One thing that I've been thinking about is that everyone in this world has something to offer. One might look at all the good to be done and rate it in order of importance. I think that is something that is completely inaccurate. Everyone gives in different ways. Adoption is not, nor should it be everyone's mission. Donating money is not, nor should it be everyone's mission. Volunteer work is not, nor should it be everyone's mission. You get the idea. There's too much out there to do for everyone to be expected to do it all! Some times the smallest things can cause the greatest good. I think of examples in my own life. Things that could seem small to some, but were huge to me.
I will never forget when we first moved to Idaho 9 years ago. When we got there, even though we knew people, I still managed to feel alone. I was 9 months pregnant, had 2 children ages 1 and 2, was staying in a temporary apartment for what we were told we could only have for a few weeks, and trying to get acclimated. I wasn't sure if this was where I wanted to be. Then one day at the grocery store a stranger was simply friendly to me. It was enough to totally change my spirits and make me feel great about our move and I never looked back. This person I am sure has no idea of the affect they had on me. But it was a great blessing and something I will always be grateful for.
Those little things mean so much!
When we decided to adopt a second child from Ethiopia, our financial reserves were almost gone. Because of my oldest sister and her husband's financial generosity we were able to move forward and pay for that second child referral. I hope she isn't mortified of me mentioning this because I know she did it without any desire for reward or praise. But if it weren't for their help, it's possible we would have missed out on the chance to get Hana! Which the thought itself rips my heart out! Their help was so generous, and so profound in our lives and the life of our Hana. I jokingly tell them Hana is 10% their daughter now. Which I hope they remember when it comes time to pay for her wedding. :)
Maybe a kind word, or a note is the thing that actually saves someone from suicide? You never know. I love the scripture that talks about the body (of Christ) and how every single part of the body (member) is vitally important. This makes more sense when you are sick, or you lose the functioning of the smallest body part. Have you ever done something like smash your thumb? And then when your thumb was something you could go weeks without ever thinking about, you suddenly realize how life without it working right is quite difficult?
I also think of Helen Keller. She was both blind and deaf. If you compared what she accomplished in her life alongside what many people in this world have done, you wouldn't think it was a big deal. But the fact that she did what she did with her limited capabilities, has made a huge impact on thousands upon thousands of people.
We all have different resources. We all have different lives and circumstances. That's why comparing yourself to others can never be done fairly.
Everything good you do, no matter how small or big you think it might be, is IMPORTANT. It makes a DIFFERENCE!
I hope and pray that I never make anyone feel that they are not good enough or aren't doing enough. If I have, I am so sorry! The life of those around me are such a vital part of my happiness. Just your association with me makes a difference in my life alone. Thank you. Keep it up.
Make someone smile.
Help someone out.
Hug your kids.
Tell someone you are thankful for them.
Give what you can. Whatever that is.
Everyone has a different mission in life. Find it and love it. My mission is no better than yours. I guarantee it.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Blog Change
I was blog surfing today and found a couple of really inspiring blogs. (Thanks Nina & Em!) I have gotten a large amount of help in my personal life from visiting random blogs that discussed various topics that concerned me at any given time. It got me thinking about my blog here. And other people's blogs. It seems a blog defines a person in a round-about way. Whether we realize it or not. Blogs typically talk about the same kind of things, or follow a similar vein of ideas or purposes. And as a result, you associate those topics or feelings with that person. Which I think is totally fine. For instance I love love LOVE visiting Jespy's blog for the purpose of entertainment, and a really good belly laugh that brightens my day. (Thank you Jenny! What would I do without your happy medicine???)
I think my blog barely touches on some of the things that occupy my thoughts and concerns most of the time. In an effort to not be judged or not to be too personal, I feel like I can't be me some times. So it's kind of taken the joy out of blogging. And I know some people that actually DO care, have missed that. I'd like to get that back. There may be people that are put off or annoyed by me. And as much as I care about them and what they think or feel, I don't know how to fix it. So I don't want to let that determine how I blog anymore. Nobody HAS to come here. Nobody HAS to read this. Nobody HAS to agree with me. I do want people to come and I do want people to appreciate it. But not to the point where I'm walking on eggshells here. I'm ready to move on I guess you could say and whoever wants to come along, that's great!
I want to organize my blog a bit differently among the things that matter most to me; as well as the topics that seem to be getting the most hits, (like miscarriage and adoption.) I know there are many people (my counter is currently over 25,000 visits,) who come here to read about different things and I want to make that a bit easier to navigate. So I'm gonna start working on that now. You can do that easier now with the tabs above. I sincerely hope you enjoy.
