The Man Who Sweeps Angkor Wat...

...does so out of religious duty. His possessions are the ones you see in the above photo. He always smiles. I'm not sure if he can hear well; he was difficult to speak with. But his renouned sweetness landed him on the cover of Cambodia's Travel Guide.

Religion and daily life: In my opinion, two things that most Americans make far too complicated.

(No, I don't...but after too many hours in the mosquito filled jungles of northern Cambodia, anything is funny).

I read an atheists' account the other day of how she viewed religion as causing so many of the major conflicts in the world and concluded, "Why would I want to be a part of that?" I can't disagree there. Though, I believe true religion doesn't incite violence. Reading what the pope said this week, though admittingly out of context and through the words of journalists, I think, "Even if one doesn't agree with Islam, and feels a Christian obligation to speak against it, why in the world would a religious leader speak out in a way that offends and creates anger?" To all of the religious sects: What happened to leading by example, kindness, love to all, blessed are the peace makers, etc...

If a Christian wants to go on a mission to help humanity, it's usually prefaced with doctrinal statements, fund raising, speaches, follow-up reports, and organizational support. That's not all bad, mind you, but why has it gotten so... complicated?

"True and undefiled religion is this: to care for widows and orphans in their time of need, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." James 1:27

That's not so complicated.

And about daily life: Why do I get frustrated when my car has a minor repair issue? I didn't do that before.

Why am I catching myself praying for increased finances?! That, I certainly never did before. Why do I cram-pack a diaper bag full of stuff everytime I go out, think that my sons need another pair of shoes just because the weather is changing;

think I need new shirts because the fashion is changing; and get irritated when the washing machine jumbles through the spin cycle too loudly? What's happened to me?

I remember two years ago, having just come back from SE Asia, and going immediately into meetings with contractors to finish building our house. I remember a meeting in the lighting store, and the saleswoman asked me what lights I wanted in the closets and the garage. I looked up at thousands of lighting fixtures, thought about what she said, and actually said outloud and with too much disgust, "Are you serious? I have to choose a light for my closet?" All I could picture were bamboo huts with inhabitants who've never dreamed of electricty.

I couldn't have cared less about which wood grain the blades of our ceileing fans rotated with or what bulb lit up my closet. Yet, today, I thought, "The trim on that entryway light doesn't match the fixture in the hall. We should replace it." What???? Where are these thoughts coming from????

I've been in America now longer consecutively than I have in more than a decade. I guess the old red, white and blue is wearing off on me. It's discouraing...very discouraging to watch myself get caught up in keeping up. Which is why I posted this picture in which I've never looked worse. Granted, I just rode twenty-something miles on a rickety bike through Shan State in Myanamar and was about to go bathing with water buffolo. But still...ugh. I look rough. I need to be OK about seeing me, in my dusty, make-up free, hair un-done state on the web.

The point of this post: I read a blog today that really inspired me. Miranda is a girl I grew up with in St. Louis. We went to church together. She was a lot younger than me, but pure and sweet and beautiful. She's in Equador now-without the doctrinal statements, the fund raising, the follow-up reports and organizational umbrella. She just left, is volunteering at a hostile, learning the language, planning on earning her own dollars, and looking for ways to help humanity. Pure and simple.

Lord, how I miss pure and simple. Help me to be pure and simple in such a complicated country. A country where we have carpet in our houses, for goodness sake... And bless Miranda's love for people in a foreign land.

I've mixed in some pictures of my time in SE Asia because I miss it, and it made me feel good to look at them today. They remind me to be content, feel blessed, and hold on to the peace that comes with simplicity.


I wouldn't trade my life as a mom for anything, but I certainly wouldn't complain if Tim got a foreign embassy job in Calcutta, or Cape Town, or Vietien, or Quito, Equador. Someplace where people laugh with glee when they get three squares a day instead of getting bent out of shape when the machine that washes your clothes FOR you does so too loudly. Oh....what have I become?! Check out Miranda's blog. It's linked on the right side margin of mine. It restored my faith in children of America being untouched by the world. Though crossing these streets in Phnom Penh wasn't always simple, an uncluttered mind and heart is. And Miranda, your heart is beautiful.

C. walking

.C. took his first steps August 12th, and decided that crawling was just as productive as walking. . . until the past couple of days. Now, he's determined to master the art of moving vertically! And he's getting pretty good at it! Click on play to watch a short video of some of C.'s first consecutive steps, taken while Judah waves an enticing toy elephant. (Note: this footage was taken on our not-so-state-of-the-art digital camera, so the quality isn't great, but you can definately tell that C. is walking across the room).

Some weeks, joyful moments can be hard to come by. Or, I don't recognize them and hold on to them when they happen. It isn't that anything specifically bad happens, though sometimes that's the case; but rather, as Frost put it, "Way leads on to way..." and I get caught up in the walk, forgetting to love the moment. Saturday night though, J and I had a joyful moment-an hour, actually- and I slowed down enough to breath it in.

