I cannot really put everything into words, but today was one of the best days I have had in several months. I think it is a combination of so many things really. Yesterday, we decided to adopt a dog, a great dane named Bali, from one of our good friends. Her daughter is terrified of dogs, and she tried having a dog for protection from robberies, but she was robbed even with the dog. She decided to make life easier for her daughter by adopting out her dog (please pray for her cause she has been robbed 6 times in 7 months and it is exhausting and scary). All that being said, I am not happy about her loss, but getting a dog has been the dream of my 3 oldest kids for years and they had even convinced Polita and Nthabeleng that we should get a dog when we move back to America. Imagine their incredible joy when I surprised them all with a dog, now instead of when we move. They were so happy and spent tons of time outside with her today.
Then I got to sneak over to BG for 2 hours today so I could see one of my absolute favorite friends (Meredith) who is with a team for the next few weeks. We had a really nice conversation - despite the interruptions of my cute kids. I was able to share some deep feelings I have been working through with a friend who has known me for 18 years. It was pretty incredible and I thank God for that gift. Since I wasn't really supposed to have Polita and Nthabeleng there, I decided to take them out on a date to Spur while the rest of the family remained with the team and had dinner together.
Anyone who knows the BG kids, knows that they same the same prayer at every meal. Polita and Nthabeleng have been praying that same prayer every time they pray for the 51/2 months they have lived with us. Today at Spur, Polita prayed the most amazing prayer ever. She prayed for Kim, our friend who was robbed, for Bryan, Elijah, Faith and Mercy to have a good dinner and to get home safely and for us also to get home safely after we ate. I literally just started at her for a minute and then gave her a huge high five. Normally she says, "Father we thank you for the food, in Jesus name, Amen" Wow, so cool that she has been listening to the rest of us praying and that she is feeling comfortable enough to try her own prayer. The 3 of us had such a nice dinner full of smiles and laughter and I just stopped, thought about my life, and thought, "wow, I am so incredibly blessed."
There are many days that don't turn out perfect, but days like today make up for some of those bad days. Days where I can soak up the joy my kids have, and feel such peace that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I am doing exactly what I was meant to do, raising up 5 absolutely fantastic kids to know and love the Lord and to love each other.
I will leave you with something that really touched my heart. As we left the restaurant, we had decided to take a balloon home for Faith and Elijah because Mercy, Polita and Nthabe already had ones at home. When I got home, Bali was a little too excited to see us and the bumped Polita into a tree and the balloon popped. Polita started sobbing. I asked if she was hurt and she said no, she was just sad because she really wanted to give Faith something special. Wow, what a beautiful moment. Almost 6 months of being sisters and she wanted to be thoughtful and it broke her heart that her plan failed. Nthabe made sure Eli knew to share his balloon and all ended well. Adoption is a really big adjustment, but moments like this let me know that we defiantly made the right choice.
Just ;-)
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