'm so blessed that I get to be his momma (which is what he still calls me).

Nathan loves Camp Dearborn so we went the night before his birthday and some of the extended fam was able to come, too. It was fun to have my mom's sister in town and have her and my gram come celebrate with us. Nathan got to spend his whole birthday playing and the big camp-D. Paddle boating, mancala-ing, beach going, putt-putting, the works! We had a great time.

Driving the paddle boat.

Playing mancala while a storm rolled in.

3 Months!

2010-09-10T00:13:00.002-04:00

It's been 3 months since I last posted. Which means that I have very few details about those months. If I don't post something right away it's totally gone. I have very few brain cells left... anyway, I digress..... I made it through my classes this summer! It was great for me to be out of the house for a bit and even better for Michael to be with the kids. He did a great job playing Mr. Mom, but gladly turned the job back over to me once my classes were done. But really, very soon after Melia came home he started coaching soccer and was gone a lot. She didn't have the chance to bond with him that much and this summer was wonderful for their relationship!

Anyway, we made it through our crazy summer and next week will begin our crazy fall :) I'm going to do a few catch up posts of our summer highlights.