Busy Man...

What a busy man my sweet husband is! I wonder if he had any idea 15 years ago that his 'dating days' were just beginning? In the last 3 weeks he has taken Kendall to the Princess Ball, he has taken me on 2 separate dates one of which was the celebration of our 15 yr anniversary, and just last weekend he took Mallory on their first "official" date. She was over the top with excitement. Weeks earlier Mallory had pulled on her 'princess' dress and joined her sister and friends before they left for the Princess Ball. That event was sponsored by the Girl Scouts, and Mallory isn't a scout yet so she wasn't able to attend. She wanted to go so badly! A week after the Princess Ball we were eating at our local ChikFilA and the manager was posting flyers for the Daddy and Daughter Date Night. Bingo!! I had heard about this special event from a few friends who took advantage of this last year and knew it would be great fun! Mallory was so excited the day of her 'date', she was beaming from ear to ear! She insisted on new toe nail polish and mascara...yes I know, Diva! She and her dad met her friend Faith and her date at ChikFilA for their 6:30 reservation. The tables were covered with white table cloths, the 'servers' came to the table to take their order. The girls received a token ChikFilA stuffed cow and a carnation. Plus they were treated to a horse drawn carriage ride. (That was Mal's favorite part.) I think Brian loves doing this as much as the girls. I'm not sure if it's because he loves seeing the smiles on their faces and spending the quality time with them or if he knows he's setting the bar way too high for any little boy to come close to succeeding? I'm guessin' it's both! What a great dad and date that man is...so lucky to have him!

Happy Father's Day

"It doesn't matter who my father was;

it matters who I remember he was." ~by Anne Sexton

Let us celebrate the caring, strong, inspirational men in our lives today! I am always proud to retell stories of years past with my dad, and my girls love to hear them. Kendall is now 8 years old and she is beginning to have strong memories of times with her dad. I catch her sharing and giggling over those moments with her friends. My dad was always a source of comfort and protection for me and my family. He was, and still is, the voice of reason and calm. He showed us that 1. the adult is always right 2. you can watch t.v. with your eyes closed..dare you to change the channel! 3. potatoes can and should be served with each meal..fried is the best 4. you must finish what you started 5. Don't let them get to you...it's not worth it 6. the white-faced bumble bees don't sting..not at all true!! 7. Good cornbread is all about the pan 8. Courtesy does get you everywhere 9. Pester your kids as much as they do you, and feel free to do the same to their friends. :) 10. Have all your facts before you speak up 11. Actions speak louder than words 12. Sometimes you gotta take one for the team (for 35 years he goes to the ocean with the family and absolutely HATES sand and sun) 13. What your mom don't know won't hurt her (I must admit that was only fun as a kid eating junk for b'fast, but now I'm scared to death of this lesson!!) 14.Don't be afraid to try. 15.Family comes first, always.

So grateful for my dad (and for my mom for choosing him and keeping him!). I can't wait to hear the lessons my kids learn from their dad. My husband is a fantastic father! Love the lessons I continue to learn from both of these wonderful men in my life. Happy Father's Day to them both!

Disturb Us, O Lord...

When you use Children's Hope International for adoption you are given the gift of a weekly update. These emails include new stats, important changes, informational pieces and motivational quotes or prayers. On March 5, 2010 we were included in the stats for the Families on the Waiting List. At the end of the email was this prayer/poem written by Sir Frances Drake, a 16th Century explorer (aka legal pirate) thought to have written this while out at sea. On January 21, 2011 we left for our first of two trips to Ethiopia. On that Friday the much appreciated email went out as usual. It announced that 10 families would be headed to Ethiopia that weekend...we were one of those familes!..and it ended with the same prayer by Sir Frances Drake. Brian has made a beautiful video documenting our journey to bring home our sweet boy. This prayer meant so much to us, spoke to us directly really..we used in the video and continue to love the words each time we hear it. We have recently been asked to serve on an orphan relief committee and immediately this prayer came to mind again. I think we all can use it in many instances each and every day. The first line is so powerful....

Disturb us, O Lord

when we are too well-pleased with ourselves
when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little, because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, O Lord

when with the abundance of things we possess,
we have lost our thirst for the water of life
when, having fallen in love with time,
we have ceased to dream of eternity
and in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision of Heaven to grow dim.

