In an effort to blog. . .

Hey Lydia, why haven't you been blogging?  You know, you made that big huge claim that you were going to work through all your issues here with us.  What's up?


Ummmm . . . . . I think this would explain it.

An Open Letter

Dear Blogging Friends,

I am making a comittment before you today.  As most of you know, it has been 2 months of drama in our home and family.  I say drama because it has reached from the heights of joy to the depths of sorrow- with every emotion in between.  I want to commit to you (all 4 of my loyal readers!) that I will work through it.  You may want to take a break from the blog for a while-- I am not making any promises.  For the moment, all I am hoping for is authentic.  A heart set upon Jesus, waiting for His return, enduring what he called, "light and momentary affliction."  It will be a journey and I don't even know where it will lead us.  So, to start off the efforts, here's the list of the last 8 weeks:

1. An updated home study at the end of April.
2. An amazing reunion with dear seminary friends-- hallelujah!
3. Packing a family of 4 for a six-week trip over the ocean to a foreign land.
4. Riding with aforementioned family of 4 in airplanes over said ocean.
5. Arriving in previously mentioned foreign land only to hear that our home in the "safe" homeland had been broken into.
6. Learned that jewelry box with incredibly sentimental, though not valuable, items was the only thing stolen.
7. Remembered that also in said jewelery box was a drawer full of old and new credit cards, checks, and student id's (with social security numbers).
8. Learned that one card already had close to $3000 on it- canceled that one and all others we could remember.  Put alerts on the credit. 
9. Spent 6 amazing weeks caring for team members abroad- cooking for them, praying over them, listening to them, crying with them, teaching them, and growing in love for them and the lost.
10. Got a phone call that our newest daughter was coming over 2 weeks early and we needed to get home as quickly as possible. 
11. Repacked like mad.
12. Changed plane tickets.
13. Got an email alert about the credit situation- found another card we had forgotten about with over $5000 on it, four new cards applied for, and two new checking accounts.  Financial nightmare, part 2.
14. Found out the renters in our other house had a fire with the grill and had burned half of the deck.
15. On the positive side, the house wasn't burned.
16. Flew back over previously mentioned ocean.
17. Went straight to the hospital.
18. Fell in love with our new daughter.
19. Spent a night in the hospital with her (just mama).
20. Signed all the paperwork first thing the next morning (severely jetlagged).
21. Spent a week living across the stateline in KS while the boys and the chief lived at home in MO.  They came to visit every day. (p.s. really starting to miss my bed about now . . . .)
22. John continues to make calls with credit card companies and banks.  Decided to freeze all credit indefinitely.
23. The boys at the home Baby Girl and I were staying in got the stomach virus- oh Lord, please protect us!
24. Praise the Lord, made it home!!! (no sickness yet!!!!)
25. Spent 2 1/2 days organizing, unpacking some more, doing laundry, and attempting to establish normal routines in our home.
26. Got a call that my grandmother and friend had had a severe stroke, was in the ER on a ventilator, and probably wasn't going to make it.  
27. Packed and drove again with Baby Girl to get down to Central Arkansas before she stopped breathing.
28. Read Psalm 23 and 25 and Isaiah 53 and 54 over Gigi.  Sang her favorite song over her.
29. Watched her breath her last.
30. Spent a fantastically fun July 4th with our cousins we don't get to see enough.
31. Went to a graveside service in south Arkansas.  Sang.  Sweated.  Wept.
32. Drove back to northwest AR with my amazing sister and had sweet conversation.
33. Went to a memorial service.  Sang again.  Spoke. Wept . . . again.
34. Began cleaning out Gigi's apartment.  Laughed and wept. . . . . . . . . .  again.
35. Sent John off to a three-day board meeting in KY.
36. Spent three more amazing days with my fantastic mama and daddy.
37. Drove home alone with three children under the age of 6.

The last time we had a season even remotely close to this I realized that my heart is exceptionally good at "sucking it up" and not dealing with emotions.  I also realized however, that when I shut down to my own emotions and heart, I also shut down to God.  I don't get to hear all that he is saying to me.  He has helped me survive in the past, but not thrive.  Suffering is intricately connected to the life of a believer in this age, just as I am intricately connected to a Savior that suffered.  With every ounce of my being, I don't want to miss anything.  I want to show up.  No matter how much it hurts sometimes and no matter how "joy"-ful it is.  Join me only if you dare.

Bethany. . . your story, Part 1.

