Grace | Amy Medina

Grace’s Pilgrimage

On July 18, 2015

“I’m from Moshi,” Grace would always proudly announce.

Yet she had never been there since she was 10 months old. So one of the main purposes in our road trip was for Grace to finally see the city where she was born. There’s a lot of questions about her history that we won’t ever be able to answer, so we want to be able to fill in as many holes as we can. Grace needed to see Moshi and her orphanage–to put together a few more pieces of her identity.

So we drove 340 miles up north to Moshi, the city that rests in the shadow of Kilimanjaro. She saw the building where she lived until she was 10 months old; she toured the orphanage and she met Mama Lynn, the founder of Light in Africa and the woman who welcomed her as a newborn.

This visit was meant to be all about Grace, but I found it to be a pilgrimage of my own. It all came rushing back to me–the first time I met her, the three subsequent trips up to Moshi by myself to fight for her paperwork, the social worker who battled me on it. I was relatively new to Tanzania, new to adoption or even any kind of parenting. That same year, I had a miscarriage and had gotten my hopes set on two other children whose adoptions fell through.

I wasn’t just fighting for a child, I was fighting to become a mom. The wait felt excruciating. It finally ended on November 1, 2006. Grace entered our lives with her sunshine, and our lives were never the same again.

God has been so good to us. It was good to remember.

outside the building that used to be the baby home where Grace lived for 10 months

at Light in Africa, outside the Girls’ Home

with Mama Lynn

Term 3: Pretty Much All About Sports

By Amy Medina

On June 21, 2015

In Other

These are a few of my favorite things: First grade boys with no teeth

The fire truck visits kindergarten

Farmer Lily in her kindergarten assembly

Josiah on Sports Day….God made him fast!

This one’s fast too! Won all her races that day.

And Lily….just had fun.

The night before the races, I asked her, “What’s more important than winning, Lily?”

She said, “Letting other people win?”

Grade 3 Assembly

U9 Girls’ Soccer…and their fantastic coach!

Grace ran her first 5K…at age 9! Josiah and Lily ran the 1K…and my little speedy, 40 pound 7-year-old boy took everyone down!

Everyone Needs a Little Grace in Their Lives

By Amy Medina

On January 11, 2015

In Other

It’s shocking to come to the realization that your daughter has something important to teach you.

Friday afternoon, Grace was in the kitchen with me, making her birthday cake for her party on Saturday. I was making dinner.

Lily pulled over a stool (as always). “Not this time, Lily,” I said. “This is Grace’s turn because it’s for her birthday. You can help next time.”

“It’s okay, Mommy,” Grace said. “I want her to help.” And she immediately set Lily to work.

A few minutes later, Josiah pulled up a stool. Once again, she graciously included him. Everybody had a job. She was calm. She was patient. She was kind.

And I was humbled by my nine-year-old. My kids love helping in the kitchen, but I get easily frazzled. I usually can only handle one at a time. Sometimes I can’t handle even one. Sometimes I don’t have the patience. Sometimes I have a hard time letting go of things I want done right.

Yet my daughter is an includer. There is always room for one more, as far as she is concerned. She is the best big sister I have ever seen. She has never once shunned her siblings (who are not always so easy to get along with). She is a peacemaker. She is almost always cheerful.

Her friends came over for her party yesterday, and she made the cake, and she planned the games. But my proudest moment came when all the girls were dancing, and two of the shyer ones sat on the side. Grace ran over, grabbed their hands, and pulled them into the group. I had tears in my eyes. She always includes.

Of course, she too has areas in her life where she needs God’s grace. But her genuine love for people, and her patience and friendliness, is where she is the example for me.