Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
A little Ethio person finds her family, and joins our group.
Today, our new friends from our North Texas Ethio Adoption Group (I'm calling it this, but we don't actually have a name just yet--Emily?), The Lydicks, met their sweet baby girl in Addis. Go here to read along as they post from ET.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Falling Slowly
This is a clip from one of my favorite movies of 2007, called Once. (The other one is The Lives of Others, which was released in 06, but I saw it in 07.) I think Once is one of the loveliest films I've seen since....I don't know when. It is simple and moving--the story of the relationship between a busker (street singer) and an Eastern European immigrant in Dublin. So, maybe you're not into independent films. If you aren't, you should still give this film a chance and allow it to challenge you. The ending is....beautiful.
So is the music, which is all original: written by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. Though they aren't actors, these two musicians play the lead roles in the film.
Here's a snippet:
So is the music, which is all original: written by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. Though they aren't actors, these two musicians play the lead roles in the film.
Here's a snippet:
Saturday, January 26, 2008
8-- *Done quickly and without forethought.
Tagged by Angie--thanks Angie!
8 Things I’m Passionate About...
1. Following Jesus.
2. Learning to love better.
3. My husband.
4. Traveling pretty much anywhere.
5. Reading.
6. Working with children.
7. Christian missions.
8. "Travelin' light," so to speak.
8 Things I Want To Do Before I Die...
1. Live overseas.
2. Live with Michael to see our great-grandchildren.
3. Go back to playing the piano.
4. Live in the same town as my best friend.
5. Become a proficient cook. Actually, I just want to not hate cooking.
6. I would love for my parents to have many, many years with their grandchildren.
7. Have an open, hospitable, loving home for all who visit.
8. Grow in real wisdom.
8 Things I Say Often...
1. Geez Louise.
2. Yeah, babe? ( in response to a student's "Mrs. F.?")
3. That's fine.
4. Hey honey, would you walk the dogs?
5. Hello, Mr. Lee! (with a little bow to my asian boss)
6. Goodnight, Mrs. Choi! (with a little bow to his secretary)
7. lots of so-called "verbal garbage"--umm, uhh, yeah, etc. Sorry, Dr. Brunson!
8. Good grief.
8 TV Shows I’ve Recently Watched...
1. Simply Ming and various PBS cooking shows
2. Dr. Who
3. The Amazing Race
4. Martha Stewart
5. Lonesome Dove miniseries
6. Good Morning America
7. I work at night, and we don't have cable--I've run out....
8. I got nothin'.
8 Songs I Could Listen to Over and Over...
1. Bach Cello Concertos
2. King of Pain by the Police--just about anything by the Police
3. Chopin waltzes
4. The Color Green by Rich Mullins
5. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
6. Be Thou My Vision
7. Caleb Meyer by Gillian Welch
8. Make Me Down a Pallet on Your Floor by Gillian Welch
8 Things That Attract Me To My Best Friends...
1. Loyalty
2. Sense of Humour and ability to be silly--10 years ago my friend Liz ran down Broadway in broad daylight imitating a gibbon monkey, (with great accuracy) and I knew we would be friends forever.
3. An interest in ideas and culture.
4. Kindness
5. Gentleness
6. Empathy
7. An ability to be emotionally honest and open
8. The ability to be self-deprecating
8 Things I’ve Learned (or been reminded of) This Past Year...
1. That God is my Provider.
2. That my husband loves me much more than I deserve.
3. That I am saved by grace--I am not under condemnation.
4. That I really enjoy variety.
5. That making art is healing for children.
6. That my hair is really not finely textured anymore. Thanks, screwy hormones.
7. That "whate'er my God ordains is right."
8. That I want love to be my motivation.
8 People I Think Should Do “8”...
Emily, Natalie, Beau, Jami and Shawn, Roxana, Martha, and I'll have to post more names later!!! Goodnight!
8 Things I’m Passionate About...
1. Following Jesus.
2. Learning to love better.
3. My husband.
4. Traveling pretty much anywhere.
5. Reading.
6. Working with children.
7. Christian missions.
8. "Travelin' light," so to speak.
8 Things I Want To Do Before I Die...
1. Live overseas.
2. Live with Michael to see our great-grandchildren.
3. Go back to playing the piano.
4. Live in the same town as my best friend.
5. Become a proficient cook. Actually, I just want to not hate cooking.
6. I would love for my parents to have many, many years with their grandchildren.
7. Have an open, hospitable, loving home for all who visit.
8. Grow in real wisdom.
8 Things I Say Often...
1. Geez Louise.
2. Yeah, babe? ( in response to a student's "Mrs. F.?")
3. That's fine.
4. Hey honey, would you walk the dogs?
5. Hello, Mr. Lee! (with a little bow to my asian boss)
6. Goodnight, Mrs. Choi! (with a little bow to his secretary)
7. lots of so-called "verbal garbage"--umm, uhh, yeah, etc. Sorry, Dr. Brunson!