 Here we are walking down the hall, coming to meet you for the first time.  I am struck with amazement that we are almost here.  We have rearranged flights, flown in two airplanes, several taxis, and a mini van to get to you today.  And finally here we come. . .  and I find myself remembering.

I remembered the dinner your Daddy and I had as we decided now is the time to start the adoption process.  I remembered sitting at a table with Randy Bohlender asking all the right and wrong questions, but leaving feeling as if we were ready to start something really big.  I remembered meeting with Tracie the first time and believing her as she made it sound both amazingly complex and simple at the same time.  I remembered last summer, and finishing the mounds of paperwork for a home study, planning fundraising dinners, and praying for you every morning.  I remembered getting to September, and believing that you were going to come to us at any moment, only to see now that the Lord was just beginning to form you.  I remembered meeting for the first time with Susan, from Hannah's Dream.  I remembered loving her and them, but being disappointed because they didn't have any birth mom's yet and it might be a while.  I was so sure you were coming soon.  I remembered getting phone calls for little boys that needed homes and sitting at my kitchen table weeping, that I couldn't save them all.  But knowing that I must wait for the one the Lord had spoken so clearly about. . .  Bethany.  I remembered thinking that maybe you were to come this winter.  And I remember the birth mother the Lord put in our path to pray for those months- only to learn later that her baby girl was not our Bethany.  I remembered beginning to plan for an overseas trip without you. . . confused, but always following the Father.

And then.  I remembered the call from Tracie.  It was in early March and I had just put your daddy on a plane to Florida and then Haiti.  I remembered the frantic call to him.  I remember him saying, "This feels right."  I remembered agreeing from deep in my heart.  I remembered weeping when they called me and said you were a girl.  Our Bethany.  I remembered meeting and signing papers, and asking, "Are you sure June 24 is early enough for us to come back from our trip?"  I remembered working so hard in April to update our home study so we would be ready for you.  I remembered packing your diaper bag for the hospital, "Just in case."  I remembered praying for you and your birth mother fervently, that the Lord would make his heart known to you both.  That he would speak to you both, and protect you both.  And then I remembered yesterday morning, when I got the call that you were coming and I wept again.  Joy that is was finally time and sorrow that I wouldn't be there to get you.  There were wonderful arms there to hold you through the night, and for that I will forever be grateful.  But they were not mine. . .

So, here we are, approaching the door.  I see you and all the world stops.  There is no sound, there is no one around me.  It is only us and all I can think is. . .

"You are fearfully and wonderfully made, little one.  Fearfully and wonderfully."

Just a peek. . .

Isn't she beautiful??

She's coming!!

Hello friends!  Really quick update from Cairo- we got a call this morning from KC and our birth mom went into labor yesterday. 2 weeks early!!!  AHHHH!  We immediately called Delta, they graciously changed our tickets and didn't charge us the $1000 in change fees, and we are leaving here exactly 24 hours early.  That puts us in KC 30 hours earlier than expected and allows us to be there when they discharge Baby Bethany from the hospital.  As much as I wanted to be there the moment she was born, I know she is in the Lord's hands and there are precious ones there to hold her for me.  Nonetheless, we would covet your prayers!

1. Healthy baby and mama and safe delivery.
2. Flights that go as scheduled, little boys that make them well, and connections that are not missed!
3. Prayers for my parents and sister- as we were all going to fly back to the States together and now they are stuck in Cairo another day without us!  Only to fly home alone.  We love them dearly, but had to leave a day earlier. 

Thanks friends, I'll post pics as soon as I can get my hands on that sweet baby girl!!

Swimming, again??

Oh the fun we have had!  This past weekend, we got to go swimming.  It's an odd thing here in this country- the heat is brutal, and when you get on top of a tower, you can see all kinds of swimming pools.  However, as a foreigner, you try to find a place to go swimming and nothing appears.  Now hear me correctly, you see pools, but not like in the states, where all kinds of people have them in their backyards.  The large majority of people here live in some kind of flat- like an apartment, but with no overall services (i.e. pools) for use.  SO, who has all the pools you can see from above??  Well, the best explanation we can get involves sporting clubs that will (mostly) not let foreigners in.  Unless you have a good friend who has lived here his whole life and he wants to take you.  As of yet, we have made no such friend.  ;) 

Nonetheless, we did find a pool on top of a hotel roof that was a total blast!  They will let you pay for a day pass, and they didn't even charge us for the boys.  Oh my, how much fun we had.  Add the no swimming in the heat to the dilemna of having no where outside to play, and the boys had been struggling to not destroy our wonderful little apartment. I actually said to the husband today, "I am really looking forward to saying, Hey boys, go run around outside for a while."  That shift from 4 1/2 acres to a 9th floor flat has been difficult.  :)  Thank goodness for the pool and our dear friends who made sure we all had a blast! 

