And a Happy Mother's Day to you!

One day soon I will write about the first year of Mommyhood. But today is not the day. Today is a day to take it all in. So, a Happy Mother's Day to all you precious, amazing Mommies out there. Yes... that's you.

And... on this day... it was the first time they "said", "I love you". 

Okay... so we have to work on it a bit...

Meeting our sponsored child in Ethiopia (and a gift to my Mom)...

Many of you have probably heard of organizations such as World Vision, Compassion International, or Save The Children. Or... perhaps you already have a sponsored child. Maybe, you think of these organizations with some reservation. Do they really give the money to help the children? Maybe you are completely on board with what they do. Or, maybe you don't really know much about it.

Almost 7 years ago... we were given the chance to sponsor a child. And we did. Her name is Enat. She is from Ethiopia. (This was long before we knew we were going to adopt our boys from Ethiopia). Over the past 7 years, we have supported her with a monthly check that pays for food, cloths, school, medical exams, AIDS education and other needs. Her family lives in extreme poverty. (For Enat, that means they live on less than 1 dollar/ day). We receive her thankful letters... and we too send our love, greetings and pictures.

During the adoption process, we put two and two together that our sponsored child was from Ethiopia! (Duh). We would soon be traveling to Ethiopia to meet our baby boys! Maybe we could meet her! Just maybe.

 And we did...

She lives only two hours outside of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia... where we traveled to adopt our Braveheart and Tenderheart. And here she is, at age 16... beautiful and precious... 

(Holding Tenderheart) 

We would have loved to go to her village and meet her family, but we just couldn't get out there with our little Tenderheart in poor health. So... Compassion International brought her to us. And it was incredible. 

I'm telling you... I don't know how it happens... through letters and a small check every month... but you absolutely fall in love with your sponsored child. And she falls in love with you. And when you behold their face in person...  joy overcomes you. And in the end... you receive WAY more than you give. 

And let me tell you people... that money goes to them. I guarantee it. You want to know why? Because I saw her face. 

And she was so thankful. 

So, for Mother's Day, we are going to sponsor a child (from Ethiopia) in my Mother's honor. You see, my Mom is a Child Ambassador for World Vision. That means that she spreads the word about sponsoring children. She spends hours and hours each week either emailing, calling, speaking, presenting, etc. to let people know just what it means to sponsor a child. (This is all volunteering, by the way). She does this because it is her very heart beat. You see, when we brought out Tenderheart and Braveheart home... everything changed. She had had sponsored children before. But now... holding their little bodies and looking into their eyes had changed everything. And now... her hopes and dreams center around one thing... looking after the little ones who need us. 

So, in honor of my Mom... because I know it's the only thing that she wants... I'm letting you know about sponsoring a child. Friends... it will bless your life maybe even more than it blesses the child's. One of my Mom's favorite quotes is this one: 

"Only a life lived for others is worth living." - Albert Einstein. 

So, here is a link to World Vision's site. You will find so much information there. Poverty. Slavery. Death. Malnutrition. And most of all... what our support can do. And maybe, just maybe... it's time. Don't do it because you feel obligated. If it's not the time... it's not the time. Do it if you know it's time. And you'll know. 

World Vision 

I love you, Mom. 

"So you had a bad day..."

Have you ever had one of those days when, from the get-go, it goes down-hill? I went to work on friday and just got off to a bad start. Let's just say that one of my co-workers needed an attitude adjustment. And instead of letting his 'tude just "walk on by", I let it stomp on my head. I got sucked into it... and became "attitudy" myself. The 8 hour day then became a marathon of events: lots of negative grumblings, eye rolls and stink eyes. And then, what's worse... I complained and talked behind his back to another co-worker.

I know. I know. 5th grade? No... 3rd grade.  

But that's what happened.

The good thing was that the co-worker I complained to... didn't get sucked up into the attitude. She stayed on top of it. She was kind. She didn't join in on the bashing.  But she didn't make me feel like a complete moron either. And that's when, in the light of her kindness, the attitude in me was brought to the light, and then it was burnt up.

And then, I felt cruddy about it. I had failed. Darnit.

After work I was happy to come home and see my parents, my boys and my husband. They were working on building the deck. Well... the boys were playing in the dirt. Around dinner time, Braveheart started to have a breakdown. He kept nagging at my parents to pick him up. Tenderheart joined in on the chaos. It escalated. And, at the wrong time... with the wrong words... I told my parents to "not pick him up". And then I went on about other things not to do. When it's just my husband and I... I can say those things to him... and he to me... because we have learned that we aren't trying to blame the other... we are trying to learn from the situation. But it took a year to get to that point. In the beginning... it felt like blame... but now... through many such situations... we have learned "how" to say it to eachother.

But on friday night... all my learning and "know-how" went out the window. I said it in the wrong way... at the wrong time... to the wrong people. And I made my mother cry.

I know. I know. I know. Failure #2.

It get's better right? Nope.

So, 9:00pm rolls around... the night was still young... and romance was still a possibility. And I swear I must have had a negative/junky/cruddyness magnet stuck to me foreheard... for the night ended with our backs turned to one another and a bunch of insults. Failure #3.

I woke up the next morning... early early ... and went to work at the coffee shop again. And there was a pit in my stomache all day. I wanted to go back home. Make things right. Say, "I'm sorry". Hug my Mom again. Smile at that co-worker that had so ticked me off. And what transpired that day was a healthy dose of humility. And I felt like the air had came back into my lungs. And that magnet I had on must have fell off.

You know... it's good sometimes to fail. To really screw it up. For when you feel like you are on top... you are very alone. But, in that moment of turning... when you realize you aren't so hot... you feel thankful for the grand company of people, no, angels... that you have in your lives.