John Piper's Twitter thing updates on Facebook; Storm Stories even though I can't watch them unless we're at a hotel with cable; the Weather Channel app on my phone; ice cream dessert with chocolate on the top and Oreos on the bottom; a working furnace; half price wrapping paper; Smartwool and Ice Breaker shirts; having my coffee ready to go at night so I just have to push a button in the morning; searching Craigslist for Ikea baby stuff; Ikea baby stuff; watching a fox eat a frozen rabbit right on Summit Avenue in St. Paul.
Things I don't like: unloading the dishwasher; lights left on; a van with a gas gauge that reads zero and I'm 6 miles from a gas station; being at Target or Cub after 8 at night; the use of apostrophe s when no apostrophe is needed; waiting for 2 girls without being able to manage the display of one single fruit of the spirit.
Maybe someone is selling self control on craigslist. And maybe, somehow, my little purchased piece of self control might look like it's from Ikea.
Well, off to eat some ice cream bar dessert, watch Storm Chasers on Hulu.com (next best thing to Storm Stories) and see if there is a FOTS (fruit of the spirit) that I might be able to have peek through as we inch our way to 8:30 Monday morning--the time our adoption agency is open.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Update
We made it through Christmas through a variety of coping mechanisms: be busy; eat a lot; enjoy the family we have; not listen to any songs with titles like: "I don't have a home and it's Christmas"; "I'm alone in an institution and it's Christmas and you're someplace cozy without me"; "I have a hair fungus and no diaper and it's Christmas." We also made sure our furnace stopped working on Christmas Eve day so that we're not actually all that cozy unless we're in a lot of wool and sitting by the fire. Oh, and our final coping mechanism: buy two hamsters that are sisters.
I'm still feeling, however, the stirrings of The Crazies as I look at my World Clock App and find out it's almost tomorrow in Ethiopia. We're waiting to find out a court date. This will be the first actual date we've ever had in this process. We've measured progress or looked forward to milestones in rather generic terms: next week, a couple weeks, next month, sometime next month, etc. This will be a date so that I can focus all my energy on worrying about one 24 hour period, not nebulous timeframes. I, in the spirit of New Year Optimism, think that we will all enjoy me more this way.
The court date is a big deal because, at that point, if we pass court the girls will be ours. If we pass court, we get an embassy date. If we pass court, I can fly to Ethiopia about 3 weeks later and see them. If we pass court and I go...I can bring them home.
There are a lot of details that I will be able to include once we pass court (names, ages, I think even a picture). Please pray that all our paperwork will be in order and that we might pass the first time.
I'll write when we get a date. I'll wander aimlessly and unproductively around the house if we don't get a date. And I'll hover by the computer endlessly.
And I'll be thinking to myself that I have a new Life Verse:
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits;
and in His word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
Psalm 130:6
I'm still feeling, however, the stirrings of The Crazies as I look at my World Clock App and find out it's almost tomorrow in Ethiopia. We're waiting to find out a court date. This will be the first actual date we've ever had in this process. We've measured progress or looked forward to milestones in rather generic terms: next week, a couple weeks, next month, sometime next month, etc. This will be a date so that I can focus all my energy on worrying about one 24 hour period, not nebulous timeframes. I, in the spirit of New Year Optimism, think that we will all enjoy me more this way.
The court date is a big deal because, at that point, if we pass court the girls will be ours. If we pass court, we get an embassy date. If we pass court, I can fly to Ethiopia about 3 weeks later and see them. If we pass court and I go...I can bring them home.
There are a lot of details that I will be able to include once we pass court (names, ages, I think even a picture). Please pray that all our paperwork will be in order and that we might pass the first time.
I'll write when we get a date. I'll wander aimlessly and unproductively around the house if we don't get a date. And I'll hover by the computer endlessly.
And I'll be thinking to myself that I have a new Life Verse:
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits;
and in His word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
Psalm 130:6
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Report from a Missionary Doctor
A family from our church works as missionaries in Ethiopia. Both husband and wife are doctors. The wife went to visit my children and wrote of their condition. Overall, things appear to be good despite a "hair fungus" which makes me itchy just to type.
At the end of an email, Dr. Susan wrote this: "I am glad to have visited and the little baby's eyes were open and appeared straight. Let's meet up when you come into town."
I've read that sentence at least 6 times and every single time it makes me get a little bit teary. I don't even know why, but I love it.
At the end of an email, Dr. Susan wrote this: "I am glad to have visited and the little baby's eyes were open and appeared straight. Let's meet up when you come into town."
I've read that sentence at least 6 times and every single time it makes me get a little bit teary. I don't even know why, but I love it.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Maybe Close
We're hoping that we're not all that far away from Things. Things like more children and more diapers and more stuff and more clothes and more joy.
Instead of thinking about it though, I am being pecked to death by a duck named Levi who wants to play Pit. We play, just the two of us, and with an imaginary friend named Bob. Bob always loses because we pass him our losing cards. He usually scores in the negative 80's. Levi and I appreciate him for taking the bad hands and for making us look good. I appreciate him because he doesn't cry, have fits or want to keep playing or want to quit. Bob is my new favorite child.
Instead of thinking about it though, I am being pecked to death by a duck named Levi who wants to play Pit. We play, just the two of us, and with an imaginary friend named Bob. Bob always loses because we pass him our losing cards. He usually scores in the negative 80's. Levi and I appreciate him for taking the bad hands and for making us look good. I appreciate him because he doesn't cry, have fits or want to keep playing or want to quit. Bob is my new favorite child.
Friday, December 4, 2009
New List
What I Do To Be Lame:
1. Scroll through craigslist for Pottery Barn stuff for baby girls
2. Scroll through pictures of Ethiopia.
3. Consider looking for contests where I could win 7 airplane tickets and a one week stay in Ethiopia
4. Make that a 2 month stay
5. Get sad that my children in Ethiopia don't know it's Christmas
6. Google "cute soft dolls" that I want to buy for a girl who doesn't have any
7. Consider lattes and monster cookies a food group
He will make the lame leap for joy.....
1. Scroll through craigslist for Pottery Barn stuff for baby girls
2. Scroll through pictures of Ethiopia.
3. Consider looking for contests where I could win 7 airplane tickets and a one week stay in Ethiopia
4. Make that a 2 month stay
5. Get sad that my children in Ethiopia don't know it's Christmas
6. Google "cute soft dolls" that I want to buy for a girl who doesn't have any
7. Consider lattes and monster cookies a food group
He will make the lame leap for joy.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)