Beautiful Brown Skin

Dear Jeremy,

I'm in the process of working on our family photo book for the year 2011, and I just finished a page with the above images. I would entitle it "The Many Faces of Jeremy" because it totally shows what a character you are and how expressive you can be.

Sometimes when I'm putting baby lotion on your skin, I'll say, "Jeremy, what's beautiful?" and you'll enthusiastically reply, "Beautiful skin!" It's become a bit of a ritual, and a little fun thing that we do. You and your brother both have such gorgeous skin, and I hope you'll always embrace it as one of the many wonderful characteristics that God gave you when He made you.

Sadly, you may encounter people in the world who will try to tell you otherwise. One of the things that breaks my heart is the thought that you might (and probably will) encounter people with racial prejudices. They might say hurtful things or act in ways make you feel inferior, less than. I wish I could protect you from all harm, and I hope the world you are growing up in will be a kinder one than generations past.

My only advice to you is to disregard that negativity as much as you possibly can, and remember that you are exactly who God created you to be. You are "fearfully and wonderfully made"! (Psalm 139). I want you to know, also, that our little ritual isn't just my way of trying to build your self-esteem (although I hope it does!). It is the truth. You and Zachary both were born with the most beautiful skin--just look at the photos above...it is just radiant!!!

And what is most beautiful to me (even more than your gorgeous skin!) is your radiant spirit. May it always shine brightly! Thank you for lighting up my world!

Love,
Mama

Legacy

"May the tenure of our life on earth be characterized by one simple word: Jesus." ~Beth Moore

Dear Jeremy and Zachary,

Dad and I recently spent the better part of a day completing an exercise called "My Life Plan". The workbook we used plainly stated that in order to make a plan for your life, you have to know where it is you want to go. In other words, you must begin at the end and then figure out the steps you want to take to get you there. The idea is to visualize how you would like to be remembered by the important people in your life, and then to make a plan accordingly. The workbook suggested that I take a moment to imagine my funeral, and then to think about how I want to be remembered by God, my husband, my children, my parents, my colleagues, and my friends.

I had no idea what an emotional experience it would be to write down my thoughts about all of this, and I was most moved writing about how I want to be remembered by you, so I thought I would share my thoughts with you here:

I want my children to remember me the way we remembered John (my stepdad) at his funeral: as someone who spoiled us with his love. If my children remember me for nothing else, I want them to remember me as a mommy who loved them so lavishly and fiercely that there is absolutely no doubt in their minds that they were the apple of my eye. I want them to remember me as their champion--that I was on their team, not matter what. That I was their protective Mama Bear when they needed someone to defend them. I want them to remember me as their cheerleader, the president of their fan club, the person who believed in the beauty of their dreams, the person who believed in their ability to achieve their dreams, the person who believed in them. As they become adolescents and adults, I want them to remember me as their dear friend and confidant--the person they could come to with absolutely any thought, any question, any hurt or heartbreak, any joy or triumph, any issue to process. I want them to remember me as someone who gave great hugs. I want them to remember me as being both gentle and fun. I want them to remember me as someone who gave them the gift of my time. I want them to remember me as someone who prayed for them and helped introduce them to Jesus. And even when I'm long gone, and their memories of me begin to fade with time, I want them to remember me when they look in the mirror at themselves--not because we look anything alike, but because the Light that shines in their own eyes and hearts will be the same Light that shone in mine...the Light of Jesus. I want them to feel the love of Christ resonating in their souls when they remember Mama. 

I love you with all my heart,
Mama

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year, I'm so thankful for the blessings of my little family!

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Unexpected Blessings of International Adoption

When we were preparing to adopt across cultural lines, part of our training included watching some videos. One of these videos talked about the importance of not just trying to keep your kids tied to their culture of origin, but for the entire family to become a little bit (in our case) Ethiopian.

It's a tall order, and one which I hope I'm successful in filling. One thing that I really love about our church is their annual "Nations Sunday" in which there is a focus on world missions. On this particular Sunday each year, many of the world's flags are paraded in during a special procession and the entire congregation is invited to dress in clothing from other nations. For our family, it is a natural opportunity to celebrate our sons' Ethiopian heritage and for them to wear their special outfits we bought them when we were there adopting them.

Our family

One unexpected blessing of becoming "a little bit Ethiopian" is that I've become much bolder in introducing myself to people if I suspect they may be Ethiopian (or from any other African country, for that matter). Consequently, I've made friends with some wonderful women, one of whom has become particularly dear to me. Her name is Sophia, and I met her last year on Nations Sunday. She is a beautiful woman--both inside and out--and last year, she was wearing a gorgeous dress from her native Kenya. I introduced myself to her and we've been friends ever since. She is also the mother of two little boys.

About six months ago, she traveled to her homeland for a visit and returned with a surprise gift for me...a beautiful pink dress!!! It is a Ghanian style dress, and this year's Nations Sunday was my first opportunity to wear it. I love it, and most of all, I loved that my boys could see how proud I was to wear a beautiful African dress...it was a celebration of them as much as it was a chance for me to feel pretty!

Sophia (left), her two sons, and her aunt.

I'm so grateful for the ways our adoption of Jeremy and Zachary has opened my eyes and my heart to people and experiences I might not have otherwise known.

