God of all

My husband and I lately have been "lending" our individual ears to two different friends. Consequently, we have been watching the amazing ways in which God moves to lead people's lives. I must say not only has it been an honor to witness God's fulfillment of a person's destiny but it has been exciting as well, and I have been reminded afresh that our faith is not blind. We haven't chosen to trust a careless God! He truly is in the details and when it comes to leading one person to their purpose and destiny, if they are truly submitted to Him, there is absolutely nothing to be concerned about. Nothing and no one will stand between that person and that divinely appointed destiny. God will do His will in spite of anyone and anything! Have I seen it before? Of course! I have experienced it myself so many times!

When you are in the middle of it though, relinquishing your control is such a tough thing to do. Because you see, you have told Him you want to do His will, but there is still a preference in your heart. There is a desire that deep down inside you may be afraid He won't grant. Yet we don't realize that in saying "Your will, Lord, not mine" we are really signing up for an improved and better version of the dream we thought we had. We fail to understand that our dreams are not the original... His is. His plans for us WERE the original blueprint to that notion of a desire we have in our heart. How amazingly crazy, isn't it?

I will never cease to marvel at how carefully He orchestrates events and situations to create a beautiful story that only He could have authored!

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Mi esposo y yo, individualmente, hemos estado siriviendo de confidentes para dos amigos. Como consecuencia hemos estado observando las formas maravillosas en que Dios se mueve para dirigir la vida de las personas. Debo decir que ver el cumplimiento del destino de Dios en la vida de una persona no solamente ha sido un honor, sino que también ha sido emocionante y me ha recordado de nuevo que nuestra fe no es ciega. ¡No hemos escogido creer en un Dios descuidado y desinteresado! En realidad Él está en los detalles y cuando se trata de dirigir a una persona hacia su propósito y su destino, si en realidad están sometidos a Él, no hay absolutamente nada de qué preocuparse. ¡Nada ni nadie se interpondrán entre esa persona y su destino divino! ¿Lo he visto antes? Por supuesto que sí. ¡Lo he experimentado yo misma innumerables veces!

Cuando se está en medio de la situación, es difícil rendir el control. Porque le hemos dicho que queremos Su voluntad, pero en lo profundo de nuestro corazón hay una preferencia que tememos Él no nos concederá. De lo que no nos damos cuenta es que al decir "Haz tu voluntad, Señor, no la mía" en realidad estamos aceptando una versión mejorada del sueño que creemos haber tenido. No nos damos cuenta de que el sueño nuestro no es el "original" ...el de Dios sí es el original. Sus planes para nosotros ERAN los planos originales de la noción que nosotros tenemos de ese sueño. ¿Qué increíble, verdad?

¡Nunca dejaré de maravillarme del cuidado con que Él maneja las situaciones para crear bellas historias que sólo Él podría haber escrito!

little girls

This little girl likes to come in the kitchen and asks: "Mami help me nena?" And this is what she ends up looking like after she helps in the kitchen!

The other day I was in my bedroom and I could hear her at the top of the stairs yelling "aani"... finally I realized she was calling Ben. When he is downstairs and I need him, I usually go to the top of the stairs and call "Honey" so she was doing the same!

This little girl just figured out how to clap, how to wave and
when she is in the mood she'll do "so big"

She loves to snuggle, in fact, she has a hard time sleeping if she is not. This picture is one of those rare occasions when she stayed sleeping when I put her down and it was just too cute to pass

Eight months today!

My little one is eight months today. How fast time is going! It is funny how months and years seem to fly by and sometimes hours and days feel so long! Yet whether they feel quick or slow, there´s just no stopping them.

Yesterday, we were ready for church and it was still too early to leave (amazing, don´t ask how we managed that, I don´t know myself!), so we decided to linger around in our TV room letting the minutes go by. I sat in front of the computer, Ben turned on the Playstation 2. Between us, on the floor, where two little girls playing. Elena was on her little car that she "rides" around the house, Adriana standing in front of her holding on to the car. In that "zoned-out-but-still-tuned-in" mode that we seem to get into at times I heard Elena say something that sounded like "Walk, Aaana, walk", a quick glance to my right to see what it is all about and lo and behold, Adriana took three steps on her own! For her sister, nonetheless! They kept on playing as if nothing had happened as Ben and I stood still unable to respond. We knew she was close to letting herself go, but we still didn´t expect it yet.

