That we may...

We serve a God that gives to us generously. We get to be a part of His story.

That we may....

Three years ago I was given the opportunity to donate my bone marrow through a peripheral stem cell transplant for a complete stranger. I never knew anything about the recipient except that he was a 64 year old man with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.

The donation wasn't easy but it wasn't terrible either. It was a privilege and honor to help prolong or save someone's life. I am so thankful I was given the opportunity.

I have prayed for this man and his family so much over the past 3 years and this week I finally received the gift of talking to his wife. Although he passed away, I know God's hand and timing was perfect in the transplant and uniting our lives in this amazing and incredibly miraculous way. I am honored to be a very small part in this amazing man's story.

The biggest lesson I learned during that time in my life was that my body was not my own...it belonged to God. Therefore I should honor God with my body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) I was given the opportunity to literally offer my body as a living sacrifice. I definitely did it for the recipient but, first and foremost, I did it for God.

There are other "living sacrifices" that I am called to do daily that are much more difficult than the transplant. They are opportunities to "die to self" and live for others. Opportunities to put other people's needs ahead of my own. My husband. My children. My friend. My neighbor. A stranger.

It's not easy. It is SO MUCH more comfortable to think of myself first. It's so much more natural to be selfish.

Fancy family trip or major donation to a worthy charity?
Great magazine/book or Good Night Moon for the thousandth time?
Sleep or "couple time"?
Surfing the internet or doing a puzzle with my child?
More pocket change or pay for the drive through customer behind me?

None of the first things are bad by any means. They are just focused on personal gain instead of others. We all need a vacation and relaxation and sleep and money but left unchecked our unintentional choices may lead us down a very comfortable path of stinginess and selfishness.

People say all the time how amazing we are to adopt two kids. I can tell you people that we are not amazing. We made a very intentional decision to obey God's calling and adopt these two children. We desired to walk down a more uncomfortable path of sacrifice and selflessness but it is SO HARD! God has provided peace, wisdom, patience, perseverance, and strength. But I really see how selfish I am at the core. I struggle daily with my wants and I mourn the loss of my "easy" life BA (Before Adoption).

Then I think about God's love for me. His ultimate sacrifice for me provided my own adoption into His family and made me a child of God. I am a princess now because I am a child of the King. That I may sacrifice such small things daily in an expression of gratitude to my heavenly Father...it is such a privilege!

Jesus is Alive!

It's Easter.

Jesus is alive and He lives in me!

My journey with Jesus has been a relationship. He has ALWAYS been faithful.

I am free from "religion" because I have Jesus.

Religion is all about what you need to DO and with Jesus it is already DONE.

The tomb is empty!

These last few years God has wrecked my heart for children who don't have a family. This last year He has broken my heart specifically for two such children. These last 8 weeks He has called me to nurture, train,  love, and instruct these two children.

I'm telling you...Jesus is alive because I have seen Him working in the lives of these two children as well as the lives of many others including myself, my husband and my other children.

This week God gifted us with many sweet moments as a family of 6. We were able to play together a lot and laugh together a lot and eat together a lot and talk together a lot.

We turned some major corners this week and we are so grateful for that. Clearly, we have a long way to go, as do all of you, but JESUS IS ALIVE so anything is possible.

I am so thankful for fresh starts every day. The sun goes down and we get a rest from the heat of the day and then we get a fresh start.

Waiting for church to start...brothers hanging out on the lawn.

Gabriel said, "I love you too, Mom" yesterday in response to one of my many "i love you"s
Gabriel told me he has a good big brother.
Debo went to preschool recess and lunch by herself on Monday and Wednesday with lots of smiles.
Mom got to take two uninterrupted, relaxing baths this week and got to go out to dinner with a friend.
Cael got pink eye and got to stay home with mom for two days.
Liz wrote a four page letter/essay on why we should not give the dog away.
We got season passes to Six Flags and Whitewater.

What a week!!!

This has been quite a week for us.

Every intention that I have made to simplify our family life during our adoption transition went out the window this week and I’m not exactly sure how or why.

Liz:

This week was cheerleading tryouts for Liz.  She has been preparing and looking forward to this week for months. We feel very thankful for her enthusiasm for a sport that she loves. Unfortunately, this week it involved being picked up and dropped off places each day. On Thursday we forgot to pick her up…TWICE! Hence, our reason for giving her a cell phone.  By Friday, we delegated the transportation job to some sweet friends who even made her feel extra special with a celebration. Thanks! Lesson learned….asking friends to drive your kids places is key when you need extra help.

Cael:

We started the week with the realization that Cael is a safety patrol this week. Really!?!?! The first week after spring break is hard enough but to arrive at school 30 minutes early is next to impossible especially with our additional challenges.  Despite the challenges, we made it on Monday. We weren’t exactly on time the rest of the days and didn’t make it at all on Friday but I count that as moderate success. On Wednesday night, Cael had the best baseball game of his life. On Thursday we had the meeting to finalize and confirm Cael’s need for speech therapy for his stuttering which has been steadily increasing. Cael is still struggling with this transition right along with the rest of us. 