It was just after dinner time, and "A Prairie Home Companion" was on NPR. If you know Tim and I, you know that just about the only radio we listen to is NPR, and whenever possible, we don't miss, "Car Talk" or, "A Prairie Home Companion." Well, Saturday, the only radio on which we could get reception was the boys', so I pulled it out of their room, and set it in the hallway so that we could hear Garrison Keiller as Guy Noir, Private Eye, throughout the house. Then, wouldn't you know it, but the Powdermilk Biscuit commercial came on. . . . J leapt to his feet and started dancing all over the house! And if you've ever seen J dance...well, it's a full body experience that syncopates heavily on the side of his shorter leg. It looks a little like a circular skip with waving arms and a big smile. After the last, "Has your family tried 'em, Powdermilk?" J said, "More! More!" Tim and I looked at each other as if to say, "Could it be possible? One of our kids will see the glory of "A Prairie Home Companion" like we do? Do you think he'll listen to NPR regularly to balance out the far right's view of the news too? Maybe, at this defining moment, he'll realize that a person can be both athletic and artistic, love Jesus and peace, find the Colbert Report hilarious, and learn to see through propeganda as presented in the worlds' multimedia?" OK-maybe we were expecting too much from that moment, but if the boy wants to dance to the All-Star Shoe Band, let the boy dance.

So, I took him into the hallway, and we snuggled up and listened to the rest of the show. He clapped and danced to a Gospel group singing the classic, "If You Don't Love Your Neighbor, You Don't Love God;" he brushed my hair and listened to a tale from Lake Woebegon; he laughed at the ketchup commercial, and applauded whenever the studio audience did. It was a perfect bonding hour where neither of us chose to do anything else except lie on the floor and listen to the radio, stopping only occassionaly to re-adjust the antenae, or to get in a better snuggling position. Nostalgic, joyful, peaceful, and the perfect end to a week. We'll work on blocking out propeganda-ridden signs from the mind's eye next week...

Make a joyful moment this week and tell me about it!

Happy Birthday, C!

Happy 1st Birthday, C! We love you!

I think we're still recovering from this trip. The boys are crying at bedtime, wanting to stay up and play until 9:00 or 10:00 pm like they did at relatives' houses, and Tim and I are still on the upper half of the list of things that need to be done to get caught up from being gone for nearly two weeks. But it was definately worth it. Here are some of the pictures.

FAMILY:

(THIS IS TIM and TOM's BABY, BELLA).

(THIS IS NOT TIM. THIS IS TOM, WITH J and C).

We have a lot more family pics of the boys swimming with cousins in the pool, for example, but there were a lot of people in those pictures, and I don't have their permission to post their faces on the web. So....don't feel slighted! The boys had a blast with everyone, especially Emilee, Ashlee, Aubree, Ireland, and Sophia, even if your pic isn't here. If you ever want a week away to see the coast, Emilee, our house is open to you!

THINGS WE LOVED:

Trains...
St. Louis.

Dancing on the tables. (Shirts off for spaghetti!)

Spaghetti!

Things we didn't like so much:

Camels.

Our last driving stretch was about five hours, from the Appalachians in to our house. The whole way, J asked, "Paw Paw? Grandma? Uncle Steve? Water? Baby?" He knew we had to be going somewhere exciting and new, and doing something fun, as that had been the routine for the past week or so. We answered him, "No, we're going home, to J's house!" As soon as we pulled into our driveway, and he noticed where we were, he screamed, yelled, kicked, punched, and threw a full-on toddler fit! I asked him, "Why are you sad?" And he said (signed), "Paw Paw, Paw Paw!" Amazing. After nearly 30 hours of driving, he wanted to drive MORE to see Paw Paw, and was truly bummed to realize that he was just-home. We all miss you guys, and hope we can see family more often. Who's coming in for the holidays?

What a tour!

Tim and I just got back from our annual "mid-west tour." Usually we do this around the holidays, but my grandpa passed away, so we went early. We spent time with my family, with Tim's family, and in St. Louis with my brother. I LOVE having a relative in St. Louis again. St. Louis is where I was raised, and it is definately "home." We had a great time there hanging out with Steve ("SSSSS" as J calls him), and visiting with old, dear friends. To see pics of some of that, check out Becky and Jenny's blog. Links to their blogs are on the right side of my blog. Just click their names, and you'll see pics of our fun day at Grant's Farm. We're home now, within twelve hours of J's first day of preschool! When I have more time, I'll do my own blog post-with pictures-instead of routing people to Jenny and Becky! Thanks for providing great pics, Karl! Have a great week!

Our dream for you...

