My friend Angela and I were visiting the other day and commiserating about the adoption process. Their family is in the process of adopting from Vietnam, and she was frustrated because they were waiting for their dossier to be sent to Vietnam from the Vietnamese embassy. They thought it would take about 12 days for this to happen, but 5 weeks later, they were still waiting.
I asked her if she could imagine doing this again for a second adoption. She just laughed and said, "No way!" I think adoptive parents must experience amnesia after their child is home, just like after childbirth, that makes them willing to ride this roller coaster a second or third or more times. I'm just so weary of this ride.
That night at dinner I told this story to Pat. He said, "You just need to stop thinking about it so much." He explained how he realizes there is nothing he can do to speed up the process, so he has just put our adoption out of his mind until I call him one day and tell him we have a referral. He encouraged me to stop "worrying so much."
I don't know if I can just stop thinking about it. Is this possible? How? Is it the mom in me? I guess I just feel like it is never really going to happen. I told Pat that I'll just be blogging about it forever with no end to the story.
While I was cooking dinner tonight, I was in a nostalgic mood, so I was listening to old praise music by Maranatha singers. I got preached a sermon, let me tell you!
One song said this:
He is able, more than able, to accomplish what concerns me today.
He is able, more than able, to handle anything that comes my way
He is able, more than able, to do much more than I can ever dream
He is able, more than able, to make me what he wants me to be
He is able, more than able, to do much more than I could ever dream
He is able, more than able, to make me what he wants me to be
Another one said this:
In His time
He makes all thing beautiful
In His time.
Lord, my life to You I bring,
May each song I have to sing,
Be to You a lovely thing,
In Your time.
Lord, my life to You I bring,
May each song I have to sing,
Be to You a lovely thing,
In Your time.
In Your time, in Your time,
You make all thing beautiful in Your time.
Lord, my life to You I bring,
May each song I have to sing,
Be to You a lovely thing,
In Your time"
God's timing.......not Becky's
For other Mitford fans (Jan Karon novels).....you'll understand when I say I need to learn from Father Tim. I need to pray the prayer that never fails....
Thy will be done.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Learning to Talk Liberian Style
In the midst of my blog-surfin', I came across The Reeds in Liberia. It is the blog of a missionary family living in Liberia. I'm really enjoying reading their perspective of life where "Whombie" lives.
Recently, there was a post on Liberian English. It cracked me up to read this post. It may be considered English, but it seems like I would need a foreign language course to be able to speak it.
Take a look and see how you would do:
(From "The Reeds In Liberia" Oct. 1, 2007)
Liberia is classified as an “Anglophone” country. Despite its 15 active tribal languages, the official language of the country is English. This makes it easier for us to work here, obviously because we did not have to learn a completely new language upon arrival. I said it makes it easier, but understanding the Liberian version of English is not always easy, and even after two years sometimes it is impossible. Being the amateur linguist that I am, I’ve been able figure out what is behind this difficulty in understanding my native tongue when uttered by many Liberians. It is not simply a matter of accent.
First, and most obvious to the listener, is in the way Liberians pronounce many words—the end of many words are left off. “House” becomes “haw”, “dog” becomes “daw”, “serious” becomes “seria”, and so on. Sometimes even each syllable in multi syllable words are deleted, so “redlight” might become “re’li’”, “everything” is “e’ry’tin’, or ” kool aid” is “koo aye.”
To complicate matters significantly, Liberians use different English words than most North Americans choose. For example, “reaching” means “leaving” as in “I’m reaching to my hou’,” “finish” means “to be out of something,” As in “the rice is finish,” or “flog” instead of “beat,” as in “My brother tol’ me he wou’ flog me.” Finally, Liberians finish many words randomly in “O,” as in “fini-o” for “finish,” or “daw-o” to give “dog” a little more panache.
Therefore when you combine words pronounced differently with word choices that are different than what you’ve lived with all your life, you get sentences that are just a little beyond reach until you understand both the usage of the word and the pronunciation of all the words in the sentence.