Gabe:

On Monday night Gabriel got a high fever. It came out of nowhere and came fast and hard. It was very similar to the fevers he had on Thursday and Saturday of Spring Break. It immediately made us think malaria.  He had some blood tests which confirmed that he had small trace amounts of malaria in his blood. We were aware that this was a possibility since malaria can lay dormant for several months. He had 2 very severe episodes of malaria a couple months before coming home so we were well informed and relatively prepared. Despite the doctors desire to take him to the ER, we chose to treat him at home and watch him closely. The amount of malaria in his blood was so low they couldn’t even trace the type. Thankfully, his repeat blood work from Friday shows NO SIGNS OF MALARIA!!!!  He will stay on some preventative treatment but God-willing he will never have malaria again! We celebrated with a trip to Skyzone, an indoor trampoline center. The kids loved it!

Debo:

Debo spent a lot of time this week driving with me to and from all the above events. She also enjoyed her lunch and recess time for 1.5 hour at preschool on Monday and Wednesday which was a major blessing for me. She stayed by herself both days and seemed to do really well. She also enjoyed her 3^rd gymnastics class and even got a special treat when dad came to watch. She looked over every few seconds to make sure we both were watching.

I got a stomach bug this week and after dinner Tuesday night I was unable to eat anything until a bagel on Thursday. Friday I graduated to a bagel and rice. Thankfully, today I am feeling 100%.  

Adam woke up Tuesday with a sore throat and chest congestion. Thankfully, he rallied for the team on Wednesday when I was down for the count.  I guess our bodies finally caught up to all of the stress  of the past several months.

Today is Saturday…

Liz made the competition and side-line cheer squads. Yay Liz!!!!  Go Hoyas!!

Cael had a great baseball game today and will be getting weekly attention and help for his stuttering.

Gabe is malaria-free, had a great soccer game today, and asked in a respectful and polite way, “Mom, can me and Cael go to Skyzone to jump again tonight, please mom?” If you knew the way he normally talked to me you would recognize that as a minor miracle. SO…I am typing this from skyzone.  ;-) Two nights in a row! Yup!

Debo is healthy and well and watching Frozen tonight for the hundredth time with her big sis and daddy while mom is out with the boys.

Mom is healthy again and relatively rested.  I am so thankful for fresh starts. I am especially thankful for a faithful God who provides! He provides! This week He has provided through many of you. You know who you are….those that have sent emails, texts, comments with encouragement and prayers. Those that have offered to make meals, fold laundry, drive kids, vacuum floors. I am so grateful for each of you!

Dad is our hero. Following my emotional breakdown on Friday morning he came home from work with flowers and kicked me out of the house. This was EXACTLY what I needed. It is miraculous what 2 hours alone can do for you!!! So thankful for that man!

So that was our week. Next week will be different. I have no idea if it will be easier or harder…better or worse. All I know is God will provide.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...and then some.

I love pictures.

If you know me, you know that I am never very far away from my camera. Not only do I take a lot of photos but I am also very enthusiastic about displaying them in creative ways through memory books, picture frames, slideshows, videos and collages.

In our home we have at least 30 photo books full of precious memories...big and small.

In an effort to really capture the memory I often include words with my photos. These captions explain the event in detail, capture the emotions of the day, and describe funny or poignant details.

Recently I have displayed some amazing photos on facebook and this blog. Many of them are Christmas card worthy and full of sunny skies, beautiful parks, sandy beaches, big smiles. They are not staged or pretend. They are real. They are beautiful memories. But they are also worth ONLY a thousand words. Our story each day is comprised of thousands and thousands more "words" than these pictures can tell.

The reality is we have some great moments that we will cherish forever and celebrate daily, but we also have some really hard moments...many really hard moments.

Here are a few "snapshots":

• Gabriel is angry and homesick. He misses control. He misses Ghana. He misses his first mom. He is less tough to live with than he was 6 weeks ago but he is still VERY tough to live with. The pictures of him on the beach burying me in sand and riding piggy back are authentic, unaltered photos but they capture about 30 minutes of a 2 day vacation. Most of the rest of the time he was disgruntled, or argumentative, or sick, or annoyed. We love him so much and know that God will give us exactly what we need to raise him one day at a time...
• I had a great time at Sea World with my entire family (mom, dad, sister, brother, nieces and nephews) but that would not have been the case at all if Adam hadn't been taking care of Gabriel the entire time. I am so grateful for a wise and patient husband.

If you look closely you can see Gabriel's red shirt poking through between Cael and Kaleigh. Stinker.

• We can eat out as a family now! Chick-fil-a and Kuroshio are definitely the favorite spots for this crew. Yay for nuggets and chicken fried rice!
• When all the kids are together they all want the attention. We are still working on don't-talk-when-someone-else-is-talking in our family.

I will keep taking photos and documenting our journey and sharing our life with people who care. But, please remember for the thousand words each photo is worth, there are thousands more that you can't see. 

(I would like to add that Inga Finch is a miracle worker to get these photos of our family. It wasn't easy work people and she made it seem easy. Thanks Inga!)