Left Behind

I wanted to be at our adoption agency's picnic in Nashville over the weekend meeting people I already feel like I know through blogs. But since we were just in Nashville two weeks ago, it didn't work out for me to return. So, I was left behind here at home and this is what I was doing instead.

We celebrated my nephew Lane's birthday...
The kids had a grand old time being with their cousins. Jack prayed before we went in that he would be tall enough to drive a go-kart by himself. Guess what...
God answers prayer!

We had a special tea with Grandma and some of her friends on Friday. What a lovely experience with delightful ladies. Such a fun thing for us to do "just the girls"...
And we would have totally missed out on it if I had not been left behind.

It was SAIL camp this week for Emma. SAIL stands for Strings Alliance in Lincoln. Em gets to play the violin this year and she spent every morning this week learning how at SAIL camp. You know how I love a good theme and they carried it all the way through with the teachers wearing sailor hats and each classroom having a different fish name. Bill and I were bummed though, that they never used "Come Sail Away" by Styx to inspire their campers. What were they thinking?! Special thanks to cousin Timmy and Aunt Georgie for providing the violin making all of this possible...
The week ended with a concert on Saturday. I thought all those beginners on violins, violas, bass, and cellos would be painful to endure so I didn't even bother bringing a video camera. Boy was I wrong! They sounded great. Like, really great. And when they played "There is No Place Like Nebraska" they had us eating out of their hands. Especially the violinist who belongs to me...
Had I gone to the picnic, I would have missed this special occasion.

I also would have missed Rachel's garage sale. I have sworn that I will never, no never, have another garage sale. But I figured it would not be against my lifelong ban to put a few things in my friends sale. The great news is that I convinced Bill to put our nappy Christmas tree in the sale. The bad, though not surprising, news is that even for the low, low price of $5 no one bought the eyesore. Still, I made a whopping $35. It was disappointing because I was so sure that I was going to make enough money to buy a treadmill. Bill is probably relieved that I didn't make the money to buy something that would just end up in a garage sale in a year after sitting unused in our basement. In the end, had I gone to Nashville, I would be $35 poorer right now.

So though I hate missing out on things, I will joyfully experience the AGCI picnic through the blogs of those who were there. And I will be glad that this weekend I may have felt a little left behind, but I was right where I was supposed to be. HOME.

GOTCHA: Happy Luci May Day!

The night before I met you, Luci May Rediet, I felt like I was standing on the edge. Not the edge of a cliff like I was scared for what was below me. Instead I felt like I was standing on the edge of a promise. God's promise. Not a promise that our first meeting would go smoothly or that our transition would go well or that our baby would be healthy. But His promise to be my Daddy forever. His promise of unfailing love. And His promise to fulfill His purpose for me. And so fear was replaced with a new kind of waiting. A joyful anticipation of what was ahead of us. Not just in that blessed moment of first meeting our Rediet...
But also the anticipation of the years to come. Years of knowing you and loving you and watching you become. Years filled with the highs and lows of being a family. And today, we have had our first such year together. I had intended to commemorate this day with a 1 year video. I've seen many beautiful videos other families have done and it has been my intention since we returned to create one for this occasion.

But there was a teeny, tiny problem. I had no clue what I was doing. After about a year of procrastination and 3 late nights (as in 3am, 3:30am and 4:30am), I realized I had made a tragic error. I didn't realize the difference between a slideshow and a video. Unfortunately my blood, sweat, and late-night tears went into making a slideshow, not a video. You know, kind of like one a missionary would show in a church basement. Nothing wrong with that, but what I envisioned in my mind was more like something that would be shown on NBC. My delusions of grandeur are always getting me in trouble! I still desperately want to make my vision a reality, but clearly Smilebox is not the vehicle to get me where I want to go. If you have suggestions for me, please HELP! (P.s. I don't have a Mac.)

This snafu set the stage for several other less than ideal circumstances in our Luci May Day celebration. The Africa shaped cookies we set out to make turned out like this...
Totally burned (cooked for 30 minutes instead of 8-11) and formed together. My sister said it was like the Pangaea when all the continents were together before they drifted. Clever, but not what I had in mind for Lulu's celebration.

Then there was the little matter of giving in to the baby who didn't want to take a nap. It's a day named after her and all, so I figured she just wanted to get the most out of it. This was fine and dandy in the afternoon when she was happy and charming...
But didn't go over so well by the time evening rolled around and she was a Crabcake during our special dinner. Which was here...
If we adopt another little girl from Ethiopia, I think we have her name. LaliBela. How cute is that? Our LulaBella was definitely not feelin' the love for injera...
I have to admit, I can't blame her. Sadly, I do not enjoy Ethiopia's main food staple. The older kids tried things, but found most everything to be too spicy...
I can't blame them either. Truth be told, I am not a fan of much of the spicy Ethiopian food. But I am a HUGE fan of the people. And we go to meet a few of them at the restaurant like our waitress...
And the children of the owner...
And this guy...
Wait! He's not Ethiopian, he just dressed the part!

In time, Lulu warmed up and even enjoyed the corn...
From the restaurant we went on a family trip to Walmart to pick up donations to send with traveling families to the orphanage in Addis. We decided that this would be how we would celebrate each year. Instead of giving gifts to Lulu, we want to give gifts to the children and staff who are still in Ethiopia.
Then we stopped by my sister's house on our way back home and they had a surprise waiting for us...
No need for a burnt Pangaea now! I think Lulu likes chocolate chip cookie better than injera...

