love wins

Two years ago a court meeting in Bulgaria forever changed the lives of one 7-year-old Bulgarian and two unsuspecting parents on the other side of the world. How we celebrated on June 17, 2014 knowing that we were legal parents to a new daughter. We had no idea what was about to happen! It was a merciful thing that God gave us such starry eyes about the whole process. If we had known how hard it would be, we wouldn't have been so eager to jump on the plane for pickup trip. (I had not been this eager to board the plane on trip one!)

A few months after Kami came home, we gave her a special book: a scrapbook of the two trips we had made to adopt her. In the beginning, the book was a source of wonder and comfort. Later on, it became obsessive. Then it became unhealthy, so I prayerfully removed it from her life. She actually had a collection of 3-4 Bulgaria photo books all stacked up under her dresser at one point. She would retreat to her bedroom to pore over these books and get lost in them, until one day I realized they had become an extra source of distress that we really didn't need. I told her why I was removing them, and they stayed hidden for several months. A couple of days ago, I thought to myself: "It's been almost 2 years since her adoption; maybe there's enough family history under her belt that she can process her Bulgaria memories differently now." So I gave her one book, the most special one, which she grabbed from me with a quick "thank you, special book" and hurried back to her room. There she pored over it once again. I can't think of another way to describe it other than that she fully possessed that book. Her countenance instantly changed and she became panicky and whiny. (We have been working on not whining for a very long time.) She started rocking more and very obviously reliving her previous life in Vidin.

One reason I had decided to give her another try with the scrapbook stemmed from a bedtime conversation in which she had put together some new words about her past. She commonly says "snow on the swings in Vidin," "putting on a jacket," and "sleeping in a crib," among other phrases, when she wants to talk about her past. But on this night, laying in her bed in the dark, she nervously but clearly shared for the first time "no snack in Vidin," "hungry in Vidin," "brought you Florida." (She never learned the word Louisiana while we were there, but I think the understanding of which state she actually came home to is negligible at this point.) I was excited to hear her make those new statements, though they are truly tragic declarations to get excited about. Then she moved on to "wearing a diaper in Vidin," at which point I tried to hear her out while gently acknowledging that it was very sad and wrong that she and the other children were treated so poorly there and that Jesus rescued her and has good plans for her. (Toilet training was a highly traumatic experience for both of us, and it's the aspect of her transformation that most tangibly reminds me that redemption is messy business.) I left her room impressed by that conversation and convinced that we should consider letting her view her scrapbook again.

I was apparently wrong. Never again in the next handful of years do we plan to get out those books. It's amazing how viewing a photo album can alter her behavior for an undetermined number of days to follow! The day after Kami's reunion with her special book, by which point we had seen emotional, verbal, behavioral and sensory processing regressions, I put it back in its special hiding spot in our room. It will stay there for quite some time.

Every time we meet an event that sets us back at all developmentally or bonding-wise, I'm struck by the forward-and-back (push, pull) nature of our journey. It was as if viewing the photos and holding the book had set her mind back to a time when she couldn't process much of anything that was going on around her. This week, she even cowered in the minivan from the sound of raindrops hitting the window. I have never seen her react in fear to that situation. She's always been terrified of vacuums and weedwackers - well, ever since the time she ran in front of a lawnmower shortly after homecoming. Five-year-old Ezekiel was helping Mason push the mower and I will always remember his confused expression that his new sister (who was not yet acting like a recognizable species) would conceive of such a foolish idea as throwing herself in front of a grass cutting machine... That was among the first of many moments when we questioned what in the world was driving this child to certain courses of action! But as a fellow adoptive mom friend reminded me recently, it's all a result of the soul-crushing orphanage environment. So destructive, so completely against God's design for human development.

We entered the world of special needs parenting by choice. We had a "perfect" family, two sweet boys and a precious girl in the middle; what more could we possibly have wanted? We had it all by some standards, but now we have more. Yes, it translates to more stress, more anxiety, more need for recovery, and more difficulty; but also more of God's heart. Every single human being on this earth is valuable to the Lord. It's so easy to say that; it's harder to act on it. At the end of many days, I'm floored that God somehow used two unprepared, undereducated people to "go behind enemy lines" (the orphanage - I don't mean to insinuate that all of Bulgaria is enemy territory) and bring this traumatized girl from death to life. Other days, when things have gone really well, I just consider her to be another one of the kids asleep under our roof, and all is well. (I need more of those days!) I used to have days where I imagined a life without the stresses of adoption, but now I can hardly imagine who I even was back then. And I always have to remind myself that if we hadn't adopted Kami, we would definitely have adopted someone. We had the adoption bug, and I was not content to live my life without doing everything possible to open the doors of our amazing family to a kid who needed one.

