Savoring May

The last time I wrote on this blog, I recapped all of our spring break adventures. Now here we are bringing May (and essentially an entire school year) to a close. Everybody and their brother will be out by the first of June, but we still have another week yet till we finish. I'm not complaining, though, because I had that extra week last August when I needed it so much more. 

May held so many great moments for our family that I'd never forgive myself for not taking the time to blog about each and every one of them--or at least post pics of those May highlights with a caption or two about them. 

This year's Teacher Appreciation Week truly filled my heart and left me feeling loved and appreciated in my classroom.  My kids brought me flowers every single day that week, along with tons of chocolates, classroom supplies, sweet handwritten notes, soaps, lotions, candles, and even toiletries like shampoo and toothpaste! But to top it all off this year, four of the moms showed up unannounced at my classroom door on the last day with cake and cupcakes to surprise me for my birthday. First time in 15 years of teaching here in Texas-I felt so dearly loved.

 My surprise birthday party!

 Teacher Appreciation Gifts

Juan got a job at Pine Cove Christian Camp this summer and had to be there by May 12th, so I picked him up at school on May 10th and had one little sliver of time to spend with both him and David together on my birthday (the 11th). We got a quick drink together at Starbucks before David had to be at work for his own first week on the job at our very favorite Chick Fil-A.

If I only got to see Juan for a day, I'm glad it was on my birthday! 

The next morning, Mike and I had a chance to go for a quick coffee date with Juan in the morning before we dropped him off with his roommate to ride with him down to Pine Cove for the entire summer. Not only will he not be home for three whole months, but we also can only communicate with him on his cell phone on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings while there are no campers. It makes communication a bit complicated, but I am so thankful for this opportunity for him to grow and mature. 

That little coffee date was extra special because we went to a coffee shop where one of his friends works, and she gave us all free coffee for my birthday. :)

That afternoon, on the 12th, Mike and I drove to Fort Worth to celebrate our sweet friend, Jenna's, wedding. Jenna was one of David's first babysitters here in Texas, and then she took care of our home and animals when we went to Colombia the first time. She holds a very special place in our hearts.

 As do her parents, Kim (below) and Doug (above). We met them on our first mission trip with Lake Pointe Church when we went to Piedras Negras in 2004. We've been like family ever since. On that trip, we all met Madai (below left), who then came to the states to live with them and study the following year. After that, she came to visit every single summer. I love her like a sister. 

 We all went to Madai's wedding in Mexico four years ago, and we sadly haven't seen each other since. Kim and Doug moved to Hawaii three years ago, and we haven't seen them since. So it was a real blessing to find ourselves all back together for Jenna's wedding. They will always be like family to me.

Just a few days later, David and I headed to the orthodontist to finally get his braces off!!!!

 Love that beautiful smile!

The office staff all came out and serenaded him to celebrate the big day! We could not have been any more satisfied with the orthodontist we chose for him, along with the amazingly friendly, upbeat staff that work there. 

And, of course, we went out for a coffee date to celebrate that beautiful smile. 

Exactly one week later, he passed his driving test and now is an officially licensed driver. 

Lots of big things happening for my sweet "little" boy. 

As if that's not enough to celebrate and cherish, I can't forget to add that I finally gained the courage to share my story, directly in relation to a message on prayer. I spoke at a women's event on May 8 at my church called Unveiled, so I spent quite a bit of time reliving all the emotions of the last 11 years in preparation for the event. 

Just two days before I was to share about losing Juan David and Laura, adopting Juan David, and then finally finding Laura again 9 years later, I got a sweet text from her wishing me a happy Mother's Day because they were celebrating Moms that day in Spain. Later that week, I got another message from her wishing me a happy birthday, and then just two days later, I told her it was Mother's Day in the states, and she wished me a happy Mother's Day again. 

After years of longing to know anything about her, those three sweet messages truly melted me heart. 

Yes, May was a good month. 

Part 2--More spring break adventures

Tea time wth Mom--My friend Olga (more Colombian connections) recently starting managing a cute little tea room in Rockwall, and she invited me to come out sometime to see her. My mom loves to drink tea, so I thought it would be a fun way to spend time with her over spring break.

And what an adorable little tea room it is! An old house redone inside to make it a cozy little area to spend time with someone special. I loved it and plan on going back. I had a nice time with my mom, I got to reconnect with Olga, and my sweet friend Eliza (who I met on our Guatemala trip and found out we have very similar personalities) had just started working there. 