(Andrew was reading some of The Chronicles of Narnia out loud and Benjamin really wanted to hear, but sitting in the sun was too hot for a little boy.  So, he took his chips and snuck behind the chair and listened contentedly.)

P.S. 7 days and counting. . .we'll be home.

P.P.S.  14 days and counting. . . . Baby Bethany will be coming!!!  (or sometime near then)

Votes??

New design??  Thoughts please. . 

The Nile and so much more. . .

So, today we went back to the Nile and had a Felucca ride.  It was a small sail boat that doodled around the Nile for about an hour for $10.  The boys had a blast.  They have been asking to go back to the river and actually get on it, since we ate at the fish restaurant (see previous post).

 Isn't he funny????

Then, we wanted Mexican food and cheeseburgers to end the day.  Funny, huh?

An update in picture form. . .I suppose it's better than nothing. :)

So, my apologies for those of you who only check the blog.  I've been having a hard time lately getting around updating, but here's a quick overview. :)

We ate some really good hot dogs at a park.

We "bowled" in a hallway.  :)

 We had a GREAT Girls Day Out!

Starting with pedicures. . . 

Ate some really good food, at a wonderful restaurant!

Ended with a mud mask, cookie dough, and a chick flick!

And finally, a fantastic day at a friends house with swimming and paddle boats!

Benjamin and I even played football!

(Sadly I don't have a pic of us in the boat, because we were in the boat. 
someone else does, but i haven't gotten it yet.)

That's about it for now, but I am working on updating. . . . sorry about that friends.  :)

                                                                                                                                                                              

Had a BLAST again yesterday!

Okay, so we might have been a little over zealous, but we ventured out for another adventure- two days in a row!  This time we planned to just run down-town for a little bit, but once we met up with our friend Carrie, we realized we could stay down there for the day.

So, we made it off the train around lunch time, took a taxi to the closest item on the map we could find-- a middle eastern embassy.  That was an interesting conversation with the taxi driver.  :)  Anyway, we walked to the Fish Market and had an amazing lunch.

Little Man really enjoyed the seafood soup. . . . despite the claw sitting on the plate beside it.  :)

The restaurant was on a boat docked on the Nile and you picked out your fish you wanted, the way you wanted it cooked, and the sides, and they brought it to you.  As is. Ours was fried.

Needless to say, it did taste good.  :)

We left there and went to the "zoo."  We had heard it was cheap to get in, but some people thought it was good inside and others thought it was miserable.  Sadly, had it been cheap, it might not have been so miserably disappointing.  For Non-Egyptiams, the price was 20 pounds a person, Egyptians are 2 per person.  It appeared to be like a park, with a few animals in very small cages here and there.  There were many people there, many with small children, and many of them sitting around on blankets with picnics.  As I type that, it doesn't seem that bad.  But it was one of the cultural experiences where we felt like we needed to leave.  Quickly.  Not because we were in any kind of danger, just because the situation didn't feel right as foreigners.  To top it all off, it was incredibly dirty.  Like "Boys, walk around here for an hour and don't touch ANYTHING" kind of dirty.  When you are 3 and 5, that's kind of like asking you to solve a calculus equation.  Impossible.

 Anyway, we left there and headed back towards downtown, where our evening activities were.  We were meeting our friends and arrived a little bit early (due of course to our early departure from the previous mentioned activity).  Once again, we pulled out the handiest book of all time, Lonely Planet Egypt, and looked up activities in the downtown area.  We didn't have enough time to go to the museum, but there was a little shop that looked interesting so we went to find it.  And let me tell you, as much as the zoo was a disappointment, this little store was a joy!  It was amazing and beautiful, lots of incredible handmade gifts, cotton items, glassware, games, bags, clothes.  What fun!  We will definitely be back to this one before we leave!

The night ended with the "meeting," and "family" from different lands gathered to praise the Risen L-rd.  It was amazing.  We left a little bit early, as we were with some friends who had two little girls, plus our two little boys at a meeting that started at 7pm.  When we walked out and got to the square this is what we saw.  Beautiful.