Sunday, April 15, 2012

Abe update

I had a friend recently point out that I haven't done an Abe update in awhile. She was kind enough to not point out that I haven't done much blogging of any kind lately! :)

So here is a bit on dear Abe!

Still happy as ever! Seriously he just loves life.

He is a faithful cheerleader at his siblings sporting events. He loves to be outside cheering them on.

Thankfully he has been pretty healthy the past month. We do have an important appointment on Wed with a pediatric surgeon. We are discussing Abe getting a feeding tube. We have worked hard to keep him on all oral feeds but it is getting more and more difficult to keep weight on him. When he does get sick, he tends to go downhill quickly. We usually end up in the ER for IV hydration and the feeding tube will also prevent that from happening again. We rest in the Lord and trust we will have complete peace after our consult with the Dr. I am grateful to have prevented it for this long, but now see it as being the best thing for Abe.

He continues to work hard in therapy, we continue to be inspired!

We are thankful so many of you are still on this journey with us. We appreciate it more than you know.

7 comments

Monday, April 2, 2012

writers block, so "borrowing"

So between high school baseball games, changing diapers and therapy, it seems writing a blog post is getting left behind. A sweet friend sent me this today and I wanted to share.......

Be blessed.

Why the Kids Really Need A Little Red Hen Mama….

Ann Voskamp

April, 2012

The grain mill whirs loud, crushing a stream of kernels.

I stand in the kitchen by an open sack, grinding the wheat to bake the bread, to break the fasts. Since the beginning, since the dawn, this, the work of women, the feeding of children.

The sun rises.

And I have to ask it straight out….

Why do I feed my kids scraps off the floor?

I think this, line the loaf pans with sheets of parchment paper. Our youngest, still sleepy, pulls a stool up beside. Shaping the warmth of the bread dough between the palms, I murmur it, laying dough down into loaves “… then tuck the babies into their wee trundle beds…. “ I say this every time we make bread.

“Those pans aren’t really trundle beds, are they?” Littlest laughs, her nose crinkled, ringlets bouncing.

“Yes, they are!” I wink. She shakes her head happy. “And then we spread the blanket up over the cribs and let them rise in sleep.” I pull a warm damp cloth up over the bread pans. I tussle her hair. She giggles.

Bread for babies.

Or scraps?

Littlest peeks under the corner of the damp dishtowel, check on dough rising, and Jesus peels back a bit of me again:

“Stand in line and take your turn.

The children get fed first.

If there’s any left over,

the dogs get it.” ~ Mark 7:27

She turns to me, face framed in tendrils tangled and I look into that upturned face, freshness with a dash of freckle. I brush her cheek: Who gets fed first in this house?

Do the children get fed first, before phone calls and dishes, before errands, emails, ministry, to-do lists, hobbies, cyber-surfing, before all things seen? Does life stand in line behind the young and the needy, take its turn after their hungry souls? Are my children deep nourished?

Nourished with me. With laughter and hugs and shared stories, with music and dancing and poetry and literature and art and nature and wind and sky and all of the God-Glory.

Or do I feed them scraps off the floor?

Some do. The couple who spent all their waking hours in an Internet cafe, gaming in cyber-space — that digital world where they really lived, where they felt most alive — and their baby lay at home starving. And on a day last September, after 12 hours of nurturing their avatar daughter named Anima, pixels on a screen, they came home to find their very real daughter, whom they had never named, dead.

Some children don’t even get scraps.

I wipe off the kitchen counter, the flour dust from the grain mill. The Littlest lays bowls out around the table. And I’d like to keep stories like that on the other side of the planet, the far side of the world. But I catch my reflection in the kitchen window.

And every time an email’s dashed off after dinner and the web lures away from the family, every time a text interrupts a real face here and the work day ebbs away in mindless surfing, who is the one intentionally exiting this world? This place where God’s placed. I abandon people here. Toss them scraps, left overs — or nothing at all. Children can die slow, soundless deaths.

I check the loaves. Turn on the oven.

It isn’t that technology is bad or even that we’re sinful, fallen people. It’s the serpentine forces from the Garden, always seducing to other worlds, worlds that seem better than ours. It’s always the war of the worlds. Virtual reality may seemingly offer the holy grail, but it’s our physical reality that is the holy ground.

She clatters spoons into bowls and I slide loaves into the oven and I’m done with giving life’s bread — time, skills, mama moments — to the dogs: to obsessive housecleaning, to non-encouraging, escapism net-surfing, to empty, temporal busy-work.

I’ve stood in line and this is my one glorious turn to be a mother and the real world is one mighty beautiful place, a place to feed the children first and go hug our men and squeeze-tickle the kids and run free down back lanes, gathering up wildflowers and sun and smiles to nourish the all starving along the way. Dogs can go find for their own bread;

Life’s too exquisite to serve souls discarded left overs.

