Walkin' with Rance

After church Rance and I went on a walk. Daddy kept the others and for the first time in a long time- it was just us.  I got a really sweet Schwinn bike for Christmas, from my parents that I am dying to try out.  Yep, parents even buy their adult children bikes for Christmas.  We had trouble navigating the mud, snow, and slush, so we swapped the wheels for bogs.  Smart move.  If you have never taken the time to just listen to a five year old talk...you are missing out.  The way their minds work is quite entertaining fascinating.  He had to take a backpack and a gun and holster (in case we saw a mountain lion).  The freaky part is, some one killed one on our property not too long ago.  Rance's gun was obviously not real, so I found myself wondering if a mountain lion would be threatened by the looks of one.  I decided, probably not.

As we are going along, I start trying to get to the bottom of why he did not want to go to church this morning.  I start by explaining why we go.  One of the things I brought up, is we are able to learn ways we can help others.  "I love helping poor people," Rance says.  "I think when you see a poor person, you should pretend they are rich.  That way, you will treat them good."  "I know if Jesus was walking, say in like Africa, and he saw someone just sitting on the side of the road, homeless, He would give them everything He had in his pockets."  Hmmmm...so you are learning something.  "I like to help people cause' it makes me feel good on the inside."  Hmmmm....so you are feeling things.  "I like to go to church, it's just that sometimes, I don't."  Of course, you are a child and you need guidance.  But yelling and threatening and pushing you out the door is not "guidance."  I think I need to start treating Sunday's like holidays.  We should work hard at making it a day the kids look forward to.  What do kids want more than anything else?  Time.  Time with people they love.  One on one time.  Play time.  Time to play with friends and family.  That happens to be exactly what we do on holidays.  We look forward to them mostly because they are centered around fellowship.  What is a Thanksgiving meal when you are eating it alone?  Not near as tasty.  Of course kids look forward to gifts, but honestly, Christmas is made memorable by who we spend it with.  Holiday's don't have to be expensive.  You don't have to spend lots of money to create a great meal.  You can simply throw on some spaghetti and meatballs and you know the kids are pleased anyway.

We have spent so many Sundays being lazy, catching up, getting ready for the week, stocking the cabinets.  I think, we need to get back to making them special.  Holy.  About worship.  About Him.

Rance and I sat on a bridge and talked.  We threw rocks at the icy lake.  We ventured out onto the ice, which my husband informed me we should not have done.  I figured if it could hold the cows, it could hold me.  It should have occurred to me who I was talking to before we gave all the details.  Haha.  I worked very hard at not rushing my little guy.  I even stopped with him to let his stuffed bear pee.  (Rance has quite the imagination.)  What I got~refreshed.  A refreshed me and a refreshed kid.

Be blessed,

Misty

Our 1st CNY

I discovered last Saturday night the Chinese New Year may just be more fun to celebrate than the American New Year. Most Americans bring in the New Year with a few friends and some cocktails. I am sure some people have cool traditions but I have never been exposed to any.

The Chinese however, (as well as other Asians) have several really neat traditions. The main one is-they eat. It's a time for lots and lots of food, including dumplings, noodles, rice, and deliciously prepared vegetables. They also pass out red envelopes to the children with money inside. The money the children collect is their spending money for the entire year. Leading up to the new year, they clean their homes from top to bottom, sweeping away the bad luck. Each family member gets a new set of clothing to wear for this special time. They relish in the moments of enjoying the company of their friends and family for FOUR days!

We had a little gathering at a friends house last Saturday night. Asian adoptees as well as local Asian families gathered together in their Asian attire and listened to Asian music, ate Asian food and did some crafts. We had a wonderful time.

It is so important to me our boys grow up learning about their birth countries traditions and culture. I want them to be proud of where they came from. I never want them to feel we took them away and never looked back. I want them to have a sense of who they are. They are all American boys, born in China and I pray they are proud of their unique story.

In hope,

Misty

Love Without Boundaries-Part One: Healing Homes

Since we got home with the boys,  I have been considering volunteering for Love Without Boundaries.  I can finally say, I am one!  I fell in love with this organization when I learned they had taken in my twin boys, one by one, when they were extremely sick and helpless in China.  Love Without Boundaries has healing homes, also known as Foster Care Centers.  There is Heartbridge, in Beijing, which is the one my boys were in.  They also have Anhui Healing home in Anhui, which is a cleft healing home, as well as True Children's Healing Home which is in Fujian.  Until a week ago, there was one in Henan, called the Henan Healing Home.  Tragically, it was closed down and all the children are now living with Foster Families, except one, which had to go back to the orphanage.  The government implemented this change in Henan after a fire broke out in a foster home outside of Kaifeng, killing seven children.  It was a tragic incident but it deeply saddens me that the Love Without Boundaries home was closed as a result.  Their home was very modern and well staffed.  They had plans in place if there was indeed a fire, including aprons that would allow them to carry out several babies at once.  None the less, it has happened.  Therefore, we must be grateful the home helped as many as it did and pray for those who have been relocated as they adapt to this change in their life.

I will be writing updates on children to their sponsors.  This is so awesome to me, considering while Trigg and Ivor were in China, we sponsored them through LWB, and these monthly letters were highly anticipated as we waited to bring them home.  Since they have been home we have sponsored other children and it is such a joy being a part of their journey and healing  as they receive the love and care they so desperately need.

Healing Homes are places for healing, simply put.  If you would like to be a sponsor, I have included a link to enable you to do so.  If you have any questions... please don't hesitate to ask.

