Elvis Sighting

I went to Elvis’s funeral on Monday. Probably not really, but you never know…

I actually went to Randy Levering’s funeral.  Randy and his wife Judy have been attending our church and the Masterpiece (adults with special needs) Sunday School class.  We see them in 2nd service; Randy and Judy were both in wheel chairs.  Randy loved to dress up as Elvis.  He brought scarves that he gave to children; sometimes he even wore a wig.  He made me smile about as much as does the stretch limo with steer horns that brings this special group of people to our building each Sunday morning.  Randy knew he was dying from the first day he started attending.  But I never saw him without a smile on his face.  From the reports of those who spoke at his funeral, I think this was his usual demeanor.  They spoke of a man who pushed Judy all over town in her wheelchair.  He had a 3-wheeled bike that he put a 3-person seat on so that he, Judy and their son could ride together. 

If you attend First Free and you haven’t already, I urge you to make it a regular practice to talk to “the guys” and Judy.  They fill our Worship Center with contagious joy that we didn’t even know we were missing before they came, but now I can’t imagine life without it. 

I was convicted by James 2 this morning.  The beginning of this chapter talks about showing favoritism based on how someone is dressed—social/economic differences.  We all notice differences, but in the church, we should see them as opportunities to get a little bit of heaven here on earth.  We think the USA is a melting pot?  Wait till we get to heaven! We’ll be floored by the beautiful uniqueness we see as well as the unity.

And Elvis is waiting for us.

 

Brilliant Thoughts

A few days ago I had some brilliant thoughts for a blog post.  Alas, however; I fell asleep and all is lost. 
This is Spring Break for LPS, and the weather is totally bi-polar.  We received about 6 inches of snow on Sunday, and it's supposed to be 70's on Friday.  I suppose that's the definition of spring.
We're at the nine-month home point with Daniel.  He's doing great.  This morning I told him it was "Dance While You Brush Your Teeth Tuesday."  He said, "Really?" in a less-than-convinced voice.  He's already learned to doubt a lot of what I say, so he definitely fits in with our family.  He did, however, spin in circles while he brushed.
A few weeks ago he told Dennis that he's scared to say, "I love you" to us.  I wonder if anyone else out there in adoption world can relate to that.  We keep saying it and trust that he will eventually internalize his safety in our family. 
He continues to make amazing strides in language and is doing great in school.  He's taking swimming lessons this week but says he won't go into the deep end until he's bigger.  It's always wise to know your limitations.

The Bible

The following is from my weekly newsletter for the Connecting Ministries team at our church.)

“Phew! That was close one!” 

As I shared on Facebook this week, that was Daniel’s response to the Abraham/Isaac sacrifice scene in the History Channel’s miniseries, “The Bible.”

I love his fresh perspective on this old story.  As he was watching, he would recount the details that he remembered from hearing the story in Sunday School or reading it in his Bible.  The next morning, he sat down with his picture Bible to see how many of the stories he could find.  He even said he had a dream about the angels (who came to Lot).

My reaction was more, not critical, but with a critic’s eye, maybe?  For example, I noticed in the Israelites fleeing Egypt scene that there weren’t nearly enough people in the Israelite camp (They were short about a million.).  Why did they include the story of Lot and not the story of Joseph?  Overall, I thought it was well-done and am looking forward to future weeks.

On the drive to work this morning, I wondered what it would have looked like if we actually had video footage of the biblical scenes.  I’m not one of those people who thinks heaven is going to have some cosmic movie screen, but I do think we’ll have opportunity for hearing stories from all parts of history.  Why?  Because they bring glory to the One who created everything; parted seas; spoke in whispers; brought fire from heaven; gave children to the childless, and on and on it will go.

This Sunday Ricky will challenge us to see that God’s goal is to reach people and we are the vehicle He is using in the current age.  Guess what.  If our neighbors are going to hear about Christ, someone is going to have to tell them.  I’m not saying a burning bush couldn’t appear in their yard, but I’m also not saying it’s likely. 

Because my current world is pretty Christian-centric, I’m challenging myself to develop more relationships with people who don’t think like me.  This week I started a beginning knitting class (much to my 14-year old’s horror).  I didn’t have a chance to do much more than introduce myself; I was too busy concentrating on the brand new method of knitting that I was being asked to learn.  But I hope I can use this as a way to just meet some people and be available to see what the Spirit would have me do with that.   If you live in a pretty small world, too, I encourage you to think creatively about how you also might broaden it.

Show Choir Season

Midwest Cup//That's What's Up

It's show choir season.  Chase's choir, "Resonance" competed last Saturday in the Midwest Cup at the University of Nebraska here in Lincoln.  We have this Saturday off, then we have or host competitions every Saturday through the end of February. Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way.  I'm a wear school colors and a button with my son's picture on it-kind of mom.  We spent about 14 hours at the competition last weekend.  We came away with 3rd place and debuted a ballad that, quite literally, brought people to tears.  It's going to be a good year... if Chase can be a good sport!  Show Choir is an area where you can tell if even one or two people haven't put in the time in rehearsal.  When you get a group of choirs that are all within shooting distance of the Grand Champion title, you can't say, "Well, we deserve this because we work hard." or "We want it more!" They all work hard and they all want it, and they're all leaving it all out there on the stage.  So, show choir turns out to be a good place to learn life lessons like saying "congratulations" when someone else is walking away with the 6-ft trophy that you really wanted, OR smiling when they have to stop you in the middle of your show because the microphones aren't working.  It's a place where you join with hundreds of others in singing "Hey, Baby" and "Sweet Caroline" just because you have a few minutes to kill, and you know that everyone will want to join in singing.  It's a place where alumni of the group come to cheer this year's group, and moms from different choirs share stories of the costs involved in having multiple kids in show choir.  I call it the "Show Choir Universe" because it's a world all unto itself.  And, I love it.  Here we go.

