Monday, June 20, 2011

Summertime and the Living is Easy

Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high. Your daddy's rich and your ma is good lookin', so hush little baby, don't you cry.

Ah yes, summertime. A little Ella Fitzgerald on vinyl, windows open, swinging barefoot on our porch with some sweet tea. Now that's where I want to be all day long.

Happy summer to you all. It is officially summer as of tomorrow (June 21st) and it's been a while since I posted a blog non-adoption-related. So, in lieu of the changing of seasons, I figured what the hay? Speaking of hay, has anyone suffered from hay feaver like crazy this year? I surely have. Normally I'm not much of an allergy victim, but this year I've seen my fair share of sneezes and itchy eyes.

You know what else this season is? The dads and grads season. Well, I suppose it is on its way out now, since fathers day was on Sunday. But, this season always brings about a specific pet peeve of mine that I just need to get off my chest. This is the season where people forget how to spell the word congratulations. Doesn't that bother anyone else? It's wonderful to have a graduate in the home, but let's not forget that we, too, once graduated and learned that congratulations is spelled with a "t" and not a "d" (congradulations...I mean come on!). If we really want to get creative, let's combine all three and just say condadulations. That way we knock out the congrats, the grads and the dads. Badabing!


Speaking of daduation–I mean graduation–I had the distinct pleasure of attending my neighbor's high school graduation and I couldn't be more honored to be included in the festivities. I will say, though, the speech given by her principal was odd, and that's putting it mildly. The school mascot is a falcon and his speech focussed on how he was so glad that each one of these graduates seized the opportunity to leave their cages. He even spent a great deal of time talking about how it was too bad that some students chose not to leave their cages. And how, it's true, we all must leave our cages and fly out into the great beyond. It's so important that we make the decision to leave our cages and fly beyond high school and learn new things. So, go on you graduates, leave the cage you're in. Be cage-free. Kick the cage. Go beyond the cage. Be cageless.

Wow, WOW! Okay, first of all, I may be exaggerating his use of the word "cage" but I am not exaggerating the gist of his message. Good grief Mr. Principal, did you go to the zoo too many times as a child? You do realize that cages are by no means a falcon's natural habitat. So, the analogy of all of us needing to leave our falcony cages is ridiculous. Secondly, you seem awfully bitter about some students not leaving their cages, which I can only assume means they dropped out. Perhaps you should have used a better suited phrase like: "It's really too bad that some of you fell out of your cages." That would have been more fitting.

Anyhow, it was an interesting speech, and he certainly gave it with gusto, so I have to give him credit for that. Even if it made no sense at all and even if left falcons everywhere inspired to avoid cages, especially in close proximity to this individual.

Anyone else feel a little bit snubbed by the sun? I mean, really. It's as if the sun is playing an awful trick. Like it won't come out of its cage or something. I don't know why that stunning analogy just came to me but it is the truth. The sun is in its' cage and I want to know, why won't it come out and be free!? I have strawberries green and piddly huddled under their leaves begging for sunshine to no avail. Makes me sad seeing all the potential of the luscious fruits and sunshiny fun that isn't being had, all because the sun doesn't want to play fair. Did the sun not get the memo that summer is officially tomorrow? Perhaps we should send a falcon to tell it.

Well, that's enough random musings for now. Enjoy the cloudy weather that is apparently supposed to be summer. I'll pop back in later when I am a jamming fool. Not the reggae type, more the pectin and fruit type.

I be jammin!

AA

Just for fun, I included my college graduation photo. The poor quality is because I scanned it from an itty bitty sample given to me by the photographer on a piece of paper. Call me cheap but I didn't feel like paying $100 for a pack of wallet-sized photos consisting of me in a drape with a goofy square on my head.



Monday, June 6, 2011

Adoption - Day 312

A sunny day came swooping in this weekend and it lifted my spirits so high, so high I could fly. Like a bird in the sky. I know you won't believe this, but I came up with that little diddy on the spot. Yes, I can send you a personalized photograph with that lyric if you want.

It's nearly summer and I really must say that I couldn't be more pleased with the season ahead. I've always been a lover of the rain, but it's simply become too much of a good thing. My mood seems to shift when the weather continues to drone on and on in its boohoo-woe-is-me kind of way.

But, enough about the weather. I don't have any news. So, ya'll can check out now while I emotionally vomit into my blog. :) No, really, I don't have much to say other than we are still waiting for the good news to smack us in the face. We've had a lot of people ask about the possibility of switching agencies. I think our friends are getting impatient, too. The truth is, we may consider looking at more local agencies just to keep our options open, but we aren't ready to jump ship from our Georgia agency. We are still well within their average range to be matched of 3-6 months. We are in our 4th month of being on the waiting list, so we don't have a thing to complain about in that sense.

I will say this, I have been tested quite a bit lately–emotionally, spiritually and physically. It's as if there is this unseen war waging and my attitude and my hope are at stake. I have had a number of things test my ability to continue to trust God's plan and His ultimate care of my heart and my dreams. It is in times like these that I am so thankful I have hidden the truth in my heart to thwart any attempts to bring me down and cause me to give up. I know He cares. He isn't picking on me.

It's interesting, actually. God has been using unique ways to remind me of that very thing, that he cares deeply for me. Just yesterday I was teaching Sunday School at my church and the lesson was on Moses. More specifically, it was about his mother. She took an incredible leap of faith by crafting a waterproof basket, placing her 3-month-old son into the basket and then letting him drift down the Nile river in hopes of keeping him safe from the slaughter ordered by Pharaoh. It's incredible thinking about the courage of this mother and the indescribable pain it must have caused to submit her son to the currents of the Nile. Of course, she knew she wasn't leaving him in the hands of the Nile alone, she trusted that God would take care of him and watch over him. She trusted God with her most precious gift. As the story goes, Moses ends up becoming a regular biblical superhero.

It was a nice reminder for me that I need to do just that. Although I do not have a physical child to hold and let go of, I have to approach this process in a similar way. The process is not mine to control. Just like this mother couldn't control the currents of the Nile, I can't control the timing of a baby coming into our lives. On a daily basis I give it my best effort, but realize that I am powerless. God has this thing completely mapped out. It's a hard truth to swallow when I see fertility blessing my friends abundantly around me. But it is what I cling to. I posted this on my Facebook a few weeks ago and applied to circumstance I still deal with today, but it remains true in every area. You could just as easily swap out grief for hardships or confusion...

Today it is hope that is my anchor. I surely do not understand why grief washes up on the shores of my heart, but I am confident of this: My Jesus delights in me and he will grant me peace. I have cast all my nets into the sea of the unfailing, unceasing love of Christ.

Thanks, as always, for tuning in. I wish I had more exciting news to give you. Hoping that I get to soon. For now, I'm going to enjoy the sunshine peeking through my window.

AA

PS - I WILL have a posting about canning coming up, because it's been a while since I posted a non-adoption-related posting. And, for goodness sakes, I'm not all doom and gloom around here.