He gives and takes away... A tribute to my Grandma

Yes, we're home. And it's been the hardest 2 weeks ever. 

1 week after being home from Ethiopia, we lost my sweet Grandma. Yesterday we had her memorial service, exactly 2 weeks from the day our family was reunited at the airport. I don't understand the ways of the Lord, but I will say that I am thankful that Grandma knew Jesus and was surrounded by her loving family when she went to be with Him. This is a picture I took only a few days before she was gone. 

The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” Job 1:21b

I promise to post about the kids soon and I have so many pictures of course. But because this blog is about more than just adoption, it's about making Christ known in every aspect of our life- I simply could not move on without sharing about my precious Grandma. 

I had the wonderful privilege of sharing a tribute to Grandma at the service yesterday. I know it's wordy, (when am I not??!!) but I would love for you to read it and think about your own life and the legacy you will leave behind someday...  

One of my favorite scriptures is Colossians 3:12-15. It says: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”

As I remember Grandma today, I can’t help but think of this passage. It just fits who she was to me. Though Grandma wasn’t a bible scholar or preacher by any means, she was one of God’s beloved children- one who knew that she was dearly loved by Him and had a simple, child-like faith in Jesus. That is what she taught me. This verse talks about being clothed in these different virtues. Anyone who knew Grandma for more than a few minutes, experienced her compassion and kindness in some way. Grandma laughed with you and cried with you. And whether it was making food for 5 or 50 people, sewing baby blankets and clothes, traveling around the world, hosting parties for every holiday, or just sitting with a listening ear- she was definitely a people person in her own quiet way. She was also a woman who was humble and gentle. She never wanted anyone to fuss over her or make a big deal. Well, except when it came to rubbing her feet. Oh yes- that was a big deal! She used to pay us kids a dime or even quarters to rub those calloused feet- until we got old enough to be grossed out and so we’d pass the job down to a younger cousin!

Grandma’s gentleness grew as the years went by. I saw her melt as she held her first great-grandchild and witnessed her joy and excitement at each and every one to come after. A few years ago she started attending women’s bible study with me. I loved having Grandma there as we opened God’s word together and during the week I would call her to see how she was doing on her lesson. She would kind of dance around the subject and ask how everyone in our family was doing or talk about some random thing. Finally after a while, she confessed that it was very difficult to do the study and hard for her to pay attention, but she kept coming because it made her so happy to see me and the kids every week. That was Grandma for you… she could never get enough family time.

Just by taking a look around, I think I can safely say that Grandma had many more friends than enemies. She was quiet, but loved making friends with people. She was not perfect, but she knew how to forgive when someone had wronged her and she encouraged me to do the same in my life. And when you saw how still in love my Grandparents were after 53 years of marriage, that wisdom went much deeper than simply words. Grandma and Grandpa lived out the saying that there is no love without forgiveness and there is no forgiveness without love.

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 

Every memory I have of Grandma reminds me of how much she loved her family. The sweetest times of my childhood were spent playing at Grandma’s house or being on a trip with her and Grandpa. Even in the darkest of times, I always knew that Grandma and Grandpa were there and they loved me. My children and husband experienced that same kind of love from her as well. What a gift.

The end of the Colossians passage says: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 

Towards the end of Grandma’s earthly life, her physical body began to fail. She had heart attacks, a stroke, and deadly cancer. There were several times in the past 4 years that we did not think she would survive. But not only did God give her another few miracle years, He gave her incredible peace in the midst of it all. And He gave her a husband who cared for her and loved her unconditionally. After one of her trips to the hospital Grandma told me that there must be a reason that God had spared her life- some reason that she was still alive. I told her there was- so she’d better live it well! And she did. She got a few more years of “bonus time” we liked to call it.

Grandma was so excited for Randy and I to bring our 2 newest children home. Either her or Grandpa would call about once a week to check in and see if there was any news about the adoption and she would get anxious if the blog hadn’t been updated in over a week! She was just ready to love on those kids and wanted to know why in the world it was taking so long! It was her idea for mom to come with me to Ethiopia a few weeks ago and I’m so thankful for that. And I will never forget her face that day a week and a half ago when I brought the kids to the hospital to see her. She completely lit up! She was like her old self- joking with the kids and wanting to know all about the trip. I snapped a picture, not knowing if it would be the last time I would see her smile this side of heaven.

It was.

So many times this week, I have closed my eyes and seen Grandma’s smiling face or heard her voice. I want to pick up the phone and call her and tell her about how it’s going with the kids or get excited and anticipate with her about Nati and Mihret’s first Easter at home and dying eggs with her. I don’t want to have to tell my 3 year old yet again why Great Grandma Mallet isn’t home when we go to her house- because that’s where she’s supposed to be right?

