Tidbits on Leila

The latest news - we are waiting. Yep, nothing new, but we are praying this guardianship document will be signed THIS week. That is the plan. Please join us in prayer! Our friend and adoption coordinator that's helping us through the LINK returned from Niger about a week and a half ago, and these are some of the things she shared from her visit:

• Poihn (orphanage director) continues to be cooperative. This is good for the families trying to adopt and for the children because hopefully, this means they are eating regularly because he is willing to comply with the rules to receive funding for food and other basic necessities. I seriously pray daily that God would give her supernatural vitamins that I know her body is desperate for. I wonder if she ever gets fresh fruit that I love so much, and I can't wait to see her eat ice cream!
• Leila's birthmother and Leila's maternal grandfather have agreed to sign the guardianship document. Again, that is hopefully, this week. TIA (This Is Africa), so we are cautiously optimistic but know that God can move mountains. Poihn was supposed to be the one signing, but that changed once again. I'm not clear why but again TIA. I pray they will be able to get her  birthmother and grandfather to the notary, and that they will be ready and at the place where they need to be picked up to get there.
• Apparently, her birth mother also has either a birth certificate or something that documents her blessed arrival, so that would tell us how old she is and when we can celebrate her birthday! I'm also cautiously optimistic on this one...with language and cultural differences, this could be something completely different.
• Dankarami and Rodrigo (both are in Niger with The LINK) are very confident that this will be easy from here on out. I am wondering how they're defining "easy", but I'll take their confidence!
• I saw Zalika's momma at church on Sunday and she congratulated us that we were one step closer (I hesitated with a thank you because I didn't feel like we had made a lot of progress; at least until that document is signed). But regardless, her husband is in the know as the founder of The LINK, so it sounds like I need to be more excited about the progress! Anyway, she told Zalika that Leila could be here soon, and she said Zalika started jumping up and down with excitement. So sweet. That is a moment I can't wait for - to see those 2 girls that grew up together in such hardship meet once again with a much brighter future ahead.
• It's been a year since we started this process - that is hard to believe!
• We have tried so hard to be patient through this process that Geoff and I think it's also made us a bit apathetic. Blah. Not a good place to be. So, we are committing to more fervently get on our knees, give thanks and seek the Giver of Life for this precious little girl and her journey to our family.

It Is Finished

I love that simple statement that changed history and changed my life. As he hung dying on the cross, Jesus proclaimed that "It is finished." The debt has been paid. I don't have to do anything because His grace is sufficient. I don't know about for you, but that is a huge relief. Grace. All we need is His grace. I don't have to spin my wheels, or "do, do, do" to be good enough. I mean, who's defining good enough anyway? Me? Society? My human expectations are too high to be normal or at least keep me sane and allow me to sleep, so it's probably not a good idea to follow those. So, I thank God for his unending grace. With it, I have freedom, and with Him, I want to live differently. I want to be different. I don't do things because I necessarily have to (diaper changing is an exception along with brushing my children's teeth) or because someone says I should. I do it because He loves me and He's changing me from the inside out. He's shaping my heart, and that is real love. Without Easter and without the cross there is no real love. What a beautiful exchange of ugly sin for true forgiveness in the picture of the cross. I pray you felt that for yourself this Easter, and that in your heart you know you are loved and His grace is for you and for me no matter what you've done or what's been done to you.

We have had a sweet Easter season, and a Holy Week that is always more precious than the one before as our kids (or at least Mary-Michael!) grow to understand what this time of year really means. There were still lots of plastic eggs and candy from various Easter gatherings and parties. I mean, it's hard to avoid and that's ok. I for one am a sucker for all things sweet, so we have thoroughly enjoyed a treat from the Easter treat bucket after meals (including momma and daddy). But really, I do want Easter to be about Jesus and not a bunny. So, we did a lot of reading about the days leading up to the Resurrection, took the kids to an annual cross-raising at our church at sunrise on Good Friday, went through a Remembrance Walk to remember what Jesus endured for him to be able to say, "It is finished." And of course, sweet Easter Sunday.

