This is what 'Family' means...

We got a lot of flack for taking this photo at the tournament today, but what I want you to know is that on the ground is Ben.  And surrounding him are Faith, the first to her slightly older brother, and Tsion and Solomon who came from far sides of the field.  What you have to understand is that in soccer, at least here, the rules are that when a player is down, all the other players "take a knee" - so they kneel or sit down, not to move until the referees call a kind of "all clear".

Well, the four youngest kids are on the same team.  They were playing in a tournament and made it to the championship game!!!!  So, Tsion, Solomon, Ben and Faith were all on the field, playing (often one or the other is sitting out for a quarter - they try to rest the kids if they can).  Well, Ben went down.  Usually he just bounces right up!  He went down and did not get up.

I try very hard not to embarrass my kids by running out on the filed - but I was caught calling Ben "Benny-boo" which is my pet name for him that I generally just use in my head, certainly NOT in public - poor child!  I did not go out.

I stayed my ground but held my breath.

Faith was a forward with Ben and ran right to him as soon as she saw him down - alerted the referee so she called a stop in play.  Faithie knelt by him and was checking him over as the coaches ran over.

Well, someone said something to me - another mom who knows us and knows Ben - that we have never seen him NOT get up right away.   I looked to her, and when I turned around, what you see in the photos is what I saw.

All of Ben's siblings who are on the team gathered around him.

You have to understand that according to league rules they all should have been sitting on their butts wherever their positions were, which was all over the field.

Certainly, not anywhere near their down brother.

And yet, here were all our our "littles", taking care of their brother, who was hurt.

Enough to make a mom and dad cry.

Another mom saw Steve taking the pictures - he already was, but I told him also to make sure and capture that.

She was horrified that he was taking pictures of a kid down.

He WASN'T taking pictures of a kid down.  He was taking pictures of the love of siblings that has transcended birth origins, time, continents, and languages.  He was taking a picture of family love, no matter what.  He was taking a picture of siblings who may not look alike, who may not have always been siblings, but whom God has knit together.  Siblings who care more for each other than any rule in a stupid game.  Caring more for each other than any game.

Remember, Ben and Tsion came to America, to our family two weeks less than a year ago - to the day.  They came as kids who had only met each other a couple times before joining our family.   Faith is the child who suddenly had more siblings very close in age to her - a total of three more to be exact.  Our "littles" are all within six to eight months of age of each other, and spend about half the year with all four the same age.  These kids came from many life experiences, many things, many tragedies, and lots of things.  And now they are brothers and sisters.

And when the chips were down, that is what mattered - they are siblings and they love each other and look out for each other.

That photo is not a photo of a child hurt, it is a photo of  love, of family.  It is a photo of what is really important.

It is the photo and sight that made me cry on the field.  Less than a year ago, two of these kids weren't even here.  And look at them caring for each other, regardless of rules.

I will take it.  Any day, any time.

By the way, Ben was checked over on the field, helped up, and the coaches began to escort him off the field. 

Well, after walking a short way, he insisted on staying in.  Tough kid.

They lost the championship game by one point, but in my book, they won.  I certainly won.  Thanking God for our kids and God's hand in knitting our family together.

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Long days, long season

You ever have one of those seasons that you know must just be gotten through, but the getting through gets so tiresome? I think that sums up where we are right now. Good news and bad news. Can I start with the bad news?

Just crummy hours over booked, overworked and no way out. I think that covers it. I know, I know, I know why we are doing this, and it is working - we are watching the adoption fees owed go down day by day nearly. But did you ever reach a point where you just didn't think you could make your self do it one more time? Yeah, that is it. Maybe it is spiritual warfare, but I am the rat stuck in the wheel and very tired. Looking forward to seeing that ZERO balance due and then I am so much done!!!!

The good news, which is actually really, really good.

On a health front, we finally got in to a doctor who knew what was making our youngest repeatedly sick and the cure did not involve surgeries and likely not even medications!!! Praise God. We are working on that and seeing progress already!!! Whoo-hoo! Wish we had seen this same doctor six months ago (and several thousand dollars ago).

And older daughter who had broken the top of her tibia, in her knee, on Good Friday, is finally weight bearing and seeing progress now that she can do that!! Again, great news. We will be taking her to physical therapy for quite some time (add that to the intensity) as we have been, but it will get better!

The four kids who are playing soccer this year - the only one who didn't want to play broke her knee to make sure mom and dad didn't try to convince her! LOL! Not really, but is is a funny coincidence. Anyway, soccer practice starts this week, and of the four kids, we had three pairs of cleats that fit our rapidly growing crew!!! Whoo-hoo again!!! Only one pair to buy! Whoo-hoo! And the excitement of soccer is huge! This soccer mom sort of cringes as we have four kids on three teams, but it is also so much fun!!! Hooray for soccer season - now the kids can quit counting down and making me loony!