We recently submitted our final group of photos for our agency to send to Bulgaria for our final post-adoption report. It feels great to finally be done with the required 6-month visits! 

On her 9th birthday, March 24th

Showing off the fine motor skills she's gained in the past 2 years

Showing off her gross motor skills

Enjoying the water like a typical kid

Playing in the sand like a typical kid

Walking in the sand. Not screaming. Not rolling in it. Not eating it. As adoptive parents like to say when they share their kids' steps toward healing and recovery:
 LOVE WINS.

Hello!

For a quick family and ministry update, watch this one-minute video from us to you. :) 

seven

It's incredible to me that this little man staring his brand new parents in the face is now seven years old. Mason and I have been parents for seven years! Seven is a special number to me. Biblically it's a number of wholeness and completeness. As a "number person," it's special to me in various ways. I was an Air Force kid for 7 years, and I was an Air Force wife for 7 years. When we had been married 7 years, we adopted Kami, who was 7 years old. Even cooler was the fact that we picked her up on 7/28/14, which is exciting because the month, day and year are all multiples of 7...okay, I know; I'm taking this a little far for you non-number people.

The day Ezekiel was born was the day that most radically changed our lives. Going from non-parents to parents was a huge transition! Ezekiel taught us more than any of our other children about what it meant to parent. He taught us that our lives were no longer ours (as if they ever had been). He taught us that we were more selfish than we imagined, and that no book could prepare us for raising a child. As the firstborn, he gets a special blessing, in part because of all the mistakes we made with him that we didn't make with later children! For example, I irrationally believed that this tiny baby boy who had spent almost a year inside of my body would be just fine sleeping alone in his own bed. I stayed up long hours with him trying to get him to sleep where I thought he should sleep. We battled and had needless showdowns over this issue. By the time his little sister was born, we had grown a bit wiser. We simply cozied her up in our bed at one day old, where she slept with us happily until she was ready to have her own space. I should have just tucked Ezekiel in next to me and called it a night, but my 23-year-old self had no idea this was even an option. I had read the wrong books, but I didn't figure that out until after making plenty of rookie mistakes. We share with Ezekiel often about the biblical blessing of the firstborn and why it can be a tough spot in the family, deserving extra honor and recognition. (Can you tell we're trying to circumvent some of the typical "firstborn problems"?)

Ezekiel made me a lovely picture for Mother's Day. He showed it to me with great care and seriousness, and it's very special to me because as his homeschool teacher I know that 1) he doesn't usually enjoy writing and 2) he doesn't usually enjoy creating art. He made this picture at a Trail Life meeting with Mason, where all of the boys made cards for their moms. Mason said Ezekiel was focused and excited about making this for me, making it all the more precious. It didn't take long for me to notice that his hand-drawn family was missing a member. He named off each of the five members, and I admired every aspect of it before casually asking him where Kami was. He said that he ran out of room. This does not make the picture any less special to me, but I did want to share it with you because it illustrates Ezekiel's relationship with Kami. He has been a trooper and a rock star of a sibling over the past 2 years since gaining his adopted sister. It's been hard, and a lesser boy would have crumbled under the kinds of events he witnessed in his home. Because it's been so hard, he doesn't quite see her as an integral part of the family yet. And that's okay. I love Ezekiel for who he is, and one thing he is: honest. It's an honor to watch him work out his feelings as he observes the miracles of adoption and healing take place in his home.

As Kami continues to make great strides in her growth, everyone's relationship with her is changing. Eden and Isaiah recently decided that "she's a good girl" and that they love her. They've always felt warmly towards her, but once their stalwart efforts to teach her to hug them finally paid off, the deal was sealed. They love her. Ezekiel has required some firm encouragement to speak life to Kami, but as the oldest, he has also been much more cognizant of the trauma involved and consequently formed some judgments about her. We have seen his heart soften toward her in recent weeks and are proud of him for choosing wisely in those moments of decision!

