Summer Fun at GLA

It's been exactly one month since my last blog post...and one month since we had any news to share of forward progress in our adoption process.  The waiting for the day that we will finally be able to bring our girls home continues to be a slow and difficult "long obedience in the same direction".  We're all feeling it every day.  Our sweet Livie asks EVERY time that we tuck her in for nap or bedtime, "Are Chelley and Naika coming home soon?"  Only, in Livie's 3 year old accent, it's "Chedey and Micah". :)  It's difficult to answer that question with hope and faith twice every day and to continue to reassure Maria and Annika, and to wonder how Chelley and Naika are doing as they wonder when their Mama and Papa will return to take them home.  I recently reread some of Jen Hatmaker's blogs on her adoption process and was so encouraged by this reminder of TRUTH... 

"If you are confused right now, if your story isn't going the way you thought, or if you're tangled up in the messy middle where hope is deferred, dear reader, it could just be that God isn't done yet. Your story is not finished. Every hero and heroine must wade through the conflict to get to the end, and you can trust God because he is good. If you have nothing else to cling to, remember this: God is good. He loves goodness and justice. He heals and redeems. He is on the side of love and beauty. He is for you. He is never against you. You may be against you, other people may be against you, but God is not against you.

It is okay to be confused; I'm afraid that is our lot as finite creatures dealing with an infinite God. Some of God's best heros were confused in their subplots. But I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on. Because God is good and he is for goodness."

I'm so grateful that, as a family, we can all know and lean hard into these truths about God as many times a day (or an hour) as we need to.  He is faithful...always.  He is good...always.  He loves us and loves our children...perfectly.  He is writing a beautiful story with our lives....right now.  He heals.  He redeems.  He restores.  He will never leave us or forsake us.  This difficult time will end, but the word of the Lord stands forever.  Oh what good news this is!! 

As I've mentioned before, one of our lifelines that keep us afloat during this waiting process are the monthly updates that we receive from our orphanage.  We received our August update last week, while we were enjoying our last brief vacation as a family of 5.  Here are the sweet and fun glimpses that we received of our girls enjoying their summer.  If you have time to watch the slideshow that is linked below, it'll bring a smile to your face and will give you a great idea of how wonderful and amazing our orphanage really is! Enjoy!

This month we took advantage of summer vacation and the hot sun and had a pool day at both the Toddler House and the Main House.  The Toddler House pool day was held on a Saturday in August.  All of the kids had been asking for and anticipating a pool day for months and when they found out the day had come, they were beside themselves with excitement.  If you have not seen it please check out Molly's video slideshow on her blog to see the smiles and excitement for yourself.  A number of pools were set up and filled the night before so the kids all went to bed that night just imagining what the next day was going to hold.  The kids were split into two groups on Saturday.  The morning group was the youngest half of the kiddos and the afternoon was for the older group.  The day was a success and everyone involved seemed to have a GREAT time!  

Another exciting event that most of the Toddler House kids were able to do on their summer vacation is take a trip to the nice big playground that was built at the Baptist Mission, not too far from GLA.  Not only did they get to play on the playground but they were able to explore the small zoo complete with goats, birds, snakes, and rabbits as well as a small museum.  All of the kids who went had an excellent time.  They each were sure to explore all the play equipment available and some of the favorite, most talked about things, ended up being the teeter-totters, the slides, and seeing the snakes.  The photos you will find attached to this update are photos that were taken on the infamous pool day plus a few bonus photos of the kids at the playground (if they were old enough to make the trip).  Chelley was involved in both the pool day and the day at the Baptist Mission and she absolutely loved both events.  She was in the morning group on pool day and enjoyed jumping from pool to pool and splashing in the water with her friends.  She especially enjoyed when Molly put together a little “slip and slide” on a tarp and gave the kids a push.

Chelley is healthy and growing:
Height: 114.5 cm
Weight: 45 lbs

 The Main House pool day was split up into a couple of days we set up two small pools and brought up the kiddos in groups of 5-8 at a time based on age.  For the most part all of the kids loved playing, splashing, and enjoying the water while a few of them took some time to warm up to the idea.   You will find that this month's photos are of Naika playing in the pools on the balcony.  She was a bit apprehensive to get in the pool at first and was content to watch the other kids from the sidelines.  After some time she warmed up to the idea and was willing to interact with the water while one of the volunteers poured out water from a cup.  She also went into the pool and stood in the water for the second half of her pool time.   She especially loved the rubber ducks toys, she held onto one the entire time!

Naika is healthy and growing:
Height: 89.5 cm
Weight: 29 lb 2.5 oz