Life is moving along at a somewhat manageable pace. I was less busy this week than I have been in the past, and I feel like I am finding a groove in getting done all the work that needs to be done. So, that's good.
There was no news as far as a match with M this week. I am trying not to get too frustrated about the lack of communication from the agency, but it's hard sometimes. The agency director told us the first committee meeting after our dossier arrived was in two weeks (from then). I know the committee meets on Thursdays- at least I think it still does. So I was thinking this past Thursday would be our first shot. But then my friend Stephanie sent me a message asking what I'd heard. Stephanie was with us in Quito when we adopted Flor and they were adopting their daughter Alison. I told her that I was assuming that we might be matched this Thursday and she wrote back and said that was funny that I'd been told that because she and her daughters would be in Quito that day and were supposed to spend the day with MJB (the Quito rep who goes to the committee meetings to help us get matched). She was unsure how MJB was supposed to be in two places at once. Yeah, me too. So I wrote the agency director again and asked for clarification and she wrote back saying she doesn't really know when they meet next and that's it. Sooooo...yes. I should just get used to the lack of communication from Ecuador, but it still kind of sucks. I'd like to have some sort of idea of when things could happen, but ya know, it's fine. So, we're not holding our breath for any sort of matching any time soon.
Despite this, we are feeling very blessed this week. We had a good long discussion about our finances and feel that even if we were to go right away, we'd be pretty close to ready. Another family that is down in Quito right now used buddy passes to fly there and that worked out super well and saved them a bunch on their flight costs. If we could do this, that would be extra awesome as the flight costs will be by far the biggest chunk of change left,.. I am not even sure how it works and what kind of connections we need to make it happen, but I thought it was worth asking around to see if anyone has a connection that could help us fly there on buddy passes. So, if anyone knows anything, please pass your info to me!! Also, we received some news that could potentially help us get another chunk of money if it all works out. We know that people are praying for us and doing what they can to help us and for that we are super grateful.
Here are a few pictures from this week:
Hallie had spirit week at school and so she got to dress up in some way every day and she was loving it.
 |
| Crazy hair day. Aren't we creative? |
 |
| Pajama day and dress up for St. Patrick's Day. :) |
 |
| Crazy sock day. (and our weekly date to Fiiz...haha) |
 |
| Jersey day and we are missing a picture from the last day which was school color day. Not fun. |
 |
| Cute Hallie and Emma |
 |
| Devin was working, of course. :( |
Another highlight of the week was having Perry family FHE today. No pictures of this...boo. But we had it at Mesha's house and her son Tade taught the lesson and did a wonderful job. He taught the third lesson from Preach my Gospel and said he read it himself seven times to make sure he understood before teaching it to us. He had games and such planned for the kids to help them understand the concepts. What a good teacher. I love that my kids have such good role-models among their cousins.
I had some thoughts today while at church that I thought I should record here too. Don't you love this-- it's becoming the all encompassing, everything-in-one-blog-post blog. Yep. Oh well, it's for posterity. :)
So, I have to admit that sometimes it is easy to get into the routine of things and forget why exactly we do them. One of those things for me is going to church. Now, don't get me wrong- I have always been an active member of our church and I intend to always be an active member of our church. I have a solid testimony of it and have had far too many spiritual experiences in my life that have confirmed the beliefs I have to ever deny them. So, with that said- having three little kids that are loud, not sitting still, and fighting during church makes it sometimes hard to remember why we go. I have also been in the primary a lot lately (though I am now back in RS), and again, that makes things difficult as far as feeling the spirit and getting the nourishment I need at church. Anyway, today I was thinking about this all before church and focusing a little too much on the hassle of it all versus the blessing of it all. As I was sitting in Sunday School, the spirit was really present and I had the thought come to me that even though I have sat through that particular lesson numerous times in my life, one of the reasons I go to church is to put myself in a position to simply feel the Spirit. Of course there are opportunities to feel the Spirit during the week, too, but in the hustle and bustle of it all, isn't it nice that we have a three hour block set aside specifically for spiritual nourishment and remembering the covenants that we have made? I don't think I learned anything profound in any of the lessons that were taught today that I didn't already know before, but I did feel the Spirit and that is worth a lot. I understand that sometimes this is harder, with screaming kids and teaching the Sunbeams, for example, but I still think the opportunity is there if we go in with the right frame of mind.
It was our ward conference today, so a member of our stake presidency taught the third hour in a combined lesson for the men and women. He talked about marriage and did such a great job. He had all the men go around and say something that they really love and appreciate about their wives. It was so sweet and there was a lot of emotion there. Devin was of course in Primary, so he didn't have to say anything about me, but later when I was telling him about it, he said, "Oh, I am so glad I wasn't there!" Gee thanks, honey, I'll take that as a compliment! Anyway, I sat there thinking about what I would have said about Devin, even though he didn't have the women say anything about their husbands. I became a little emotional as I thought about all the good qualities my sweet husband has. The first that came to mind is what first attracted me to him, which is how kind and sweet he is with children. When we first met, he was living with his sister Shawna and she had a baby, Kayden. Kayden is now twelve and talking about dying his mustache for St. Patrick's Day, so there's that to make us feel old. Anyway, I loved how sweet Devin was with Kayden. And it wasn't an act- to this day, he is always holding someone's baby, playing with the kids on the ground, wrestling, cuddling, doing the girls' hair, reading books, etc. etc. He is genuinely the best father I have ever seen. Our nieces and nephews all adore him too.
I thought about the caliber of man that he is that he didn't even bat an eye when I told him about Flor and my desire to adopt her, back when we were dating. He has loved and accepted Flor from day one as his own child, challenges and all. Often when I've told people Flor's adoption story, they comment on how incredible my husband must be, because their own would not have agreed to her adoption. This makes me sad for them. But it also makes me realize that Devin is willing to seek things out and find out if they are right for him and right for our family. The situation has been the same with M's adoption. While I was the one who originally felt the prompting that she too belongs in our family, (and he may have thought I was crazy when I first suggested it), it did not take him long to be 100% on board, because he was willing to pray about it and seek out the answer himself. I have no doubt that having a father like Devin will be such an incredible blessing to M. I know that I just talked about two separate traits that he has, but combined, they are a few of the things I appreciate most about him. In summary, these traits are his love for children and his willingness to be equally yoked with me as a partner and to be willing to listen to and seek to understand what I have felt is right and good for our family. My input is valuable to him and he has never made me feel like I am less than complete equal with him in our marriage. I appreciate and love him so much. He is a perfect partner for me.
Well, then...happy Sunday and sorry for the oh so lengthy post!
No comments:
Post a Comment