Stir us, O Lord

to dare more boldly, to venture into wider seas
where storms show Thy mastery,
where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.

In the name of Him who pushed back the horizons of our hopes
and invited the brave to follow.
Amen.

Princess Ball 2011

It's their second year to attend the Girl Scout sponsored Princess Ball and they came home with smiles and stories to share. Brian pays attention to all of the work that went into it..and a lot of work goes into pulling off an outdoor, under the stars, fully catered by local restaurants, music, crafts, games, decorations, volunteers...and the list goes on and on. They hosted over 150 participants this year! Kendall's stories are accompanied with giggles, tales of dancing triumphs and not so groovy moves (rolling her eyes toward her own dance partner), her favorite part of the dinner (desert) and the fun crafts she proudly shows to me. Her feet are aching from her new high heel shoes (of course they aren't high heels..but they do have a heel and that made her LOVE them!) but she doesn't settle down for at least another 45 minutes. I am so happy for them both, and for all of the other dads and daughters who have had this opportunity. Mallory has been wearing a 'party' dress all night, dreaming of her chance to attend the Princess Ball with her Daddy. She has recently proclaimed her destiny to marry her daddy, and live with me. Kendall corrected her, told her she couldn't marry him. He's too old. (hmm...love that logic) And in her older sister wisdom reminded her of one of their favorite neighbors, Ms. Steph, who doesn't have a husband and gets to do whatever she wants..and has 2 dogs. So now... via that conversation...both of my daughters are refusing marriage, and plan to live by themselves and have all the animals they want. Mallory will have a bedroom just for her guinea pigs. Kendall will apparently have to forfeit a house, codes won't allow her to have all the animals she has in mind.

Addis Documentary...lovely

So excited to share this video! Sam (his video) was at the Ethiopian Guest House during our second trip. Each evening we'd see Sam and Dawit (from Ethiopia) drag in with video equipment slung over their shoulders and exhaustion all over their faces. In the video are pictures of Korah, pictures of the women making the necklaces I wear. Summer and Cory Yates are included, both from Tennessee and making a big impact in the community of Korah. Owner of the Ethiopian Guest House,Dave McIlrath is involved with Korah and set up the necklace project for the women of Korah giving them much needed income. And he spends lots of time, energy and funds raising awareness for the people of Korah and Ethiopia in general. We met Ephrem there too, and he shared with us his soccer program that gets kids off the streets, onto a field and into a team setting. His work is giving children hope. When we were shopping at the Post Office area we were approached by many homeless children. I remember one young boy, about 10 or so, asking us for change. Brian recognized his soccer jersey and asked if he knew Ephrem. The boy did and he was delighted that we knew about his team. He walked with us the rest of the time we were shopping and shared his story with us. He and Brian talked about soccer, Ethiopian and American, and the boy kept asking if we could come and watch him. He was proud of his team and of his involvement. That little boy had something to look forward to on Friday of that week. These are amazing people who inspired us during our journey. They were the richness to our memories. We met others who we now call friends that touched our hearts and who we know we will see again soon. Thanks Sam for creating such a fantastic video..a wonderful representation of the beautiful people of Ethiopia and the powerful ministries stirring the souls and giving hope to all they meet.

Please check it out and after you have viewed it go ahead and click the underlined title below the screen... The City of Addis- A Short Documentary. There is more great footage covering all four of these organizations serving the children, women and orphans of Ethiopia. They need $15,000.00 to complete this project and give these organization the support they need to continue their life changing missions. This project can only be completed if the funds have been raised by June 25, 2011. Important work going on here...I know you'll want to be a part of it!

THIS PROJECT WILL ONLY BE FUNDED IF AT LEAST $15,000 IS PLEDGED BY SATURDAY JUN 25, 3:04PM EDT.
THIS PROJECT WILL ONLY BE FUNDED IF AT LEAST $15,000 IS PLEDGED BY SATURDAY JUN 25, 3:04PM EDT.

The City of Addis - A short documentary from Session 7 Media on Vimeo.

Wearing my Rose colored glasses...