So, putting these factors together, we might have the following sentences—see if you can figure them out:
1. “Trokon carry mah own sef pla’ toe to hi’ hou’.’” (Literally, “Trokon carry my own self play toy to his house,” or “Trokon took my toy to his house.”)
2. “Dea’ ca’ be sweeo.” (Literally,” Deer can be sweet-o,” or “Venison is delicious.” )
3. Leh ca’ta’ eh sleepi’ bah da’ pi’ hou’ (Literally, “the carter it sleeping by the pig house” or “The carter (a clothe pad used to cushion the head when carry things) was left out all night near the pig pen.”)
4. “De ro’ he wah a bri’ one and dryo.” (Literally, “The rogue he was a bright one and dry-o,” or “The thief was light-skinned and very thin.”)
5. “Leh pum’ eh spoi’. Le’ carry de jeep to tow’ fo’ new pah.’” (Literally, “The pump is spoiled, let’s carry the jeep to town for new part,” or “The pump is not working, so let’s take the 4wd vehicle into town for a new part.”)
6. “Boieh! Boieh! Boieh!” (Literally, “Boiled egg, boiled egg, boiled egg!” which children shout as they carry hard boiled eggs for sale on the street.)
7. “Unca Bah, I juke mah foo-o. Plea’ pu’ plasti’ on mah cuh.” (Literally, “Uncle Bob, I juke my foot. Please put plastic on my cut,” or “Uncle Bob, something jabbed or poked into my foot. Please put a band aid on my cut.”)
8. “Eneh, i’ yaw wais’ wateh on ma’ trouseh, I weh sureleh blow yaw mouf.” (Literally, “Enoch, if you waste water on my trousers, I will surely blow your mouth, “ or “Enoch, if you dump or spill that water on my pants, I will certainly punch you in the mouth.”)
9. Deh worsha’ weh fi’fi’. We gettin’ yaw puh-lenti!” (Literally, “The worshop was fine, fine. We getting you plenty,” Or “The workshop was very good. We understood you very well.”)
10. “Whi’ ma’, plea’ buy suh’ re’ oi’ fruh me. One hundreh LD.” (Literally, White Man, please buy some red oil from me. One hundred LD.” Red oil is palm nut oil; LD is Liberian Dollars—in this case about $1.80 US. )
11. “Sis Renita, I cuh’ to spe’ to yaw.” (Literally, Sis Renita, I come to speak to you,” or “Sister, Renita, I dropped by just to say hi.”) Not everybody speaks like this, but these phrases reflect a large portion of the people with whom we live and work each day. Some people, such as government or business leaders speak very similar English to me, with only what I call the attractive “African accent” distinguishing us.
Others speak a version of English so different in cadence, inflection, pronunciation, syntax and vocabulary as to require interpretation. Most children are harder to understand than adults. In our neighborhood, English is a second language to Bassa for many, and a significant minority speak virtually no English. So getting to understanding each other always takes a little extra time, even for simple things. Bu’, we ah tryin’, sma’ sma’, wid dis talkin’ ting he’. An’ soo’, we wi’sureleh be gettin’ e’rybodeh puh-lenty clea’, an den’ we ha’ a googoo ti’ togeddeh.
Recently, there was a post on Liberian English. It cracked me up to read this post. It may be considered English, but it seems like I would need a foreign language course to be able to speak it.
Take a look and see how you would do:
(From "The Reeds In Liberia" Oct. 1, 2007)
Liberia is classified as an “Anglophone” country. Despite its 15 active tribal languages, the official language of the country is English. This makes it easier for us to work here, obviously because we did not have to learn a completely new language upon arrival. I said it makes it easier, but understanding the Liberian version of English is not always easy, and even after two years sometimes it is impossible. Being the amateur linguist that I am, I’ve been able figure out what is behind this difficulty in understanding my native tongue when uttered by many Liberians. It is not simply a matter of accent.
First, and most obvious to the listener, is in the way Liberians pronounce many words—the end of many words are left off. “House” becomes “haw”, “dog” becomes “daw”, “serious” becomes “seria”, and so on. Sometimes even each syllable in multi syllable words are deleted, so “redlight” might become “re’li’”, “everything” is “e’ry’tin’, or ” kool aid” is “koo aye.”
