Beautiful Gifts
The most beautiful necklace a mother can wear is not gold or gem, but her child’s arms around her neck. – Unknown
And one of the greatest works of art she can receive is the work of a little screever that reads “I love Mom”
Children
Reach for the Stars
We sit in the mud… and reach for the stars. – Ivan Turgenev
In the hands of a child, ordinary dirt and water become a fantastical bakery for royalty, or for fairies, or to feed the poor and hungry. Or all of those all at once. Would that we adults could remember. And dream dreams, imagine worlds, that are improbable but not impossible. Oh, the wonders we could work.
One Year Ago
One year ago today, we met Olivia and Nicholas for the first time. The drive to the orphanage seemed to take forever from our hotel in Silistra. I remember rounding the corner in the village of Malak Preslavets and waiting there on the road for a flock of sheep to cross. It was a beautiful memory and helped to break the tension of anticipation. A few moments later, we pulled up outside the door of the orphanage and out they ran. They had been waiting for us. Waiting for their new parents.
We spent the afternoon walking in a park along the Danube and taking lunch at a pretty café in the town where they were born. Across the river, Romania.
We walked the social worker back to her office. As we said goodbye, she took my face in both her hands, and smiling warmly, looked straight into my eyes and said, “Blagodarya “, “Thank you”. She wasn’t thanking me for lunch. She knew all too well how desperate the situation is for older kids… MUCH older kids.
Sometimes it seems a lifetime ago, sometimes it feels like yesterday.
God willing, we will return to Bulgaria within a few months to meet two new daughters – two girls for whom the future is grim without us to rescue them. If you feel moved to help bring them home, we would be so blessed. Follow this link to read more, to share, or to make a gift. We treasure your prayers!
Born Naturalist
Every child is born a naturalist. His eyes are, by nature, open to the glories of the stars, the beauty of the flowers, and the mystery of life. – Anonymous
Happy. Holy. Home.
“Like happiness, holiness is always tied to little gestures. These little gestures are those we learn at home, in the family; they get lost amid all the other things we do, yet they do make each day different. They are the quiet things done by mothers and grandmothers, by fathers and grandfathers, by children, by siblings. They are little signs of tenderness, affection and compassion. Like the warm supper we look forward to at night, the early lunch awaiting someone who gets up early to go to work. Homely gestures. Like a blessing before we go to bed, or a hug after we return from a hard day’s work. “ – Pope Francis