Olga and Eliza--two people I came to know and love while OUTSIDE of this country

Family Day Out--A few years ago, we went camping as a family at Lake Lavon, and we were pretty sure we heard lions roaring from a distance. Little did we know at the time that a wildlife refuge existed just a mile or so away from the campground in Wylie.

Well, since my parents just bought a house in Wylie, I felt it was a good time to introduce them to their new town by finally checking out this wildlife refuge--In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue and Educational Center. I took the boys and my parents, and my brother came along with his boys, too. I loved it and will definitely go back again sometime so Mike can see it, too. Such beautiful and majestic animals--all rescued from improper care somewhere. Lions, tigers, cougars, lemurs, leopards, cheetahs, bobcats, etc. And you can see them up close, much closer than at a zoo. They all have special names that they even know themselves by. It's a special place they've got there. Can't believe I've been here 15 years without knowing much about it.

 One of the lemurs, just chillin'

 One of the white tigers recently rescued.

 This beautiful white tiger unfortunately didn't want to get up from naptime while we were there.

 One of the black leopards that I couldn't get a good picture of. 

A cheetah

If you are in the area and have never visited either of these two places, I highly recommend both of them. 

Spring break 2018 (Part 1)

About ten days ago, I didn't have much of a plan for spring break. I had an overall idea to spend some quality time with my boys if they'd let me (yeah, they're at that age where Mom isn't really so cool to be around), to finally have a chance to spend some time with my parents other than a meal or two each week, and to catch up on some deeper cleaning and reorganizing around the house.

So, my visions of spring cleaning didn't really come to fruition. I didn't get a lot of extra rest, sleep in, or take naps. 

But for being a pretty open, unplanned week, I'll have to say that I really enjoyed myself. In keeping with my word for 2018, in order to cherish each moment, I must take the time to reflect. So I'm using this one and only "down" day of my break to do just that. 

The first weekend, Mike and David went on a little "off-road" trip with their homemade (self-built) rock crawler, and I ventured to DBU to pick Juan up and have a little "mom-son" weekend. 

Believe it or not, Juan actually really enjoys those times, and they're always quite bonding and connecting. It's only the second time I've seen him this semester, so I really looked forward to hanging out with him. One of his favorite things to do when no one is home is to experiment in the kitchen. Just like a typical Latin male, he turns on the music and sings and dances the whole time while he cooks his heart out. So when he found out that Mike and David were gone for the weekend, he asked if we could get special things for him to make in the kitchen. And just like any college student going home for a visit, he was craving foods from home. Not this home, though, but rather his home in Colombia. 

So off to the Latin grocery store we went to see what ingredients we could find.

The next morning he got up and hit the kitchen in preparation for a Sunday meal with his grandparents. He made a delicious Ajiaco soup, served with rice, avocado, and banana and a Guayaba roll on the side. He also made Maracuya juice, and we had Chocoramos (a special Colombian pre-packaged treat) for dessert. While we ate together, he just rambled on and on about memories we had together in Colombia. 

The following day he made pasta the way he remembered it, with a milky paste/sauce, seasoned with cheese, tomatoes, and cilantro. And then after that he made us changua, a special hot breakfast made with milk, egg, cilantro, and bread, eaten more like a soup. We'd eaten it together for many a breakfast at a special little Christian bakery we found right around the corner from our apartment in Bogota when we were there for his adoption--so it, of course, brought back a lot of memories. I also got him a can of guanabana juice (and two extras to take back to let his roommates try), made him our own version of arequipe (caramel sauce), and brought him a few pieces of Colombian candy that I'd gotten at a meeting the day before he came home. 

We really enjoyed each other's company, had fun together, and reminisced a lot about Colombia. I am very thankful for how well we connected during his time home. Honestly, I cherish each moment I have with him because I don't know how many vacations I'll still have with him. It could be a lot, or it could be very few, depending on what opportunities open up for him through DBU, his new friends there, or wherever he ends up working this summer. 

To top it all off, we spent his last afternoon here on a video call together with Laura and her mom and aunt in Spain. Priceless. I love that we are all family to each other now. 

Adoption and Foster Care Conference

Here's a shout out to my church for another job well done for the Adoption/Foster Care community. 

