Monday, June 8, 2009

Great Visit!

Sounds like Paul had a fantastic visit at GLA. He said the visit with Aidan couldn't have gone any better, and that it was just great!! It was Sunday afternoon and Aidan had just woke up from his nap. He came right to Paul and sat by him!!! Totally unexpected--yea!!!! I was so worried that Aidan would be a little shy of some white men coming to visit. It's not as common to see men at GLA. They were able to spend 3 hours there, and Paul said it went by super fast.
I'm sure Paul will tell me more once he is home, but couldn't resist doing a quick update. I'm so happy that it went well. Here's the scoop on our timeline!! We are in MOI---which is taking 2-3 months, and then we do go into Passport---which is taking about 2 weeks. So that is where we are standing for timing.
That was soooo nice that Paul was able to visit him briefly with us getting closer to the end. Hopefully Aidan will remember just a little bit more of us by the time we pick him up.
Hope to have some pictures or stories soon when I see Paul.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

School's out!!

Wow!! I am amazed at how time flies!! If anything, you usually hear me grip about how long our process is taking, but I thought I'd just post how fast time really is flying. You know I was thinking that I'd use this school year "to really get a lot done" because I'd have 2 half days of no kids. Well, WRONG!!! I didn't get anything accomplished that I wanted to. Those couple hours were snatched up by other commitments. Even the thought of dropping the kids off and going back to back or sitting with a book didn't happen AT ALL!! And now i"m kicking myself and thinking, 'what was I doing?' I should have taken advantage of it more :)
So now that summer officially started with school ending yesterday, I think I need to take a deep breath in, because before I know it the end of July will be here......yikes!!!! So the idea that Aidan isn't coming for a LONG time........well I'm hoping it will be here before we know it. The summer isn't starting out how I envisioned it ( with Aidan) but I've come to terms and I think we're really going to have a great summer. I'm really looking forward to having fun with the kids.

Oh......I mentioned before that Paul was in Haiti. Say an extra prayer for him this weekend as he hopefully will get to see Aidan!!!! whooaa--hooo!!! It ends up that one afternoon he will be a hop, skip and jump away from GLA, so he was going to try to arrange a short visit.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Various thoughts

Since Paul is in Haiti currently, it's been on my mind all week. I couldn't help and think about random thoughts about the country. I didn't even know where Haiti was located until Paul went with a church group in '07. I guess there have been times that I lived in my own little world, but I couldn't have imagined life any other way than in US. Paul came back and just kept talking about how hard life was. I think this picture captures alot........




Such worn, spread out, wide, hard feet........what a hard life.


It was also after that trip that words came out of Paul's mouth that went like......"I think we should have more kids...".....I remember thinking I was at a point that I was good with 2 kids and now how was I suppose to deal with that. He wasn't referring to a child from Haiti, he was just talking about shear numbers and having another child. Easier said than done.......but that began our quest for Brinks #3. But that's a whole different story......


So we'll continue with more random thoughts.....
Traveling is slightly different there than here. Who ever thought car seats were a good idea when you can stand up and ride? Or better yet, just sit on your luggage:)

It's hard not to think about how much effort it takes some people in Haiti to get a bowl of water, yet it's nothing for us to leave the water running while getting a glass out of the cupboard. And the amount of time spent walking....... and yet all we have to do is walk to the next room in our house to get our water.



There is no comparison for how we do laundry or dishes.....


















So when I think about Haiti I think how could there be so much poverty. How are people living this way........I think about a quote that has stuck with me........
God provides all this world needs, it's up to us to distribute it!!!
That's pretty powerful stuff, because it's so easy to get hooked on other scenerios going on in this life, such as.......



















































Now with Aidan on the way, I have even more thoughts about Haiti. I think about the mom's in Haiti. I think all mom's have the same desire........to provide the best for their kids. My heart goes out to mom's that have to hear their babies hungry cries. I think about all the kids who aren't getting to experience simple things.... like an ice-cream cone, or one new shirt......I wish it could be balanced better. Why are the 'scales' so unequal. Why is it that I have such abundance and so much to choose form?.. and it's only because I was born in a different area. Why did I deserve so much? And why did God choose me to live here?........I am TRULY BLESSED by God!!