amy

Having two girls is so much fun. They have their "spats" but they love each other so much. I pray that they are this close their whole lives. I enjoy looking at Kylie's face in the second one where Melia is hugging her maybe a bit too much.

These two girls are solid anchors of faith to me. I wanted to be a mom. I wanted to have kids. God has blessed me far beyond what I deserve. I'm so thankful for them. Jo-Jo has no idea what he's in for with his two older sisters! He may think he's got three mothers. Ha!

I'm guessing all parents going through the adoptive process ride through seasons of highs and lows. I find myself resistant to keep track of how many days...or...months we've been waiting. Some days I pray so hard for him that I think it's just too much. Too painful. I can't stand waiting any longer. Other days I pray little simple prayers throughout the day and don't go too deep. Some weeks I feel at peace and other weeks I think I may lose my mind.

I daily pray for someone to be loving on my son. For someone to be holding him, feeding him, singing to him. For Jo-jo to feel love on some level....

I decided to google our orphanage (Home of Hope) and a blog came up. A girl named Amy had just blogged about her trip to Kigali, Rwanda where she held BABIES at the Home of Hope orphanage!!!! I don't even know this chick and think she's pretty much amazing. Go to her blog if ya want and read about the orphanage where my son most likely is right now! Her blog is:

amytokigali.blogspot.com

I have to warn you that it's hard to read about all these children wanting to be held and loved. Although it was rough, it gave me some peace to read about the details of where my boy is. God reminded me that He sees the whole picture...He loves my son far more than I. Amy specifically talked about one little baby boy that just loved being held and fell asleep in her arms. He allowed me the gift of some peace in my heart to think that there are people who are loving on those sweet little children, hopefully my son included.

So to Amy, I say thank you. From the depths of my heart. Thank you for taking up the cause of the orphan, for raising support to go to Rwanda, and for the love you showed those kids. You are and encouragement and an inspiration.

blessings!

soccer rocks!

This fall also brings about a change for our Saturday mornings. We have entered the soccer world. Melia has watched her older cousins play over the years and now it was finally her turn to get in on the soccer action.

With our last game approaching this Saturday, I have to say it's been a great experience. Melia loves to get out there and run around. Finally, a place to let her competitive spirit have at it. Fall is such a beautiful time to be outdoors in the great northwest. We've only been rained on once!

I think we'd better get use to watching soccer....this is only the beginning.

The soccer rocks (their team name) gang and coach Tim.

Going for the goal!

If soccer doesn't work out, I think she may have a future in cheerleading.

Perhaps the best part....treats at the end.

here we go

This fall season brings a major change about in the Wells household. Melia has entered the world of public education as a kindergarten student at Gubser Elementary. O hurt my heart! I can distinctly remember holding Melia as a newborn and thinking that those people who told me time would fly by were all wrong. Each day felt soooooo long and tiring to me. I was a mess of a new mother and the "school years" might as well have been light years away.

Now I understand what those wise women meant. It does go fast! Too fast. Yes, there are still some long days but Melia is growing up to be such a wonderful little girl. I have now banned her from growing any older. Does anyone know where I can get my hands on a time-freezing machine?

First day pictures:

birds, bees, and DNA?

I was watching a very scientific show the other day where experts were talking about babies and how their brains work.... I was listening trying to understand what they were saying :) when Melia walked out of her room after rest time and heard the experts talking about babies genes and their DNA. She laughed and said "jeans, what???" She was pointing at her own pair of denim jeans that she had on at that moment. "Mom, what are they talking about?" I try to very simplistically talk about how a baby comes from both their mom and dad.....etc.... My smarty of a five-year-old states, "How do I come from dad? Dads can't have babies!!!! I came from you. How did I come from dad too?"

At this point I start chuckling under my breath realizing I have gotten myself in a tight spot on the verge of explaining the birds and the bees to my oldest. Reality is she doesn't need to KNOW the details of anatomy and reproduction as a five year old. It would be too heavy for her. Too much knowledge for her to handle. It will come at a later date when she is ready to take it all in and understand a bit better. (Dear Lord, please let that me a long ways away. Amen.) Yet here we are in this conversation.