Sweet one who I first held one year ago, I don't know how you will feel about this day in years to come. It was truly one of the most beautiful and intense and magical days of my life. But it was all on the backdrop of loss. On your end and for your grandmother, there was so much loss. You were so scared that day. I see it more clearly now as I look at the pictures and since I know you now. But you can be confident of this, on our part there was so much gain. Immeasurable gain. For we got you...

Both in the gain and in the loss, this day is about family...
Through the gains and losses of the past and the gains and losses of the future, whatever road you walk in life...
We will walk it with you.

Thank you God for Luci May Day. Thank you God for Luci May. And thank you God for your great and precious promises. You walk us through our losses and You are my greatest Gain both now and forevermore.

Christmas in July

So, I tend to be one of those people. You know, those people who are always late. I hate it about myself. I blame it on my optimism because I think everything will only take 5 minutes. So, I'm a tardy girl who married a prompt boy. He likes to be on time. He sees it as an issue of keeping his word. I guess I see it as an opportunity for other people to be gracious with me.

All of this to say that of all the years to send out Christmas cards on time, this would have been the one. I loved our card. I loved it so much that I ordered about 200 more copies than normal thinking this would be the year that I would find those addresses I've been missing and get back in touch with old friends. Yeah this year when I have four kids, a newly adopted child, and a mother with cancer. I told you I'm optimistic.

Some people got Christmas cards from us before Christmas. Prompt boy was in charge of those. A few others got a Christmas card from us at Easter time. Guess who was in charge of those. They are both important holidays, right? Still others will now have the opportunity to view the card as a special Christmas in July celebration...

(front)

(back)

So, Merry Christmas. And now I guess I will have some really cute scrap paper for the rest of the year with all the leftovers.

Since we're celebrating Christmas in July and all, there have been some presents we have received in July. One such present was visiting with our old friends the Lacher family while in Nashville for a special family wedding (more on that to come). They were gracious hosts and we all had a blast being with them again...

Playing "Ninja" with the boys...
How do you spell relief in Nashville? P-O-O-L...
A perfectly executed belly flop...
Lulu found a random Sprite bottle and decided "possession is 9/10'ths of ownership"...

Don't worry. She may be my fourth child, but I didn't let her put her mouth on it. Remember my mothering motto..."Low standards, but not no standards." (That's not really my motto, I just write stuff like that to amuse myself.)

I also received this precious gift from my friend Amy of an acrylic scrapbook...

I'd never even heard of one, but when it comes to scrapping Amy has got her groove on. She said she had never made a scrapbook for someone who she didn't know before, but she was still able to capture Gunga so well. I was overwhelmed. It is especially meaningful because I am not a scrapbooker, so it is something that I would have loved to have for our family but would never do. Lulu picked it up and immediately said "Gunga!". The kids have looked at it over and over again. Thank you so much, Amy, for this priceless gift. What a treasure!

An amazing gift we are reflecting on is that on this day one year ago, we arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Tuesday is our one year anniversary of Luci May Day. As we remember and celebrate this day, it has been significant for me to have been following a recent mission trip to Ethiopia through this blog and this blog. These posts have reminded me that we don't just celebrate Luci May Rediet on July 27th. We celebrate her birth country and heritage. We celebrate that Ethiopia is part of us now. And we remember. After a year, it is easy to move on from what we saw and experienced there. But I don't want to. I want to keep my heart tender not just to the child who has joined our family, but to the beautiful place she first called home. And to the ones who still have no family or home.

Lulu has been a gift and a blessing to our family beyond belief. And if there's one thing I know, it's that we've been blessed to be a blessing. It is our fervent prayer that our family will be a blessing to the nations, through whatever ways we can. I mean all the nations of the world, but today there is one nation that is specifically on my mind and in my heart...

Luci, meet Lucy...again

Last time they were together, it was here at Hannah's Hope orphanage in Addis Ababa...
Earlier this week in Nashville, Lucy Lane and Luci May were reunited...
I can't say they really cared that much about the whole thing, but I sure did. Kristi's blog was one of the first I found when we first began the process of adoption. Their video of adopting Lucy Lane has inspired many, but what has inspired me is who Kristi is as a Mom...
It is obvious from her blog posts, and even more being in their home, that her children are her priority. She loves them with the love of Christ. She is gentle, kind, generous, and fun. She is beautiful inside and out and let's not fail to mention that adorable accent! But she is so down to earth and real. I can often forget that it is not my children's job to my life easier and I can get upset with them when they bring challenges. That is so wrong. She has inspired me, through her blog, to let kids be kids. To not sweat the small stuff. To love sacrificially. And to delight in the joys and challenges that a family brings.

But she is not only passionate for her own children. She is passionate for all the children of the world who don't have families and her passion for the orphan is infectious. I pictured her in one of her trademark orphan care t-shirts and she did not let me down...

(she's representin' in her Ordinary Hero t-shirt)

Bill, who likes to tease me about my blogging obsession, joked before we arrived that she was probably a convict, but he was blessed by the whole experience as well. We had a delicious lunch...
I even tried "fruit tea", which apparently is what all the natives drink. It was yummy! Inspired by Kristi to not be so controlling, I let Lulu eat her first chicken nugget...
Fun is always happening in their home and we were able to get in on the action...
Though it is definitely not fun when you are tired and your Mom tries to take your paci for a picture...
All better...
I have long been a member of the George Fan Club, so it was fun to see him live and in person...
Bye Bye Lucy Lane and your precious family...
We hope to see you in again in real life, but until then we will see you just about every day in blog land!