Week 3 Hosting Photos

Things have been too emotional for me to write much lately, but I will share some recent photos from our hosting experience...

Making waffles...

Atlanta Braves game...

And this little guy lives in an orphanage in Ukraine and is being hosted by friends of ours.  Before coming to America, he had only read about baseball and had dreams of one day learning more about it. So, it was special to watch him at his first major league game.  If your family is interested in adding a sporty guy to your family, please leave me a message on this blog.  We are looking for a forever family for him.  We have more information and photos available.

The Past Few Days...

Sandija always watches me decorate the serving plate with fruit, so she tried her hand at it and did a really great job!  She even sprinkled cinnamon on all the apples like Mama does.  :)

First trip to the ice cream parlor in town!  Grandparents sent money for an ice cream treat, so we splurged with chocolate-dipped waffle cones and everything!

She wanted Mama to sit next to her.

Then she offered me a bite of her ice cream and about jabbed it through the roof of my mouth.  This photo caught it at the moment of impact.  We all laughed!

I have always tried to do little special things for my children to let them know that I love them.  One of their favorite things is for me to bring them some tea or lemonade during their bath time.  My oldest daughter wanted to bless Sandija with a treat, so she asked me if I'd make some hot tea (which Sandija loves), while my daughter got a warm bubble bath ready for her.  She sprinkled some cute cute cute little "bath confetti" into the bath water, and I put the hot tea, a small treat and a note next to the tub.

Click to enlarge to see the bath confetti.  :)

We called Sandija and told her we had a surprise for her, and she was really amazed and so happy.  She look a long bubble bath!

And here is a bit of sweetness...2 treasures from 2 different continents hugging on each other in America.  Only God could do this!  My cup overflows...

Really...does it possibly get any sweeter than this??

We have had a somewhat rough and rocky hosting experience, but God has been faithful to carry us.  And we have begun to understand some of the "why" behind the difficult behaviors.  That's another story for another day.  In the meantime, I thought you'd enjoy these photos from the past few days.

Ups and Downs

UP: Sandija went to the dentist, and she did well.  

DOWN: She has a cavity and said she will not go back to the dentist to have it filled.  (Mama has a differing opinion on this one!)  :)

UP: She likes our dogs, especially our 1-year-old lab Macy.  She has learned to be more gentle with the animals.

UP: She made Latvian pancakes for us a few days ago.

UP: She said her dream was to go on a roller coaster (which translates literally into "American Slide").  Here she is right before her first thrill ride (the one in the back with the purple shirt).

DOWN: She continues to need to learn things the hard way.  Before going on this roller coaster, Daddy Bear told her to put her sunglasses on her face to keep them secure.  She insisted, instead, to hook them onto her shirt.  If you click on this photo to enlarge it, you can see her sunglasses flying off.  Yep, they broke into 1 million pieces on the ground!

UP: She liked this water ride best of all.

DOWN: Well, most of the "downs" are a bit too personal to get into on this blog right now.  But let's just say that those roller coasters at Six Flags are pretty much a picture of our lives right now.  Some days are up, some down...some are full of loops and twists and turns that we didn't see coming.

I pray...I really pray...that I can be Jesus to her, even when it's a down day and I'm feeling winded.

A Day Worth Remembering

First things first...  Yesterday Sandija asked to watch the Jesus movie (in Latvian) again (her third time to see it in the past week).  At the end, they give the prayer of salvation, and yesterday we noticed that she was praying it out loud.  I stopped what I was doing because the magnitude of this spontaneous moment hit me.  She prayed the salvation prayer in her heart language, and when she was finished, she clapped!  We told her how happy we were, although it wasn't possible to communicate to her how truly eternity-altering that moment was in her life.  For some things, all we can do is lift up praise and thanks to our God who is more mighty than we could ever imagine!

And here are photos from Sandija's first experience at a Japanese hibachi grill.  She was absolutely thrilled with the experience (although the fire on the grill scared her a bit).  When we got into the van to drive home, she asked us to stay in the parking lot for a few minutes so that she could get out her journal and write the name of the restaurant on her journal page.  On the drive back home, she wrote about her hibachi experience, and she drew a picture of chopsticks.  I think all of us will remember this day always.  