I quickly came up with the simple explanation that when a woman and man love each other, they decide they want to have a child and the mommy carries the baby in her tummy. That was enough for her. She said, "Oh, okay." And that was that. No more questions - thank you Lord. She needed a simple answer to satisfy her desire to know and understand at that moment to carry her onto the next thing.

In some ways, I feel like Melia right now. Asking God all these big questions about adoption and my son. Wanting to know the BIG picture....wanting to know every detail. And the Lord gently reminds me to accept simple knowledge and rely on HIS truth and timing. (Fragments of a story and is so much bigger than me.) I often grow impatient wanting my son in my arms. It's a daily submitting of my will to the Lord's and having the confidence in Him to reveal the depth of our story when the timing is right. I don't dare try and understand all that is going on. I am so thankful for a mighty God who is on my side and wants the best for me and my family, including my boy.

:) WE are WAITING (ugh, moan, sigh) for the non-objection letter to come from Rwanda. Been waiting three months. Could possibly wait up to another three months for this little (yet so important) piece of information. This means the adoption people have looked over our dossier and said, YES - we are good to go. Our dossier would then be on it's way to our orphanage where we will be placed with our son.

Things have slllllowed way down in Rwanda over the summer. There's a new lady in charge and we hear good things about her. She is very much in favor of international adoptions. However, with new leadership comes restructuring of people, etc.... There were government elections which didn't help the slowness factor either. Simple, basic information is all we have to go off of to sustain us. We try and suck an ounce of peace from this knowledge and there is none. Only peace comes from the Lord. As much as I like to be in the know, that is enough for me to daily trust Him.

We hear that processing of these non-objection letters was suppose to get going on Sept. 1st. So we wait.

blessings!

PS I will do my best to be a bit better with the blogging. Kind of a slacker, I know.

life lately

Yes, don't worry, we're still alive and kicking. Things have been busy during this last month and well, blogging went way down on the priority list. A big highlight was going to see the musical, THE LION KING, with my mom and the Ditchen/Olson girls last weekend. We have been waiting months. The show didn't disappoint....it was amazing. I'm really into all the behind the scenes stuff, thinking how did they do that? The lighting, costumes, sound effects, computer graphics, live music...seriously love it. It all comes together in a powerful way for one spectacular show.

This was Melia's first real live musical and she was so giddy. The show opens up with a big number complete with all the animals coming through the aisles and onto the stage to bow to the Lion King and meet his new cub, Simba. The lights go out at the end of the song and people cheered loudly. Melia turned to me with a perplexed look on her face and says, "That sure wasn't a very long show, mom". Her honest emotion and "newness" to the experience tickled me so much. She sure was happy when I said it was just beginning.

Of course, I can't get away from Africa and thinking about my baby boy. There is no real update to report. Still waiting. Although to clarify, we are waiting for a non-objection letter from the Rwandan gov't. When we receive this letter, we know that a referral of a child is within a couple months. The Rwandan gov't allows themselves up to six months to issue this non-objection letter. So, the wait is longer than we first anticipated. We've been officially waiting for about a month. Keep praying....

I've been able to help my friend, Sue, with a few weddings. She is an incredible event planner and has fabulous linens, table decor, arches, etc. available to rent for your special event. So, if you're thinking of throwing a great party or getting hitched, look her up (SHE Designs). The weddings have fallen on Saturdays, which allows Josh to be with the kids and us to maintain a semi-normal weekend.