Just a little over ten years ago, God stirred the idea of adoption in our hearts, but we had no idea where to start. We attended an adoption/foster care conference held at our church, met and talked with several agencies while there, attended informational sessions regarding the steps involved and how to handle the overwhelming financial aspects, and officially started our process that very day. 

Of course, nothing ended up looking like what we'd envisioned, hoped, or planned, just like I heard from many others at yesterday's conference. But it was the day we knew we heard God say, "You're child is already out there waiting for you. What are you waiting for?"

The adoption conference at my church has proved beneficial at every stage of adoption--with all the information I needed to finally take that step of faith and obedience to start the process, with tips on how to handle a newly adopted child at home, and even now with tips to use as an adoptive parent with a post-high school child whose background signficantly affects the choices they may make as a young adult. Yesterdy I attended a session on adopting a teenager, a session on helping your child self-regulate in order to make better choices in any stage of life, and yet another session on how to keep your cool and train your body how to handle stressful situations (good for both the parent and the child). This year's conference also focused in on the birth parents and their perspective. 

I've never walked away feeling disappointed. And, of course, I love any opportunity to share our adoption story with whoever God puts in my path. There's something special about spending a day with other adoptive parents who have experienced similar things in life, or to spend it with people who just need that encouragement and inspiration to help them take that step of faith toward opening their heart and home to a child that doesn't have that love and stability of their own. 

I am so grateful to be part of a church that not only has a heart for adoption and foster care to help people get started, but who also knows and addresses the need to continue that support after the child has already entered the home. 

Our Colombian miracle(s)

Eight years ago, the word Kidsave made me want to hide under a rock and never come out. I'd followed the stirring in my heart to meet two Colombian children coming to the United States with Kidsave, loved them with everything in me, spent every penny we had to adopt them, only to be left empty-handed, broken-hearted, guilt-ridden, and absolutely humiliated.

I just couldn't even begin to fathom why God let us hear about Kidsave, why my heart stirred to meet those kids, why our paths ever had to cross, and why they still ended up without a family. Why did He let me love me love them and then not let them come home.?

Yeah, you know my story by now. And you also know that God did have plans for those kids, for us and for their older brother, too, who didn't get to come to the United States with them. God was writing a story far grander than I could have imagined, a story He's still writing.

Through our loss came so many opportunities and blessings. Three trips to Colombia, countless friends in Colombia, two books (technically three), an adopted son, a trip to Spain forever connecting two families, a failed adoption grief support group, a writing/speaking ministry, three siblings connected and in touch with one another, and a testimony that makes my heart bulge with gratitude. And those are just the blessings on my side. There are countless more from their perspective. Plus our experience led to many positive changes in the whole Summer Miracles program.

Now here we are, eight years later, no longer hiding under a rock in humiliation, but standing on it, ready to advocate for the next child given the opportunity to come here in search of the family God has already chosen for them. It was an absolute honor to sit down with Kidsave (for the first time) just a week ago with my photo books in hand to show them all the good that came out of our story.

I am so thankful for Kidsave giving my son, and his sister, a chance to come to the United States, and I am so thankful that we followed the stirring in our hearts to meet them. No, they didn't end up together. But if we had not loved and pursued them both, we may not have sought to reunite them years later. The story would have fallen short. It was all part of a beautiful plan.

Kidsave is now preparing a new group of kids to come to the United States this summer to experience life with a family and to hopefully help them meet their forever family. And guess what? They're hoping to bring at least 5-7 of them (or more) to the Dallas/Fort Worth area--if enough families will step up to host them in their home.

If you are in the DFW area and have a heart to possibly adopt an older child or at least have the space and resources to host one of them (or a few of them), please check out this website with several pictures already posted of some of the kids coming. Kidsave Summer Miracles program

Please feel free to share this post or the website, as well, to anyone else you might know that may be interested. If you know my son, Juan, you know what a happy, fun-loving "boy" he is. Imagine his life if he'd never had the chance to come here and meet us, the family God prepared him for and prepared for him.

I look forward to working with the DFW Summer Miracles program this summer in any way I can. God allowed me to travel the world last summer, so I felt the need to stay home this year. How exciting to know that a little piece of Colombia will be coming here.

If God is stirring something in your heart, don't ignore it. We're so glad we didn't. It wasn't (isn't) easy. But it's worth it.