The Best Way to End the Day

During our music time before going to bed tonight, I was rocking in the chair with Sandija, and my oldest daughter grabbed my camera and got this (unposed!) photo of us together.  I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!  Really, I cannot think of many ways to end the day that are much better that this right there.

Natural Meets Supernatural

Here's where natural meets supernatural.  Aren't our lives like this?  We spin on a natural plane, doing every day life stuff.  And there, beyond the edge of all we see, is God's supernatural presence hemming it all in.  It's a rhythm of natural and supernatural...the seen and the unseen.

Our days are filled with a "new normal" routine, with many little activities.  Yesterday, Sandija hung up some index cards of English words on objects around the house.  This is the everyday natural stuff of our lives nowadays.

And in the midst of our regular activities, if we are quiet inside ourselves, we can sometimes hear a little prompting.  The supernatural presence of God breathes somehow into our otherwise typical day.  We are His Hands are His Feet, and I believe He wants to reach out and love others through us.  Yesterday, after I put fresh sheets on Sandija's bed, I felt a prompting to leave a little note for her to discover.  It hadn't been an easy day, and I was thoroughly exhausted.  So the note wasn't my human idea.  It was simply where the natural and the supernatural collide...where He uses a broken and imperfect vessel to pour out His love.

We can never fully understand how He moves and works.  It's beyond amazing to me.  He's God of the  Universe.  That's easy to say, but have you ever watched someone encounter Jesus in a different language than the one you speak?  You see...I can explain Jesus to my children.  I can explain all I know to them and lead them to Him.  But, with Sandija, I am incapable of doing this in the same way I do with my children.  The language barrier keeps me from fully being able to explain in words.  We had purchased the Jesus Film in Latvian for her.  So, yesterday we popped it in the computer to let her watch it.  And there God was presenting His salvation message to her in her heart language, without me sticking my hands in.  Yes, He's God of the universe, God of people of every language.  And the Holy Spirit can work in hearts of all languages and cultures.  This is where the supernatural is so obvious...those precious Latvian words filling up our home, teaching a teenager His truths, moving and working in ways I could never manage to do...ways that I cannot see with my eyes or hear with my ears.  It's like wind through the trees.  It's where the supernatural weaves its way through the natural, and we get to have a front row seat to watch Him work.

The days have not been without trial.  And tears.  But every day I have seen the evidence that God is working in this.  I may not understand it, and at times I'm too exhausted to recognize it.  But it's always there...an every-present blending and weaving together of His Hands into our days.

And He blesses and cares for us in so many details!  Yesterday we received a gift card from new friends at our church who wanted to help us with expenses while Sandija is staying with us.  This morning another good friend (who is becoming a foster parent) shared a devotional message with me that met me exactly where I needed to be met today.  Tonight yet another precious friend brought over dinner for us so that I didn't have to cook.  He says He knows our needs before we even ask.  I needed it, and He provided.

So, we march forward, one day at a time into His Will for our lives...watching Him meet our natural moments with His supernatural presence and love.

Sandija's First 4th of July!

We began our day picking blueberries are our neighbors' blueberry farm.  Sandija was very focused and content buzzing around from bush to bush and filling up her bucket.  She told us that blueberry bushes in Latvia are smaller than in the U.S.

She picked almost a gallon all by herself!

Our sweet neighbors let the girls choose a handmade scarf to take home.

When we first got to the parade, she said, "No like.  Go home, Mama" because there were just a lot of people.  But as soon as the parade began, she fell very quickly into a happy excitement.  In this picture, you can see the word, "Mama" forming on her lips.  She pointed out every exciting thing she saw!

Some of our friends had some puppies at the parade, and Sandija fell in love!

And here's the whole crew just after the parade (the bags are full of parade candy that they caught).

Daddy Bear took 4 out of 5 of the children to see the fireworks with friends, while I stayed at a friend's home across the street with our youngest child who has sensory issues and would rather not deal with the noise.

Look at this girl's face during the fireworks!!  She had the BEST time.  She said that in Latvia the fireworks are not good but in America, they are very good!  When she came back, she ran to me, screaming about how beautiful the fireworks were.  And "I missed you, Mom!"  

Ice cream!

 Sparklers!