To complicate matters significantly, Liberians use different English words than most North Americans choose. For example, “reaching” means “leaving” as in “I’m reaching to my hou’,” “finish” means “to be out of something,” As in “the rice is finish,” or “flog” instead of “beat,” as in “My brother tol’ me he wou’ flog me.” Finally, Liberians finish many words randomly in “O,” as in “fini-o” for “finish,” or “daw-o” to give “dog” a little more panache.
Therefore when you combine words pronounced differently with word choices that are different than what you’ve lived with all your life, you get sentences that are just a little beyond reach until you understand both the usage of the word and the pronunciation of all the words in the sentence.
So, putting these factors together, we might have the following sentences—see if you can figure them out:
1. “Trokon carry mah own sef pla’ toe to hi’ hou’.’” (Literally, “Trokon carry my own self play toy to his house,” or “Trokon took my toy to his house.”)
2. “Dea’ ca’ be sweeo.” (Literally,” Deer can be sweet-o,” or “Venison is delicious.” )
3. Leh ca’ta’ eh sleepi’ bah da’ pi’ hou’ (Literally, “the carter it sleeping by the pig house” or “The carter (a clothe pad used to cushion the head when carry things) was left out all night near the pig pen.”)
4. “De ro’ he wah a bri’ one and dryo.” (Literally, “The rogue he was a bright one and dry-o,” or “The thief was light-skinned and very thin.”)
5. “Leh pum’ eh spoi’. Le’ carry de jeep to tow’ fo’ new pah.’” (Literally, “The pump is spoiled, let’s carry the jeep to town for new part,” or “The pump is not working, so let’s take the 4wd vehicle into town for a new part.”)
6. “Boieh! Boieh! Boieh!” (Literally, “Boiled egg, boiled egg, boiled egg!” which children shout as they carry hard boiled eggs for sale on the street.)
7. “Unca Bah, I juke mah foo-o. Plea’ pu’ plasti’ on mah cuh.” (Literally, “Uncle Bob, I juke my foot. Please put plastic on my cut,” or “Uncle Bob, something jabbed or poked into my foot. Please put a band aid on my cut.”)
8. “Eneh, i’ yaw wais’ wateh on ma’ trouseh, I weh sureleh blow yaw mouf.” (Literally, “Enoch, if you waste water on my trousers, I will surely blow your mouth, “ or “Enoch, if you dump or spill that water on my pants, I will certainly punch you in the mouth.”)
9. Deh worsha’ weh fi’fi’. We gettin’ yaw puh-lenti!” (Literally, “The worshop was fine, fine. We getting you plenty,” Or “The workshop was very good. We understood you very well.”)
10. “Whi’ ma’, plea’ buy suh’ re’ oi’ fruh me. One hundreh LD.” (Literally, White Man, please buy some red oil from me. One hundred LD.” Red oil is palm nut oil; LD is Liberian Dollars—in this case about $1.80 US. )
11. “Sis Renita, I cuh’ to spe’ to yaw.” (Literally, Sis Renita, I come to speak to you,” or “Sister, Renita, I dropped by just to say hi.”) Not everybody speaks like this, but these phrases reflect a large portion of the people with whom we live and work each day. Some people, such as government or business leaders speak very similar English to me, with only what I call the attractive “African accent” distinguishing us.
Others speak a version of English so different in cadence, inflection, pronunciation, syntax and vocabulary as to require interpretation. Most children are harder to understand than adults. In our neighborhood, English is a second language to Bassa for many, and a significant minority speak virtually no English. So getting to understanding each other always takes a little extra time, even for simple things. Bu’, we ah tryin’, sma’ sma’, wid dis talkin’ ting he’. An’ soo’, we wi’sureleh be gettin’ e’rybodeh puh-lenty clea’, an den’ we ha’ a googoo ti’ togeddeh.
