The night host parents dread

Tonight was the night that I believe every host family dreads. It was our last night at HOME. He does not leave tomorrow but we have to be at the airport early Thursday morning so that causes us to get a hotel room.  We had put packing off until the last possible minute causing a trip to the store this afternoon.

This evening we had a laid back evening. We spent some time playing with some radii control cars making ramps and jumping them at high speeds causing gasps and laughter all around. We then settled in with some leftover birthday cake and watched a family favorite American Ninja Warrior. He had asked if tonight was the last one and a pit formed in my stomach formed when one of the kids said no it will be over after you go back to Latvia. I just wish that once he said yes that he could stay forever bit I know that is not the case.

I will wrap this up with a bit if good new s that I found out yesterday.    As many of you know we were the chosen family to recieve the proceeds. We were informed that the chosen family for August was very close to meeting their need, so they gave up their spot and gave it to us, so once again we will receive the proceeds from Worthy of the Prize. To find out more click the banner on the right!

Choosing between two loved things

When he got here this summer we knew that one thing that he loved to do was swim.  We have a pool in the back yard and it has been used often this summer.  Sunday I took him golfing for the first time.  After we got away from him trying to swing it like a hockey stick (another of his favorite things to do) we were good.  He hit the ball for the first time and said " ah that was cool".

Last night we were looking at the calendar and telling him what was going to happen on each day.  We got to next tuesday and had a couple of choices.  We could go to the pool, the pool has a waterslide that he enjoyed as well as some diving boards that he loved jumping off, and the other option was to go golfing.  I asked if he wanted to go swimming and he said " ahhh yes".  Then I asked if he wanted to go golfing instead... and he said "ahhhh" and was torn between his old love of swimming and his new love of golfing.  It is a beautiful thing seeing him do things that he loves.  It is hard to believe that we are down to under a week left.  We have a few things planned including a special two on one, mommy and daddy date day.  We are making the most of the time that we have left with him.

With the new news that I blogged about last night we are back into full swing again.  If you shop on Amazon.com, would you please consider accessing the site through our link.  We are signed up as an Amazon Associate and 4%-7% of your purchase will go towards our adoption fund!

We are the chosen family for Worth of the Prize.  They have chosen us as the family that will receive the proceeds of the sale of their keychain wristlets.  We will receive approximately $5 of every wristlet.  They have also partnered with someone that sells necklaces that say "Chosen".  You can get to the Worthy of the Prize page by clicking the link or the picture on the right.

Looking Forward

Well if you have followed us through this journey you will know that I have not blogged about it like it did the over Christmas.  There are two reasons for that.  The first reason would be that time is precious and we have just been living life and enjoying each other.  The second reson is that it has been harder emotionally during this hosting than the last.  Many nights during this hosting I was not even sure there were any words tahat I could come up with. 

My last post I talked about looking back over the year and reflecting on what God has done through us the last 12 months.  It was at that point that I truly had no idea what God had in store for us as a family.  The only thing that I thought I knew was that it was going to be something big.  When people ask how I am doing I often say that I just wish God would give me a peek at the playbook that he has for my life.  Well this week he gave me a peek.

As we enter our last week of hosting, one of the things that we are asked to do is pick out a verse that the children can cling to and the create a video of the host children holding their "cardboard promise".  The verse we chose over Christmas was Jer 19:11o. Here is a link to it.
The verse as many of you probably already know says this:

 ¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

This week part of the plan has been revealed to us through him. i f you can not tell by the picture to the right, that is not my son Caden sporting the big brother tshirt!  He has said yes to joining our family!  We are now full steam ahead with the process trying to get to L@tvia  as quickly as possible.  We do not know an exact timeline at this point, but we should have one in the coming future.  For now we are trying to get all of our remaining paper work together and aproved, so that it can be sent over for translation!

 

Looking back

Since my last post (sorry it has been so long) we have had a lot of fun. We have finished building our chicken coop. We have had fun with friends. We have had a good time at Shedd aquarium in Chicago. We have ridden carnival rides, gone to movies and even been to a demolition derby(what boy does not like watching cars crash into each orher).

When I was in college I was privileged enogh to be a part of an absolutely amazing men's bible study. Every week between 16 and 20 guys or so would gather in a basement in St. Louis and pray for each other and dig into the scriptures to learn more about God's word.  We still get together every year to do the same thing, and every year before the weekend gets here we fill the other 15 guys in on what has happened in our lives in the past year. Well that time is coming up, so the other day I had to reflect back over the last 12 months and all I can say is wow.

Over the last twelve months I have seen God do many marvelous and amazing things. I would not have thought a year ago that I would have had our little man here over Christmas or that we would have to care for him through the chickenpox. I did not think a  year ago that I would be loving a boy that lives halfway around the world as much as I do. I did not think that we would be starting down the path of international adoption. Do you see what I am saying?  I had no idea what God had in-store for me in this past year and for the most part I do not know what he has in store for us in the year to come. All we can do is listen and obey to God's plan for us whatever that may be.

Sunshine and Roses

If you followed our blog over christmas and up until now, you may think that hosting is all sunshine and roses.  I am going to tell you that it is not always that way.  There are many many many good times however there are also difficult times as well.  These children that are being hosted are often times lost, broken, alone, and afraid to trust.  Over the last three days we have had a few of those difficult moments that have caused for a rough weekend emotionally for me.  There have been many ups and downs this weekend but I feel that we have ended the weekend on a good note.  I am very thankful for an amazing woman who has volunteered to help us with our communication.  She offered to translate for us over a phone call and we took her up on that offer this evening.  The body language as well as the emotions changed completely after he was able to talk with her, even though it may have been small talk and a few questions answered, I think that it was a step in the right direction.  I will end this evening with some encouragement that my sister in law gave us this afternoon, and I am paraphrasing because I don't remember exactly what she said but it was something like this:  Love the lost, love the broken, love the angry because God Loves us and we are that way, so through Him we can do the same.

A couple of firsts

Last night after I got off work we headed to join some friends and ride some carnival rides. As we drive past trying to find a parking spot I heard " wow cool" in a cute accent. We spent the evening running from ride to ride with smiles from ear.to ear, giggling and laughing all the way. After our fill of rides we went to hang out with our friends and let the kids hang out and play together. It was a great night with the kids falling asleep before we got home.

Whith the absolutely amazing weather this week we decided to camp out thus evening. We just camp out in our yard but we also watch a movie outside projected onto our barn. While Linda ran to the store to pick a few things up I was able to get the tents up and fire started in pretty quick time with some special help. It was a great bonding time and we had a lot of fun doing it. After dinner we made some smores as we watch finding nemo on our barn!  It has been a great couple of days!

3 Countries + 2 Families + Bowling = Good times, and Announcement!

As part of hosting there are requirements that have to be met.  One of those requirements is that if there is a Chaperone (which is required by law to come with the kids) is staying within an hour and a half of you, you are required to do some sore of entertainment with them.  She was only going to be in our area for a few days, so last night along with another family in the area that is hosting from the Ukraine we went bowling  We had a very good time, and had a lot of fun.  It was great to see that even though we all did not fully understand each other every time (it took me throwing a gutter ball while trying to understand a conversation I was having with the chaperone before if figured it out), we would still gather and enjoy each others company.  So as we were bowling last night, it was fun to see 2 L@tvian's, a Ukr@inian and a bunch of Americans able to get together for a good time!

While we were bowling I received an email letting us know that we had been chosen as the July family that is being supported by Worth of the Prize.  You can access their blog here!  They have two pretty cool ways to support us, with proceeds going to adoption fund please click over and check it out!