The silly chickens are very prolific as are our milking goats so that really adds to the family larder! The chickens are free range - their eggs are so much tastier and healthier - but the downside is that it is a daily egg hunt!!! And when the egg count dwindles, it means that they have found a new hiding spot!!! LOL! Five kids are really good, but those chickens are amazing!! The count has been down the last couple days (over ten a day, but down from the 15 to 20 we had been getting) so we knew that they had found another spot! The two eldest were dispatched to go hunt! Mighty hunters found 38 eggs in addition the the usual!! Whoo-hoo!!!!!! We left one small nest in a good spot so hopefully the hen will raise a batch of chicks for us! It is so cute to have the little peepers wandering around and then growing into good layers (or dinner) for us! The egg hunt will continue - it adds to the adventure! And having goat milk again is so nice! I forgot how much I missed fresh milk!

Our fundraisers for the adoption have been wonderful, doing well. I don't know what we will do next but we finished our donut sales and will be selling daylillies a friend cleared out of her garden! If you are in the area and want daylillies, they are huge and we have about 80 of them!!!! We don't have a set price, just are accepting donations - so you name what you can afford and I will get them to you!!! LOL! What a great gift! It has been encouraging in a tiring time to have some support - oh, and two families have asked us to help them find out about adoption and to get started!!!! I am so excited! We meet with one family next week and I can lay out all that we have done, the requirements and all! Our greatest hope, beyond getting all our kids under one roof, is that we can somehow help others to adopt or to consider adopting a child who needs a loving family. I am so excited that we can do this!!! So, we are on top of the world about that all!

We go to Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday for our fingerprinting appointments for Immigration approval. That is Zeri's birthday so we are taking a family outing and going to an Ethiopian restaurant there!!!! Yummy!!!! And, finally, our documents from the Secretary of State have come back authenticated!!!! Really, really fast!!! Last night I so happily assembled our dossier and contacted the courier company!!! I emailed them and gave my cell number, asking if anyone by chance was in to call me any time day or night on that phone. And about 11 this morning (Sunday) I got a call from them!!! They were able to explain what we needed to do, that it actually would cost less than we had thought, and that once we get it to them, it can be done and on its way to our adoption agency in 48 hours, so it should be there before the end of the week!!!! Whoo-hooo!!!! Praise God!!! This is all going so fast!!!! I am hopeful that the dossier can be in Ethiopia before the end of the month, and on its way being translated!!! We could be looking at a potential court date in June, maybe July (hopeful for June!!!). I am so excited!!! We got new photos on Monday and the three kids now know each other - we have several photos of the three together!!! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! So, that is my hysterical excited rant on this end. Now we just need to pray that God will help us get the funds in time!!! No hyperventilating allowed! I hate that part. I know we can get it done, it is going so much faster than we had ever even hoped!!! Maybe soon we will have our children home!!!! God is good!

So, life will continue its current craziness, but the end is in sight - though I don't know when yet.

Never thought I'd be trying to say this

Today was a landmark day, a day when I was ushered into a view of the world that I did not ever want to have. Today was the day my youngest son was called a "n****r" on the soccer field by some grandpa. What had he done to deserve that? I guess be born black, be good at soccer, and be running by the man as he was playing the game with his team. I was so upset that I could not leave the kids playing the game in the well capable hands of friends (who also have a child on the team) while I ran one of the older kids to his soccer practice. I just couldn't stand to not be there if something else happened. I just had to be there.

We were prepared for this by our adoption agencies, by tons of books that we have read, but when it actually happens, you just kick into stunned mode and then mama bear mode. The two are not a good combination. Do you want to go over and punch that guy? Do you just try to get a coherent thought in your frozen brain?

I am afraid that my response was basically stupid where I said "That is MY SON you are talking about!". Thankfully other spectators heard it, and jumped in in outrage. Shortly the man moved way, way, WAY away from the sidelines. Unfortunately, the man should have been ejected from the field, but the coaches and referees also seemed to have the same problem I did, and it passed. I go between being irate, and being just numb, and then enormously sad.

Thank the Lord, the child in question did not appear to hear the phrase. Or if he did, he hasn't said anything as of yet. I will be watching and listening carefully. I am not sure that he would even know the word, and may just assume it is an English word he didn't know. I don't know how we will address this in the future. At this point we are going to work on pat phrases that we can give to stupid or awful comments. We need to have something we don't have to think about in that awful moment.

Why is it that people feel the need to be racist? And to say it to a child? I just don't get it. Why would you call a nine year old boy that?

Okay, I am just a muddle of a ton of emotions and cannot seem to put them into words at all. Where in the world does this make sense. I have to say, I am really looking forward to hearing how the league is going to handle this. I am on the email link and phone link so expect to hear soon. My wonderful friend (who also has adopted children from Ethiopia, and was there at the game, and much more intimidating than I was) called the league president before I was even back from another child's soccer practice.

Where in the world does racism against children make sense? I hope not here.