Be The Tree God Made You To Be

The laughs and the smiles continue in our household as we experience daily life together. This past weekend was a series of firsts for the boys, beginning on Saturday with a ride in my friend's convertible followed by a Sunday filled with fishing and paddle boating with some friends. My first attempt to teach them to cast ended with a hook in my arm. Despite a rough start, it was a great day of fishing and they caught their first fish and enjoyed throwing them back in. We loved being able to make such great memories with such great friends! Today I signed them up to play soccer in the fall. Since they are close in age they will be able to play on the same team which will make it nice for practices and game times. The other major development this summer is that my parent's are putting an above ground pool that will be installed this week. We spent most of yesterday hauling 5 tons of sand into the backyard to prepare for this moment. Mulatu tells us that his stomach feels funny because he is so excited.

We celebrated Mulatu's sixth birthday with a pool party at grandma grandma's house complete with a fantastic spiderman cake made by my cousin. This was followed by a trip to the Cincinnati zoo on his actual birthday. His first choice was Chuck E Cheese but after discovering that all they had to eat was pizza he quickly changed his mind. 

We have had some pretty in depth conversations lately and I love being able to freely communicate with one another without any language barrier. I have started the process of readopting them. Although this is not required for Ethiopia adoptions, it is highly recommended. Children of all Nations has a partner law firm that they work with that will do this for me so my boys will end up with a Texas birth certificate. So far the paperwork has been minimal. Meanwhile I am still waiting on the wonderful Internal Revenue Service to get their ducks in a row in regards to my tax return. I will feel a lot better when this has been resolved.

One of the things that I have realized over the past few months is that as life has gotten busy it has been easier for me push spending time with God down on my list of priorities. However, in order to be the best mom I can be to my children I have to make sure that my relationship with God is number one. It has been my prayer to have that passion renewed within me and He has answered that prayer. I can tell that as I've spent more time in prayer and in His word that it is paying off in other ways as well. One of my favorite songs recently is Like an Avalanche:

And I find myself here on my knees again
Caught up in grace like an avalanche
Nothing compares to this love
Burning in my heart

Take my life
Take all that I am
With all that I am I will love You
Take my heart
Take all that I have
Jesus how I adore You

The other night before bed we were reading a new story called 'The Oak Inside the Acorn' by Max Lucado (I would highly recommend it for everyone). My favorite line was when the acorn was talking to the mama oak and she told him, "Be the tree God made you to be." One of the great things about this world is the diversity within each person. Although my path may have not been the conventional one, I believe these two boys that I have the honor of raising are the direct result of me listening to God's call on my life and being the tree He made me to be.