8. Good grief.
8 TV Shows I’ve Recently Watched...
1. Simply Ming and various PBS cooking shows
2. Dr. Who
3. The Amazing Race
4. Martha Stewart
5. Lonesome Dove miniseries
6. Good Morning America
7. I work at night, and we don't have cable--I've run out....
8. I got nothin'.
8 Songs I Could Listen to Over and Over...
1. Bach Cello Concertos
2. King of Pain by the Police--just about anything by the Police
3. Chopin waltzes
4. The Color Green by Rich Mullins
5. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
6. Be Thou My Vision
7. Caleb Meyer by Gillian Welch
8. Make Me Down a Pallet on Your Floor by Gillian Welch
8 Things That Attract Me To My Best Friends...
1. Loyalty
2. Sense of Humour and ability to be silly--10 years ago my friend Liz ran down Broadway in broad daylight imitating a gibbon monkey, (with great accuracy) and I knew we would be friends forever.
3. An interest in ideas and culture.
4. Kindness
5. Gentleness
6. Empathy
7. An ability to be emotionally honest and open
8. The ability to be self-deprecating
8 Things I’ve Learned (or been reminded of) This Past Year...
1. That God is my Provider.
2. That my husband loves me much more than I deserve.
3. That I am saved by grace--I am not under condemnation.
4. That I really enjoy variety.
5. That making art is healing for children.
6. That my hair is really not finely textured anymore. Thanks, screwy hormones.
7. That "whate'er my God ordains is right."
8. That I want love to be my motivation.
8 People I Think Should Do “8”...
Emily, Natalie, Beau, Jami and Shawn, Roxana, Martha, and I'll have to post more names later!!! Goodnight!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Because We Can, We Must, or Bono and Africa (again)
I think every time I post something on here it's about Bono. Oh well. Has anyone ever read the commmencement speech he delivered at Penn in 2004 (BTW, the one where he received a honorary doctorate--I forgot about that)? It has some similarities to his prayer breakfast speech from 2006, but one anecdote not in that speech stuck out to me as I read this earlier piece. It's about how he got involved in Africa in the 1980's--after his participation in Live Aid, etc. I thought it was a particularly moving story--especially for those of us interested in Ethiopia and adopting little ones from there:
What are the ideas right now worth betraying? What are the lies we tell ourselves now? What are the blind spots of our age? What's worth spending your post-Penn lives trying to do or undo? It might be something simple.
It might be something as simple as our deep down refusal to believe that every human life has equal worth. Could that be it? Could that be it? Each of you will probably have your own answer, but for me that is it. And for me the proving ground has been Africa.
Africa makes a mockery of what we say, at least what I say, about equality and questions our pieties and our commitments because there's no way to look at what's happening over there and its effect on all of us and conclude that we actually consider Africans as our equals before God. There is no chance.
An amazing event happened here in Philadelphia in 1985--Live Aid--that whole We Are The World phenomenon the concert that happened here. Well, after that concert I went to Ethiopia with my wife, Ali. We were there for a month and an extraordinary thing happened to me. We used to wake up in the morning and the mist would be lifting we'd see thousands and thousands of people who'd been walking all night to our food station were we were working. One man--I was standing outside talking to the translator--had this beautiful boy and he was saying to me in Amharic, I think it was, I said I can't understand what he's saying, and this nurse who spoke English and Amharic said to me, he's saying will you take his son. He's saying please take his son, he would be a great son for you. I was looking puzzled and he said, "You must take my son because if you don't take my son, my son will surely die. If you take him he will go back to Ireland and get an education." Probably like the ones we're talking about today. I had to say no, that was the rules there and I walked away from that man, I've never really walked away from it. But I think about that boy and that man and that's when I started this journey that's brought me here into this stadium.
What are the ideas right now worth betraying? What are the lies we tell ourselves now? What are the blind spots of our age? What's worth spending your post-Penn lives trying to do or undo? It might be something simple.
It might be something as simple as our deep down refusal to believe that every human life has equal worth. Could that be it? Could that be it? Each of you will probably have your own answer, but for me that is it. And for me the proving ground has been Africa.
Africa makes a mockery of what we say, at least what I say, about equality and questions our pieties and our commitments because there's no way to look at what's happening over there and its effect on all of us and conclude that we actually consider Africans as our equals before God. There is no chance.