On the bitter side of this sweetness, in moments like these holiday times, I think about what Leila might be doing. If she's even aware of the awesome treasures and hope we have in Jesus or if she's simply just hungry, or sick, and no one is there to hold her or tend to her. The Holy Spirit pokes my heart at random times throughout my days. Sometimes, when I'm grumbling about another load of dishes to unload or the laundry pile that is growing on the couch...poke...I think I probably needed that. To be reminded of my blessed life. Gratitude. Perspective has a way of shifting you from ungratefulness to gratefulness, especially when you've seen Africa or another place of such poverty. Women are washing dishes in a river that they carried on their heads for a mile. And a washing machine? Yeah, right. That's also called a river and 2 good hands. So, what am I complaining about? Well, I still do it, and God still gives me grace, but hopefully, I am doing it a little less. And I'm doing more of saying thank you and being grateful for this good life I'm living. It sure makes a difference in my home when I'm doing that.

Here's some Easter pictures from this year. Hopefully, we'll have a 3rd child with us next year!

Mary-Michael's friend from preschool has a massive Easter egg hunt and party every year. Over 300 eggs, bags of candy just dumped and a big chocolate bunny hidden for each kid. There were 14 children, so all that candy I mention above, we can thank Anna for that!

Hunting with Daddy.

Anna and Mary-Michael - sweetness.

Easter egg dying time! They are listening to instructions here. Each child had a dozen eggs to dye. Though he looks awfully interested, Frazier dyed one egg before he moved on to the below.

He would have eaten his dinner here had we let him.

This boy loves all things machines. 

Topping the night off with an ice cream Sunday.

We really enjoyed having Easter lunch at our home. We had a full table with our family, my Dad and Beth, my brother and his bride-to-be, Christina, and her parents and brother. We showed them a little farm life with some 4-wheeler time and some target practice afterwards, which felt a little sacrilegious on Easter Sunday. No judgment please!

This is the best and worst hand-me-down we've received of late. Best because it's so loved and worst because it's so loved so both want to drive. ALL. THE. TIME. 

Yea, this is our Easter picture. On the trampoline with no shoes. 

Oh, and Princess Belle had to join in, too. She also had a turn on the trampoline. 

I felt so crafty doing this banner (even though all I had to do was print, cut, laminate and hole punch). It will probably still be hanging at Christmas, but it's a great reminder of Christ's love. I love Ann Voskamp over at www.aholyexperience.com who provided this printable and this beautiful explanation, "It comes right out of the Gospel of Luke: “And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them…” (Luke 22:19 NIV). In the original language, “he gave thanks” reads “eucharisteo.” The root word of eucharisteo is charis, meaning “grace.” Jesus took the bread and saw it as grace and gave thanks. He took the bread and knew it to be gift and gave thanks. Eucharisteo, thanksgiving, envelopes the Greek word for grace, charis. But it also holds its derivative, the Greek word chara, meaning “joy.” Charis. Grace. Eucharisteo. Thanksgiving. Chara. Joy."

And what's Easter Monday without a Busch Gardens trip with Nonnie!?

Our Blog Will Be Going Private

Hi friends and family,

In order to honor and respect the habits, traditions, expectations, and culture in which the hopeful adoptees of Niger were raised and will be living in until the process is finalized, we have been asked to no longer publicly post pictures and names of the children the families hope to bring home with references to adoption and family.

If you have tagged Geoff or myself on Facebook or shared our story on social media, and it relates to Leila, we are so grateful for your so support, but would you please consider removing our tag? Thank you so much.

Because it's important to us to continue to share our story with our friends and family, we will make our blog private in 1 week on Thursday, April 24th. We hope you will want to continue to follow us in this journey whether you're a close friend, family member or former colleague. If you do, send me a quick email at terra.Lawrence@gmail.com with your name and email address and "blog" in the subject. Then I can add you to our safe contact list.

If you have any questions about this, please let me know. And I look forward to sharing a new update soon on this specific part of our family's journey! (There's your teaser!)

Geoff and Terra

A Letter to the Nation of Niger On Why We Want to Adopt (especially when we can have children)

This is part of our massive packet of information being sent over to Niger (to then be translated into French) that will be reviewed to determine our eligility to adopt. Simply stated yet full of our heart and truth. 

To Whom it May Concern:

There are approximately 143 million orphans in this world. We are choosing to adopt because we know there is a need to care for the under served, and we can't just live in our comfortable and blessed lives and not do anything. We must do something, and for our family, that "something" is to make that astounding statistic one less.

