I miss the smell of red dirt
I miss the steam when the rain wets the hot red dirt
I walk on red dirt to home to eat my lunch
I can smell the lunch - it's spicy!
I sit on the bench to eat my gray injera and red spicy shiro
I walk with my family on red road dirt to the church made of white painted rock and brick
The people inside and outside are dressed up all white
Outside the gate the needy plead for coins and food
Some sit on the rich red dirt
At the airport I do not see red dirt
Pavement covers my red friend
A long and uncomfortable ride to America and now I miss my red dirt.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
It's hard to believe how quickly time has flown, and how long it has been since I've written! I can blame this on many things, but perhaps it would be a healthy thing to pick up 'the pen, ' so to speak, and get back with this blog project.
All is well here. We're enjoying a beautiful Saturday afternoon ~ well, most of us are enjoying it. Some of the children are lamenting the fact that beautiful weather = more farm work! But it's good to see them getting muddy while accomplishing some important fall farm tasks.
Something I've been considering, and thought I'd copy over from another writing:
One strong feeling I have about international adoption: I deeply wish that we never would have been called to adopt... but not for the reasons which may first flood to a person's mind. Perhaps a more accurate statement would be, "I deeply wish there had been no need for us to be called to adopt."
You see, I love my Ethiopian children more deeply than they will ever understand. I have had the joy of watching God work to provide for their needs. My husband and I (along with our bio children) have experienced the unmistakable Hand and Voice of God in our call, and have watched His provision in bringing 4 more children into our family. The children have been a part of God's work in our family, stretching and changing us... and providing much joy.
However, in an ideal situation, our Ethiopian children would never have needed to know us. In an ideal life, they would be nestled securely and safely in the arms of their biological parents - free of disease and danger. In an ideal world, America would be for them a distant land of interesting stories... but home would be in a village full of immediate family and generational friendships. Instead, they have experienced the trauma of sickness and death... and now the separation from all that was once familiar.
But another truth is evident: God places the fatherless in families. He has a special plan already designed for each of our children, and it is our privilege to be part of it.
I'll continue chewing on that theme - at least when the demands of parenting settle for a moment to give me a brief, deep thought.
For now, back to the laundry mountain. I must take advantage of nature's clothes dryer in order to catch up!
All is well here. We're enjoying a beautiful Saturday afternoon ~ well, most of us are enjoying it. Some of the children are lamenting the fact that beautiful weather = more farm work! But it's good to see them getting muddy while accomplishing some important fall farm tasks.
Something I've been considering, and thought I'd copy over from another writing:
One strong feeling I have about international adoption: I deeply wish that we never would have been called to adopt... but not for the reasons which may first flood to a person's mind. Perhaps a more accurate statement would be, "I deeply wish there had been no need for us to be called to adopt."
You see, I love my Ethiopian children more deeply than they will ever understand. I have had the joy of watching God work to provide for their needs. My husband and I (along with our bio children) have experienced the unmistakable Hand and Voice of God in our call, and have watched His provision in bringing 4 more children into our family. The children have been a part of God's work in our family, stretching and changing us... and providing much joy.
However, in an ideal situation, our Ethiopian children would never have needed to know us. In an ideal life, they would be nestled securely and safely in the arms of their biological parents - free of disease and danger. In an ideal world, America would be for them a distant land of interesting stories... but home would be in a village full of immediate family and generational friendships. Instead, they have experienced the trauma of sickness and death... and now the separation from all that was once familiar.
But another truth is evident: God places the fatherless in families. He has a special plan already designed for each of our children, and it is our privilege to be part of it.
I'll continue chewing on that theme - at least when the demands of parenting settle for a moment to give me a brief, deep thought.
For now, back to the laundry mountain. I must take advantage of nature's clothes dryer in order to catch up!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Prayer requests
- It's been a loooong winter, and we're all tired of it... Patience with each other, and an early spring!
- Struggles with B's behaviour and school... wisdom and clear direction.
- Could really stand to sell a horse or two... buyers!
- Sherri's lower back is giving fits... healing.
- We're tired... endurance.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Our first Christmas as a family of 11 was delightful! The kids were enthralled with everything... even though we stay pretty low key and simple with celebrations and gifts. A highlight was watching the kids open gifts from each other on Christmas eve. After weeks of secrecy, the name exchange was finally revealed and the precious dollar store gifts were distributed. It was our best sibling bonding moment yet.
