Family Pictures from Camp

I AM FILLED!

Well, I am definitely filled to overflowing:

-We spent a week at a family church camp we have gone to for the past 7 summers. The focus was on resting in God - in his promises, his provision, and our position in him. I always come home so filled with His word and His presence, that I am overwhelmed with trying to fit back in the realities and responsibilities of everday life. I would much rather sit at His feet and soak in His word. It makes me long for eternity with Him ...

-Kevin and I had a great date night on Friday night. We had great conversation about what God had spoken to us at camp, our hopes and dreams for our family, our upcoming adoption. It feels so good to be on the same page spiritually and emotionally. I am so blessed to be married to the greatest guy and best dad in the entire world.

-We had a picnic yesterday with a number of families from Central Illinois who have or are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. What a delight to be in the midst of 20+ little Ethio-American children running all around. They are some of the most beautiful children I have ever seen. I could just melt looking into their eyes and faces, and it's all I can do to keep from stroking their hair. Getting to hear the story of so many other families was so encouraging and exciting.

-Last night we met with some fellow believers to pray over our dear friends the Sanders who are leaving for China tomorrow to pick up their newest daughter Zoe. My heart was so full of love for this precious little girl and for the joy of having incredible friends walking the journey of life and adoption with us. (BTW if you want to follow their journey their blog is http://www.babyjellybeans.com/web/do/site/photo?ID=360525)

Even in the midst of being so filled, my flesh has a tendency to look to those around me and think "God, why doesn't my story look like theirs? Why is our adoption going to be a 2 year plus journey? Why are you calling us to this incredible responsibility of nuturing and loving more children?" But He is gracious and quick to remind me that our journey is the one He planned for us alone.

In the Old Testament, the Korahites were in charge of caring for the temple instruments. They had to stay in the outer courts and weren't allowed to go in to the sanctury to view the holy things or they would die. They began to grumble about wanting the job of the clans who were allowed to go into the sanctuary. And so God wiped out their clan. Later you see that He has redeemed a remnant of their clan and in Psalm 84:10 they sing "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere." They realize the need to be satisfied with the calling God has for THEIR lives, even if it means staying in the outer courts of the temple and not being allowed in the inner sanctuary.

And so I remind myself, that I am so delighted with the calling God has placed on MY life, even if it looks different from those around me. Even if it means my adoption journey will be 2 1/2 years instead of less than a year. Even if it means I have a season or two ahead of me that will involve sleepness nights and emotional exhaustion. Even if it means I will still have children at home when I am 65 and those around me are enjoying retirement. Lord thank you in advance for all that you are teaching me and preparing me for in this journey you have called me to walk. May I do it with graciousness and humbleness. And may you be magnified through it all!

LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.
I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. - Psalm 16:5-11

Best Dad in the World

Below is a story and video that blew me away! When I first watched it, I absolutely wept. It is so inspirational and so convicting at the same time. It inspired me to push on even when I'm afraid or think something is too hard. It convicted me to not pat myself on the back when I think I've done enough. I am sure each of you will relate to my sentiments once you have read and viewed.

The story is long, but well worth the read:

Strongest Dad in the World
Rick Reilly for Sports Illustrated

I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots. But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.

Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars -- all in the same day.
Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike. Makes taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?
And what has Rick done for his father? Not much -- except save his life.

This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.
"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life," Dick says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. "Put him in an institution."

But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. "No way," Dick says he was told. "There's nothing going on in his brain."

"Tell him a joke," Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain.

Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? "Go Bruins!" And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, "Dad, I want to do that."

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described "porker" who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried. "Then it was me who was handicapped," Dick says. "I was sore for two weeks."

That day changed Rick's life. "Dad," he typed, "when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!"

And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

"No way," Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then they found a way to get into the race officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.
Then somebody said, "Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?"

How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick tried.

Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii. It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? "No way," he says. Dick does it purely for "the awesome feeling" he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992 -- only 35 minutes off the world record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time.

"No question about it," Rick types. "My dad is the Father of the Century."

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries was 95% clogged. "If you hadn't been in such great shape," one doctor told him, "you probably would've died 15 years ago."

So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass., always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.

"The thing I'd most like," Rick types, "is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once."

Sports Illustrated Issue date: June 20, 2005, p. 88

Bye-bye Trampoline :(

We spent Father's Day up in Burbonnais celebrating Father's Day and Kevin's dad's 70th birthday. On the way home, one of Kevin's co-workers texted to see if we had survived the storm. Hmmm ... what storm? There hadn't been one where we were.



