a year of moments

This past year was filled with a LOT of amazing moments.  I thought it'd be cool, as have a lot of my bloggy friends, to post a "year in review" blog of sorts.

In January 2011, we had just recovered from a hectic Christmas season at church, RIGHT after returning from our first every trip to Africa.  We met Temesgen and cherish those first few moments soaking him in, because we had to leave him and it was excruciating.  I did have a really fun baby shower though...

On February 21, 2011 we PASSED COURT.  After 3 reschedules, we finally had all the papers, all the stamps, all the EVERYTHING needed to pass court in Ethiopia for our son.  What a day.  I also had the amazing opportunity to launch an orphan care/adoption ministry with my "girls" at church, and it has been absolutely beautiful to see what God is making of it.

In March we got the report from our Global Iniative at church.  Our body had raised $53,000 for 3 projects related to the plight of the orphan.  We were stunned, and completely blessed.

On April 6, we celebrated Tate's 1st birthday without him.  We had still not gotten a date for our Embassy appointment and were pretty disheartened.

In May we got our embassy clearance within a week of our appointment!  We packed in a flash and flew again to one of THE most beautiful countries in the world.  Tate Temesgen Leverence came HOME on May 20, 2011.  Praise God.  Dan turned 36 the very next day.  What a birthday gift!

June was a worldwind of 1st visits from almost our entire family.  What a blessing to have so many people waiting to love our son.  They came in turn and the time was very special and memorable.

July was a myriad of trips to the park, the beach, the front porch water tub, you name it.  So many outings to keep this little ball of energy busy.  Mom and Dad were tired all of the time, but so incredibly happy!

In August, Dan and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary, and the very 1st one with a child!  So sweet and so different.  I also signed up for a community choir experience that was a ton of fun and a great way to get out of the little "bubble" I've created for myself.

September brought on the joys of fall, and we baked 5 apple pies to freeze.  First attempt at something like that, and I remember thinking it was a very fun and romantic "at home" date with my hubby.  I think we still have one of the pies left.  MMMM....

In October we celebrated our first Halloween with Tate.  He was a skunk.  We called him our little "stinker."

November brought our annual trip to Michigan to visit family for Thanksgiving.  We always celebrate Christmas as well, and received many beautiful gifts for Tate.  He also took an unexpected ride down the stairs at Grandpa and Grandma Leverence's home and scared us to death.  No worse for the wear except a little crease in his forehead that the doctor tells us is a sub-dermal hematoma.  It may not ever completely go away.  I hope it does for his sake!

December 2011 was joyful.  We had a beautiful Concert for Christmas where Dan shared his heart for orphans during the CD release section of the concert.  My birthday came and went yet again, and I too completed 36 years on this planet.  Christmas was incredible.  We got up on Christmas Eve morning to eat our traditional breakfast, "pear breakfast bake" and then opened gifts.  We decided to it on Saturday as Christmas Day fell on Sunday and Dan was busy at church that morning.

Here we are in Janaury 2012.  What will this year bring us?  We don't really know, and frankly I'm glad.  I am often prone to worry and fear, so it's a blessing not to know.  I pray that it's a year that draws me closer to Jesus, my son, and my amazing husband.  There is a lot to learn and much to enjoy.  Happy New Year friends! :)  I'll leave you with this...

the jolly old elf himself

Tate looks like he's not so sure about Santa, but he had already smiled really big and 

tugged his whiskers.   Surprisingly good looking Santa for the local Culvers Restaurant.

merry christmas

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a boy on his belly

I have a vivid memory of a beautiful boy playing on his belly as I tenuously walked down a set of stairs in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia a year ago today.  He had a full head of curly dark hair, and as he picked it up to look at the "odd" couple coming his way he reared it back to let out a bellow.  He was afraid, and rightly so, he had never laid those incredibly bright eyes on us, and who were we anyway to be picking him up?  Perhaps these were his first impressions of us, but ours were very different.

For me, it felt like what I suppose was the feeling every mother has when the doctor places a wriggling new baby in their arms.  Albeit mine was a mite heavier than most newborns, I felt the same feeling of exhilaration and trepidation.  Would this little person ever feel comfortable with my arms, my smell, my kisses on his sweet little cheek?  These were the questions I asked myself those first few moments together, while our social worker snapped the picture below.

Most moms begin feeding their children next, we did too, but our first feeding was a silver cup of fruit juice.  This little wonder proceeded to spit it all back out at us.  I think expecting him to manage the consumption of this juice on a day when for sure his little belly was unsettled from meeting us, was a bit much.

Most moms spend a day or two in the hospital and then strap their perfect little babies into a great big car seat for the ride home.  My reality was handing him back to his nanny for another five months without him.  We did not know this at the time or perhaps it would have even been harder to walk away than it was.  It was if I was leaving him at the hospital with no hopes of holding or seeing him again for a very long time.

December 17, 2010 was a day I will never forget.  A stack of papers, visits to the police, doctors, finger printing offices, became a boy on his belly.  Temesgen.  The day I first laid eyes on my son.  The son I share with a very special family who still resides in Ethiopia.  We pray for them everyday, that they would somehow know that Temesgen is growing, learning, loving and being loved.  That boy on his belly is thriving.

incarnation

An excerpt from a study I'm doing right now was so fitting for the season I had to share it.  In fact it was so good, and I found it so encouraging that I wished I had written it!

"The Incarnation is a parable.  The eternal Word took on flesh so that He could be the Word, act the Word, among His people.  When I say the Incarnation is a parable, I don't mean that it is not historically and literally true.  I mean that our Great Rabbi, our Eternal Father, condescended to our finite world and fit His infinite story of love and redemption into a narrative so that we could grasp at least the edges of His ways. "Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, And how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?" (Job 26:14 NKJV)  


Every step that Jesus took on Planet Earth, the spiritual realm was shouting: "This is what God is like!" As He healed and taught and touched and laughed and loved, "This is what God is like!"  As He hung broken on the cross, "This is what God is like!" When He rose from the grave and triumphed over death, "This is what God is like!"  "The son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being." (Hebrews 1:3)


Wow.  After approximately 30 years of being a believer, I forget what God is like.  I often perceive Him as unknowable.  Only the judge.  He is not!  He is real, kind, touchable, quick-witted, merciful, miracle-working, and all of the other things that Jesus was and still is.  And these are only the EDGES of His ways.  What a good, good, God He is.

Be encouraged tonight. God knows you and loves you even if you choose not to experience it.  His Kingdom is infinite, it always was and always will be and everyone is welcome.