After a great Christmas break, it has been time to launch back into school. The following is an excerpt from an email I sent to sil Judy the first week back to reality (Jan. 7):
"We survived day 3 quite nicely - plowing on! It was a difficult day of teaching, however. We reached the chapter in history which I hate to teach... post civil war. It sounds so wonderful that slavery is abolished, and Lincoln wants to fully restore the South to the Union. But then there's that ugly piece of America called racism. When I had to read about the forming of the KKK, I cried ... both from sadness and anger. I had hoped to delay talking about this stuff with the girls, but here it was in the book... they need to know... and the time was right.
We had already talked yesterday about the fact that there were very good people in the South and very good people in the North; but also very bad people in the North and very bad people in the South. Today we talked about 'white' people and 'black' people (the girls still refer to themselves as either 'brown' or 'Ethiopian' - both far more accurate in my opinion). I explained that in America, people would refer to their skin color as black and my skin color as white. There is some hilarity to that notion - I'm actually more peach colored, and they're more chocolate. But it is what it is. Then we had to talk about how cruel some white people have been to black people... and about the evil and Godlessness of KKK people. With sorrow, I told them that there are some places in the South and North that people would be very mean to me because my skin is peach. And there are places in the South and North that people would be very mean to them because their skin is brown. I told them that it has nothing at all to do with the color that we are, and everything to do with the lack of knowledge and love on the part of those being mean. Racism and cruelty is a tool of Satan to keep people hating each other. We talked about loving people even when they hate us... even though it's not our fault that they hate us. We talked about how Jesus handled it when people were mean to Him.
It was a great lesson in the end, but rather gut wrenching for me. Another day we'll talk more about things like segregation and the civil rights movement. Interestingly, the assignment for G, E, and A this week is to memorize either Martin Luther King's speech "I Have a Dream," or Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. I'm excited about both."
After a great Christmas break, it has been time to launch back into school. The following is an excerpt from an email I sent to sil Judy the first week back to reality (Jan. 7):
"We survived day 3 quite nicely - plowing on! It was a difficult day of teaching, however. We reached the chapter in history which I hate to teach... post civil war. It sounds so wonderful that slavery is abolished, and Lincoln wants to fully restore the South to the Union. But then there's that ugly piece of America called racism. When I had to read about the forming of the KKK, I cried ... both from sadness and anger. I had hoped to delay talking about this stuff with the girls, but here it was in the book... they need to know... and the time was right.
We had already talked yesterday about the fact that there were very good people in the South and very good people in the North; but also very bad people in the North and very bad people in the South. Today we talked about 'white' people and 'black' people (the girls still refer to themselves as either 'brown' or 'Ethiopian' - both far more accurate in my opinion). I explained that in America, people would refer to their skin color as black and my skin color as white. There is some hilarity to that notion - I'm actually more peach colored, and they're more chocolate. But it is what it is. Then we had to talk about how cruel some white people have been to black people... and about the evil and Godlessness of KKK people. With sorrow, I told them that there are some places in the South and North that people would be very mean to me because my skin is peach. And there are places in the South and North that people would be very mean to them because their skin is brown. I told them that it has nothing at all to do with the color that we are, and everything to do with the lack of knowledge and love on the part of those being mean. Racism and cruelty is a tool of Satan to keep people hating each other. We talked about loving people even when they hate us... even though it's not our fault that they hate us. We talked about how Jesus handled it when people were mean to Him.
It was a great lesson in the end, but rather gut wrenching for me. Another day we'll talk more about things like segregation and the civil rights movement. Interestingly, the assignment for G, E, and A this week is to memorize either Martin Luther King's speech "I Have a Dream," or Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. I'm excited about both."
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
English practice
One of the joys of home educating is the freedom it gives the children to express an interest in a topic and explore it either in depth or at a leisurely pace.
Obviously, English as a Second Language has been the primary course of study for Me, L, and Ed. Ed has taken an interest in repeating phrases to practice her English speaking skills. Today's phrase (spoken slowly and deliberately with heavy accent, repeated dozens of times):
"She.. is.. peeking.. her.. nose."
