17 years

This weekend John and I celebrate our 17th anniversary. That in it’s self is amazing. I feel so blessed to have had 17 wonderful years with my friend and beloved, John. God has blessed us in so many ways. First and foremost is our relationship. We really enjoy each other, laugh together and challenge each other. He believes in me, encourages me and has helped me to grow professionally, personally, emotionally and spiritually.

Usually we go on a weekend getaway to celebrate, leaving the kiddos home with a friend. Because Daniel is so new to our family, we decided we simply could not leave him behind so this year our anniversary trip is a family getaway. We are staying at a cottage owned by one of our Gateway Church members. She generously offers for Gateway staff members to use her cottage for a significantly reduced price. It’s a beautiful two bedroom house near Holly Lake in East Texas. As I prepared to come, I was praying for our trip I began to pray for Daniel especially. He could very easily be undone by the weekend trip. We want this weekend to be relaxing and fun for everyone, not stressful in any way. I’ve been praying that Daniel would not be worried about where we are going, or if we are going home again. That he would be secure enough in his place in our family that everything would go smoothly. Well, we arrived Friday night and the kiddos went right to sleep. There were no objections from Daniel, nor did he need us to stay with him as he slept (as I expected he might). So far so good. Well the next morning when it was time to get dressed I pulled out clothes for each of the kids. Daniel immediately started shouting “NO” and rattling off in Mandarin, clearly very upset. He grabbed his clothes and ran to his room crying. Not understanding at all I followed him to try to discover what was going on and comfort him, resolve the problem. He had his pants on the bed and he was punching them saying “no” over and over and crying. Then it clicked in my head. I had chosen the jeans he wore the day we met him. His “orphanage” pants. Those pants, coupled with being in a new place triggered some strong emotions in Daniel. I don’t know exactly what he was feeling, but it was clearly very upsetting. Of course, I hugged and kissed him, told him I love him and that he is part of our family forever, things I say to him daily, sometimes hourly. I gave him the other pair of pants I had packed and put the “orphanage” pants away. God forgive me for not foreseeing that response. I knew things might be hard for him, why in the world would I choose those pants? Oh God, please continue to heal his little heart and be the grace that makes up for the humanity of his parents.

Saturday we went for a long walk in the woods. I really enjoy watching the kids with John. He was teaching them what a Maple leaf or Oak leaf looks like. What side of the tree the moss grows on and how to find your way out of the forest if you get lost. He showed them what seeds from different trees looked like, and each collected a couple dozen pine cones, leaves and other misc. things. He is such a good dad. He even found a great climbing tree and encouraged the kids to take a try. I of course had to climb up first, in the name of showing them how. I LOVE climbing trees, there’s something about being able to see the world from high up in a tree. Anyway, they both nervously gave it a try.

I pulled my camera out of my purse and the battery is dead. Somehow it turned on in my purse. Grrrrrr. I guess no pictures of this trip for my scrapbook; very disappointing for an avid scrapbooker. I’ll have to find another way to document our vacation. Perhaps I’ll pick up a disposable camera from the local (12 miles away) Brookshire’s.

Recently Daniel has started “baby talking”. He uses Mandarin, mixed with sounds that are not English or Mandarin. They sound like baby talk to me. It’s like he is trying to mimic English and its basic sounds, just like a baby does when he starts talking. Ba, Ma and Da but also more complex sounds, just not words. I guess his brain is working on English, just not in a way we can understand yet. It’s really funny to hear, but we are trying not to chuckle. I think he thinks he’s speaking English. He’s such a talker, a mile a minute most days, I’m guessing really hard on him not to be able to communicate.

Today we head back to the real world, although I’m going to delay as long as possible. I like forgetting about all the laundry, school projects and work that face us at home. This retreat has been a blessing, allowing us to make some great family memories together. I better go make breakfast for the family before we start packing up to go. Thanks for “listening”.