Again I want to start off this post by praising God. There has been so much growth in me spiritually in the past 6 weeks and I am so very thankful! Like the Veggie Tales song says, "A thankful heart is a happy heart." Even though nothing has changed in our adoption journey I have so much to be thankful and happy for! We accepted the referrals for Fikadu and Marta on June 29th. Fikadu had active TB when we accepted his referral and he was in the hospital. I am very happy to announce that he is out of the hospital and in the last video we got he was not coughing at all. From what I have read on TB it is normally a 6 month intensive antibiotic treatment, so in November he should be finished with his treatments! Praise God! Marta is growing beautifully she is healthy and so adorable! I already have such a bond and love for these 2 babies that sometimes when I think about them I feel like my heart could just leap right out of my chest!
I am going to do my best to organize my thoughts and pour out all that has happened since I have been "disconnected." I will start with events that have happened.
At the beginning of August I went to my very 1st concert!!!! The Jonas Brothers! I went with my little cousin Macy who is 10, my sister Justine and my mommy. We had so much fun and they actually put on a good show. I told Macy for her 8th birthday that when the Jonas Bro's come to town we are so there. Well they did not actually come to town for 2 more years, LOL she was still excited though!
On august 23rd we celebrated the one year anniversary of Claire Dollame's Gotcha Day! Darin got off work early and we spent some great time together as a family. That was a very emotional day, reflecting back on our trip to Ethiopia was very emotional. I would just burst into tears... not sad tears but well...emotional tears. :) I would look at her sitting in her car seat in the back of the van...she would smile at me when she saw me looking at her and I would giggle then cry. I feel truly bless to be called her mother. To have this sweet child call me Mommy is one of the greatest gifts from God. Then on the 28th which was actually one year from the time we landed in the States we celebrated with family and friends! We had a big party! Claire got all kinds of clothes, toys, and even her first coloring book and crayons. Which she is now totally into! Then we celebrated my mom's birthday on September 13th and Darin's birthday on the 16th. We also celebrated 5 year birthday for the salon where I work and have now worked at for 5 years!! That was a blast! :) My brother James had spine surgery on September 17th and he is recovering very well from that. He hurt himself while playing softball. He has always been accident prone. But this was his first surgery of any kind, and my mom was out of town, so Claire, my Dad, and I spend the day at the hospital with my big bro James. They had to go in from the front of his neck to get to his spine and put the nerve back in... I am not sure all of the specifics but it was pretty major surgery. Glad everything went OK!
I have read some outstanding books! My favorite and the one I feel the most connected to is called The Whole in Our Gospel. I wanted to post a little blurb from the book that touched me deeply.
" It starts with you. In the end, God simply calls you to be faithful to things He has given you to do. He doesn't require you to be a superstar, just faithful and obedient, by praying, loving, serving, giving, forgiving, healing, and caring-doing small things with great love."
Wow to me there was so much healing in that! And I believe that to be true! I was feeling so overwhelmed. Some of the things I saw in Ethiopia have haunted me! Truly I felt as tho there was nothing I could ever do to help. The problems seemed so big! But I realized that I was not put on this earth to be overwhelmed, depressed, and to the point where I did NOTHING for the country that has given me SO MUCH.(my children) I am here to be faithful to Gods calling on my life. Wow what amazing plans God has for each and every one of us if we will allow Him to live and work in us like that! I feel blessed to be used for God, for His glory whatever that looks like and where ever that takes us! Amen!