I think my blog barely touches on some of the things that occupy my thoughts and concerns most of the time. In an effort to not be judged or not to be too personal, I feel like I can't be me some times. So it's kind of taken the joy out of blogging. And I know some people that actually DO care, have missed that. I'd like to get that back. There may be people that are put off or annoyed by me. And as much as I care about them and what they think or feel, I don't know how to fix it. So I don't want to let that determine how I blog anymore. Nobody HAS to come here. Nobody HAS to read this. Nobody HAS to agree with me. I do want people to come and I do want people to appreciate it. But not to the point where I'm walking on eggshells here. I'm ready to move on I guess you could say and whoever wants to come along, that's great!
I want to organize my blog a bit differently among the things that matter most to me; as well as the topics that seem to be getting the most hits, (like miscarriage and adoption.) I know there are many people (my counter is currently over 25,000 visits,) who come here to read about different things and I want to make that a bit easier to navigate. So I'm gonna start working on that now. You can do that easier now with the tabs above. I sincerely hope you enjoy.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Little Updates
It's been a month since I've posted. Goodness, this blogging thing is getting harder for me as times goes on. Life has just been very busy. All with good things of course, but BUSY.
Just a couple of things here.
Celeste was mentioned in an article on the cover of the local newspaper! The article is about our Serving With Smiles humanitarian group for kids. I will just type here the little blurb about her here:
"The blog website administrator is an 11-year-old named Anna Celeste, whose mother is one of the group leaders. Anna is responsible for posting updates about the SWSSS group to the website. As she writes, she does so from her own perspective which brings a fresh approach to the stories..."
So cool. Now maybe I can get her to go on there more and do some more posts that have her fun writing personality in them. That's been a bit hard to get her to do lately. Her first post was really great, but since then, she just isn't in to it.
Also, on an entirely different topic...
We got our court dates for our Ethiopian kids! But I must say that as excited as I was to get the dates, I was disappointed and shocked by the lateness of the date. We aren't sure why we were assigned such a late date, and there isn't anything we can do about it. But we are excited to have the date and to start making our travel plans!
The court date is Feb. 1st. Which means we should probably be heading over there around January 28/29ish. Just as a reminder, this court date is not our trip to pick up the kids. You do that when you go for your Embassy hearing which isn't scheduled until you've passed court. Those Embassy hearings I have been told are typically 6-8 weeks after your court date. That is when you pick up your kids. Which means, we are looking at bringing them home end of of March'ish. Here are a couple of new photos they sent us recently.
In these last updates they told us that Hana is the same: happy, energetic and loving. And Andualem is smiling more, happy and feeling grateful that there is a family that is concerned about him.
I can't tell you how excited we are to meet these kids in the flesh and make them part of our family!
Just a couple of things here.
Celeste was mentioned in an article on the cover of the local newspaper! The article is about our Serving With Smiles humanitarian group for kids. I will just type here the little blurb about her here:
"The blog website administrator is an 11-year-old named Anna Celeste, whose mother is one of the group leaders. Anna is responsible for posting updates about the SWSSS group to the website. As she writes, she does so from her own perspective which brings a fresh approach to the stories..."
So cool. Now maybe I can get her to go on there more and do some more posts that have her fun writing personality in them. That's been a bit hard to get her to do lately. Her first post was really great, but since then, she just isn't in to it.
Also, on an entirely different topic...
We got our court dates for our Ethiopian kids! But I must say that as excited as I was to get the dates, I was disappointed and shocked by the lateness of the date. We aren't sure why we were assigned such a late date, and there isn't anything we can do about it. But we are excited to have the date and to start making our travel plans!
The court date is Feb. 1st. Which means we should probably be heading over there around January 28/29ish. Just as a reminder, this court date is not our trip to pick up the kids. You do that when you go for your Embassy hearing which isn't scheduled until you've passed court. Those Embassy hearings I have been told are typically 6-8 weeks after your court date. That is when you pick up your kids. Which means, we are looking at bringing them home end of of March'ish. Here are a couple of new photos they sent us recently.
In these last updates they told us that Hana is the same: happy, energetic and loving. And Andualem is smiling more, happy and feeling grateful that there is a family that is concerned about him.I can't tell you how excited we are to meet these kids in the flesh and make them part of our family!
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