Adopting children has been on our hearts since we met each other, and when we committed our lives to each other through marriage, we knew we would grow our family through adoption, as well as through biological children. This was our dream and still is. We have been blessed with a biological daughter and a biological son. Now we have the opportunity to bring home a daughter through adoption, and we are incredibly excited to have her join our family.

We will provide a loving, nurturing and life-encouraging environment for our hopeful daughter just as we have for our other 2 children. We want to give her an opportunity to learn, thrive, dream big dreams and reach those dreams that we know are in her heart. We love the country of Niger and will work to teach her about her heritage, so that one day she may serve and champion the nation she came from.

We look forward to bringing her home soon.

Sincerely,

Geoff and Terra Lawrence

Springtime!

Here's our life in pictures (in no particular order) from the last few weeks. Full and fun with a little crazy mixed in! We are loving the warm weather!

There are no words for this one...

Breakfast anyone?

Celebrating Mary-Michael at her preschool art show! Great job darlin!

And except for Frazier almost knocking down a large display (at which point I looked at Geoff and said, "That was YOUR son.") we enjoyed the fundraising event!

Celebrating Mary-Michael's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese with our family.

She wasn't so excited about this after a few seconds. It's not quite as thrilling as Busch Gardens and this girl likes her thrills.

Celebrating cousin Bexley's 2nd birthday. She wasn't too sure about driving it but Frazier didn't give it a second thought!

So sweet.

And Mary-Michael had her turn, too. 

Loving on Marley - the newest Lawrence pet. She's an awesome kitty and so lovable. 

On our way to Chippokes State Park for the first camping trip of the year! Mary-Michael rode with Addison for some girl time.

Well, I guess Marley is not really the newest Lawrence pet if 2 hives of bees count. These came last week - 10,000 to 12,000 bees in each hive. WOW! 

Our friend Katherine picked them up for us and helped Geoff set them up. Can't wait for our own honey! And for the worriers, yes, we have epi-pens. 

Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit after several weeks in Texas. They also came bearing fun gifts from Texas and Mexico!

Yesterday we enjoyed a visit by my cousin, Blair, and her 2 boys. They came from Charlottesville to play, and it was great fun to be together.

Popsicles on the porch.

Not so easy to get 4 under age 5 to look at the camera at the same time.

We ended our time with a nice walk - 4 year olds in one stroller and 2 year olds in another!

Celebrating 4 Years of Mary-Michael

Sweet girl,

G.i.r.l. You are a little girl now. A little girl with ideas, opinions, likes, dislikes, dreams, innocence and hope. We love you so much and delight in the person you are becoming.

What fun we had celebrating your birthday with 3 little friends that were equally excited to have "tea" (aka strawberry lemonade) and lunch with you. Aunt Keesha and Eddie came down and helped with the preparations, Daddy and Nonnie were here and of course, Frazier wasn't left out. He wanted to do everything Sissy did, and most of the time, you are just fine with that. 

You really do take care of others well. Your teacher tells me this - that you always make sure everyone's included. You shepherd your little brother along in most activities you're doing. You hate to hear him cry, especially in the mornings, when you think it's your job to ensure he's ok even when you're not supposed to leave your room until that 7 shows up on your digital clock. You ask if we can pray every time you hear a siren, so we do, and now you're starting to do it on your own. The innocence and pureness of your prayers - so sweet! You are regularly giving me things "for people that need them" like clothes, toys and hair bows. I am grateful you've caught on to the spirit of giving and thinking of others first. Though in the house, I'm still regularly singing, "Do to others, do to others, as you would have them do to you," when it comes to your brother…yea, that sibling thing, it's a work in progress and will be for many years.

I've been telling you for months that you could start ballet when you were 4. I didn't mean the day you turned 4, which has been quite confusing as you were ready to go. When asked what you wanted to be when you grew up at school this week, you stated, "a ballerina." I guess we better sign you up for those lessons!

Other things you love: chocolate and anything else sweet, meat (good thing we have a little farm), cheese, berries of all kinds, carrots, raw broccoli, clothes, accessories, jewelry and Sophia the First! I mean what little girl doesn't love her, especially little girls that don't even have the Disney Channel! I'm still amazed that you've hung on to your love of all things Sophia when you can't even watch the show. We have a goat named after her, and you wanted to name your new adopted cat (happy birthday to you from Momma and Daddy!) after her. We nixed that and right now you're sticking with her given name of Marley. Yesterday, her name was going to be Rose, so we'll see where we land. 