Friday, October 26, 2007
The Bear and the Atheist
An atheist was walking through the woods one day, admiring all that had evolved. "What majestic trees! What a powerful river! What beautiful animals!" he said to himself.
As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. Turning to look, he saw a 13-foot brown bear beginning to charge towards him. He ran as fast as he could down the path. He looked over his shoulder and saw the bear rapidly closing in on him. Somehow, he ran even faster. He was so scared tears came to his eyes. He looked again and the bear was even closer. His heart pounding in his chest, he tried to run faster yet. But alas, he tripped and fell to the ground. As he rolled over to pick himself up, the bear was right over him, reaching for him with it's left paw and raising its right paw to strike him....he yelled out, "OH MY GOD!"
Time stopped.......
The bear froze.......
The forest was silent............
Even the river stopped moving. As a brilliant light shone upon the man, a thunderous voice came from all around:
"YOU HAVE DENIED MY EXISTENCE FOR ALL THESE YEARS, TAUGHT OTHERS THAT I DON'T EXIST, AND EVEN CREDIT CREATION TO SOME COSMIC ACCIDENT. DO YOU EXPECT ME TO HELP YOU OUT OF THIS PREDICAMENT? AM I TO COUNT YOU NOW AS A BELIEVER?"
Difficult as it was, the atheist looked directly into the light and said, "It would be hypocritical to ask to be a Christian after all these years, but perhaps you could make the bear a Christian?"
"VERY WELL," said GOD.
The light went out...
The river ran...
The sounds of the forest resumed..
And the bear dropped down on his knees, brought both paws together, bowed his head and spoke:
"Lord, thank you for this food which I am about to receive, Amen."
As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. Turning to look, he saw a 13-foot brown bear beginning to charge towards him. He ran as fast as he could down the path. He looked over his shoulder and saw the bear rapidly closing in on him. Somehow, he ran even faster. He was so scared tears came to his eyes. He looked again and the bear was even closer. His heart pounding in his chest, he tried to run faster yet. But alas, he tripped and fell to the ground. As he rolled over to pick himself up, the bear was right over him, reaching for him with it's left paw and raising its right paw to strike him....he yelled out, "OH MY GOD!"
Time stopped.......
The bear froze.......
The forest was silent............
Even the river stopped moving. As a brilliant light shone upon the man, a thunderous voice came from all around:
"YOU HAVE DENIED MY EXISTENCE FOR ALL THESE YEARS, TAUGHT OTHERS THAT I DON'T EXIST, AND EVEN CREDIT CREATION TO SOME COSMIC ACCIDENT. DO YOU EXPECT ME TO HELP YOU OUT OF THIS PREDICAMENT? AM I TO COUNT YOU NOW AS A BELIEVER?"
Difficult as it was, the atheist looked directly into the light and said, "It would be hypocritical to ask to be a Christian after all these years, but perhaps you could make the bear a Christian?"
"VERY WELL," said GOD.
The light went out...
The river ran...
The sounds of the forest resumed..
And the bear dropped down on his knees, brought both paws together, bowed his head and spoke:
"Lord, thank you for this food which I am about to receive, Amen."
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
He Knows My Name
This is such a miracle, that Jesus knows my name. How could I get through life without that?
The Bible says that every hair on my head is numbered. I have had a rough week this week. Not just because of the adoption roller coaster....other stuff... I just can't say enough how much it means to me to know that in it all, Jesus knows my name.
I have a Maker, who knew me even before time began. I have a future and a hope in Him.
Please let me know if you aren't sure if He knows your name, or if you long for a relationship with your Maker. It would be a joy beyond words to share with you how.
I'd like to recommend that you visit Charity Alonso's blog http://internationalmommy.blogspot.com/
(she is another Acres of Hope mom that just returned from Liberia after being there for five weeks. She has an amazing story about how God knows her name and moved in their family's lives to do a modern day miracle.
I was searching for a video of a different song. It is called "He Knows My Name" and is a song I love, but in my search I came across this one that meant a lot, so I decided to post this video instead.
(I'll do the other one later) I'm in a music zone right now. I've really been enjoying some music that I'll share over the next few days.
