An Adoption Update

But first, some cute pictures of Colson and Vienna . . .

I'm lovin' his new summer hair cut . . .




. . . and those little feet . . .




. . . and that precious smile . . .




. . . and Vienna all wrapped up in her blankie . . .





. . . and mornings spent enjoying time at the park . . .




. . . and those brown eyes!

So where are we at in the adoption process? Just waiting, waiting and more waiting. We have been waiting for a referral (when we are matched with a child) for 5 1/2 months now.

To refresh your memory, we are open to one or two children, either gender, 0-3.5 years. Right now our agency (AAI) is referring infant boys (the wait for infant girls is a lot longer) to families whose Dossiers went to Ethiopia in May 09. Our Dossier went to Ethiopia in November 09 so it looks like we have a long wait ahead of us yet. Although, from what I have heard, most of the families that are before us are requesting younger children; 0-12 or 0-18 months. So that might possibly mean we could be matched with a child sooner since our age range is a little broader. We just don't know. That is the hard part - not knowing when we will find out who our next child will be!

We have been praying for this child for so long and I am just aching to hold him in my arms. At the same time, I understand the tragic circumstances that will be bringing this child into my family, so I feel guilty for being so impatient about the wait. There are just so many different aspects of international adoption. While adoption is a beautiful thing, it is also hard, messy, and complicated. Our son, no matter how young he is when we bring him home, will have experienced profound grief and loss.

But I'm so thankful for the opportunity we have to be parents to this little one! And have I mentioned how excited Colson is for a little brother? He always wants to pray for him. And a little while ago, when we were talking about his brother, he told me: "I want 6 babies, Mommy, 6 babies!" (as he's holding up 4 fingers). Haha! He talks about Ethiopia all the time, but apparently he think he can go there via his bedroom because when our neighbor was here the other day to play with Colson, he tugged on her hand and said, "Come on, let's go to Ethiopia," and proceeded to lead her down the hall to his room. So cute!

So there you are, consider yourself updated :)

Possessions

Do you ever have a conflict between believing something and then living it out?

For me, I know that this life is only temporary, but the way I have lived my life sure hasn't reflected that at all. If I really believe that this life is fleeting, that it will be over in the blink of an eye, and that I'm going to spend eternity in Heaven with Christ, then the way I live should reflect that belief.

I know this world is not my home and that all of my stuff is not going with me when I die. So why do I invest so much of my time, money and energy in things that will pass away? What do I value? My earthly "treasure" or my treasure in Heaven? I don't want to waste my life living for the things of this earth.

When we have all this stuff, our tendency is to put our security in it: it's about what our money and our things can do, not about what Jesus can do. So how do we solve this problem? Well, what if we would start by getting rid of unnecessary things that fill up our lives and compete for our attention? What do we value anyway? Material things or eternal things? If we get rid of all our stuff, then we have nothing to fall back on but Jesus. And isn't that how it should be in the first place? Our security in Jesus instead of our things.

Lately God has been challenging every aspect of the way we live our lives. It's really been tough, and some things have not been easy for me to let go of. As God told us to get rid of certain things, I realized how much I didn't want to. I realized that my possessions were possessing me. They were taking up too much of my time and energy. But God has been asking us to release ourselves from wealth and to be empty so that he can fill us up. It really has been freeing and quite a faith journey as we truly are relying on God for our every need.

I will end with this quote from Mother Theresa - something that's got me thinking:

"Our Lord gives us a living example: From the very first day of His human existence He was brought up in a poverty which no human being will ever be able to experience, because "being rich He made himself poor." Christ being rich emptied Himself. This is where the contradiction lies. If I want to be poor like Christ, who became poor even though He was rich, I must do the same. It would be a shame for us to be richer than Jesus, who for our sake endured poverty."

Baby-loving baby!

Lately Vienna has been all about babies!




She loves to walk around the house, with her baby tucked in one arm, giving her kisses.




She loves to snuggle her babies under her blankie with her cousin Joanna




She even likes to change her baby's diaper.




It is just so darn cute!




So you can imagine how tickled she was when she got to meet our friend's new baby!




She kept wanting to touch his sweet little face. I was worried she might try to hit him, but she was SO gentle with him.




She loved sitting with him and touching him . . .



. . . for about 5 minutes, then she had enough. Apparently babies aren't much fun when you can't pick them up, swing them around and drop them on the ground when you're done ;)

24

Friday was my 24th birthday. Adam & Mel came over to celebrate. We ate lahmacun and cake and after we put all the kids to bed we stayed up way too late watching movies and eating popcorn and cookies. Good times!

Anyway, I thought I would write 24 random things about me for my 24th birthday. Enjoy :)

1. I got engaged when I was 18, married when I was 19 and had Colson when I was 20. I absolutely LOVED getting married young and having kids young.

2. I am very much an introvert.

3. I have lived in 7 different places in the last 5 years.

4. I have traveled to Canada, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Haiti and I have lived in Mexico and Turkey. I love traveling and learning new cultures. I believe you learn so much about yourself and your own culture when you visit another country. So much wisdom is gained by experiencing other cultures.

5. I grew up on a farm with lots of land to play and run. I was totally a tomboy, I loved to climb trees, be barefoot and I had a secret hideout up in the rafters of one of our barns. Living in the city has definitely been culture shock for me!