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Mi bebita cumple ocho meses hoy. ¡Qué rápido se está pasando el tiempo! ¡Es curioso ver cómo los meses y los años parecen volar mientras que las horas y los días a veces parecen eternos! Pero vayan lento o rápido, lo cierto es que no hay forma de detenerlos.

Ayer, estábamos listos para irnos a la iglesia y era muy temprano para irnos (no me pregunten cómo, yo misma no sé cómo logramos tal hazaña), asi que decidimos quedarnos en la sala de la tele y dejar pasar el tiempo. Yo me senté frente a la computadora y Ben encendió su Playstation 2. En medio de los dos, en el suelo, dos niñitas jugaban. Elena estaba montada en el carrito en que "pasea" por toda la casa, Adriana estaba parada frente a ella, agarrándose del carrito. En ese limbo en que a ratos parecemos estar en que no estamos poniendo atención pero todavía estamos conectados, oí a Elena decir algo así como "Walk, Ana, walk" (instándola a caminar), di un vistazo rápido para ver qué estaba pasando y para mi gran sopresa, ¡Adriana dio tres pasos sola! ¡Y para su hermana! Ellas siguieron jugando como si nada hubiera pasado mientras que Ben y yo estabamos mudos de asombro. Sabíamos que pronto se iba a dejar ir, es sólo que no lo esperábamos tan pronto.

Weekend

We just got back from a great time here. Courtesy of Dad and Mom L. we had a wonderful time with a good portion of the "Levendusky Clan". Do I really need to say more?

About Adoption

To begin with, I am sorry is I misled anyone with my previous entry into thinking I had been to Guatemala. By having been home I meant her home, which I called my own for a season and is still my "home away from home". Sorry about the mix up.

Now for today's thoughts:
I was browsing a new magazine that reached my hands last week. I don't have much to say about the magazine in and of itself except for a couple articles that caught my eye. One of them, "Adopting Helen" not only caught my eye, but my heart as well, and with a choking voice and tears streaming down my face I read it to Ben in the car. We have a heart for adoption. Not a heart that is moved to tears by every adoption story we hear, but a heart that feels the gentle "tug" of the Spirit with certain stories we've come across.

My experience with understanding and appreciating the miracle of adoption began in my teen years, when we foster cared for two babies that were in the process of being adopted by friends we had in Arizona. I have seen firsthand how miraculously God opens a place in a family's heart for a child. I have witnessed the heart of a little child be knit to that of their "new" family with a bond stronger than blood. Early on I understood that adoption is more than a legal action, it is a Godly endeavor, it is a calling.

We don't necessarily know if and when God may call us to the loving task of adopting but we do know that we have a heart for it. It is so close to my heart, it is so close to Ben's heart, and we know it is even closer to God's heart for He adopted us as His own.

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Estaba leyendo una nueva revista que me llegó a las manos la semana pasada. No tengo mucho que decir de la revista en sí, excepto por un par de artículos que me llamaron la atención. Uno de ellos, "La Adopción de Helen" no sólo llamó mi atención sino también cautivó mi corazón. Con la voz quebrada y lágrimas rodando por mis mejillas se lo leí a Ben en el carro. La adopción tiene un lugar importante en nuestro corazón. No hablo de un corazón que se conmueve al punto de las lágrimas cada vez que escuchamos una historia de adopción, sino de un corazón que siente el gentil toque del Espíritu Santo con ciertas historias que escuchamos.

Mi experiencia en entender y apreciar el milagro de la adopción empezó en mis años de adolescente cuando cuidamos a dos bebés que estaban en el proceso de ser adoptados por amigos nuestros en Arizona. He visto en primera fila la manera milagrosa en que Dios abre un lugar en el corazón de una familia para un niño. He sido testigo de cómo el corazón de un niño se entreteje con el de su "nueva" familia hasta formar un vínculo más fuerte que la sangre. Desde muy temprano me di cuenta de que la adopción no es solamente una acción legal, es una tarea divina, es un llamado de Dios.