Because we don't have enough animals, we did let you pick out a cat from the shelter for your birthday, and you picked a sweetheart that loves to snuggle. She's 2-3 years old and overweight, so we already have to put her on a diet! We hope she'll settle in easy here. You are very excited to have her staying in your room. 

On the more "extra grace required" side of you, you and I certainly have had some challenging mother-daughter moments (ok, they are probably normal, but new for me!). I'd say that since preschool started we've entered a new world of attitudes and defiance. It hasn't been the easiest, but I am thankful (most of the time) that I am the one to guide you through it since I get to be at home. My prayer life has grown tremendously because Lord knows I can't do it without His grace. I see some of my own characteristics coming out in you that I have struggled with: shyness and that oh-so-fun Type A personality. So, as I'm working with you on how to handle those "big feelings" I'm fine tuning my own, as well. Parenting is definitely not a one way street. At least not in this house!

Despite those normal childhood woes, you are precious, beautiful and oh-so unique. You love to talk at night about favorite animals and colors, and you often ask me to sing "Redeemed" or "Amazing Grace." Things do not end well if we don't say, "I love you forever and for always. Don't let the bed bugs bite. I'll see you in the morning." Every single phrase. Oh and a back scratch, too. 

We love you, Mary-Michael. And though I know you know this (because you tell me I tell you all the time), "You were created for a purpose. God has a great big plan for your life, and you don't want to miss it!"

Momma

Mary-Michael and Charlotte. Gotta love the 4 sizes too big dance recital dress from a yard sale!

Mary-Michael and Addison.

Mary-Michael and Sherry Lee.

Homemade cupcakes. This was my first time making cupcakes and icing all from scratch. It was time intensive but quite delicious! I made 4 little doll cakes using the pans from the Lawrence Family collection (e.g. the pans were probably used for Aunt Melissa or Aunt Keesha - love it!).

Decorating picture frames. 

Painting, beads, hot glue and markers - fun stuff!

The dining room was pretty in pink!

Brandi made a very sweet banner for the birthday girl.

Time for tea!

Yogurt parfaits, sandwiches, apples, cheese/crackers and chips were on the menu. 

Happy Birthday to you!

Make a wish!

Four sweet girls in a princess tent. 

Sibling love with Sherry Lee helping Frazier. :)

Stats from Your 4 Year Check-Up

Height - 3' 4" (50th percentile)

Weight - 34 lb 6 oz (38th percentile)

Overall - 39th percentile for your age

You are such a brave girl with no tears when you had your shot, too. 

Leila Update

"It’s only by amazing grace you are born where you are — to be abundant, amazing grace for someone born somewhere else." -Ann Voskamp

Is God calling you? Pause and listen. What or who is in front of you that you haven't noticed?

Well, there's never a dull moment with adoption. We received news yesterday afternoon after a recent meeting with Dankarami and Leila's birthmother. Her birthmother said she wants nothing to do with this and that Poihn has full control to choose whether or not Leila is adopted. For Leila, this makes me sad, but I understand from a mother's point of view it probably feels easier to let someone else make the decision. I can only imagine the heartache and pain Leila's birthmother has experienced in her life.

Under Nigerien law, Poihn has legal guardianship of Leila, so as long as Poihn is willing to sign this is very good news for us and Leila. Leila's birthmother also admitted that she has no idea who the birth father is, so we don't have to travel down that road. Poihn told Dankarami he WILL sign the papers for Leila and wants to do it before he heads to the Ivory Coast in the coming weeks. Awesome!!! This also means Geoff will have to go over there to sign the guardianship paper on our behalf in front of the Nigerien notary, which over there is like a high up clerk of court. We are exploring if this is our only option since a plane ticket to Niger is a hefty sum of money.

If Poihn is true to his word, and he signs discharge papers, he will be terminating his rights completely, which means after this we would only have to do the government stuff to complete the adoption. God has opened this door when before Poihn said he would never let her go, so we are incredibly thankful for this new news. Please keep praying for God's favor in all of this and for our sweet Leila to get what she needs while she's still there - food, clean water, affection and love, a safe place to sleep and a glimpse of her heavenly Father.