Followed by lines from a Little House on the Prairie episode:
"Dat man loves me... And I am talking to de cat!"
Obviously, English as a Second Language has been the primary course of study for Me, L, and Ed. Ed has taken an interest in repeating phrases to practice her English speaking skills. Today's phrase (spoken slowly and deliberately with heavy accent, repeated dozens of times):
"She.. is.. peeking.. her.. nose."
Followed by lines from a Little House on the Prairie episode:
"Dat man loves me... And I am talking to de cat!"
Saturday, December 6, 2008
St. Nick
While E is trying to get some decent photos of the fireplace hearth adorned with nine shoes filled with carrots, I thought I'd jot a quick note with our Sinterklaas Day greetings.
Our day was full of preparations for the Christmas tree, including the normal things like moving furniture and cleaning up the inch of dust from the window sills in the newly vacant spot.
It also included the unexpected ~ cleaning up dog puke from the living room carpet first thing in the morning and, due to the horrified feeling that we couldn't possibly get it clean enough, shampooing a large section of the 'did we miss a speck of it' carpet. The bonus surprise ~ dog poop in the shower! At least Pups was discreet.
Add in the "I brought this upon myself" chore of cooking an entire meal for 40 people. Cooking in advance, really... we're feeding the college students at church tomorrow. Two huge vats of soup and 12 loaves of homemade bread later, I ponder the strong possibility of bad weather = low turnout.
To fully picture all of this, you need to imagine the hum of nine children in the background. The hum occasionally flames into an uproar as drama develops - yet another bicker-fest, or pesky brother incident. Even in the "quiet" moments, the hum is punctuated by L's high activity, high volume voice or I and B's rough and tumble tackle play.
But finally, the tree is up! It's not your normal, run of the mill tree. Rather, it was cut by the men of the family - Berny, I, and B - from our friend's new farm. It won't be necessary to run the humidifier for the next couple of days, due to the 2+ inches of snow clinging to the tree's branches when it entered. Within a few minutes, we had rainfall under the tree. I'm sure the tree skirt (fancy name for the old tablecloth I hastily plopped on the floor) and carpet will eventually dry.
Berny is filling shoes with goodies now, so I think I'll go join him and scout out some odd count chocolates to eat.
Happy SinterKlaas Day!
Our day was full of preparations for the Christmas tree, including the normal things like moving furniture and cleaning up the inch of dust from the window sills in the newly vacant spot.
It also included the unexpected ~ cleaning up dog puke from the living room carpet first thing in the morning and, due to the horrified feeling that we couldn't possibly get it clean enough, shampooing a large section of the 'did we miss a speck of it' carpet. The bonus surprise ~ dog poop in the shower! At least Pups was discreet.
Add in the "I brought this upon myself" chore of cooking an entire meal for 40 people. Cooking in advance, really... we're feeding the college students at church tomorrow. Two huge vats of soup and 12 loaves of homemade bread later, I ponder the strong possibility of bad weather = low turnout.
To fully picture all of this, you need to imagine the hum of nine children in the background. The hum occasionally flames into an uproar as drama develops - yet another bicker-fest, or pesky brother incident. Even in the "quiet" moments, the hum is punctuated by L's high activity, high volume voice or I and B's rough and tumble tackle play.
But finally, the tree is up! It's not your normal, run of the mill tree. Rather, it was cut by the men of the family - Berny, I, and B - from our friend's new farm. It won't be necessary to run the humidifier for the next couple of days, due to the 2+ inches of snow clinging to the tree's branches when it entered. Within a few minutes, we had rainfall under the tree. I'm sure the tree skirt (fancy name for the old tablecloth I hastily plopped on the floor) and carpet will eventually dry.
Berny is filling shoes with goodies now, so I think I'll go join him and scout out some odd count chocolates to eat.
Happy SinterKlaas Day!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Puddy Tat
The next generation tormenting cats through application of fashion ~ same doll clothes we used when my brother and sisters and I were kids! It wouldn't surprise me at all to find out that my Aunt Judy did the same stuff the generation before me...
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Refill
I intend to post at least once per month... but let me explain how things have been working for me.
