We leave today. It is almost 1am. I should be sleeping because we are leaving early to make the 3 hour drive to the airport. I'd like to know how many adoptive parents actually get rest before something like this? Goodness, we have waited for this day for years and yet it still does not feel real. I was good/ calm for the most part until I tucked my girls in. Our third daughter put on a brave face but mom sees through it. Our second daughter gets emotional when dad leaves on business trips. Having mom and dad leave was too much for her. She tried REALLY hard to put on a brave face but mom saw right through it. Of course her tears brought on mine (my mom also saw through my brave face ha ha).
I have never left my kids like this. EVER. I don't enjoy this part at all. Sure, the girls drive me batty at times, but they are my world. This is breaking my heart. I am asking for prayers of peace for this momma's heart. Please.
I cannot WAIT to meet our new daughter. I especially cannot wait to bring her home to her sisters. I cannot wait to watch her discover a world outside her institutional doors. I cannot wait to hug her and tuck her in at night and to let her know that her mom loves her soooo much and that I would do every minute of this over again just to see her loved. No one should be without a family. No child should be left alone.
We are not superheroes. We are ordinary people taking every day one day at a time (and sometimes it is minute by minute ha ha). We praise God for putting us on this path. I don't know why He chose us for this? I often ask "Why us" and the answer I always get back is, "Why Not?" God's got this.
Please continue to pray for us. We are gone for 10 days. Please pray for my mom (and brother) as they try to survive the upcoming days with the fabulous five. Please pray for Lilyanna and that she accepts us and bonds to us and is healthy. Please pray for our meetings. Please pray for us on the 29th when we get our final visit with her and then have to leave her for months before coming to get her for good. I'm already deeply dreading November 29th immensely.
Thanks.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Two More Days
We leave in two days to meet our baby. I am so excited! We leave here Friday for a 9 hour flight to London where we will spend the night (we have a 20 hour layover). The following day we fly three more hours to Sofia. There, we will spend the night and then on Monday we will drive to New Sister's village to meet her. Somewhere in that time we will drive to a nearby city where we will be staying.
We finally got a few little videos of her and some pictures. I'm so glad it came before our trip. The only picture we had of her was from a year ago. She was so tiny and laying on her tummy. The videos show her sitting up. I think the staff was trying to show that she could stand with support from them but Little Miss wasn't being too cooperative. They think she may be teething too. Poor little one. The staff seems caring but in reality, Little Miss needs a momma :(
We finally got a few little videos of her and some pictures. I'm so glad it came before our trip. The only picture we had of her was from a year ago. She was so tiny and laying on her tummy. The videos show her sitting up. I think the staff was trying to show that she could stand with support from them but Little Miss wasn't being too cooperative. They think she may be teething too. Poor little one. The staff seems caring but in reality, Little Miss needs a momma :(
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Two more weeks
Wowzers, in two weeks we leave. On a plane. To meet our daughter. We get to snuggle her and play peek a boo again (apparently she likes it so much, they chose that game to put in her file ha ha).
We get to try new foods; spend stotinki and leva and also pence and pounds; and attempt to communicate as foreigners (eek). This is so craaazzzyyyy (and a teeny tiny bit exciting).
Here's a little Bulgarian tidbit that will be COMPLETELY CONFUSING for us: They nod their heads for no and shake their heads for yes!!! Oh boy!
God has definitely got this adoption under His belt. Every little detail. It's pretty amazing to sit back and get front row seats to this show. On Sunday, our pastor talked a bit about the story of Jesus feeding 5000 + people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%206:1-14&version=NLT). When Jesus told the disciples to feed the 5,000, it seemed impossible; they felt like they had nothing to offer ("Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!” verse 7). They were given 5 small loaves of bread and 2 fish by a selfless young boy. But when the meal was placed into Jesus' hands, he fed thousands upon thousands of people and made a miracle out of seemingly nothing. That is how we feel has happened in our life. It was put on our heart to adopt internationally (http://sparklesgigglesandtiaras.blogspot.ca/p/frequentlyasked-questions-1.html). The fees alone are enough to make anybody's head spin...especially to parents of a larger family. But we knew that if this was God's Will for us, He would direct our path. And that he has. Our thermometer to the side is proof of God's provision.
Yesterday, we were also reminded of this. My oldest daughter lost her winter boots. Somewhere in this house is a lone pair of boots (or maybe it was accidently put into the donation bag...we're not sure). We got hit pretty good this week with snow. She was able to wear her rain boots for the first couple of days it snowed, while we were frantically searching the house, but alas the cold made it uncomfortable for her poor toes. She has big feet and wears ladies sizes (translation: more money). We are leaving in two weeks, money is tight and I did not want to buy another pair of boots. Lo and behold I got this duh moment (again). "Pray!" Ask God for help (duh). After battling the "this is a silly thing to pray for" I realized that God tells us to ask Him for help, no matter the size. So I did it...I prayed. And as the doubt came, I told myself that God wants us to have faith...why wouldn't He provide boots??? Just a mustard seed of faith...just a teeny tiny mustard seed... I can do that! So, I stopped worrying about it and went to pick up my kids from school. A friend waited with me. We talked about how she lost her boots and our daughter's boot sizes (my daughter is a size 6...my friend's daughter is the same age but wears a size 2). We parted ways when the kids arrived. Two hours later, this same person phones me up to say she was given a pair of ladies boots in the size I needed!! Thank you Jesus! Whoot whoot! When she dropped them off, she said, "think of this as helping with the adoption ha ha". I don't think my friend realizes how powerful those words were that evening!