Well upon arriving home, I looked in the backyard and there was no trampoline. I looked over the fence and FIVE yards down and this is what we saw:

There's no fixing this one! I guess they don't harvest wind power in our community for nothing! We are just glad it didn't up through someone's patio door. The kids are already begging for a new one ....

Hollie Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Pedigree - Family websites

Kaden Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family photos - Family name history

Corinne Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

The Plight of Ethiopia

I read this post on a blog and it so captured the plight of families in Ethiopia and the orphan crisis there. Our hearts ache for the mommys and daddys who cannot care for their babes. Over 4 Million orphans ... no wonder we feel the Lord preparing our hearts to bring more than one home.



My sister Sophie arrived in Ethiopia a week ago, and will be working at the Soddo Hospital until August. She sent me this email on Friday.


Dr. Ruth asked us if we would be able to walk a family to the orphanage. A couple had brought their infant to the outpatient department, hoping to give her up for adoption. When I saw them, I immediately knew that the dad had AIDS. He was remarkably thin, with a round belly. Every single bone in his face stuck out, and he looked completely exhausted. The mom was a beautiful petite little thing, openly nursing her gorgeous (no words to express how beautiful this baby is!), chubby baby.


I took a deep breath, chatted as much as I could (about 2 sentences before explaining to her that I only speak a little bit of Amharic and don’t understand what she just said), admired the baby, and started the walk to the orphanage. My heart broke for the family walking behind me. How completely desperate they must be to bring this stunningly beautiful, and clearly cherished, child to an orphanage. I sadly noticed that their clothes were church clothes—they must have dressed up for the occasion. I’m pretty sure I could not have done that.


When we got to the orphanage, we were surrounded by even more gorgeous little ones, all vying for our attention. Even though I held hands and greeted these giggling children, my heart was still with that mom who was holding her baby close to her. We presented the family to the man in charge, who asked a few questions (mostly, “if you are both alive, why are you bringing this child here?”) before telling them that they needed to bring the child to their local kebele (government office), who would take care of the court proceedings before they could legally give their child up. Dad was not happy about it, but I think I saw a hint of relief in the mother’s eyes. Not today, she was thinking.


As I had chai and dabbo (tea and bread) at that orphanage with children crawling all over me, I wondered what would happen with that family. Would the mom convince her husband that they could wait just awhile longer? Maybe she wouldn’t get sick. Maybe the little girl is healthy. Maybe they wouldn’t have to say goodbye to their cherished baby. Maybe their prayers would be answered.


Maybe someday we’ll understand why God chooses to do what He does. Maybe we’ll know why He lets things happen that, from our perspective, could never be “for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” How could a continent full of orphaned children be good for anyone?

Hand in Hand

Kaden has had a stomache ailment that has resulted in him not keeping food down for 7 days. (Praise the Lord, I think today was finally the turning point!) Last night Kevin was sitting on the floor of Kaden's room, holding his hand through the crib, as Kaden struggled to fall asleep. Kevin later shared with me that this time with Kaden made him sad to think that if Lydia were to get sick in the orphange, there would likely not be anyone there to hold her hand into the night.

It is sweet for me to know that Kevin's heart is longing for his little Lydia, just as my heart is. But bigger than that is the sweetness that the Lord has blessed me with a hubby who has a heart for orphans and a spirit that listens to and obeys the Lord. We could have never imagined this crazy ride the Lord planned to set us on. Through all the up and downs and all the highs and lows, I have been blessed to know that Kevin has been with me every heartbeat of this ride. I do not take for granted that this ride is as much his as it is mine. He heard the Lord's calling and said "Here am I Lord, send me." And for that my heart is full! Thank you Kevin that you are holding MY hand through every step of this journey!

Families in Ethiopia

Just an update on the activity that has been happening with families from our agency over the past few days:

There are 6 families currently in Ethiopia picking up their children. Here are links to the ones that have blogs, if you want to hear stories and see pictures that will melt your heart:

Kidds
Cordells
Gardners
Wests

There are 3 families that have court tomorrow. These court hearings are the final adoption process (which happens before families travel). Pray for God's deliverance of these children into their forever families!

There are 7 more families that have referrals, but are waiting for their court dates to be scheduled.

Tomorrow we have a 2 hour conference call to hear updates on the Ethiopia process. AWAA holds this call monthly for families who are waiting for their referral. This will be the first call they have had since our paperwork arrived in ET, so we are excited to hear two full hours of information directly from Duni, our agency's Ethiopia director, who just returned from a 5 week trip to ET.

We know from an update we received today, that one of the fruits from her trip is a new orphanage that AWAA has partnered with. AWAA has already received it's first referrals for children from this agency. I am sure I'll have lots more to post after tomorrow's call.