Ezekiel's personality is multidimensional if there ever was one. If I were to pick one word to describe him, it would be warrior: "a person engaged or experienced in warfare; soldier, a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness." It's interesting to note that our last name means "warring, of war, warlike (martial)." This makes him a warring/warlike warrior, to be redundantly descriptive. It's a fitting word picture. Ezekiel is driven by passion. He can be fiercely strong-willed, compassionately caring, uproariously funny, or sullen and silent. He will serve sacrificially, exercise protective caution, and harass rebelliously. Ezekiel has many faces. He is a man of great emotion, yet you won't see it unless you know him well. He is far from an open book - only a chosen few will see his personality in full brilliance (like his daddy). But in his moments of decision, he is deeply motivated by warfare. At an early age he was fighting and winning battles against fear in God's strength. The meaning of his name is "God strengthens." He struggled with extreme anxiety when he was two and three, and he remembers the deliverance.

As a baby he may have been described by some as serious, melancholy, demanding or fussy, and he could be those things; but mostly he was thoughtful. He has always been careful and wise for a boy of his age. His listening skills are incredible (again, like his daddy). Discipline-wise, the armor of God and the spiritual battle for the soul have been the only effective means of communication to his heart. Ezekiel is a very physical boy in terms of learning, showing affection, and playing. Because I've known him the longest of all our children, he's most difficult for me to try to wrap up in a concise description. Maybe the pictures will portray what words can't. Though sometimes his behavior makes us want to beat our heads against the wall, we're grateful God chose us to be his parents and are eager to see what God does with his life! We've enjoyed these long, delightful, challenging, and rewarding first seven years of parenting you, Ezekiel! :)

 

God's Book

I recently had the privilege of sharing about our ministry with a class of high school students at the Christian school I attended. I asked them when they thought the Bible was first translated into English, and as it was my very first time sharing about Bible translation with a group of ninth graders, I was surprised at the range of answers they gave. One guessed in the 1800s, another in the 1900s; one or two may have guessed the 1500s. They were surprised to learn that John Wycliffe was the first person to translate the Bible into common English and that he did so in the year 1384. That was about 630 years ago and several decades before Gutenberg invented the printing press, so every copy had to be written by hand! I remember learning about John Wycliffe in my high school history classes, but the truth is I was probably more concerned about what I was having for lunch that day than the fact that John Wycliffe was the main precursor of the Protestant Reformation. Had I known that one day I would be employed with an organization named after him, perhaps I would have taken a little more notice. :) Wycliffe was allowed to die of natural causes, but years after his death his bones were dug up and burned because of his heretical belief that God's Word was for the common man. In 1536, William Tyndale was strangled and then burned at the stake for translating the New Testament into English. His dying prayer was, "Lord, open the king of England's eyes!" Two years later, the king of England made Tyndale's Bible widely available to the common man.


It's important to realize that we English speakers haven't always had the Bible in our language. It's tempting to take it for granted because if one version doesn't seem contemporary enough for our liking, we have dozens (if not hundreds) of other versions in our language to choose from. We don't have any trouble finding a Bible we can clearly understand because we have a feast of versions. However, while we enjoy a smorgasbord of Bibles in our language, about a quarter of the language groups in the world are starving for God's Word. Currently there are about 1800 language groups that don't have a single verse of Scripture in their language. That's close to 180 million people with zero access to the Bible.


There was a missionary named Marilyn translating the Bible in a small village in Papua New Guinea. One day she had visitors from a distant village. They came because several of them were sick and they had heard there was medicine in this village. The headman with this visiting group began to notice that this village was different from any village he had known. There was a school. Children and adults were learning to read and write in their language. He saw a big church where everyone worshiped and they didn’t seemed worried about any ancestral spirits. The villagers told him it was all the result of having God’s Book. Before he left, the headman went to Marilyn the missionary and asked her to come to their village and give them God’s Book. Marilyn said she wished she could, but she still had so much work to do where she was. The headman said, “Then someone else can come and give us God’s Book.” Marilyn said that was possible, but there were still hundreds of languages like his in Papua New Guinea, all still waiting for translations of the Bible. So the headman asked if she could at least come visit his village soon. Marilyn said “Yes, I’ll try.” The Christians in Marilyn’s village wouldn’t let her forget her promise, and within a short time they organized an expedition to visit this other village. As they arrived, one of the first things Marilyn noticed was a new building in the center of the village. She was curious about it.

The headman said, “Oh that’s God’s house.”

Marilyn said, “God’s house! Has a missionary arrived here?”

“No, no missionary has come.”

“Well is there a pastor coming through here?”

“No, nobody tells us about God.”

“Then how is it that you have built a church?”

“We believe someday soon someone will come and give us God’s Book. We want to be ready. We are just waiting.”

