Christmas 2011...Part 3


Saturday night, Christmas Eve, my family and I traveled to New Jersey for our traditional Czech Dinner with our extended family. The night was full of traditions including sauerkraut soup, mushroom soup, specialty breads and cookies, and of course the golden pig (that's where coins rain from the ceiling...you figure that one out). After our celebration we hopped back in the car and traveled back to my parents' house in Maryland, to spend the night and wake up Christmas morning together.

For some reason I woke up really early. I think it was because I was singing a solo at my parents' church Christmas morning and was getting nervous! I jumped in the shower and when I got out heard my niece Sadie crying. I went in her room, picked her up, and got to sit by the tree watching the lights for like a half hour. She was mesmerized by those lights and our singing Christmas tree. My sister told me that allowing her to sleep and taking care of Sadie was the best Christmas present ever. For me...it just felt like I was waking up Christmas morning with a little one, and that was special.

Christmas morning was somewhat emotional for me. My Dad had asked me to sing the song "Be Born in Me," by Francesca Battistelli, and the words are powerful (check out the lyrics sometime). It moved me several times while singing. One of the lines says, "Did you wrap yourself inside the unexpected? So that we might know that love would go that far." I feel like that has been my life...unexpected circumstances that have led to one of the deepest understandings of God's love. Pretty amazing stuff.

We opened presents later that night and I was blown away by how thoughtful my family was. My parents found this awesome Ethiopian doll and surprised me with it. My sister had also given one to my niece as well, so we had a hay day with our dolls! They also bought Nate and I our very first "mom" and "dad" adoption shirts that are written in Amharic. They are so cute and we are so wearing them when we go over to Ethiopia. Nate was amazing as well. He gave me this awesome Ethiopian Flag painting that sparkles all over and a sweet African decal for the car. I loved them! My younger sister gave me this really cute necklace that has a drawing of the US and of Africa with an airplane going between them. It says "LOVE" on it. I love it! Just when I thought we were done, my other sister, Heather, surprises Nate and I with this incredible collage of pictures and encouraging notes from people we minister to and friends of ours that support us, with the lyrics to the song "While I'm Waiting", to encourage us during the wait process. I immediately lost it and bawled (I seriously think if I had a nickel for every time I cried during this journey, I could pay ALL the adoption fees!).

This has been an amazing Christmas and exactly what Nate and I needed for where we are at. I am incredibly thankful for all the glimmers of hope and encouragement that God has given me in the past 5 days. I know without a doubt he will continue to fill this year of 2012 with so many more, reminding Nate and I every step of the way...he is a God who cares deeply about those who are hurting and is STILL a God in control. That makes my heart full:)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Donut Story

Image
When I was about five years into being a Youth Pastor, I met a group of kids that changed my life.  Many of you reading this, who know me personally, have probably heard me talk about them numerous times.  Nate and I happened to live in the parsonage next door to the church I was serving at at the time, and would routinely come home to a group of boys that I would have described then as "rough around the edges."   They dressed mostly in black, had long hair, and sometimes even had black painted fingernails.  They loved to smoke, and they loved to skateboard.  After a few days of watching them through our window, Nate and I went outside and brought them some sodas.  We introduced ourselves, told them I was the Youth Pastor at the church, and invited them to come to youth group.  While they politely declined our invitation, we continued to invite them over and over again, attempted to skate with them, and fill them with snacks.  Until one day, ...
Read more

A Mother's Heart...

Image
It was the night before we were ready to leave for Ethiopia that it dawned on me. We hadn’t given the necklace to Biruk yet. When we had exchanged necklaces with his birth mom ten years prior at the orphanage, we had no idea when we would give it to him. We just knew that we wanted him to be old enough to appreciate it, as it would be the only thing he would have from her. We had no idea if we would ever see her again.  There have been several moments in our journey where I’ve had to pinch myself, because it has felt like I was dreaming. That night as we put our final things in our suitcases, took a deep breath, and came to the realization that we were not only taking our kids to Ethiopia, but that Biruk would in fact meet his birth mom…well, you had to pinch me, because it felt like I was dreaming. It also felt like the perfect moment to share this gift that we had been holding onto for 10 years. So we pulled out the necklace and gave it to Biruk. While words can be few and...
Read more

Stories Matter

Image
Yesterday, my family and I found ourselves at a local elementary school’s culture club, presenting about our trip to Ethiopia. Even as I write those words, it kind of blows my mind how God has continued to use our story in unexpected places. When the kids were old enough to understand, we began to talk about taking them back to their birth country when they turned 10. We figured at 10, they would be old enough to be pretty good travelers, but still approach the adventure with a childlike wonder. What we didn’t plan on, was that the year Biruk turned 10 would come on the heels of me taking a brand new job, our family moving to a new state, and buying our very first house, in an economy that felt as though it was tanking!  I remember talking to my counselor one day and sharing with him that while we had always promised this trip to our kids, it just didn’t seem to make financial sense. After all, last time I checked, Southwest Airlines does not travel to Africa. He said someth...
Read more