Day 11 (but who is counting?)

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Romans 3:21-26

So this week in bible study we studied this passage. We talked a lot about God's righteousness and our. I still am in awe of the grace he gives to us. How can he forgive me when I curse Him, forget Him, deny Him? But the awesome thing is - He does. I caught a little glimpse of the love He has for us. On Monday, Caleb was messing around in the bathroom sink making a mess. He has been told many times not too. So, he got "talked" to. I didn't yell, I was just very firm. He started crying. My heart broke. Eventhough he was in trouble and I wouldn't back down on that, I knew he needed to understand why. How do you explain to a 5 yr old kid who doesn't speak your language? I realized this is how it is with God. We mess up and feel so bad. We wonder how God can love us because we messed up. Just because Caleb didn't obey does not mean I love him any less. I love him more and more each day. God loves me even though everyday I mess up. How many times have I gone to God crying out of shame and sadness for what I have done. After explaining to Caleb what he did, I held him in my arms and told him how much I loved him, that I wasn't going away, and that he wasn't going anywhere. I realized, God holds me in His arms and comforts me ALL THE TIME. Caleb let me hold him, rock him and wipe the tears away. Do we let God do this? I know most of the time I push Him away saying "I am fine, I will be ok. I don't need you." I am so wrong. Isn't it a shame we push God away so many times when all He wants to do is rock us, pat our backs, and smother us in kisses (ewwwww Mommy! No kissing!). I love God and I love my kids.

I have this great friend who just sent me a CD of Mark Shultz. In one of his songs he talks about being a child and waiting. I cried when I first heard it. It is beautiful. Here is part of the song:
Oh child, precious one
Let your life shine like the sun
But you say “How long ‘til I can come home
‘Til I can rest in your arms again”
And I say “Not long but don’t miss this life and I’ll beWaiting ‘til then”
Live with the wonder of a child
Pray with your arms thrown open wide
Love with a love that has no end
Until I see you again
Oh child, precious one
With each breath know you are loved
But you say “How long ‘til I can come home
‘Til I can rest in your arms again”
And I say “Not long but don’t miss this life and I’ll beWaiting ‘til then”

How true. Everyday I pray for the childlike faith. I know I will see Christ again and then I will truly rest. But for now, live with Spirit, Love, and hope of the Lord.

OK, so finally I get to my discussion of "30 days of nothing". We are on day 11. Well, we have done really well with nothing. I admit we did break the rules for two nights. Every year we go to the corn maze. We splurged and went with the whole family. It was by God's grace we were all together (well at least until we entered the maze). It was so fun! For about half the time we pushed the stroller and then I decided to carry Sophia. The boys were hilarious! They didn't know if they should be scared or excited. At one point, Caleb said "Ohhhhh, scary over there. Giovanni you go!" It was so Caleb-style. I think they enjoyed carrying the flashlights more than going in the maze. It was great to have the big boys "scare" them from time to time and hide the corn.

The other thing we did was dinner with 7 other adoptive families that were here for training. It was well worth the "cheating" to meet them all. Other than those two times, we have had no lattees, fountain pops, fast food, restaraunts, ice cream runs, etc. It has been great getting into a schedule of dinners, lunches, and evenings. I miss lattes the most. We have pop at work provided by our boss, so fountain drinks are not that missed. I miss Starbucks on an early Saturday morning or before church. I know the boys miss chicken and french fries, but they are starting to learn we aren't doing that anymore. The sad thing is we still have so much! We act like it is some big sacrifice we are doing, but we really aren't.

We have had a great week. The boys are really starting to pick up everything. They are starting to recognize the sounds of letters and what they are, they almost have their ABC's down, they can partially count till 20, they are slowly getting better at puting lotion on and brushing teeth, and their language is awesome! We communicate so well. They even are starting to tease with us. They eat almost anything and have learned to say "I like ____" I don't like ____". They only really don't like soups, pb&j, and sausage and gravy. They have learned to eat whatever is put in front of them. We haven't had a "throw up" incident with Giovanni for quite awhile.

So, today is the 3month anniversary of returning home with them. Soon I hope to post some then and now items to remind me and everyone else, how far they have come.

With that, I leave you with pictures (did you think I would forget?).

How can you not go "Ohhhh, she is so cute"? This was a gift from my mom.

Dancing babies. They love to dance!

I definitely think the fro is George and blond is Sophia. What do you think?