Not all people are waiting so eagerly for God's Book. There will be great hostility and opposition in many places around the world as strongholds are broken and the Light pierces the darkness. But as we each do the part God has called us to in Bible translation, we can trust that He is preparing hearts and nations. Bible translation is about the glory of God among the nations. May the Nations Praise You, O God! (video)

where to begin

I don't quite know where to begin. There's a lot going on.

Once this looked like an adoption blog, and I warned you that the topic was about to change. Now it's also a Bible blog. In retrospect, I think it's been that for a long time, as adoption and the Bible are sort of (incredibly) inextricably intertwined. But now I'll also use this space to share what I'm learning about the worldwide need for God's Word in addition to what I'm learning personally through my own Bible reading.

Have you ever had a moment where you realized a truth about yourself that you had never even considered before? This has happened to me a few times in recent years simply because parenting little children brings out all sorts of things in us that we might not otherwise see. Then adoption took it to a whole new level for me. The most recent and glaring realization I've been slammed with is a really big one. My whole life - whether due to my personality, my environment, or something else, I'm not sure - I have tended to value people based on their intelligence. I hate the way that looks in writing. I hate even more how it has shaped my attitudes and the way I've treated people in the past.

"The LORD doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7

When we committed to adopt Kami, we knew how the Bulgarian officials had labeled her and believed that she had simply never been given the chance to develop her mind. But as the grueling weeks and months went by after bringing her home,  and as I've shared here before, the trauma was just so overwhelming that I lost sight of a great many things.

I think I've said this before and then changed my mind, but I'll say it again really believing it this time: I think we are finally coming out of the woods. Kami's once-constant mourning has stopped. This happened just in the last few weeks and was definitely an answer to prayer. (Thank you Jesus because I had passed my breaking point long ago and was barely holding on during those long days.) We've resumed therapy with the huge blessing of a grant that covers those expenses 100%. We're only a handful of visits in with our new therapist, Kathy, but it's apparent to me that this is already another match made in heaven. For the time that we had Jennie in Louisiana, she was exactly what Kami needed. Kathy is now exactly what Kami needs, and it's actually something Kathy told me last week that led to my latest revelation.

Kathy comes to our house twice every week. After their third or so session together, Kathy told me, "she is really smart." I paused for a second and instead of nodding and continuing the converation, I stopped her. I told her that while I appreciated her saying that, it was difficult for me to understand what she meant and how she could be using that word. Kathy looked surprised that I was surprised and then proceeded to tell me all of the things that Kami can do that show that her brain is not missing anything. I think her exact words were, "I don't think there is anything mental going on." She meant not that Kami has no mental activity, she has alot; she meant instead that she doesn't think there is any mental deficit in Kami, only that she is still in the early stages of trying to figure out how to be human after 7 years of extreme neglect. Of course, this was a very encouraging word to this war-torn momma! When I shared this with Mason's mom, she reminded me that's what we believed from the very start in May 2013 when I first read over Kami's medical file. Somehow I had completely forgotten that every word of Kami's file had screamed to me that this was a child who could rise out of her false diagnoses with love. With love - I thought it would be that easy! For sure, love motivates us, but it had nothing to do with the warm feelings I was imagining as I read that file and dreamed of what this little girl named Kamelia could become.

After Kathy explained to me what she meant by her statement - "Kami is really smart" - I kept thinking about it. I talked about it with Mason and I turned it over in my mind, and the more I contemplated it, the more repentant I became of the way I had come to view Kami through my totally unjustified lens of "intelligence." It occurred to me that none of the other 5 of us who live in this house have ever learned such an exorbitant amount of new information in such a short time as Kami. None of us has ever experienced such a tragic existence and then been expected to function as a normal person in everyday life. None of us was deprived of any of our fundamental human rights and then expected to treat people with decency. I came to realize that Kami is smart. She is a very intelligent girl. When my eyes were opened to this, when I spoke these words, and when I started to treat her like an intelligent child, my relationship with her shifted. My relationship with Kami over the past 2 years since we met has been comprised of many shifts, but this one is huge and it's absolutely defining. It was as if she suddenly became a different person because I started seeing her as a different person. You may remember if you've followed our entire adoption story some of the reasons that this shift has been a long time coming. When someone comes into your home acting animalistic and then gradually and painfully transforms into an intelligent human, significant adjustments need to be made along the way!