Revisiting December

Here are a few of my favorite shots from December. 

 We enjoyed an evening hosted by a good friend for her Christmas album release.  Note to self:  Have a professional photographer at any future gathering.

Hayden and Julia pose after the football season wrap-up concert.  Or should I say, marching band season wrap-up concert.

 Daniel was thrilled by our first big snowfall, but I don't think he realized just how cold it could be outside. Once we had him outfitted in snow pants and boots, he ventured out. A few days later, however, he told me that he liked it better when it was warm. Snow is one thing, but he's missing out on a lot of neighborhood football games.

 We celebrated Christmas at my sister's house and Isaac was able to come home from Denver.  Here he's taking Daniel and Madyson through the "Food Network" magazine.  Later he impressed us with one of his own dessert creations.

A moment of peace and love between brother and sister on Christmas morning.  As Whit commented, "We really do love each other."
This has actually been a really cool thing about Whit being in high school.  We've seen a closeness develop between her and Chase. 
Next week we move into "Show Choir Mode" as the season kicks off with a competiton here in Lincoln.  I LOVE show choir season.  It will pass too quickly.  I take my knitting bag and settle in for a full day of watching choir after choir. 
I guess I have nothing deep to share today.  We've settled into a new normal since Daniel's arrival six months ago.  That, in itself, seems like a huge accomplishment.

Okay, Fine Lisa Gard!

So, my bff noticed that I hadn't posted since September.  A lot has happened since then, but blogging... not so much.  We did manage to get the entire family into the same photo during our Thanksgiving celebration.  This will also be on our Christmas card since all six of us in the same room is a rarity.  That is quite sad, actually.  Daniel's arrival and the busyness that has surrounded that has taken some of the sting out of Hayden's move out of the house.  (His laundry still shows up once a week, so there's that...)

Thanksgiving weekend we also had THIS going on.

Which, of course, meant we were eating THIS.  For the non-Ethiopian food-educated among us, that is a very traditional meal.  We are blessed to have the African Restaurant in Lincoln.  They make food that Daniel simply loves.  It's all about presentation, wouldn't you agree?

Our boy turned seven. It was interesting to see a birthday through his eyes.  Approaching the birthday, he asked questions like, "Who blows out the candles?" The owner of the above-mentioned restaurant said that birthdays aren't celebrated in Ethiopia.  They might be casually mentioned, but not celebrated.  Because Daniel had no expectations, he was thrilled with the day.  We kept it intentionally low-key.  The day before had been Thanksgiving with its hype, food, crowd, etc.  On his birthday, he opened his gifts (A #3 Husker jersey was a big hit.), watched the Big Red beat Iowa, played football with his neighbors, went to eat Ethiopian food, and ate cake.  Happy Birthday, Daniel.

Daniel's six-month-home mark will be December 15.  It's amazing how quickly the time has gone and yet how much a part of our family he has become.

Okay, Lisa.  There it is.

Sometimes You Have to be a Bad Parent to be a Good Parent

This morning was one of those mornings.  The mornings that I just know I'm being judged and found wanting by Daniel's teacher and the other adults that saw Daniel at school.

It began with me being in the lead in the board game we were playing before school.  Daniel and I were the only ones home.  He won the first game by a large margin.  I was leading the second game, so Daniel decided to stop trying.  Then he decided to stop playing all together.  I put the game away.  Then, when I wasn't looking, he hid his glasses.  After I won that short battle of wills, we started getting ready to walk out the door for school.

I asked him if he wanted to go outside and see if he needed a jacket.  

"No jacket."

"It's chilly; you might want to check."

"No jacket."

"Okay, well how about I put your jacket in your backpack just in case you change your mind later."

"No.  No jacket to school."

So, we went to school without any jacket.  As we approached the drop-off area, I mentioned to Daniel that everyone was wearing jackets.  He looked at me with very wide eyes.  Possibly considering for the first time that his punishing me for winning the board game might come back to haunt him.

"Bye Daniel.  Have a good day at school.  I love you."

What did his teacher think when he showed up in 50-degree weather without a jacket?  I'll never know as I hope to refrain from defending myself at Parent/Teacher Conferences in a few weeks.  We'll see if I can win that internal battle of wills.  

I would much rather that Daniel win this battle today when it's 50 degrees if it allows me to win the war when it's 30 degrees.  I'll keep you posted.

Daniel, Chase and Cleo

With Uncle Brian at Rachel's wedding.  Daniel was very impressed with both the Chinese buffet and the candy.

 

Cousins.  Yep, family gatherings are going to be very interesting for awhile.