Wow, it's hard to believe I haven't posted since the beginning of June. There is so much to update and trying to figure out where to start is always so much fun!!!!! Since June, we have been to Indiana, South Carolina and Texas. We didn't really do much vacationing this year. We had long weekends seeing everyone we love dearly and don't get to see throughout the year. Our reunion was great. It went by so quickly but every moment with our China families is always time well spent and worth every mile it takes to get there! We went to South Carolina to see my precious Goddaughter Katie graduate college. I'm so proud of her. I know she's going to do great things in life and can't wait to see her continue to grow into a beautiful young woman. We took Stephanie down to Texas to sign her up for college and then took her again to leave her there for her very first semester as a college student.
Matthew has decided to work full time and possibly go back to college later. At first I was pretty sad about his decision but the more I thought about it, I realized college isn't necessarily for everyone. He has a good job, been taking care of himself and all his bills for quite some time. If he could do all that by himself I know he can make good sound decisions on his own as well. He added to our family a sweet little German Shepard, named Cali. I think he's going to have a taste of what being a daddy is like!!!
Stephanie loves being in Texas and has done a great job of decorating her dorm. She started her first day of school yesterday and from the looks of her on Skype, it pretty much wore her out. I'm not sure if it was school or the heat but she sure looked tired. She's already connected with people from camp who live there and have shown her around. She also met up a young man, whom we used to attend church. She told him he was going to be like an big brother figure for her and apparently he was perfectly fine with that. So far so good, she sounds happy and content. I will pray that she will remain that way for the rest of the year!
Jonathan worked at camp this year for 2 weeks. He worked with a young man who is wheel chair bound and needs assistance for most things. I'm so proud that even though it was out of his comfort zone Jonathan overcame his apprehension and stood up to the plate and took care of his camper. I could tell he was proud of himself and made his sister very proud too. Stephanie had always wanted both boys to be an active part of camp and have a passion for the campers equal to hers. This year Jonathan and Stephanie bonded in a way that only they can comprehend. I have this precious picture of the two of them that I will post at another time that shows a big sister who absolutely loves and adores her little brother. When you see the picture I hope it melts your heart with the wordless deep affection.
Jason was able to enjoy 2 weeks of seeing what it was like to be a single child. His days and nights were completely mixed up. I'm not kidding when I say that. Scott and I would wake up and start our day greeted by Jason telling us "goodnight!" I began to call him a vampire. I'm not exactly sure what he did other than text, go on the internet and watch TV. One morning he had to get out to pick up his glasses. It was about 11am, we backed out of the garage and when the almost noonday sun hit his eyes he began to moan!!!! I laughed so hard at him and wondered if he really was a vampire!!!!!!???? I was worried we would never get back on schedule but somehow it all worked out and he has done just fine.
Ellie has had her 1st week of kindergarten and has done extremely well. On the first day of school she walked in as if she owned the place. No fear what so ever. She was told where her cubby was at open house and she remembered exactly where things went on her first day and that was that. I felt lucky that I got a kiss from her before I left. She already loves her teacher and classmates and each morning looks forward to going back to school. This summer was a pretty boring summer for her. We really didn't do much. She took swimming lessons in July and of course we had the long weekends. We bowled several times, rode her bike and did some swimming, and had play dates with Maria, but that was about it, no big vacation back home, no camping or anything fun like that. Next year will be different!!!!!
Scott is still working hard and staying busy with all that comes with that. His garden turned out pretty good this year. We have had tomatoes, cucumbers, spaghetti squash, summer squash, radishes, green beans, peas and peppers. The corn didn't amount to much. I think the Japanese beetles or not having enough nitrogen in the soil was at fault for that. I think he was a little sad that he didn't get to take the Iron Butt Challenge this year. He really didn't ride much at all. I'm not sure where this summer went but I have to say it was the most boring summer we have ever had!!!!!
I'm trying to figure out how to deal with an empty house once again. I've had several major changes in life and after being a mom for almost 21 years I'm trying to find out what else I'm supposed to do. We have one child looking for a home to buy, one child sent off hundreds of miles away to college, two children almost ready to get their license and our youngest in kindergarten!!!! I have committed to work in AWANA's this year, which is a big thing. I don't like to commit myself to anything but I'm ready for a change. Once I had a fortune cookie with a fortune that said "if you always do what you've always done, you will always be where you've always been.' I don't typically give fortune cookies a lot of thought or time but this one just seemed like good practical sense. I'm ready to move out of this spot in life and move into something different with more excitement and challenges. Today is the one year anniversary since my lingual nerve injury. Six months have past since my surgery to take the implant out. Although I'm much better than I was with the implant in my mouth, I still have pain. Some days are worse than others and some days I just feel totally frustrated with the pain. I never thought I would be in this spot a year after the surgery and I certainly thought after the implant was taken out my chances were going to be far greater that things would have a chance of being back to normal. One year....I can't believe it!!!!