People ask us ALL THE TIME how we do it. The truth is...God. God has blessed us with fantastic children. He has given me a husband that is amazingly loving, hard working, caring and PATIENT. He has a great job with good benefits and people he enjoys working with. God put us in a town that is so full of love. We finally have a church where we actually feel like we belong; where we aren't strangers to everyone (even though I am painfully shy and could hide under a rock most days). God has provided us with a home that fits our growing family. We have food on the table and warm clothes on our bodies. We have a SUPER supportive and amazing extended family. God has been good to us. Our life is not always easy. It has many ups and downs. But our faith keeps us going. And faith is getting us on that plane in two weeks! I can't wait.
We were supposed to get an updated picture and video of New Sister. Unfortunately, we were told she has a virus so our agency is going to try again next week. Poor baby. Please pray for her. We also have no idea where we are staying in BG. I don't know how many times we have asked and we keep getting the same answer, "[our BG agency] will be setting that up"...ummm...that is SOOOO not helpful!!! Do people not realize that it would be nice to know costs and what is around our place. Arg, so frustrating. So, it looks like we will be showing up to our room on faith too :) Oh, such an adventure.
We get to try new foods; spend stotinki and leva and also pence and pounds; and attempt to communicate as foreigners (eek). This is so craaazzzyyyy (and a teeny tiny bit exciting).
Here's a little Bulgarian tidbit that will be COMPLETELY CONFUSING for us: They nod their heads for no and shake their heads for yes!!! Oh boy!
God has definitely got this adoption under His belt. Every little detail. It's pretty amazing to sit back and get front row seats to this show. On Sunday, our pastor talked a bit about the story of Jesus feeding 5000 + people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%206:1-14&version=NLT). When Jesus told the disciples to feed the 5,000, it seemed impossible; they felt like they had nothing to offer ("Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!” verse 7). They were given 5 small loaves of bread and 2 fish by a selfless young boy. But when the meal was placed into Jesus' hands, he fed thousands upon thousands of people and made a miracle out of seemingly nothing. That is how we feel has happened in our life. It was put on our heart to adopt internationally (http://sparklesgigglesandtiaras.blogspot.ca/p/frequentlyasked-questions-1.html). The fees alone are enough to make anybody's head spin...especially to parents of a larger family. But we knew that if this was God's Will for us, He would direct our path. And that he has. Our thermometer to the side is proof of God's provision.
Yesterday, we were also reminded of this. My oldest daughter lost her winter boots. Somewhere in this house is a lone pair of boots (or maybe it was accidently put into the donation bag...we're not sure). We got hit pretty good this week with snow. She was able to wear her rain boots for the first couple of days it snowed, while we were frantically searching the house, but alas the cold made it uncomfortable for her poor toes. She has big feet and wears ladies sizes (translation: more money). We are leaving in two weeks, money is tight and I did not want to buy another pair of boots. Lo and behold I got this duh moment (again). "Pray!" Ask God for help (duh). After battling the "this is a silly thing to pray for" I realized that God tells us to ask Him for help, no matter the size. So I did it...I prayed. And as the doubt came, I told myself that God wants us to have faith...why wouldn't He provide boots??? Just a mustard seed of faith...just a teeny tiny mustard seed... I can do that! So, I stopped worrying about it and went to pick up my kids from school. A friend waited with me. We talked about how she lost her boots and our daughter's boot sizes (my daughter is a size 6...my friend's daughter is the same age but wears a size 2). We parted ways when the kids arrived. Two hours later, this same person phones me up to say she was given a pair of ladies boots in the size I needed!! Thank you Jesus! Whoot whoot! When she dropped them off, she said, "think of this as helping with the adoption ha ha". I don't think my friend realizes how powerful those words were that evening!
People ask us ALL THE TIME how we do it. The truth is...God. God has blessed us with fantastic children. He has given me a husband that is amazingly loving, hard working, caring and PATIENT. He has a great job with good benefits and people he enjoys working with. God put us in a town that is so full of love. We finally have a church where we actually feel like we belong; where we aren't strangers to everyone (even though I am painfully shy and could hide under a rock most days). God has provided us with a home that fits our growing family. We have food on the table and warm clothes on our bodies. We have a SUPER supportive and amazing extended family. God has been good to us. Our life is not always easy. It has many ups and downs. But our faith keeps us going. And faith is getting us on that plane in two weeks! I can't wait.
We were supposed to get an updated picture and video of New Sister. Unfortunately, we were told she has a virus so our agency is going to try again next week. Poor baby. Please pray for her. We also have no idea where we are staying in BG. I don't know how many times we have asked and we keep getting the same answer, "[our BG agency] will be setting that up"...ummm...that is SOOOO not helpful!!! Do people not realize that it would be nice to know costs and what is around our place. Arg, so frustrating. So, it looks like we will be showing up to our room on faith too :) Oh, such an adventure.
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