Just today, Kathy explained to me the extreme importance of the sucking reflex. After a baby is born, she explained, sucking is the first reflex that empowers them to control an aspect of their environment. Baby is hungry, baby roots for food, baby sucks, baby stops sucking when full. I have nursed 3 babies and never thought of it that way - the simple act of eating, which my three babies each did minutes after their birth, began their healthy brain development which has been allowed to continue without interruption every moment since. Kami, on the other hand, was given a bottle of less than nutritious liquid with a huge opening so that no sucking was required. She was immediately met with an uncontrollable deluge of liquid, which made feeding a survival situation. I've become desensitized, but thinking about this almost chokes me up. Seeing Kathy's indignation that this basic reflex was robbed from Kami in her first days as a newborn really affected me. I, too, should be indignant about it, but moreover I should be extremely proud of all that our daughter has overcome in the past 18 months. When I watch her drink through a straw tomorrow, that alone should leave me in awe. At age 7, with Jennie's help and much travail, Kami's brain forged pathways that most newborn babies have already developed.

That's what's happening with Kami. She's smart, she's beautiful, she's capable, and I need to start talking like this consistently. Here are a couple of images of all four of our children together, which happens more now than ever before:

In the first photo, we're practicing for the family training we'll be attending in April. The children will be away from us for several hours per day while Mason and I go to classes, and while there they'll have a scheduled quiet time after we all eat lunch together. With little kids, practice, repetition and familiarity are very important, so I'm trying to prepare this homeschooled bunch as well as possible for those two weeks away from home!

Mason has been assigned a job managing projects in South Asia. To learn more, contact us directly (or check your e-mail for the latest newsletter)! Besides prayer, which is foundational to the whole endeavor, there are other ways to support us: by partnering with us in our ministry here, and even by using essential oils, believe it or not! If you are an oil user and particularly a would-be business builder who wants to help get the Bible into hungry hands and hearts, you can learn more here or just get in touch with me. We are eagerly watching God build this ministry team because we definitely can't do this job alone!

where the rubber meets the road

Here's a quick peek at what's happening in our family right now. For the full scoop, check your e-mail or notify us that you'd like to receive our family newsletter.

About two years ago, between Isaiah's birth and Kamelia's adoption, God began to call Mason out of the military and toward a totally new kind of mission. He had spent many, many days in "mission planning", but he was about to set out on a different kind of mission planning (with a much more powerful sword). It was an exciting time for our family, knowing that our service in the military was drawing to a close and that a new adventure was on the horizon.

In August 2015, we knew for sure that God had led us to the organization where Mason could best channel his abilities toward the goal of worldwide Bible translation. We knew he would need an interim job, however, during the transition. We trusted God to provide, and He did. On the exact date of Mason's official separation from the military, he was offered a job with Bridgestone. This job would literally be the "bridge stone" from military to missions.

While the last five months of selling tires have been a blessing to our family, now is really where the rubber meets the road. Mason's new ministry role will be building relationships with those on the front lines of Bible translation projects in a specific area of the world and coordinating their needs with resources here. He will take frequent trips to his assigned region, bridging the gap between our brothers and sisters who are translating the Word and those in the States who are supporting the effort. With our newest addition Kamelia being so new to the United States, to our family, and to family in general, we are walking through the door that God has opened for Mason to GO while I provide as stable and culturally consistent a home environment as possible for the children.

We can scarcely imagine life without the Bible. God has used challenges in our own home as a result of older child international adoption to display to us how desperately everyone needs His Word. It is the only source of true healing, hope, and instruction. The thought of millions slipping away into a Christ-less eternity because they have never heard the Good News is enough to move us to dedicate our lives to this work of ensuring that the whole world hears. 

As Mason transitions into this role of field coordination, we are transitioning from a traditionally earned salary to enlisting a team of ministry partners who will co-labor with us in this effort of Bible translation. We are ready for this change because we know that when the Lord called Mason out of the military and our family into missions, He had already arranged for these coworkers to join forces with us. Mason will continue to work for Bridgestone as we work on developing this team of partners, with our goal being to start full-time ministry as soon as possible.

We want to share our journey with you as we start out 2016 in a new way, dedicating our family to making the most dangerous and important Book of all time available to those who have not yet heard the good news. Whether you are a reader, a pray-er, or a giver, we want you on our ministry partnership team. If the Lord moves you to partner with us in this ministry, you can learn more here.

18 month report

A few posts ago I remember writing that this would no longer be an "adoption blog." This was meant to be a true statement, and if you stick around through the coming months you will see some newer topics on here; but it seems I have another adoption post to write. 