Love you all. Thanks for your prayers.
Friday, October 19, 2007
The Adoption Roller Coaster
The adoption process is quite the roller coaster ride. I hate to admit it but on one of the dips, I got so frustrated, I kicked a chair. Ouch! My husband just laughed at me. : )
I keep wishing that this paper pregnancy had a due date that went along with it. I guess it is the unknowns and my lack of control over the situation that is the faith building part.
I really should have waited to post anything about a new referral until we actually had one. I got ahead of myself. We did get an email today that made me feel like we could be heading for an up part of the roller coaster. I'll keep you posted.....(but not too soon this time)
I've lost count of how many times I've come across the following quote in the last few days. I think God has been sending me a message:
I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God: first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done." - Hudson Taylor
It will be so-o-o-o nice to be at the "done" part. : )
I keep wishing that this paper pregnancy had a due date that went along with it. I guess it is the unknowns and my lack of control over the situation that is the faith building part.
I really should have waited to post anything about a new referral until we actually had one. I got ahead of myself. We did get an email today that made me feel like we could be heading for an up part of the roller coaster. I'll keep you posted.....(but not too soon this time)
I've lost count of how many times I've come across the following quote in the last few days. I think God has been sending me a message:
I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God: first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done." - Hudson Taylor
It will be so-o-o-o nice to be at the "done" part. : )
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Whombie
We have started calling our little boy "Whombie" It stands for Whoever He May Be : ) So we say, "When Whombie comes home....." or "That goes in Whombie's room"
Someday, Whombie will have a real name, but for now Whombie he is. : )
Someday, Whombie will have a real name, but for now Whombie he is. : )
Friday, October 5, 2007
No News Yet
I'm sorry that I left you all in suspense. There is no news yet. I guess I just need to be more patient. : ) (Will I ever really learn this??)
There have been several more families that have lost referrals this week. Please pray for them for peace and comfort. I think all of us never believe that it could happen in our case. I pray that the changes being made in the system will help prevent this in the future. It is so heartbreaking.
When it happened to us, the prayer cover was such a gift. Please pray for the Holtz, Tidwell, Krahn, and Richardson families like you prayed for ours. I am feeling their pain.
Thank you for the continued prayers on our behalf. I am excited to have happy news to post soon, instead of sad news.
There have been several more families that have lost referrals this week. Please pray for them for peace and comfort. I think all of us never believe that it could happen in our case. I pray that the changes being made in the system will help prevent this in the future. It is so heartbreaking.
When it happened to us, the prayer cover was such a gift. Please pray for the Holtz, Tidwell, Krahn, and Richardson families like you prayed for ours. I am feeling their pain.
Thank you for the continued prayers on our behalf. I am excited to have happy news to post soon, instead of sad news.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
The Suspense is Killing Me
We are supposed to hear soon from Acres of Hope about the possibility of a new referral. I can hardly stand the suspense. I just don't know what to do with myself right now, so I thought maybe journaling it all out on here might help me get it out and get me back to reality.
I am just hovering around the phone begging it to ring, and then when it does and it is not AOH, I'm so bummed. My heart is pounding, my stomach has butterflies, and I'm having a hard time doing anything. Unfortunately, there is a lot of housework that needs doing but I'm useless today. : ) They may not call today, but just knowing they might is keeping me so distracted.
I am so ready to open my heart again. I will hold on loosely this time until my son is in my arms, but I just want so much to be on the road again, heading toward the goal of the child God has for us. It is hard to be in pause mode. Please press "PLAY" again soon, Lord.
I am just hovering around the phone begging it to ring, and then when it does and it is not AOH, I'm so bummed. My heart is pounding, my stomach has butterflies, and I'm having a hard time doing anything. Unfortunately, there is a lot of housework that needs doing but I'm useless today. : ) They may not call today, but just knowing they might is keeping me so distracted.
I am so ready to open my heart again. I will hold on loosely this time until my son is in my arms, but I just want so much to be on the road again, heading toward the goal of the child God has for us. It is hard to be in pause mode. Please press "PLAY" again soon, Lord.
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