Tag: Grace Page 3 of 20

Waiting on the God Who Acts

I was washing dishes, and Grace was practicing her Bible verses for class.

She rattled off Isaiah 64:4:  Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

And tears sprang to my eyes.

Suddenly I was taken back to ten years ago.  Gil and I had been through a miscarriage and two failed adoption attempts.  We were desperate to be parents.  We had been matched with Grace in May of 2006, and we had flown up to Northern Tanzania in June to meet her.  At that point, we thought it would be just a matter of days before we would be able to bring her home.

But the days stretched into weeks which stretched into months.  I flew up to Moshi three more times to try to get things moving.  We believed the problem was with an evil social worker who was preventing the adoption, but now that I understand more about Tanzanian culture and how adoption works here, I know that the delay had just as much to do with the mistakes of the orphanage.

We were asked if we wanted to just give up on this baby and choose another.  But we were committed to the child who would become Grace Medina.  As long as it took.

All of our adoptions have had snags and disappointments, but the months of waiting for Grace were the hardest.  I wasn’t just waiting for another child, I was waiting to become a mother.  I closed the door of her half-decorated nursery and couldn’t bring myself to go in.

One day in late October, I was asked to substitute teach for fifth grade at HOPAC at the last minute.  I quickly scanned over lesson plans as the kids came into the room.  The first lesson of the day was in Bible.  And it was on Isaiah 64:4.

I remember very clearly that as the students and I discussed the implications of God’s sovereignty in waiting patiently for Him to act, that I felt like I was talking to myself as the words came out of my mouth.  I was waiting for Him, and He would act.  I could have that confidence. I left the classroom that day with a new perspective.

Just two days later, we received the letter that allowed us to go pick up Grace.  And that beautiful promise was ingrained on my heart.

In the ten years since then, the Bible curriculum at HOPAC has not changed.  So when Grace–now in fifth grade and almost 11 years old–stood in my kitchen and recited the verse that quite literally is entwined in her story, it was a holy moment.

That night, I told Grace this story of that verse.  I did wait on Him.  And He did act.  And no one has ever seen or heard of a God like Him.

Starting Fifth Grade is a Big Deal for Both Grace and Her Mom

Grace and Miss Finocchi

My girl started fifth grade this week.  Fifth grade isn’t usually one of those landmark years, but for me, it is pretty significant.

Fifteen years ago, I came to Haven of Peace Academy to teach fifth grade.  It was 2001, and I walked into that same classroom.  I was 24 years old.  HOPAC was only six years old, and that classroom had just been built.  Cement dust was still all over the floor and not a single bulletin board was on the newly painted walls.

I was fighting my own internal battles as I prepared for that school year, many days barely coping.  But that class walked in on that first day, and we fell instantly in love.  After teaching in California, I was relieved to have a class that was not jaded by a culture that made them grow up too fast.  That classroom was my haven, and that class fed my soul.

When Narnia was being born, you could stick a hunk of metal in the ground and it would grow a lamppost.  Those days at HOPAC were the same.  The school was young and everything was new and we got the privilege of creating culture and tradition.  Some of the things my class did that year are still happening today, like Roman Day and the annual trip to the Amani rainforest.

I spent two years with that class, teaching them sixth grade as well as fifth, and many of those students have been a part of my life ever since.  Now fifteen years have gone by.

2002
2016

I watched them graduate from high school and I have celebrated their graduation from college.  They are now the age I was when I taught them.  They are my friends, and I think they teach me more than I taught them.  Many of them have returned to Tanzania to change their world.  In fact, Dorothy (center) leaves tomorrow to get her Masters in educational policy at Harvard, and then she’ll come back and transform education in Tanzania.

So yeah.  For my own girl, fifteen years later, to enter that very same fifth grade classroom?  Pretty darn cool.

And Now She’s Ten.

This girl……this girl made me a Mommy.  And now she’s blessed us with her sunshine for 10 years.  

Ten is a great age.  Self-doubt hasn’t hit her yet; she believes she can do anything without self-consciousness.  Her friends are the same; they love each other and cheer for each other without competition.  She loves her siblings, she loves sports and reading and crafts and trying out just about anything.  She can actually help me in the kitchen without being a liability.  She is a peace-maker and an includer.  She still holds my hand.  It’s pretty amazing that I get the privilege of being her mom.  

Photo credit for both of the above:  Rebecca Laarman

We celebrated yesterday with her friends.  They made their own picture frames, their own pizza, and their own ice cream sundaes.  (Can you tell Grace is all about making things?)  They made a huge noise and a huge mess but it was a party to remember.  But I think my favorite part was when a Korean friend brought an entire plate of sushi rolls and all the girls scarfed them down.  True Third-Culture Kids.  

My Favorite Kids, August ’till December

The emphasis around here lately has been on Johnny….but here’s a look into my other sweethearts’ lives.  

First Day of School
My first grader is lucky enough to have her brother’s teacher from last year
Josiah’s 2nd grade teacher
Grace’s 4th Grade Teacher (and soccer coach!)
Pamoja Week (like Spirit Week)  Photo credit:  Rebecca Laarman
Math Detectives for Math Week.  We actually bought the hats from someone who was selling them on the side of the road.  Because, apparently, these are the kind of hats Math Detectives wear.  Now you know.

Grace is emerging as a fantastic soccer player….thanks her to hard work and her Daddy’s instruction.

First grade assembly…Lily was the “prop girl” holding the water…she took the job very seriously.
Post-assembly love.
4th Grade Assembly

Now We Are Six

“Tiger”

Totally need to submit this to Awkward Family Photos

Just keepin’ it real.
Candy in mouth; tears gone.  Mostly.
What DID you get yourself into?

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