Wednesday, November 17, 2010

New Friendships

Tonight we had such a fun experience. Our church (First Baptist Irving) supports a ministry called "His Voice" that reaches out to spread the Gospel to the Sudanese. We got to learn about what is going on over there right now, the work they are doing in villages and the mission work all over Southern Sudan. We were excited to meet Vernon and Amber Burger, the couple that runs His Voice. They have such a heart for the Sudan and ministering to the people there. The best part was getting to meet and speak with Victor, a guy that grew up in Southern Sudan and is living here while he attends college. He works with His Voice, and of course still gets to go back to Sudan to visit his family. After Wednesday night prayer service was over, we got to talk with Victor about tons of stuff. Kiir and Victor spoke in different languages, talked about life over there and we learned so much in just the few minutes Kelly and I were able to listen in. We will definitely be hanging out with Victor again so we can learn more...and Kiir and Victor can hang out. I think he enjoyed talking with someone he could relate to! Also, Victor said he'd teach me how to cook some Sudanese food so I'm stoked about that!

On another note, this weekend we get to travel to Brownwood for my grandmother's 75th birthday celebration! We are excited to introduce Kiir to more family members and show him where I grew up and spent my childhood holidays. It was be a special time and also will be our first family road trip! Fun times ahead...

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Our "Teen" Shower

A few weeks ago, teachers on my 3rd grade team approached me about hosting a shower to celebrate the new addition to our family in some form or fashion. They came up with a "teen" shower concept and I thought it was so cute! They were very secretive about everything, until they needed to know if Kiir was going to be able to come. It was then that I found out that a mom of one of my students is from Ethiopia and wanted to bring Ethiopian food for us to all enjoy at the shower! Imagine my surprise and excitement! So I asked Kiir if he wanted to come and when he found out that Ethiopian food was going to be served he said YES!

So today was the party day and when I walked in, they had books from all over Africa on every table as decor, along with a huge sheet cake with an Ethiopian flag on it. They also had the best sweet tea in the world: Chick-fil-A! Then my student's mom walked in with the Ethiopian food and boy did it smell and taste so good! Kiir walked over after school (as is his daily ritual) a little later and when he saw the flag, he thought it was the coolest thing ever! He didn't know you could do that to cakes. Then he smelled the Ethiopian food and was so excited to make a plate for himself.

It was such a blessing to have the opportunity to tell everyone about Kiir and how we came to adopt him. God constantly provides such amazing opportunities to bring glory to Him and I thank Him daily for the testimony He has trusted me with! As pictures floated around, I was able to be the proud mom and gloat over my baby (yes, he is still my baby even if he is 17)! :) My mom was also able to come and be a part of this celebration! I'm so glad she could be the Nana and enjoy being a grandparent. The wonderful individuals that I have the pleasure of working with also happen to be great friends! I am so blessed by their love and support and cannot imagine working with anyone else. They are an amazing group of caring and kind people! I am extremely blessed in so many ways!

"Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to Your name be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness." Psalm 115: 1

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Our Fishing Adventure and more...

This past weekend Kiir got to meet his Nana & Papa (my parents), Meme & Pepaw (my grandparents), and Uncle Shane (my brother). We got invited to go out to my mom's coworker's family ranch outside of Wills Point. When we got there, Kiir was the first one that got his pole baited up. After less than 10 minutes (while others were still getting their poles ready), Kiir had a bite on his line and it was a strong one! He reeled it in and he had an 18" catfish hooked! Luckily, I had my camera handy and took several pictures between him catching it, reeling it in and holding it up. The one with him holding the fish, while showing his pearly whites, will definitely be framed and displayed! Over the next 3 hours, we caught 10 fish combined; but since we did not come very prepared we ended up releasing them back into the pond. Afterward, we headed back to Nana & Papa's house to eat the steaks that Papa grilled and celebrate Uncle Shane's birthday. When Kiir and I went shopping Shane's birthday a few days earlier, Kiir insisted on getting him a gift only from Kiir and another gift from Kelly and I. He was so excited for Shane to open the gift he picked out at the end of the night. I just adore his sweet heart! As we left, Kiir wanted to know when we were going to go fishing again and this time with a cooler and fillet knife! :)

On Sunday, we went up to our church for "Fall-A-Palooza". At first, Kiir did not want to dress up because "that's for kids and he's a man". But when he saw Kelly and I both dressed up, he decided that he could at least go put on the soccer jersey we got him with his cleats and soccer gear. We all had a lot of fun, but Kiir had a blast taking pictures with everyone that he ran into! I think we got 1 picture of us as a family verses the 50 of him with other people...lol. I wish I could post the pictures so you could smile like I do when I see them, but that will have to wait until December when CPS no longer has their rules about all of that.

Today we finished looking over the paperwork for the attorney finalizing our adoption in court. The week before Christmas, we will finally be his legal parents! Although if you ask him, he wondered why the courts still have to be involved since he's our son now...:) Comments like that just make my heart swell with love!

Tomorrow my fellow coworkers are throwing us a "Teen Shower". The story behind all of this is so sweet that I'm going to wait and blog about it separately. Stay tuned for more after tomorrow!