An amazing event happened here in Philadelphia in 1985--Live Aid--that whole We Are The World phenomenon the concert that happened here. Well, after that concert I went to Ethiopia with my wife, Ali. We were there for a month and an extraordinary thing happened to me. We used to wake up in the morning and the mist would be lifting we'd see thousands and thousands of people who'd been walking all night to our food station were we were working. One man--I was standing outside talking to the translator--had this beautiful boy and he was saying to me in Amharic, I think it was, I said I can't understand what he's saying, and this nurse who spoke English and Amharic said to me, he's saying will you take his son. He's saying please take his son, he would be a great son for you. I was looking puzzled and he said, "You must take my son because if you don't take my son, my son will surely die. If you take him he will go back to Ireland and get an education." Probably like the ones we're talking about today. I had to say no, that was the rules there and I walked away from that man, I've never really walked away from it. But I think about that boy and that man and that's when I started this journey that's brought me here into this stadium.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
A good day for the mailbox.
We got it today!!!!!!! I'm overnighting it to Kate tomorrow. Official waiting list, here we come!
**Thank you to all our sweet friends and family who've been praying for us. It means so much to us.
**Thank you to all our sweet friends and family who've been praying for us. It means so much to us.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Old friends are the best.
One of my closest friends from college, Liz, is in China *as I write* to pick up her sweet beautiful daughter, Mei.....Check it out--they are meeting her on the 21st!!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
I-171h.
We've been waiting for our last document for four weeks now. Yeah, yeah, I know we shouldn't really expect it for a few more....actually these weeks have passed painlessly due the holidays--documents were the last thing on my mind. Even now we're peaceful and fine. I admit, though, that I've entered the "checking the mail expectantly" phase. You never know, people!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Plan A, Plan A, Plan A.
Today I read a great post by Carey, of The Drew Carey Show. She put her thoughts into words so well that I'm going to quote her here: (Thanks Carey.)
Are we the only ones who repeatedly hear the comment that now that we’ve adopted, watch out, we’re going to get pregnant? Suddenly, everyone knows someone who adopted and then whammo, got pregnant. Now I hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but just to be clear, adoption isn’t some really terrific form of fertility treatment. It doesn’t relieve stress (quite the contrary!), nor does it increase the odds of conception. Don’t get me wrong. We’re pretty much never put out by comments not intended to be offensive, critical, judgmental, etc. We have wonderful friends who are deeply interested in our lives and wildly enthusiastic about Miss Zoe. But for some reason, as entertained as I’ve become by its popularity, this particular theory hasn’t been sitting well with me – and I’ve figured out why. It somehow (albeit unintentionally) implies that adoption is Plan B. So for Zoe’s sake and on behalf of all our adoptive friends out there, I want to go on the record stating that adoption isn’t settling; it’s very much Plan A -- regardless of what path got you here. Here’s what’s great about a Plan A. It means it’s your first choice. It means you didn’t have to go with the alternative. A is the highest grade you can receive in school. Hooray for A.
I agree that to joke: "You know what's going to happen now--you're gonna get pregnant!" or to keep reassuring me that you're still praying for me to get pregnant, is to communicate that adoption is a fallback plan. A vaguely disappointing second choice.
It absolutely isn't.
We are thrilled. So, I agree with Carey--hurray for A!!
Are we the only ones who repeatedly hear the comment that now that we’ve adopted, watch out, we’re going to get pregnant? Suddenly, everyone knows someone who adopted and then whammo, got pregnant. Now I hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but just to be clear, adoption isn’t some really terrific form of fertility treatment. It doesn’t relieve stress (quite the contrary!), nor does it increase the odds of conception. Don’t get me wrong. We’re pretty much never put out by comments not intended to be offensive, critical, judgmental, etc. We have wonderful friends who are deeply interested in our lives and wildly enthusiastic about Miss Zoe. But for some reason, as entertained as I’ve become by its popularity, this particular theory hasn’t been sitting well with me – and I’ve figured out why. It somehow (albeit unintentionally) implies that adoption is Plan B. So for Zoe’s sake and on behalf of all our adoptive friends out there, I want to go on the record stating that adoption isn’t settling; it’s very much Plan A -- regardless of what path got you here. Here’s what’s great about a Plan A. It means it’s your first choice. It means you didn’t have to go with the alternative. A is the highest grade you can receive in school. Hooray for A.
I agree that to joke: "You know what's going to happen now--you're gonna get pregnant!" or to keep reassuring me that you're still praying for me to get pregnant, is to communicate that adoption is a fallback plan. A vaguely disappointing second choice.
It absolutely isn't.
We are thrilled. So, I agree with Carey--hurray for A!!
Friday, January 4, 2008
A few from Christmas.
The little Charlie Brown Christmas tree in our apartment.
Snuggling with my little chubs nephew, baby T., was a highlight. I promise we have two of the cutest baby nephews in town. I wuv them.
My six-foot-four "little" brother Scott basked in the glory of his NASCAR gifts. Whatev.
And Daddy was excited to wear his Product(RED) t-shirt!
We seem to have misplaced our other Christmas pics. Not sure how one misplaces digital photos, but we've done it. I'll post some more when they turn up.....somewhere. :)
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