Life Unexpected

It has been far too long since I have sat down and taken some time to write.  To be honest, the summer started and before I knew it, we were already into July.  Between Mission Road Trip stops with our youth group, summer night walks with our little one, a road trip to Maine to visit Nate's mom, mission trip fundraisers, writing sermons, spending time with teenagers and trying to keep up with my calendar, the days fly by incredibly fast.  To make time feel like it is flying even faster, today we had our very last post placement for our adoption.  In two weeks we will have been home for an entire year, and that alone blows my mind. This week we are on vacation with our entire family for our annual trip to the Jersey Shore.  It's hard to believe that at this time last year, we had packed our car with baby stuff, headed for vacation, anticipating that we would finally get the call to go to Ethiopia to pick up Biruk.  God in his graciousness opened those do...

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated our high school graduates.  It was a big year for our youth group, as we graduated 15 students.  I watched that week as students were celebrated for so many accomplishments.  Some had achieved the highest honors they give out in the public school system, some were the top athletes in their class, others had been given full rides to schools they had always dreamed of going to, and there were even a few that had received perfect attendance for all 12 years of school (something I don't even think I ever came close to!).  As I attended graduation party after graduation party, I watched as parents went above and beyond to help their graduate know just how proud they were of all they had accomplished.  It was a pretty sweet thing to be a part of. I have always felt as though the teenagers that graduate from our youth ministry are somewhat "surrogate" children to us.  We not only invest a lot of time into them (although not...

Several years ago, Nate and I began the conversation of what it might look like for him to be a stay at home Dad when we finally brought home our first little one.  If I am honest, I had my concerns.  For starters, Nate is an extremely gifted teacher.  When I say "extremely gifted," I am not exaggerating.  Nate is the kind of teacher that every parent wants their child to have the opportunity to have.  Choosing to be a stay at home Dad was going to crush a lot of parents hopes and dreams.  I was also concerned about money.  Let's be honest, when you go from living on a teacher's salary and youth pastor's salary to just a youth pastor's salary...that is pretty significant.  Nevertheless, Nate felt strongly that this was what God was calling him to do, and so we did it.  I was also concerned that giving up his teaching profession and moving into a role that traditionally men do not take would somewhat make him feel "less than."  Boy was ...

Biruk...before his haircut! This past Sunday we were invited to an Ethiopian family's house for dinner.  We have gotten to know the husband, but just recently met his wife, who cooked for us that night.  After being there for a short time, she mentioned to her husband, who then mentioned to us that we really should cut Biruk's hair.  She wanted us to know that Ethiopian boys typically do not keep their hair long.  We have been talking about getting Biruk's hair cut for awhile, but honestly, we love his curls and had somewhat been procrastinating on it.  And then today happened. We were on our way to a graduation party and ran into one of our Ethiopian friends who lives across the street, who we have become close to.  We hadn't seen her in awhile and the second she looked at Biruk she exclaimed something along the lines of, "Andrea...you need to cut his hair!  Ethiopians don't keep their hair long like that!"  I told her we were eventually ...

Last May 27, 2013 on the day that we first met. This May 2014 hiking at Cunningham Falls. If I had a nickel for every time I cried throughout our adoption journey/post adoption, I would be rich.  At the start of our journey, there were days when I didn't think I would ever stop crying due to brokenness inside of me.  In the middle of the journey the tears came when I felt as though God had forgotten us or there just seemed to be permeating hopelessness in our situation.  There were days when I was so frustrated with the paperwork, the system, or the process itself that tears were the only expression I had.  There were days when I would think about the number of children around the world who were living without families to love on them, ours included, and tears that came from the deepest kind of sadness would pour out of my soul. Then we got our referral and it brought a new set of tears.  There were tears of happiness that God had answered our prayers....

This past January I decided to participate in "The 7 Experiment."  After reading Jen Hatmaker's book, "7," I knew that I was living a life of excess and wanted to learn how to fight against the need to have so much stuff.  In January, I chose 7 foods that I ate for the entire month (it was way harder than it sounds).  In February, I chose 7 articles of clothing to wear for the entire month (it was way more freeing than I thought it would be.  In March/April, I gave up 7 things in my house a day (I probably could have stood to give away way more than I actually did in the end).  This month, I have chosen 7 uses of Media that I am giving up...Facebook (outside of my work hours-use it for youth ministry), Twitter/Instagram, Television, My Smartphone (when I am with my family), Radio (in my car), The Internet (except work related and to blog), and Email after 5pm.  I wish that I could go cold turkey from all of it, but I figured it would be pretty hard to fun...

Last year at this time, I only had a picture of the one who would change my life forever.  Last year at this time, I had no idea what it would be like to be a mother.  Last year at this time, I had no idea the deep, indescribable love that you could have for a child.  Last year at this time, I had no idea the amount of joy that could continue to spill out of the depths of you soul all because your child says the word, "mama."  Mother's Day has been a long time in coming for me, and I can say today, it was totally worth the wait.  I woke up this morning to find a balloon and a sign on Biruk's door that simply read, "Dear Mom."  A I opened up the door, there stood the sweetest sight in the world, my son (I still cannot believe I get to call him that), with this big toothy grin on his face.  Behind him were foam board signs that read, "I love you," "I love when you sing to me," and "Happy Mother's Day."  I completely lost it an...