Today a very dear friend, one of God's finest really, left this life to join her Father in Heaven. Rose (McNish) King was the spark of all things to my childhood memory. She was one of my beloved scout leaders, and those of you who know me well have likely heard me fondly recall the memories of those times. Those three ladies...Rose, Ann and Judy...were the fearless ones. From camping in the thunderstorms, to loading us onto buses for the World's Fair, scaring our socks off at the Bell Witch Cave ...they taught us about the charms of becoming a young woman and reminded us the gifts God bestowed upon us as young women. They didn't take no for an answer, or if they did I never heard of it. We sang carols at the local nursing home and marched in the Christmas parade. We sold cookies like nobody's business and had sleepovers for any reason we could find. Throughout my elementary years these ladies banned together and committed themselves to make a difference in our lives. Our troop was riddled with extreme personalities...shy, overbearing, attentive (not very many), timid, angry, challenged, lonely, fearful, hopeful, animated, goofy, etc. We were all over the place! And boy did we get yelled at! And we loved it. Every minute of it. Rose was a single mother of two very active daughters. The oldest, Kim, was my counterpart for many years. The youngest, Amy was at every scout event we ever had and was all about being front and center. Looking back now I realize that Rose had such deep love for us, she had to because that was A LOT of devotion and persuasion, a lot of late nights and cold nights, a lot of laughing and yellin'! What I know from my own adult scout experience is that you do it for your daughter first..and I have no doubt that everything she did was for her precious daughters.

I will tell you she was a force not to be reckoned with. When she was on, you better step aside. She was God fearing and full of grace. Her fallibility made her more endearing and raised the standard for success in my book. She was the first to bring God to my life. No doubt about it. We prayed at each meeting and used His name each time. I bet a meeting didn't pass without her praising, speaking, teaching, or asking for His help. ( the latter I'm sure she did many times each meeting...we were wild!) She loved God and her girls. It was at the McNish house I found a love for Elvis and Rocky Balboa... Rose put up with our crazy antics and even let us kick her out of her own bed. I'm telling you, she was beautiful. She held her head high and had the confidence of a lady who has seen hard times and knows that Glory is awaiting her arrival. She had suffered the worse loss of all and in that time I'm confident she sought her Father's hand and He led her through the darkness and found the direction she needed to move forward again. She loved her daughters, she was a warrior for them. Mind you, I see her in my child's eye and I always will.

I have not seen her in a while. The last time I do believe was at a grocery store, where she got to meet my husband and my daughter. She was thrilled to see me and meet my family. She hugged me with both arms, held close to her. She was weary, she had just left work and was on her way to assist her grandchildren. She loved them dearly too, in her very Rose way..fiercely.

Today is Mother's Day. Is it more painful to lose a parent on a special holiday? I don't know, but I'm guessing Kim will take some of that Rose instinct and wrap it with grace, she'll comfort others and seek her Father's hand. And He will be there for her. And Rose will be too. On this day one beautiful, fierce, loving and all inspiring woman got to be with both daughters once again and meet the Glory that has awaited her arrival. She has left a smile on my face, a warmth in my heart and yes, of course, a tear in my eye. We love her for her honesty, we love her for her leadership, we love her for her loyalty, we love her for her dedication...we love her. Thank God for her.

Yep...even those...

Tonight the kiddos had to take a bath..all 3 of them together. Mallory and Ty find themselves splashing together quite a bit, but this was a first for Kendall. Only because she is a shower girl. Kendall asked " Why do people say brown skinned people are black?" I say " That's a good question...some people say it to be unkind, others use it as a poor description, I'm not sure exactly why they are referred to as 'black'. " I go into it a little more with my understanding of history, and how in today's society we refer to 'black' people as black people or African Americans and it is accepted by and large. Isn't it funny...I don't have a good answer for it when it comes right down to it. Frustrating. Truth is I'm not really white either...kinda pink really. Back to the story...

Kendall looks at his feet, "Look at his feet, they aren't brown. Neither are his hands. We have the same hands and feet." I respond "I think that is neat. Plus..he has the cutest little toes ever!" I go on to point out many similarities: We also have the same mouth inside...on cue Ty stuck out his tongue. Our eyes are the same, just a color difference like so many others. Our blood runs red and our heart beats with each breath. " Kendall says: Our fingernails look the same color and shape too." At this point I'm feeling glad to have this dialog with my kiddo. Then Mallory points out "We even have the same colored boogers."

Yep. That too.