I've also been helping out at our church with the new outreach building. There is programming starting in the fall for adults and kids. I working on literacy curriculum for infant - 5th grade and the volunteer piece for the kids area. Feel honored to have a hand in the beginning of this program. My brain hurts a little from not being used in this capacity in many months. :)

July is a big month for us. Melia will be 5 in 28 days. What! Five. A whole hand! Kinda crazy. She's already changed the theme of her party three times and it would be easier to walk into Target and tell you what's NOT on her birthday present list. I keep reminding her that the list helps give people an idea of what she wants....and that she's NOT going to get it all. Welcome to the real world chica. :)

We're going to throw a BBQ this Sunday for the 4th. So, if you don't have any plans and are looking for something to do....you're invited. Don't feel like a loser and that you have no friends because you do! We want you to come. Just call and let me know you're coming....

blessings and goooooo America!

officially, we wait.

We got a great call from our case worker last week. Our dossier has been officially processed into the Rwandan adoption system!!!!! We now wait for the next call.....the referral call. Meaning we have been placed with our boy. Could be up to six months for this call. Believe me, you will know when we receive that news! You may even be able to hear me shout it from the roof tops if ya listen close enough. :)

I've been thinking a lot about our son. He's never far from my thoughts, even in the middle of the night. I wake up thinking about him and pray all the time for him. Is he abandoned in a bush somewhere or worse.... Is he hurt, is he crying, is he hungry? Please God - I beg mercy for my boy and and your hand to guide him into the loving arms of the nuns at the orphanage.

I want to leave this blog with a dose of reality that many children face in Rwanda. One of the team members from AGCI returned from spending three months there and shared her experience visiting our orphanage (Home of Hope). I'll warn you it's really hard to read....but I believe truth is power and once you know what's happening I ask you to pray about your part in fighting the cause of the orphan?

"Our nun hurried us down a long, cement hallway to another room - I was so shocked to see over a hundred metal cribs, pushed together in clusters here and there. The silence was my first shock, not one baby was crying. The stillness of the room caused my heart to freeze, as well as my feet and thoughts. Why are they so quiet?

She began again, 'All these babies are orphans. True orphans. No father, no mother. They come to us sometimes in the middle of the night with umbilical cords still attached, naked, filthy from being birthed into a pit latrine hole (usually 20' deep) and they are left at our gate in plastic bags. Sometimes the person who found them in the latrine had put the newborn in a plastic bag and leaves the child in the road in the middle of the night because they don't want to be noticed by neighbors. The Sector official gets up early every morning to see if there are any 'bags' on the road, and if so, he brings them to the metal gate. That is how we get most of our children'. Prostitutes, especially child prostitutes, and over-burdened widows are desperate to get rid of their baby. They feel they have no other way. They are starving themselves. Some of their other children are beggars on the street. They live in the mud huts, they have no hope.

We have only been in this cemented room for a few minutes when I find myself just standing and staring.....I am now listening to this young woman tell me how thousands of mothers choose to dispose of their child and in many cases, the child dies alone in a bag. I slowly look around the room. There's too many. My eyes and hands fall to the nearest one. I touch his frail fingers. My touch startles him. Did this little one come in a plastic bag only a few moments ago? I didn't know this existed in our world. How is America to know? Will they care? Or is this just another Africa story on poverty?

They are waiting. They don't know they are waiting- right now they are a mass of humanity waiting for life to unfold. Like a rose bud. The petals are fragile - but each uniquely beautiful. They are too young for dreams or opinions or even the knowledge of a family. They know caring, yet I don't think they know love. They only know the hands of the nuns - not the arms of a mother. And there are too few nuns to share arms. "

Isaiah 58:6-9

"Is this not the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; they your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry out for help, and he will say: Here am I."

memorial day outing

Josh and I looked at each other on the Saturday of Memorial Day and said okay, we gotta get out of our house and do something fun for the holiday. We had played all day at our house and in the backyard and that's great and all but we were feeling the rut of "same ole' thing...just different day"... and needed a change.

We heard about this hike over by Lincoln City that leads up to a suspension bridge. It's called Drift Creek Falls Trail (if ya wanna look it up for your own nature adventure). Fun little hike in the woods ending with a cool bridge that shakes when you walk across it. The girls loved it!

Followed up hike with a fabulous BBQ with good friends at their house on Devil's Lake. It was a really fun day and exactly what we needed.