Our adoption (smiles)! We have been on an adventure with our adoption process. I'm delighted and so incredibly thankful to announce that we do have a daughter in China!!!! The red thread that lead her to our family is incredible. I can't help but smile every time I know I have the chance to tell our story of how God worked in showing us who our daughter is. In the middle of July I was coming home from the dentist. I received a call from my SW telling me we were matched with a little girl. I was so excited I could hardly contain myself and drive at the same time. Aimee continued with the details, then it was like I was punched in the stomach as she went on to tell me her special need. When we first began the adoption Scott and I filled out forms of what we could and could not handle. Her special need was one we discussed back then we couldn't handle. I told her we didn't check that SN on the form and I would call her back after I discussed it with Scott. The more I thought of her need and researched it I realized it really wasn't that bad and I felt that we could do it. Scott didn't feel the same way. In fact our family was not supportive either. My heart ached and I could not believe I was left no choice but to make the phone call to decline the match. In my heart I knew she wasn't right for our family but at the same time, how could a person say no to a child they were offered? I had always been taught that you take what you get and you say Thank You!!!! After all my job is MOM!!!! I was simply crushed! A couple days had passed, I began to search our agency blog list and found a little girl who I thought was "the one". Now it all seemed clear, this was the child we were really supposed to have as part of our family, and everything made sense why we had to decline the first little girl. I began to feel better and my sadness lifted. I just knew Ellie was going to have a little sister. Everything matched our SN criteria, unlike the first little girl. Hooray,,,,,,,It looked promising we could have a bouncing 4 year old girl. I couldn't wait to share the news with Scott that she was in fact available and we were able to be considered for this precious child. I was ecstatic to tell Scott......but........it didn't go as I planned. Scott was supposed to feel the same joy and excitement as me, however that joy and excitement didn't come. He said he wasn't sure and needed time to pray about it. We were told we had until August 4th to decide. I prayed like crazy during that time for God to open Scott's heart and mind to what God really wanted. I poured my heart out in prayers like I had never prayed before. While all that was going on a travel mate who traveled with us with our first adoption was also given a referral. She sent me the video of her little girl they were accepting. As I watched her video, I was at 1:11 in the time and noticed the sweetest little girl standing next to Glenna's little girl. All I could really see was the right side of her face and body. It was the strangest feeling I had inside of me. I watched the video all the way through but felt compelled to watch is again and again and again always stopping at 1:11 time frame. I was drawn to this little face. It was a stirring in my soul I can't even explain. After all, I had already had my little sweetie, why did this little profile of half a face and body lure me in? I finally decided it was God telling me to pray for her. I didn't know what I was praying for but I just knew I needed to be praying for her. And so was my little prayer warrior Dawn. We prayed and prayed. I prayed for her every time I prayed for who I thought was going to be our little girl. August 4th came. I was so nervous because we had to give our SW our decision of adopting the little girl I had requested. Finally at 1:00pm Scott came home and told me yes lets go get her!!! I was beyond happy at that moment. Suddenly I realized I needed to ask Scott one more thing. I took a deep breath and boldly asked him if we could also see if our agency would allow us to adopt the little girl who I saw in Glenna's video. I just could not get her off my mind. His first words were "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" I smiled and said I'm sure they are going to say no but please let me ask. I didn't know why I needed to ask but I just knew I had to try. There was just something about her. I almost fell on the floor when he said "GO AHEAD!" Whoa....... I was praising God in my mind all the way in the house to the phone!!!!!! Can you believe it!!!!! He said YES to 2 children!!!!!! That in itself was a miracle. I know that is the nuttiest thing I have ever asked him, I even think so too, but I was so compelled to ask and thank the good LORD I did as you will soon find out. I quickly e-mailed my SW and told her the great news. About 3 minutes later my phone rang. I knew it had to be good and exciting news because she usually only deals with me through e-mail. I answered the phone, jokingly told her I hope she wasn't calling to pop my bubble She solemnly said, I hope not, but she was sad to say that the little girl I had first requested had been matched with a family because they hadn't heard from me and they were making final decision at noon. I was supposed to let them know my decision by 12pm. I looked at the clock and it was 1:40. I immediately felt like I was going to just cry my heart out. I lost the chance to mother this child because of 1 hour and 40 minutes! Aimee went on to say although this little girl had been matched, the little girl I had seen in the video had not been matched but she could put her on hold for us. What a bunch of mixed emotions. I can't even describe to you how I felt. It was so bittersweet that I didn't know what to feel. I felt like I needed to grieve the loss of something I never really had and rejoice in the one I will someday have. As the time went on and I had time to process if all, I put things into perspective and realized God had given me a sneak preview to HIS choice of who our daughter was to be. I had always been a little bothered by the thought of picking a child out of my own. I always felt like there would be a possibility of having the thoughts in the back of my mind if we had done the right thing. God and his infinite wisdom and God who is our perfect provider saw fit to give us the child of HIS choosing. Everything made perfect sense. He also provided the little girl I had requested with a family so I didn't even have to worry about her being left in an orphanage. When I called Scott to let him know what was going on, he was in a meeting. I had to wait 2 hours before I could update him and get his answer. Fortunately when I sent him her video there was no hesitation. It was a quick and definite YES. She is older than we had anticipated and worried that Ellie would be disappointed in not getting a LITTLE sister. We knew how we tell her and our attitude would reflect how she would accept her. Ellie is just as excited as we are. It has been a curvy road to our precious little girl in China, the inspiration for this blog. We will name her Selah Elizabeth. She is 6 years old and has congenital heart disease. She will need surgery to repair her heart, but we're confident we'll be up for the challenge. If God could bring us to her and her to us, He can raise up the doctors and surgeons of His choice to repair her heart. This process of adoption has made my faith so much stronger and my trust in our Creator so much deeper. I am so grateful for a Savior who knows what's best for me! : )
Pictures to follow!!!!
1 year ago