A few days before she passed, Grandma told Grandpa “Jesus has me in His arms.” It was very hard for Grandpa and all of us, but she had such a peace. And now that Grandma is truly HOME, we are thankful for that. I loved my Grandma dearly and will miss her so much, but I am so grateful for all of the wonderful time I got to have with her and Grandpa these past 32 years.

Grandma and Grandpa surrounded by their family (minus the 2 newest great-grandchildren) 

She's 10 today...

And how I wish that I could be there to hug her and kiss her and tell her how much she is loved and just make her feel downright SPECIAL because of who God has created her to be. I know Randy does too.

I bet she would love our silly birthday breakfast tradition of getting the special red plate with a donut and a candle on top and she would probably laugh and roll her eyes like all of us do when we try to sing the birthday song together {off-key}.


She would certainly join in on the obligatory embarrassing ridiculously goofy family picture that we always take. {Funny that we never plan for it to turn out this way... yet somehow they ALWAYS do!}

How do I know that she will participate?

Hmmmm....

I don't know her well enough yet to know which she would like better for a birthday dessert...

The yummy ice-cream cake with candy bar and cookie topping?

 Or something a little more pretty and personalized?

I wonder what she would choose when she could pick anything she wanted me to make for dinner and I am sure she wouldn't mind the attention she would get when all of us: mom, dad, brothers, sister, aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandparents came to celebrate with her.



I think she would get a kick out of having a "date" with mommy or daddy like we do sometimes with our kids.  If it were with mommy, we'd probably go shopping or to get our nails done- because I know how much she likes to be girly and have pretty things.

If it were with daddy, I bet they would go out for ice-cream and just be silly together- because I know she can be pretty goofy sometimes and daddy can always make us laugh. :)

Most of all, I pray that this is the LAST birthday that she will ever spend without a family to love on her and make her feel completely precious.

For you created my inmost being; 

you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 

  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; 

   your works are wonderful, 

   I know that full well. 

 My frame was not hidden from you 

   when I was made in the secret place, 

   when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 

Your eyes saw my unformed body; 

   all the days ordained for me were written in your book 

   before one of them came to be."  Psalm 139:13-16

Meul kam le deut {Happy Birthday}

to our beautiful girl! 

***I think we will be making some cupcakes today in her honor! :)

My Birthday Prayer

Today is a special day at our house! Yes, it is my 31st birthday, but something even more special than that happened today!


Can you guess what this is???

Here's a little better clue:

Yes, this is our COMPLETED dossier all ready to be mailed off to our adoption agency TODAY, on my birthday!!!  :)

In case you don't know what in the world a dossier is, it is basically just a huge pile of paperwork that includes everything about us and will be sent to the Ethiopian government to begin processing our adoption on their side. Everything in it had to be notarized and it includes things like our home study, police backround checks, tax forms, bank statements, birth certificates, passport photos, dr's forms, employment and reference letters, etc. etc. etc! Phew- I am just glad to be done with our part and be sending it off finally! It was definitely a lot more work than anything we had to do for Korea!

There is ONLY ONE more thing we will have to wait for before it can actually be sent to Ethiopia and that is immigration approval. We should be getting our fingerprint notice really soon and then we wait for the USCIS to approve us. After we are approved, our dossier will be on it's way first to Washington D.C. and then to Ethiopia!
It  is a huge milestone in the adoption world and what a perfect day to send it off! Yes, even with all that is happening regarding Ethiopian adoptions, we are still walking by FAITH and continuing on this journey that GOD called us on. We will keep taking each step until He closes the door.

We took a short trip to the coast this past weekend to celebrate my birthday and to just get away for a few days. It was pretty low-key, we did some shopping, eating, and walking along the beach. It was a bit chilly so we didn't spend too much time by the water, but it was just good to be together as a family. I hardly took any photos but here are a few of our time away.

Elliana was NOT very excited about the freezing cold water so Daddy held her most of the time!

These guys just got back last weekend from an awesome time with their Papa and Grandma. They went on a very fun and exciting Disney Cruise and didn't seem to miss us one bit for the 11 days they were gone! What a blessing to have such fun and generous grandparents who love to make memories with all of their grandchildren. I'll have to post pictures soon.

Look what the boys found! Gross!

A far away picture of my family...

And of course always thinking of my family who is far away...

This year my birthday wish, or should I say prayer, is that our awesome God will move many more mountains  and work many more miracles in the lives of His people. He is the Father to the fatherless and the defender of widows and I pray that I would rest in that truth this year. NO MATTER WHAT. 

