December was FULL of celebrations.
We celebrated Elizabeth's 14th birthday with pizza, games, cake and ice cream.
(Me, Elizabeth, and Dori Luz posing at pizza)
We celebrated Carolina's move into her own apartment and her steps towards independence.
(Putting the first food item into her cabinets!)
We celebrated visits with friends we hadn't seen in months (the Zarzuelas)...
(Joanni and Luz Maria leading us in song)
(Nena giving me a fancy hair-do)
and visits with friends we hadn't seen in years (the Batistas).
(Nicol and Coral)
(Edison and Bryson)
(Bryson, Mineli, Nicol, and Me)
We celebrated new shoes for Christopher and Marcos (thanks Roberta!)...
and King's Day with special presents for the kids from one of the town's dentists.
(Lisy-Lou looking fancy :o) )
When I started writing this post, I thought it was just going to be a quick little picture update to help get me caught up for the chunk of time that's passed since I last blogged. I became unexpectedly emotional, though, as I scrolled through the pics once they were uploaded. You know how things just, sometimes, HIT you?
All of a sudden, I was smacked in the heart with the reality of my life with these people over the past 4+ years. During that time, I've watched as their snaggle-tooth grins morphed into their permanent smiles, seen clothing that swallowed them whole turn into high-waters and 3/4-length sleeves, heard their voices awkwardly crack and then become very manly, examined report cards, had countless tickle fights, and been their worst enemy one day then their best friend the next.
These are my people.
They are the ones who stop in front of the house on their way home just to say 'hey,' the ones who get mad at me when I don't call and check on them regularly, the ones who make fun of my Spanish pronunciation errors, and the ones who give me hugs so stinkin' hard that they take my breath away. They are the ones for whom we get to provide opportunities, dream BIG dreams, and pray they grow into men and women who love the Lord with their whole hearts.
The ones pictured above only represent a handful of the kiddos/young adults/adults who are 'ours'. Loving them well isn't always easy. Many of them no longer even live in the same town as us, so distance alone makes things difficult. It can be tricky to know what's best for them, what's within our realm of possibility, and how to empower instead of enable.
Honestly, I think I've been taking the blessing of living life here for granted. The Lord has placed His desires for these lovelies on my heart, but I've become so tangled up in the day-to-day that I seem to have forgotten. This 'one wild and precious life' I've been given is meant to be lived out with purpose, not to just mark off items on the daily checklist.
Hmmm...feeling a bit humbled...
All of a sudden, I was smacked in the heart with the reality of my life with these people over the past 4+ years. During that time, I've watched as their snaggle-tooth grins morphed into their permanent smiles, seen clothing that swallowed them whole turn into high-waters and 3/4-length sleeves, heard their voices awkwardly crack and then become very manly, examined report cards, had countless tickle fights, and been their worst enemy one day then their best friend the next.
These are my people.
They are the ones who stop in front of the house on their way home just to say 'hey,' the ones who get mad at me when I don't call and check on them regularly, the ones who make fun of my Spanish pronunciation errors, and the ones who give me hugs so stinkin' hard that they take my breath away. They are the ones for whom we get to provide opportunities, dream BIG dreams, and pray they grow into men and women who love the Lord with their whole hearts.
The ones pictured above only represent a handful of the kiddos/young adults/adults who are 'ours'. Loving them well isn't always easy. Many of them no longer even live in the same town as us, so distance alone makes things difficult. It can be tricky to know what's best for them, what's within our realm of possibility, and how to empower instead of enable.
Honestly, I think I've been taking the blessing of living life here for granted. The Lord has placed His desires for these lovelies on my heart, but I've become so tangled up in the day-to-day that I seem to have forgotten. This 'one wild and precious life' I've been given is meant to be lived out with purpose, not to just mark off items on the daily checklist.
Hmmm...feeling a bit humbled...