When I slip the golden loaves out and cut one wide open, the slices steam, whisper of warmth rising.

“Can I get the butter?” the Littlest asks. She’s already running.

And I lather the butter on, and hand her food from my hand.

“You’re the Little Red Hen, Mama!” She laughs. And I close my eyes in smile, me, in this moment, all here.

The work of women matters, a winning for the eternal, and the Little Red Hen Mamas gather chicks, and I stand in the kitchen sun watching butter melt into a slab of whole wheat, even the bread right satisfied.

1 comments

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Is she yours?

Please read this..............

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Sunday, March 11, 2012

Abe is 4!!!

Hard to believe that Abe is 4 today. This kid changed it all. The Lord used him to rock our world in the best possible way. Our lives are better because of him, because He saw fit to gift our team this treasure. I simply can't wait to see how Abe continues to impact lives for Jesus. Happy birthday buddy. We love you.

First picture we saw of Abe

His beautiful first mom, saying good-bye

Brotherly love

Happy guy

That precious smile

Back in Ethiopia

when there were 6

his buddy Chris

life is pretty great

super hero

standing tall

I'm pretty cute

No longer the baby! Big brother now. :)

As an adoptive mom, it is impossible to celebrate this day without thinking of the sacrificial love of his birth mom. She is a beautiful woman. She loves Abe fiercely. You can see the reunion she had with him here. It is always hard to post. It is raw. It tells his story but prayerfully it shows a picture of adoption. Adoption is His heart. So it really is His story after all. Dekanesh, as you reflect on this day 4 years ago, we pray you know this little guy is loved dearly. He continues to draw people back to Ethiopia to love and serve there. May you know that your sacrificially loving him enough (even when you didn't know the full extent of the care he would need) ultimately is a gift to many. Abe is being used to extend the Kingdom. Soli Deo Gloria!

9 comments

Friday, March 9, 2012

keeping busy

I have been a terrible blogger. We have been busy watching the boys play baseball

and keeping up with this cutie

and getting ready to celebrate this guys 4th birthday! Can NOT believe it. FOUR!!!!

and the rest of the team are doing great! More soon.

0 comments

Saturday, February 18, 2012

sleep and sanctification

²³ Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it. 1 Thess 5:23-24

I love sleep. Who doesn't really? Does anyone remember my main reason for not wanting an infant referral way back in the beginning??? Sleep. Seems ridiculous now that I think about it. Wee bit selfish. We thought we would adopt older siblings. One adoption, move on with life. I LOVE how He sees the BIG picture and we only get a glimpse. We got a referral for siblings, then lost it. Then got a single referral, of.an.infant. A 2 month old baby!

We brought Abe home, found out he had profound neurological issues and guess what.......he didn't sleep. Like barely any for 2 years. You know what else? God met me there. In the middle of the night. When I literally thought I couldn't do it for one more minute, He was there. He gave me exactly what I needed for that minute, and the minute after that.

The next day, exhausted, He met me again. Allowed me to do my job: care for my kids, be present for therapy, attend kids activities, cook, clean, etc....He was there. By His grace alone, we managed to survive on very little sleep.

Abe sleeps SO much better, though does wake up occasionally still. We are thankful for the progress he has made. :)

We are now home with Gigi. In so many ways, I can't imagine her not being here......and then I find her halfway up the stairs or pulling things out of cabinets and I'm reminded that it has been a LONG time since I've had a toddler. (Eyasu came home at 3 and Abe isn't mobile) Poor baby has basically been battling some form of illness since we got her. She has been a champ through it all. It has made her not want to sleep as much as normal.......so back to the sanctification process that takes place in the wee hours over here.

Last night Gigi wasn't sleeping AT ALL, screaming (new ear infections) and was just harder than normal to soothe. I got her back down and I'm not kidding, Abe immediately started in on the monitor. These are the moments that I try to make deals. I beg and plead with the Lord. I say ridiculous things about "needing" sleep and sound all "entitled"...........Gigi woke back up, Abe came in our bed with Moody and I moved to the couch with the Princess.......

We did sleep off and on for a few hours before Eyasu was up and ready to roll. And again, He met me. He has poured grace and mercy to me in big ole heaps. So I may have dark circles under my eyes and forget what I walked into a particular room for......but I am thankful for this adventure He called us to!

7 comments

Thursday, February 2, 2012

abe's new assistant

I have several posts about half way done......this is what is keeping me busy! Loving every moment of it! Abe is simply in love with his sister. Thinks everything she does is hysterical. She enjoys pushing him around and being each one of his therapists "helpers"! :)

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