In lieu of instaGRATITUDE this week, let’s take a look back. The task of summing up the past year in one blog post may be well near impossible, but for my own sake I think it’s worth a try. There is much to be grateful for. God has done more this year than I could ever have imagined. He has done more than I’ll ever know and more than I’ll ever be able to share on this blog. When I turn around and look back on 2011, I am overwhelmed by the stories, the friendships, and the families that have been built. So, in an attempt to summarize this year, I’m just going to hit the highlights. To do the joy of 2011 justice, however, I’ll have to start in August, 2010:
August 12, 2010: the night of wine and tuna
Arriving in Uganda, Rachel and I found ourselves dropped off in a mostly-empty house late at night. With no electricity, we couldn’t find any of our stuff. I think we cried a little, picked ourselves up off the floor, scrounged together the few things we in our backpacks, and drained my computer battery watching The Proposal. We were scared and tired that night, but it stands out as a highlight because it was the night we learned to laugh at Africa, something that later became one of our most effective survival tactics.
August 18, 2010: the first two
This was the day we met the first two reasons for our time in Uganda. I remember the moment I saw Ellie for the first time and scooped her up in my arms. She was so engaging. Something in us connected, although at that time I could never have guessed I would get to be her mom for almost a year.
On September 2nd, we found the twins in the worst condition we had seem them so far. It was obvious that they needed to be admitted to an intensive care unit, of which there was none for hours. We asked permission to take them home until they recovered and their mother was well enough to care for them. They improved, but their sweet mama died on October 4th and we discovered that we were the only people willing to continue their care. They became officially “ours” on October 17th and grew quickly over the next few months. We named them Eli & Ellie.
(September-February)
October, 2010:
Just days after Eli & Ellie’s Ugandan mama died, we met their forever mama, Mandy. At the time we didn’t know she was their mom, but how sweet of Jesus to give her a whole week with her babies – not knowing it would be almost a year before she got to hold them again.
February 17, 2011: welcome Christina and Mikisa Mae
These two joined our household in February, although it was a few more weeks before they moved in for good. Mikisa Mae brought a level of joy to our house that we could never have imagined.
We almost lost her several times as she fought malaria and severe malnutrition, but a mother’s love and a sense of family quickly converted her from baby into the feisty 6 year old she is today.
(and in case you hadn’t heard, she got a daddy in October!)
Christina wrote a review of 2011 here.
March 21, 2011: and then there were…
Just days after Rachel and I were saying how nice it was to have two babies and two adults, my phone rang. A tiny little girl had lost her mom and just 2 weeks old. She was sick and there was no one to care for her. I asked Rachel if we could take her. Fortunately, Rachel’s as bad at saying no as I am. Alinda Rose joined the family and after practically no time at all we couldn’t imagine life without her.
She met her forever mommy and daddy on Skype just a few days later.
April, 2011: and then we stopped counting…
I do believe we had recently had a “I’m sure glad we only have three babies because we couldn’t handle four!” conversation when my phone rang again. Another even tinier baby was in need of a home. Rachel was on the other phone and I quickly just mouthed, “They’re bringing another one.” She sighed and told her mom, “I need to go get ready for a new baby.” And just like that, Eden Hannah joined the family. That night was rough (and very night after that night was rough), but we would never have wished it any other way.
April, 2011: more joy
The little girl who had been on my heart since February finally came home to us. Lily brought a whole new beauty to our little family. She was the first child in our home who could walk and talk, something that was a huge blessing and sometimes a slight frustration. We learned how to adjust our lives for an older child and she, in turn, adjusted beautifully to life in a family. Lily and I walked into some hard places together. She taught me much about trust and forgiveness while I got to teach her about Jesus and grace and hot chocolate and tickles. On May 2, we told her that a family was coming for her…her family was coming. We watched as hope worked a transformation in this little girl.
Lily’s entrance into our family brought our numbers up quite high. Christina left for America to get her paperwork in order for Mikisa’s adoption, leaving us with SIX children for a while (five of whom couldn’t walk or talk!). Fortunately, our sweet friend Katie offered to take care of Eden until we got settled in our new home. Otherwise, this might just have pushed us over the edge:
May 2011: moms to the rescue
Just when we thought we might fall apart from exhaustion, our moms came to visit. What was meant to be a short stay turned out to be almost 3 weeks. They cooked and cleaned and took night shift with Ali Rose. They helped us move to our new home and gave us the mothering we so desperately needed, all while getting to meet the “grandchildren” they had been praying for over the past weeks and months.
May 8, 2011: the twins turned ONE!
Summer 2011: surviving well
That summer we settled in as a family of many. We swam in the inflatable pool in the living room, took long walks in the evenings, cooked new foods, and home-schooled. The littles seemed to grow up way too fast. Some of them learned to sit up and crawl and walk. We learned a lot from each other. We learned how to live in a mess and sometimes let laundry sit for days so that we had time to snuggle all of our littles. We learned how to be a family and how to have lots of fun with not very much at all. We learned how to just enjoy being. We sometimes got mad at each other and maybe Rachel and I drank way too much coffee and Coke to stay awake, but all in all, we had a lot of joy.
to be continued….
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Wow, Lily has such a look of peace in her eyes. So great to see her HOME and with her forever family. I definitely agree- it’s surreal to be here in the US with people we love who we first met in Uganda!