We're coming up on 18 months since Kami's adoption. Although we didn't pick her up until July 28, 2014, she became our daughter legally on June 17, 2014. Every 6 months for the first 2 years, Bulgaria needs a standard report on how she is doing. This report time always ends up being a time of collecting the best, most representative photos to send to Bulgaria, and I enjoy sharing them with you as a monument of how far she's come by God's grace. 

Today I e-mailed 12 photos to our agency. They require at least 8 photos, with 1 being a family photo. As always, the family photo is the trickiest to get and the most haphazard-looking one; but I am very pleased with the abundance of good photos I found this time. For the first and second reports, it seemed quite difficult to find enough photos with Kami either making a pleasant expression or assuming a halfway normal posture. This time around, I sent more than the minimum amount of photos required because there were too many good ones to choose from. To God be the glory for that delightful predicament!

Today I also celebrated the second smoothly flowing day in a row with Kami. Yes, you got it right, I said second.  The past few weeks have been rough. There's been lots of mourning, isolation and confusion for her, and some of the same for me. The only one of those three that I think translated to Mason was the confusion. This was evident during our post-placement visit, where we realized that we were giving different answers and perceptions regarding Kami because he spends very little time with her in comparison to the full days I spend with her. (What's a hard-working husband and dad to do when asked specific questions about a child that he doesn't exactly know the answer to? It wasn't the most comfortable position for him!) 

Oh, yes, and that reminds me - remember that letter I wrote to her about sending her to school? It's probably good she can't yet read it - we changed our minds. I know, it's just one surprise after another around here. We got excited, and prayed, and got more excited, and I made many phone calls, and visited a school, and collected paperwork, and then - God closed a door. And then I realized that I didn't really know if it would be the right decision, and that unless I knew, I couldn't do it. And then I realized that I would lose a lot of freedom, although it was for that very idea of freedom that I wanted to send her to school. I would have to drop her off and pick her up every day, rearranging our entire schedule around her school day. Then it was with complete shock that I realized I would not actually get to choose which days I wanted to send her - I'd have to send her every day, and couldn't just pull her out for a vacation or for a day at Disney. I know, it's very obvious that this is a homeschooler talking right now; but that's just a lot of freedom that we would lose as a family. Gradually it seemed to rise as higher in importance to maintain our family's flexibility than to gain a regular break from parenting duties. That is, in fact, what I was looking for: a way to get a consistent break. 

Interestingly it was partially her streaks of intensely bad behavior that showed me that institutional school could not possibly be the answer for her right now. How could an institutional setting help her with these poor behaviors? The teacher would know nothing of what I know regarding her past and her needs and would also be powerless to discipline her effectively. The progress we've made over the past year and a half has been astounding, but it's still lurching. Instead of the typical one step forward, two steps back, it seems some weeks like one step forward, one mile back; then the very next week it feels like ten miles forward, two steps back. One of my first entries after pickup in Bulgaria was about the push/pull of our relationship. The push/pull is very much still in effect. Adoptive parenting seems like a tenuous, volatile, dynamic dance where things can be going great until one wrong step, which throws everything into a quick and sometimes catastrophic downward spiral. If there's one thing she needs right now, it's constant training. At her most difficult times, such as the ones we've walked through the past few weeks, she'd be a significant distraction and unfortunately a detraction for the rest of the class. I would also be unable to be an involved classroom mom due to my homeschooling duties for my other three. Yes, sometimes I want to escape, but there has to be a healthier way to do it. So as of now, we are pursuing a grant called the PLSA that would provide us with funds to pursue top-notch private therapy for her. The value of a caring, trained professional to come alongside us and "co-teach" her with us is huge. So we are praying that we receive this grant and are able to hire a new helper for her and us!

Without further ado, here are some of our 18-month post adoption report photos. Celebrate with us, as I know you will do when you see these photos, and please continue to pray with us for continued healing and wisdom!

 

Like I said, the family pics are the most haphazard. One day we might try  to get some professional ones taken. (No offense Sarah; you did a great job with what you had!)

(Ahem, I did not dress Eden this day. She picked every part of that outfit on her own.)

I forgot to include this one in the report to Bulgaria, but it's one of my absolute favorites of Kami! It was her first time at the beach. The image brings me back to the same verse that I've written here so many times, one of the many verses she knows by heart; the verse that characterizes this entire plan God has to save her and to save all of us who will believe -

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.
2 Corinthians 5:17