Below is a photo of Trigg and one of Ivor taken at Heartbridge,

Blessings,

Misty

Trigg and Ivor's Journey Home Video

Our Adoption Video is finally released!  I have been chipping away at this for some time now...and finally...here it is.  I hope you enjoy it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4HXOOVm1sw

Wanting More Out of Christmas

Every year I try to down size Christmas without offending or disappointing anyone. I simply don't believe it's honoring to the Lord to go in to debt, or to be over indulgent and lose focus of the true meaning of Christmas by turning it into an excuse to spoil ourselves and others. Most the people I know, cannot think of a single thing they need and have a hard time coming up with something they even want. Gift exchanges are great, don't get me wrong. I do think it's important to keep Christmas special and a time to look forward to. It's wonderful to create good memories of the Holidays in all our minds. But I think it's more important that our children are raised with a clear understanding of what it really is they are celebrating. Almost everyone gets into Christmas whether they are Christian or not, which I think is kind of amusing. I think many are raised with the understanding Christmas is just simply a time to exchange gifts, bake, send out Christmas cards, and decorate a tree. This is all true, but the REASON we are doing this is being forgotten.

Christmas is Jesus' birthday. Without Jesus, where would we be? Jesus is our Healer, Comforter, and most important our Savior. So what does that mean? Savior...He came and lived on earth. A human, so he could teach us, feel what we feel-hunger, despair, loneliness, joy. He lived a perfect, sinless life.
But then he took on all our sin-yours and mine-on the cross, and was tortured and beaten so we could go to Heaven. He DIED for us, so we would never have to die, so we could live eternal life with him.

Now that's a lot to celebrate. That's much more exciting than any gift you could place under the tree. I know it's hard to relay all this to a child. However, there are ways to do it. There are lots of story books out there that you can read to them to help them understand. They can watch cartoons that teach the real meaning of Christmas. Maybe instead of making the focus on what children want for Christmas, we could talk to them more about what they think others may want. It would be wonderful to involve them in a conversation about what they think we should send to Grandma and what they would like to include in the box. What children really want most from us is our time. I feel we could spend half the money and twice the time with them during the holidays and they would have very fond memories of Christmastime. Children love to bake, craft, sing, decorate and read stories.

It's a great time to teach compassion for others not as fortunate as us. We are richer in general than 2/3 of the world. We can teach them about charities, and different ways to give. We can teach them love, which is what Jesus is after all.

I'm Not Waiting...On Anything.

And that just occurred to me. I'm not waiting on anything. I went from waiting for God to make a move and place adoption on my husbands heart, to waiting for my husband to make a move, to waiting on a match, then of course to waiting for each and every step in the adoption process. Once home with our new boys, we started waiting for things to smoothen out, to then waiting for our first appointments at Children's Hospital. Then we waited for Ivor's surgery, then Trigg's. Last night the waiting came to an end. At 10:00 p.m. we got an email from our pediatrician giving us the results of Ivor's final blood test. He's perfect, genetically perfect. All of the boys medical issues are a result of the twinning process. They are indeed identical, and genetically perfect. Awesome.

So what do we do now? We live. We live with out surgeries and test results looming over our heads. We move forward. It's nice. I know you are supposed to live every day to its fullest and blah blah blah. But really, there's freedom in not waiting. I hope the next time I am waiting on something, I will just keep on living while I wait, instead of holding my breath. Today I realized the last several months I have been holding my breath. Today- I exhaled. Today, we cut down our first Christmas tree as a family. I had done it when I was a kid, but not since. I still remember that day. I remember the spot we found the tree. I remember our old family dog, Odie was just a puppy romping around. I hope my kids remember today like I remember that day.

That's what life's about, making memories.

Over the Hill and Through the Woods

Those are the words that come to mind when I rehash the week.  Trigg had his surgery on Monday.  We thought we were smooth sailing.  He went back about 8:30 and was done by 10:30.  We had planned on going to a recovery room for about 2 hours.  We had an appointment for Ivor in the cleft clinic and we let the nurse know.  I think she became focused on getting us out of there in time and she let us go by about 12:45.  All went well at the cleft clinic and Ivor was cleared to eat whatever he wants.  YAY!  This child will probably forever refuse applesauce, and he was pretty excited to get something crunchy to eat.

We got on the road by 3:00.  We have a six hour drive from the hospital to our little town.  As we were climbing the pass (big huge mountain) Trigg's pain was escalating.  It was then that hit me, he was still in a dry diaper.  I called the surgeon and he was sure they would not have discharged him without a wet diaper.  I called the O.R. and had them look in the chart and my fears were confirmed. 

Needless to say we went strait to our local ER and Trigg's bladder was near bursting.  They had to drain it which was totally traumatic, after a two our wait to see a doctor.  Let's just say, our small town ER needs a lesson or two in treating kids.

These boys continue to teach me how fragile and resilient kids are, all at the same time.  They are simply amazing in how well they bounce back.  Through all the pain and agony of these surgeries and the changes they have been through, God still continues to be faithful and bless us.  It is a gift, a sweet, precious gift we have been given simply in watching them interact.  Ivor knew Trigg was down, and he acted accordingly.  He would feed him, literally feed him, and Trigg would eat, even when he did not feel like it.  He would randomly go to him and kiss him.  He would bring him drinks.  They are TWO.  Toddlers generally don't show empathy till the age of three.  They help each other up when they fall.  Again, we praise God for reuniting these identical twin boys.  He knew, HE knew how badly they needed to be together.  I am so grateful He chose us to witness their love. 

Blessings,

Misty