Our Family and Ethiopia: November 2009

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

What we have to be Thankful for

The three of us are doing great and we look forward to Thanksgiving. As you prepare for Thanksgiving please read this post from an amazing woman of the Lord. She is serving orphans in Uganda.
It is the November 20th post.
kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com

Please just don't forget what you read as we try not to forget either. Happy Thanksgiving, we have so much to be thankful for as our son was one of those very sick children at one time.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Talo and Jesus!

I was sitting in bed doing my Bible Study and Talo decided it was time for him to read too. He wanted his blanket and his books to read like Mommies! Needless to say my alone time with God quickly ended but the Lord reminds me time with my little man is worshiping Him!

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to share a few very cute and awesome things about Talo. Just this past week Talo has been showing us his love for Jesus! Ever since we met Talo we have been praying with him at meals and all throughout the day. We tell him Jesus loves him and that Jesus lives in his heart and all he has to say is "Come to my heart Jesus!"

Well, the other day I asked Talo where does Jesus live? Where is Jesus's home and he pointed to his heart! Then as we were driving in the car I said "Talo should we pray" and he said yes so I prayed, "Dear Jesus. . . In Jesus's Name Amen!" Then Talo said "Yena Pray (yena means me/I) and I said ok go and out came the most precious words I ever heard. My eyes welled up with tears as my little son said "Jesus (then some murmuring i couldn't make out) then a loud Amen!" Oh I was overjoyed, my son was beginning his first conversations with Jesus, he was starting to pray! He is starting to understand who God is, what prayer is and that God loves us. (Trust me a 2 1/2 year old is not going to talk to someone they don't like or believe likes them.) Talo is growing to know Jesus loves him and the praying is also continuing to grow. He tells me all the time "Yena pray" and I say ok go and tonight as we cuddled in his bed his prayer went a little like this.

"Jesus ahh, Daddy, Mommy, Froggie (his best stuffed friend), Bear (his second best stuffed friend), Talo, ahh, Daddy, Talo, AMEN!"

As I stay home wiht Talo each day and think about what do we really want for Talo and our future children my mind turns to Jesus! All we want is for Talo to lead a life that follows Jesus. That life may take him back to Ethiopia someday or it may keep him close to home but wherever it leads we just want Him to follow God and do His will. For then whatever he does or wherever he goes it will always be the Best! Notice I didn't say easiest but the best. Throughout adopting Talo and other things God has taken us through in our short lives so far, we have come to know one thing to be true. Following the Lord and doing His will (not our own) is never the simple easy way but, it is always the best, most perfect and most glorifying to God.

Someday we will not look at Talo's success based on what career he chooses, the car he drives or the size home he lives in with 2.5 children and a dog. You won't find us rejoicing in these temporary things that he may or may not have, but you will find us praising God when we see Talo develop to be a Man after God's own heart. We will praise God to see Talo be a man who loves his wife and children, provides for his family, is honest, respectful and hardworking for the Lord. For us as parents our sucess will be determined by if we raised Talo to know Jesus develop that eternal relationship with God his Father. Even though it may be totally contrary to our culture our worth as parents will not be based on if we raised Talo to have some short lived earthly success. For in the Kingdom of God and eternity that will never matter.

What do you want for your children?

"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrafice, accetable to God, which of your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed be the renewing fo your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:1-2

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Life with our little Man

Hi Everyone,

So it looks like I am a twice a month blog updater. I look at other people's blogs and I am amazed at all their links, designs, pictures and frequent posts! When do they have the time?? Speaking of time I will try to make this quick before Talo wakes up from his nap.

Tomorrow will mark 6 weeks of us having been with Talo. We can hardly believe it. Over these 6 weeks we have seen Talo not only grow so much physically but also confidently as his strong and beautiful personality emerges. He is quite the little man with very dramatic expressions, laughter, different tones of voice and high energy play. We are loving growing more as a family everyday. Today was our first time back at church since Talo came home and we were talking about how much better we know Talo and he knows us compared to when we went to church only 6 days after having him in Ethiopia. We couldn't even help him understand yet what we were doing or how to be quiet in church. But today we kept telling him we were going to sing to Jesus and he just kept saying "Desus" "Desus". He also did so well when we told him to be quiet during church and he made it all the way until the middle of the sermon.

I feel like there is so much to talk about and where to begin but let us tell you what we are learning after 6 weeks. . .

Orphaned children have lots of grief and fear so trusting a loving caregiver takes a long time. . . how does Talo know we aren't just temporary until the next set of "caregivers" comes along?

A child who has been through starvation has many trust issues with food. Will there be enough? When will my next meal come? How can I know these people will feed me?

We have to bond to Talo just like he has to bond to us and every day we become more of a family!

Routine and structure truly do build safety, trust and security for an adopted child.

The more we see Talo trust and feel secure with us the more we see his behavior become more natural and his personality more real.

Here are some picture of Talo's first month home. Enjoy them and thank you to all of you who have given support to bring Talo home. Through your prayers and financial gifts we have been blessed beyond measure!

Talo and his favorite friend "Froggie" out for a night walk.