No sabemos necesariamente si Dios nos va a llamar a adoptar ni cuando pero sí sabemos que en nuestro corazón hay una pasión por la adopción. La adopción está íntimamente ligada a mi corazón, está íntimamente ligada al corazón de Ben y sabemos que está aún más íntimamente ligada al corazón de Dios porque Él nos adoptó como Sus hijos.

In more ways than one

There's no place like home! It is good to "be home" and it was great to "have been home" over the weekend. It sure was a long weekend of travel that rendered my little girls way too tired but that allowed this Mami for a wonderful time of "retreat and recharge". I have been reminded afresh why it is that we do what we do and that it does work for the glory of the Lord even when the daily grind clouds my vision and I can't see it all so clearly. God does have a reason to let us face the challenges we face and we are indeed fulfilling a kingdom purpose. Ben, in turn, had a different kind of retreat where he was also reminded of important things. Once again we see the blending of our individualities into the wholeness of our union and realize that in God's speaking to both at our different "levels of management", He gave us each a piece of puzzle that we now can make into a whole. There is fresh anointing, new details to tweak our vision and new tasks to accomplish our mission. All that from a weekend away... Isn't God great?

Finally!

This is the first morning in over a week that I feel like a normal person. Yay!! I'm still quite congested but at least I can function a little better. And just in the best of times for we have been busy and are about to go out of town.

Let me tell you how much it blesses me when we have people over. I love planning for invitations and having people over for meals but I love it even more when people feel comfortable enough to drop by on a very short notice. We had friends over after church on Sunday for a movie and dessert. An "adult" themed movie (and by "adult" I mean something that has no animated anything in it!) was very much welcomed by yours truly after almost memorizing whatever the "trend" is with Elena, lately it's been this. Monday night we had other friends for dinner. This time we had a wonderful time with a little family just like ours. Elena had her friend to play with and we fellowshipped and enjoyed the conversation. Last night we had even more friends over and we ended up having two more unexpected but very welcomed friends and we had a great time watching American Idol.

Tomorrow we leave town to visit family and won't be back until Tuesday. Laundry and packing are the main activities of the day, followed by cleaning so we can come back to a clean house. So off I go to make sure I travel with everything we need!

How can you not love this face!

I'm telling you... even in the worst of days how can a smile like that not refresh you even a bit!

New discoveries

*Well, there's still no major improvement in my health yet. I'm really getting tired of this. I have no energy or desire to do anything and everything is piling up. My sweet babies have crusted little faces and cry at the sight of a tissue! They are also tired of being sick.

*Today we are just lounging. Ben has a lunch meeting so Elena is happy to have her all time favorite hot dog and I'll see what I can throw together for myself that won't hurt my throat and make me cough. This too shall pass, right?

*Interestingly enough, the last time I lost my voice like this was exactly four years ago in Turkey.

*When I went to bed last night I composed in my mind a most inspiring post that I just can't remember now, so the following little story of Elena should have to do... sorry.

*I came downstairs to find Elena sitting in the couch playing with her fingers. As I got closer, very excitedly she held out her finger and said: "Mami! Kook (look)! Nose!" I looked at her finger and realized the discovery she had just made. I explained that though a very interesting discovery, we don't go around playing with the "surprises" we find in our noses. She is still quite mystified though... how do you tell her that this wonderful new discovery is not so wonderful after all! he,he,he...

Three days...

and still sick... I wish I could be feeling better but that's not the case. Much to my frustration, my voice is still shut, I'm still coughing like crazy and my head is pounding, and I could go on and on, but why bother. Tuesday we were blessed with dinner from a church friend (thank you Lord!) but life needed to get back on track so we have had to go out these past two days. Tonight we're home for good and there are no needs to travel until Saturday night. Leftovers for dinner tonight and "prayerfully" tomorrow I WILL feel better to cook again. I'll check with you again when I feel more like a normal person!