I start to feel overwhelmed ~ which makes me start to feel cranky ~ which moves on to being crabby ~ which causes me to feel guilty ~ which makes me more overwhelmed ~ which starts to slip toward being depressed ~ which shuts off my interest in communicating with the 'outside world' ~ which puts a strain on friendships and distances family ~ which leads to a feeling of isolation ~ which increases the stress ~ which makes me incredibly overwhelmed, and I run all out of 'nice'...
Until God finds me on my emotional edge, takes me by the hand, and leads me back to the realization that He called me for this purpose and provides everything I need to attend to it. He finds just what I need and refills me.
My God shall supply all my needs, according to His riches in glory.
Then my eyes are once again opened to the joys of parenting a big crew of great kids. Here's a story I posted to the adoption yahoo group today:
This reminds me of what I overheard from two of mine the other day. Ic (bio) and L(home 7ish months) are almost the same age (7/8), so we often refer to them as 'the twins.' They get along beautifully.
I overheard Ic saying to L, "Well, we're not actually twins, cuz.." and I tuned in more closely, expecting to hear a comment about race: brown/peach, country of origin... but he continues, "We're not actually twins, cuz you're much more bossy than me."
I stayed in the kitchen to snicker to myself.
I start to feel overwhelmed ~ which makes me start to feel cranky ~ which moves on to being crabby ~ which causes me to feel guilty ~ which makes me more overwhelmed ~ which starts to slip toward being depressed ~ which shuts off my interest in communicating with the 'outside world' ~ which puts a strain on friendships and distances family ~ which leads to a feeling of isolation ~ which increases the stress ~ which makes me incredibly overwhelmed, and I run all out of 'nice'...
Until God finds me on my emotional edge, takes me by the hand, and leads me back to the realization that He called me for this purpose and provides everything I need to attend to it. He finds just what I need and refills me.
My God shall supply all my needs, according to His riches in glory.
Then my eyes are once again opened to the joys of parenting a big crew of great kids. Here's a story I posted to the adoption yahoo group today:
This reminds me of what I overheard from two of mine the other day. Ic (bio) and L(home 7ish months) are almost the same age (7/8), so we often refer to them as 'the twins.' They get along beautifully.
I overheard Ic saying to L, "Well, we're not actually twins, cuz.." and I tuned in more closely, expecting to hear a comment about race: brown/peach, country of origin... but he continues, "We're not actually twins, cuz you're much more bossy than me."
I stayed in the kitchen to snicker to myself.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Loving L
Our September 10 birthday girl.
8 years old, and loving life!
What's an appropriate birthday meal for L? Why, hamburgers and chocolate cake of course!
(photo credit: E)
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Baby B!
I'm an "Uncle!" Baby B was born this morning in Colorado - Kurt and Kathy sound thrilled. I'm so happy, I keep crying! Both B and Mama are doing well.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Beam me outta here!
A stomach bug has attacked Slomp huis! 5 down.. how many more? We're starting to run seriously short of ice cream buckets.
Add in a sick pony outside, and this Mama is pretty busy!
Obviously, prayers would be appreciated.
Funny comment of the day: After accidentally slamming B's fingers in the kitchen door, L exclaimed, "It was an 'askident' Mom!"
Most confusing translation moment: M spouts in frustration, "Everyone pig me, Mom!" It took a bit of questioning and deciphering to figure out what she really meant to say... "Everyone is picking on me, Mom!"
Add in a sick pony outside, and this Mama is pretty busy!
Obviously, prayers would be appreciated.
Funny comment of the day: After accidentally slamming B's fingers in the kitchen door, L exclaimed, "It was an 'askident' Mom!"
Most confusing translation moment: M spouts in frustration, "Everyone pig me, Mom!" It took a bit of questioning and deciphering to figure out what she really meant to say... "Everyone is picking on me, Mom!"
Sunday, July 20, 2008
And another Eye Opening note:
http://nomorecountingthecost.blogspot.com/2008/06/cup-of-sorrow.html
Things which I should obsess about, rather than obsessing about finding a swimsuit to fit my chubby, American butt.
Things which I should obsess about, rather than obsessing about finding a swimsuit to fit my chubby, American butt.