I pray that His glory would be revealed throughout all the world and all generations and that He would allow us to be a part of His awesome plan and purpose for the world. I pray that I would know and rely on the LOVE that He has given me through Jesus. And that He would use every single difficulty this year to mold me and shape me into the woman that He created me to be. A woman who although weary and broken, follows hard after Him and a woman who although has many regrets from past mistakes, lives freely in Christ and is clothed in righteousness that He has given.

And of course my biggest prayer is that our family will ALL be together on my 32nd birthday, one year from today. ALL 8 of us. 

It seems absolutely impossible at the moment as I look at all the circumstances, but I walk by FAITH not by sight. 

He is GOOD. ALL the time. 

Thank You Lord for 31 years of LIFE. 

Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens,
   your faithfulness to the skies.
 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
   your justice like the great deep.
   You, LORD, preserve both people and animals.
 How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
   People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
 They feast on the abundance of your house;
   you give them drink from your river of delights.
 For with you is the fountain of life;
   in your light we see light.

Continue your love to those who know you, 

                         your righteousness to the upright in heart. 

Psalm 36:5-10

Her very own Bible

This morning I looked up from where I was standing in the kitchen and this is what I found.

I live for sweet moments like this.

She loves to carry around the chunky Beginners Bible that belonged to one of the boys a few years ago and find someone to read her a "Bible stowee." Every time I get out my Bible study to work on, she gets out her "Bible Stowee" too. This morning it was big brother Jensen who didn't mind getting cozy under a blanket by the fire with her. 





She gets a kick out of her brothers reading to her. And will sit still for a minute or maybe two....

Until she's ready to show off her skills.

She is no longer content to sit and LISTEN to someone else read her the stories. She wants to READ them herself! It is the cutest thing as she sits there and rambles on and on out loud about who knows what- although I am sure whatever she is saying is theologically correct! :) lol.


I love experiencing God through the eyes of a little child. At two, she is just beginning to discover the world around her and learning more and more about things like trust, obedience, sin, faith, and love. (not that she has any idea what those words mean, it is through life experience and relationships with her family and little friends that she is learning these things) I pray that as she grows, she would continue to have a hunger for God's word and want to know Him fully and deeply. I thank the Lord for 3 sons who love Him and their little sister enough to sit with her and take the time to read with her.


So glad I thought to catch this moment before it was too late.

.

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:14-15

Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. Psalm 8:2

See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. Matthew 18:10

Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."   Luke 18:15-17


*** P.S. Although we own the Beginner's Bible and obviously Elliana loves it, I recommend the Big Picture Story Bible if you are looking for a REALLY good Bible book for children that tells of God's redemptive plan from the beginning to end! We gave this to her on her dedication day last November. The one thing that isn't great about it is that it is a bit too heavy for chubby little hands to carry around- which is what two year olds like to do most of the day! But it is definitely worth investing in for your children anywhere from 2 to about 6 or 8. Thanks to my bloggy friend Noel for letting me know about this more than a year ago!

A few beach pictures: Better late than never!

As I was going through some pictures today I realized I hadn't ever posted any from our trip to the beach last month. We went for a long weekend to celebrate Elliana's finalization and my 30th birthday. It was not the greatest trip, as Elliana ended up getting really sick and we stayed inside a lot of the time we were there. So really I didn't even take very many pictures the whole time. Finally on the last day, she perked up enough for us to be able to head to the water and play in the sand for a while. She ended up sleeping for the first hour we were there and then woke up and wanted to be in daddy's arms most of the time. The weather was so perfect- I just wish she would have felt better to be able to enjoy it more! Oh well, I know we'll be back soon!

Here are a few pictures from the March beach trip

So precious asleep in the stroller


Only wanted her daddy at first


Then she started feeling good enough to play (with daddy still very close!)






Helping the brothers out




On a different day-
Elliana and brother looking for seashells


I know, this is so mean- but I just saw this picture and started cracking up! She had just fallen in the water which wasn't funny at the time, but looking back at this, she just looks a little pathetic. She got over it pretty quickly and was back running straight out to the ocean!


Daddy adores his daughter (look at where she is holding onto him- hilarious!)


Had to get atleast one picture with mommy in. It was my birthday after all.


Of course they would act like this when I try to take their picture. What else do you expect?!


Oh wait, this one's a keeper I think!


**So this was a pretty random post! I'll hopefully be back tomorrow with a little more substance and a few questions about homeschooling answered. :-)

Fun on the Fourth...

Austin's first time actually being allowed to light the fireworks... scary!


The grand finale!


More on Pictures for a Purpose.