C, we said from the beginning that you are God's baby. Like all of us, you're a child who needed a home and a family. Against the recommendation of many in charge of your destiny, we chose to spare you the foster care system, and desperately tried not to let the words, "extremely high legal risk placement" scare us away from loving you to the pit of our souls, even if God only sent you to us for a few weeks, or months. Though terrified of losing you, deep inside, from the day we met you, we dreamed that we would always be able to gaze into your eyes,
...to hold your hand,
...to capture every moment,

...to kiss you,
...to guide you in the way that you should go,
...to read to (and wonder what you'll do with those magnificently long fingers...piano?? basketball??)
...to tell you all about your birth mother, how we respect her, how her name is honored in our home, and how she has so much faith in God, and so much love for you, that she chose to give you not only life, but life abundantly;


...we dreamed we'd have you to dance with,
...to laugh with,
...to make music with,
...to cheer with,
...to celebrate with,
...to love and care for glorious, precious, irreplacable-you. And today, by the providence of God, our dreams have come true.
-It took eleven months, but after a lot of prayer and faith that God would place him where He intended him to be, today we received this irrevocable decree in the mail from the Court:
"Now Therefore, it is hereby ordered, adjudged, and decreed by the Court:
That from the date of the entry of this Decree [August 8, 2006] herein, the said minor is declared adopted for life by the petitioner(s), Timothy ________ __________ and Tiffany _________ __________ and that said child shall henceforth be known by the name of C_____ _______ _________ (our family name)." (Those blanks are filled-in, of course, on the decree). THANK GOD!!!

Two Boys in a Tub

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks-sorry! It's been busy. REALLY busy. It seems as though we spend half of our weeks in Dr. offices or therapy sessions. Not that kind of therapy (though after too many more weeks of this, I may need it...). Here's some things that are going on in August for us:

Speech and play therapy for J twice a week, but he's about to turn three, so we're in meetings every week to transition out of the infant/toddler program and into the school program. J is up to signing 50+ words, and speaking full or partial 42 words. That's up from nothing other than the "grunt and point" from when he came home in February. Way to go, J! By the way, people keep asking, "Has he learned English yet?" as though that were the delay. Learning English is only a part of the issue. J never learned to speak ANY language, even Tagalog, because he wasn't around spoken language enough to pick it up. (Orphan institutionalization delay). So, we aren't working on "in Tagalog, sit is upo, but in English, it's sit." We're working on, "This is a tongue; it's used for speaking. Can you make this sound? Look at my face....nnnnnnn." It is a long tedious process, but he is coming along very quickly. No, I'm not disappointed that he has these problems; I've worked with enough orphans to know to expect this. Yes, he can and will catch up. Yes, it will take YEARS, not weeks. And, no, he can't speak English yet. But he does UNDERSTAND English at his age level. Just wanted to field some questions there that we've been getting a lot lately.

Planning a birthday party! C will be 1 on the 30th, and J will be 3 Sept. 3rd. This year, we're combining them into one party. Of course, it has to be a train party since J is obsessed with trains! Very cute.

Starting Preschool. J starts preschool in two weeks, and we are so excited! It'll help him a lot with his speech and teach him what kids do, since he was never around kids until he came home. And C and I are really looking forward to getting some one-on-one time back. What do you want to do, C? I vote train time at Barnes and Noble. Nothing beats locomotives and lattes.

Finalizing C. We're soooooooo close! All the court hearings are done, and we're just waiting, waiting, waiting, on that piece of paper that says he's legally ours! Woo Hoo!

Finalizing J. J had his last post-placement study with the social worker July 30. Yay! That report is being sent to our agency where it collects the other needed paperwork, then the Philippines. Then the Philippines sends the papers to us, which get taken to court, which are ruled upon, and then get sent to us. And then I think we're done. I think. Adoption can be complicated, but so can labor and delivery, which is also a lot more painful. Speaking of which...

Tom and Alexis had a baby today! What's her name? Nobody knows. You've got 24 hours to decide, you two! Mom and baby are healthy. Alexis had an extremely fast delivery (under 4 hours from induction to baby-in-arms for her first baby)! Happy baby day!

A lot of doctor appointments for me. I have been spending time at my family practice doctor wiggling my wrist around. She sent me to a neurologist because of probable nerve damage, and an orthopedist who will fit me with a better brace and treat the mobility. What's wrong with it? Tendonitis gone bad. Real bad. What caused it? 23 lb., wiggly baby. I sure hope it heals soon because it is a huge inconvenience more than anything.

Vacation Bible School. That's Saturday, and Tim and I are in charge of registration. It's a pirate theme, so we have to-I mean GET TO-dress up as pirates for the day. Don't count on a blog post with that photo. Arg. It'll be fun for the kids, though.

Misc. Then there's always a host of birthday parties, showers, playdates, graduate school stuff, outings, and errands.

We are all still here, though. Alive and mostly well. Enjoy the pics and have a great week!

I can sign some too! This is "night-night." I can also sign, "food," "more," "bye-bye," "up," "stop," and blow kisses when Mommy says, "I love you."

This is the new persona I'm trying out. It's called, "onry and into everything." I think Mom and Dad prefer, "sweet and obedient," but I'm pretty sure this one suites me better. I put on this face when MaMa says, "no." Tough, huh?

This is my new favorite book. It's about trains. And my favorite movie is Thomas the Tank Engine. My favorite underwear has trains on it. I'm having a train birthday party. Everything trains! Choo! Choo!