Food Shortage
We are quite conerned about how this affects our family in Ethiopia - Me, Ed, and L's Grandmother, Great-Grandmother, and the girl's older brother. We love them dearly. I have included a link at the bottom of this post for those who are moved to help. We are hoping to find a way to help our family in particular. Once we can find a way to sponsor them... or at least the girl's brother, Getahun... we will need to raise the money to send in monthly.
Read on (written by a man in our agency's adoptive family forum):
"Since we are living and working in Ethiopia we can confirm that things are getting very tough. The government just released June '07-June '08 inflation figures with overall inflation at 55%, food inflation at 78%, and grain/cereals inflation at 132%. The short rains failed (those that come in February - May) which combined with raising world food prices has been the real culprit of the difficult times Ethiopia now faces. The short rains usually provide enough crops that get people through the "hungry season"generally May to August. This is when people are planting and are waitingfor the harvest from the longer rains. Unfortunately, due to the failure of the short rains, and the delay of the longer rains, most of the current harvests are about two months behind. Most families dependent on agriculture will not see a harvest until mid-to-late September at the earliest.
What I have heard in my travels and in meetings is that there is food in most markets, however the prices are so high that people cannot afford to purchase it. This is especially true for the small holder farmer and the very poor, who are most severely affected. The most deceiving part is that the fields are planted and the countryside looks green and beautiful, however these farmers (especially in the south where I recently traveled)will not receive their first crop (green maize) until at least Sept or Oct. This is why people are referring to this as a green famine - beautiful, plenty growing right now, but there is no access to food for a large number of people.
On the ration side - the government and donors are trying to meet food needs for the 4.6 million people at risk, but due to the inadequate food stocks in country for July, they have decided to reduce the normal ration of 15 KG perperson to 10KG per person. It's a tough decision, give some of the people in need a full ration and nothing to the rest, or spread the in-country foodstock among all who need it at a reduced ration. There is a lot of food coming into country in late/July and August and will be available to distribute quickly. All that said, the government is in the process of buying 150,000 tons of wheat to sell at a subsidized rate in 12 urban centers around the country to reduce the food inflation impacts on the urban poor who do not have land and are solely dependent on purchased food to survive. "
http://awop.org/ - African Widows and Orphans Project
http://adoptionadvocates.org/human/human_sponsor_project.php
http://adoptionadvocates.org/human/human_sponsor_ed.php
Read on (written by a man in our agency's adoptive family forum):
"Since we are living and working in Ethiopia we can confirm that things are getting very tough. The government just released June '07-June '08 inflation figures with overall inflation at 55%, food inflation at 78%, and grain/cereals inflation at 132%. The short rains failed (those that come in February - May) which combined with raising world food prices has been the real culprit of the difficult times Ethiopia now faces. The short rains usually provide enough crops that get people through the "hungry season"generally May to August. This is when people are planting and are waitingfor the harvest from the longer rains. Unfortunately, due to the failure of the short rains, and the delay of the longer rains, most of the current harvests are about two months behind. Most families dependent on agriculture will not see a harvest until mid-to-late September at the earliest.
What I have heard in my travels and in meetings is that there is food in most markets, however the prices are so high that people cannot afford to purchase it. This is especially true for the small holder farmer and the very poor, who are most severely affected. The most deceiving part is that the fields are planted and the countryside looks green and beautiful, however these farmers (especially in the south where I recently traveled)will not receive their first crop (green maize) until at least Sept or Oct. This is why people are referring to this as a green famine - beautiful, plenty growing right now, but there is no access to food for a large number of people.
On the ration side - the government and donors are trying to meet food needs for the 4.6 million people at risk, but due to the inadequate food stocks in country for July, they have decided to reduce the normal ration of 15 KG perperson to 10KG per person. It's a tough decision, give some of the people in need a full ration and nothing to the rest, or spread the in-country foodstock among all who need it at a reduced ration. There is a lot of food coming into country in late/July and August and will be available to distribute quickly. All that said, the government is in the process of buying 150,000 tons of wheat to sell at a subsidized rate in 12 urban centers around the country to reduce the food inflation impacts on the urban poor who do not have land and are solely dependent on purchased food to survive. "
http://awop.org/ - African Widows and Orphans Project
http://adoptionadvocates.org/human/human_sponsor_project.php
http://adoptionadvocates.org/human/human_sponsor_ed.php
Friday, July 18, 2008
Saturday, July 5, 2008
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