6. I have known Joel since I was 12; before we ever dated we were best friends.

7. I absolutely hate cleaning the bathroom. I have the best husband in the world who cleans our bathroom! Sorry, ladies, he's mine ;-)

8. I like being frugal. When we lived in the states I liked shopping at garage sales, second-hand stores and discount grocery stores. Too bad those things are pretty much unheard of here.

9. I love to take pictures, especially of my kids. Yes, I am THAT mom, you know, the one who follows her kids around documenting every moment with the camera, yup that's me. My name is Charity, and I take a lot of pictures.

10. This past year we have been on quite the journey; we have been learning what it means to really follow Jesus. It's been the most exciting and challenging time in our lives.

11. I cook meat for my family once or twice a week. When I do make a meal with meat I use it sparingly. In most of the world meat is a luxury and not a necessity and that is how I see it.

12. I want my heart to be broken by the things that break God's heart. I want to care about the things that God cares about. This is a prayer that I have to continually pray! I have realized how selfish I really am and how much I care about me, my family and my comfort. But since I have started praying this prayer, I am seeing how it has changed my life.

13. I love to read, but it goes in spells. Sometimes I will go a few months without reading a book (besides the Bible) and then I will crank out a few in one week.

14. I haven't been to a hair salon since right after Colson was born. I get my hair cut about once a year, last time by my sister. Oh, and Joel cut it once too. Neither of them are particularly good at cutting hair, but I'm not too picky.

15. I used to wear my hair down and put on makeup a lot more often before I had kids. Now some days I don't get out of my pjs until after lunch, other days it's closer to evening, so I figure why even bother ;)

16. I am a cloth-diapering Mama.

17. I love drinking coffee, but only with lots of cream and lots of sugar.

18. I have only driven twice since we moved here (it's been 15 months). But now that we sold our van, it's public transportation from here on out!

19. I like to stay up really, really late.

20. Being organized makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

21. I love to write lists. Making to-do lists and crossing things off makes me feel accomplished. Sometimes I even write down things that I already did just so I can cross them off. Yeah, I know, pretty sad.

22. I hate when people bite their fingernails, but yet I do it myself.

23. Someday I would love to have a garden and grow my own vegetables, but I kill things, seriously, I can't keep anything alive.

24. I have very wide, okay fat, feet and Joel calls my toes little sausages. Isn't he so sweet?!

And that's it! You probably learned more than you wanted to know :) Hope you're having a great day!

Get Involved

After writing this post last week, I thought I'd give you some ways to get involved. If you scroll down a little bit, you will see a list of websites on the right side of my blog. A lot of them you are probably familiar with, but if you aren't just click on the links to learn more about them. These are organizations we just love, love, love because they are doing an incredible job caring for the poor and "least of these." Won't you please consider giving to them and making a difference!

Easter 2010

On Sunday we celebrated Easter by going on a picnic in the woods. We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and börek, and spent the afternoon in the sun by the creek enjoying God's beautiful creation.

We're not really all about painting eggs, hiding Easter baskets, making a big meal, or getting all dressed up, but of course, that's not what it's all about anyway.

What's really important is that we remember and are thankful everyday for what Jesus did for us through his death and resurrection, making it possible for us to have a relationship with God.

However it is that you celebrate, I hope you all had a good Easter remembering and celebrating our risen Lord Jesus Christ!

He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. - Isaiah 53:5

Ramblings

These last few weeks have been a bit crazy.

We've all been sick, numerous times. We might still be contagious, so stay away from us, far away. You know, maybe like 5,000 and some miles away, that should do it ;) But in all seriousness, I think we're finally over the worst of it. Thank you, Jesus!

Last weekend we sold our van, had to buy it back, and now we're trying to sell it again. Long story, maybe for another day. To say the least, we've learned a TON about how business transactions work in Turkey. Very interesting, that's for sure!

We updated our homestudy. We are now open to adopting one or two children, either gender, 0 - 3.5 years. As we come up on 5 months of waiting, we are just SOOO excited and SOOO ready to meet our new little one(s).

Vienna has been broadening her vocabulary lately. She says quite a few words now and even some in Turkish. She can say: Mama, Daddy, ball, milk, more, köpek (dog), araba, (car) and merhaba (hi). She also knows a few words in sign language: please, thank you and more. But her new favorite word is "mine!" She has her big brother to thank for that one!

Lately we have been eating dinner on the balcony, sitting on a blanket, just soaking in the warm spring weather! It is absolutely fabulous, although we do have to make sure that Colson doesn't throw food over the side to unsuspecting people below. This boy just loves.to.throw! Are all 3 year old boys crazy about throwing things? I will be glad when this stage is over! Things that have been thrown over the balcony (and we live on the 4th floor) include: a lego, a monkey backpack, a matchbox car, a ball, a sock, the TV remote control. He has yet to hit a car or innocent passerby though. Oh, and just so you know Colson is never on the balcony unless I am with him and he is most certainly not allowed to bring toys on the balcony. Yet, all I have to do is open the door for a bit to clean the balcony floor or to hang up some laundry and he is running, toy-in-hand, towards the balcony as fast as he can to try and throw something off before I can stop him. He's a quick one, that he is! I always have to be on my guard.

Okay, that is enough for now. I will leave you with this super-cute picture of Colson and Vienna walking hand-in-hand through the park! Love these guys!