Our family was asked to be part of the flag procession this past Sunday, and when I saw the Ethiopian flag, I found myself dashing over and saying, "May I carry that flag? It's my sons' country!" I couldn't have felt more proud and somehow unworthy at the same time. I'm so blessed and humbled, too, to be a little bit Ethiopian.

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day! We have had such a fun day today. Nana came over last night and spent the night, and all of us went to a local kiddie water park this morning with the boys. It was nice and warm, but not too crowded, and the boys had a great time splashing in the water. So did we adults!

Here are a few pics of my All-American Ethiopian baby and me wearing our patriotic colors! Oh, how I love this boy!!!

I'm feeling very thankful for my precious family, and I'm thrilled that my aunt and uncle and two cousins will soon be moving to Houston from Florida...our local clan is growing!

I'm also thankful today for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to give me and my family the freedoms we so enjoy (and quite frankly take for granted). God Bless America!

More than Half

Dear Zachary,

Today marks a special today... Today you have been with us longer than you were without us. I'm not sure why, but it somehow feels like an important milestone.

Words cannot fully express what a joy you are! My heart brims over with happiness and contentment just thinking about you, my son. I suppose that every orphan's story has either a sad beginning or a sad chapter. While I'll never understand why God allows suffering and pain, I'm thankful that He is a God who can and does redeem difficult situations. When I really think about it, I'm amazed at what God has done! He knew two little boys in Ethiopia needed parents, and He knew a married couple in Texas who wanted two little children. Then He brought us together and created a family. A forever family. I may not have been in your life for the first four and a half months, but now that we're together, I'm here to stay. You're part of our family, and you always will be!

May you always feel secure in our love,

Mama and Daddy

Introducing Our Sons!

We passed court and are now the proud parents of two wonderful boys!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We'll be returning to Ethiopia in less than a month for our appointment at the U.S. Embassy to get the boys' visas and will bring them home in early September!

Our heartfelt thanks goes out to all of our dear family and friends who have supported us through this amazing adoption journey. We're especially grateful for the support we've found right here in the blog world from other adoptive families. Somehow, it feels like we've been "in the trenches" together, and the friendships that have formed along the way are true treasures. Thank you!

Amazing Morning!

This morning, I woke up at 3:30, and I thought that maybe God woke me up to pray for our court date. When I glanced over at my cell phone, I saw that my sister had sent me a text message at 3 am. When I checked it, she had written, "My water just broke!"

Of course, I called her right away, and she said that they were waiting for my mom to get to their house to stay with their older child, and then they were off to the hospital. Their new son was born at 7:06 this morning via c-section. He is beautiful, and I'm already in love! I'm so excited that there will be 4 grandsons on my side of the family!

Soon after I arrived at the hospital and met him, my own phone rang with more good news--all went well in court this morning in Ethiopia! Our case worker told us to make our travel plans!

Our official court date is August 4th. We'll be in country from Aug. 1 - Aug. 7!

We're not totally sure where we'll be staying yet, but if you're a traveling family who will be there when we are, let us know where you'll be staying! We're looking forward to getting to know other Gladney families while we're there!

God is good, and He has blessed us this morning. I just feel like I want to acknowledge Him! Thank you all for your prayers for us and for our boys! We would certainly appreciate your continued prayers that all will go well on Aug. 4th, and that we can bring them home as soon as possible! Thank you, dear family, friends and blog friends!

Tonight while we sleep...

...our first court date will occur in Ethiopia. Tomorrow between 10 and 2, we're expecting a phone call from our case worker with news.

We have so many people praying about our court date tomorrow, and it is a blessing to know that we and the whole situation are so covered in prayer. We thank you for your prayers and ask that as you head to bed tonight (if you haven't already) that you pray that all will go well tomorrow in court.

God is in control, and we are trusting Him.

Preparing a Place for You!

Dear R & B,

I would be completely inauthentic if I said that I've haven't made a HUGE effort to keep myself busy with projects as a way to keep my anxiety at bay while we wait for a court date. See, ever since we first saw your pictures, I've been so READY to meet you and to bring you home, but alas, there is still a lot of waiting to do after a family is matched with their babies. And all this waiting is no fun!

So to help keep me distracted, we decided to wait to start preparing your nursery until after we received our match. Because you have both been living in rooms at the Gladney care center full of other children, we've decided to let you share a bedroom so that you won't feel so alone after we bring you to your new home.

We picked out a really cute safari animal theme for your room called Jigsaw Jungle, and I went looking for just the right shade for the walls. We even put three sample colors up on the wall to see which we liked best.

We went with the middle color green (called "Shagreen" at Sherwin-Williams) and went to town painting!

Soon, we were finished, and we really like how it turned out!

I can hardly wait to put your cribs in there and decorate the room. Preparing a place to welcome your children is so much fun! As I was thinking about it today, I was reminded of the words of Jesus when He said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

I've always heard that becoming parents really gives believers a more robust understanding of what our God feels for His children, and wow does that ring true when I read this!

It is wonderful to read these words, knowing how much I long to "take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." It's neat to think of Jesus preparing a place for me, as I'm preparing a place for you! You're on my mind so much, so it is sweet knowing that I'm on God's mind that way, too.

I love you boys so much, and I haven't even met you! How great is the love of God for us!

Until I can bring you here to be with me, I'll be preparing a place for you. Just for you.

Love,

Mama