We traveled afar and we find familiar faces and voices in the places you least expect.
We almost lost our connection in Frankfurt to go to Moscow and as Brian and I ran like crazy from one terminal to the other, I got to say hi and good bye to a coworker on his way to India!! We made it …just the last people to enter the plane but our suitcases did not make it!
We got to Moscow and we ran again to the passport control, last time we were more than an hour waiting in line. This time there was only two people in front of us … great!!! Except … that there was a problem with my visa … they took me aside, and after ½ hour they fixed the problem: I was given a business visa as a male instead of a female !!!
Oh, well, it was nice to be out of there and see Vlad waiting for us. It is the end of May and it should be nice outside but no, it is cold and it is raining. So, we waited for Vlad to bring the car and as we are looking for his car to come pick us up we saw an Italian couple we had met on our first trip adopting from the same orphanage as Y and the only people that shared Y birth day party back on May 1st, they were running with their child towards the airport so we ran after them and say hi and goodbye!!! Then ran to Vlad’s car in the rain…
We got to our Hotel and as we sat to drink a cappuccino, the radio was playing “tengo la camisa negra” de Juanes!!! (Colombian singer)
The world is so small these days.
Thanks for your prayers, Thanks Flamingo Road Church for your prayers and comments in our blog. I don’t know how to say this …. But really … all we need and what we need the most right now is Prayer. Thanks a lot!
We have a delay in one of our papers; our kids are extremely anxious when left alone with us; I am not feeling very well in terms of emotions/hour difference; and even though we saw familiar faces and voices, we still feel like strangers in a different world.
Our adoption friends are arriving today from Arizona to do their 2nd trip adventure: that is a blessing for both of us.
Baby Shower and other good news
Lola and my niece both enjoyed the Euro Tub we got from my sister Debbie. Then my niece G actually used it and gave the two thumbs up!We are so excited! as well as … so many other feelings. This is like any other experience I ever experienced before. We are leaving Sunday!!!!!!
Shopping has helped me to keep my mind busy: gifts for two orphanages, two kids and two sets of directors and doctors. I love to buy gifts so I am having some fun.
We also got a lot of gifts on our shower. Actually after returning some gifts that were repeats and the gift cards, we were actually able to buy most everything we had in our list!! That was pretty good! Thanks to my sister, her husband and their little G that behave so well and allowed them to do some planning for the shower.
Thanks for all the messages you have left on my last post … I feel I have so many good friends out there … we really need it. Thanks.
Hey, I did my first attempt to scrap booking for the baby shower.
Our good friends from Sarasota drove all the way here to be with us. Thanks D, C, V and J.
The shower was more like an open house .. come whenever you can and …well as often in our house people stayed until late. Brian made fresh pasta every time a group came by … always delicious. We did not have shower games except for one questionnaire people filled out about our kids .. We also had men and children in our shower so it was not the traditional type but we had so much fun meeting with all of family and friends in our house just before we travel.
The gift that came through the pain of infertility
My sister Raquel is planning an adoption baby shower for us this weekend. Thanks Raque!My good friend from work asked me today at lunch if there was a possibility at this stage of our adoption process for it to fall through. I know what she was trying to say, for she cares for Brian and I and she has seen me cry before.
You see, working on IT you always have to think of all possible scenarios and be prepared for it just in case. I answered: “If I have to write the test cases for this “project”, I would have to have some scenarios that would handle that possibility.” I also know that being an IT person, I should then be cautious and ask my sister to have the baby shower when we come back … Just in case! When the “project” is finished and “successful”
Infertility taught me a great lesson: I am not in control. It is a hard pain to go through but I feel I have the gift today to know for a fact, with no doubts that I am not in control. I know that some people think they got pregnant because they …. were relaxed, did not drink as much coffee as I do, maybe did better research, were brave to go through more invasive treatments, etc, etc, etc. the truth is, they are not in control either.
So, why do I consider the simple act of realizing that I am not in control an actual gift for my life? Because it takes me closer to the conclusion that God is in control and that He can be trusted! For He is good. If I believe that God has control over my life … that changes everything! Every possible scenario has to vent to the place He finally wants.
So, I am praying for the best outcome and I know many of you are, for what we are SOOO thankful; we really don’t know what the future holds … but we know Who holds the future!!!
I also have Hope … (another precious gift) “To hope is to anticipate. It is more than dreaming, however. It is possessing within ourselves an expectation that someday there will be the fulfillment of that desire. It will become a reality. Hope always looks to the future, it’s always on tiptoes. It keeps us going. It makes a dismal today bearable because it promises a brighter tomorrow” Charles Swindoll
So, I will celebrate this weekend together with my family and friends the gift of communion and fellowship in the Hope and the prayers that Y and D will be soon our children.
I thank you Lord for the pain of infertility, for it is hard and hurts but really has taken me closer to you, it has taught me You are in control, it has kept me in this humble place of needing You and your provision and I just don’t want to leave that place for you are my real treasure.
Meeting our Kids (part 2)
Remember my picture after meeting our kids? Well, I was not the only one needing a hug (as Suz suggested) We met that night late with our friends in Moscow and they also had their first time meeting their baby girl! We were supposed to meet at the lobby at 7pm and somehow we got all confused, they were waiting for us at Moo Moo’s and by the time we went to Moo Moo’s they were gone, but at the end we met for a glass of wine and beer at the hotel.I was still worried because Y cried the whole time and they were worried because their girl did not cry at all and just behave very nice!! Can you believe that! So we started talking about our worries and encouraging each other … it was great and needed! (Thank you guys!) .. to have someone to talk to and let it all out and that the person actually understands the situation .. it is just great! I remember the time that one of them was explaining an issue I never heard of concerning adoption and my response was: “What was is it that you worry about so I can worry about” that was it! We just started laughing at ourselves.
I believe we all need to pray for God to bring people around us at the time of our adoptions that we can relate to and socialize with. God provided for us 2 wonderful couples that stayed very close to us and still are today and also God provided some other couples that were just great people to be with at breakfast with whom we had some quick, but somehow deep conversations.
So we survived Thursday! And Friday came. We went to visit D first, since we did not actually get to interact with him on Thursday for he was napping.
Ok, so here we go, my two kids cried when they met us!!! Yes, he cried too! Like a boy, just for a little bit, but he cried and actually just waited for a door to open and he just ran out of the meeting room to the kids room; and because of that, again, we were able to see our son interacting with the other kids and once in his environment he was pretty cool!!
We took pictures and he was very interested in both of our cameras – he likes electronics – and music! His favorite toy in the room was a drum! I know, good-bye to our quite home.
We played and laugh together for a while. Brian got to play with him since he is used to see men he was equally comfortable with both of us; the orphanage director is a man. Ok! So I was not going to say anything, but … I will. Here we go:
So, I was really intrigued why D’s orphanage was considered the best and “richest” orphanage in Moscow and why Y’s orphanage was considered the “poorest” (I really could not see the difference)
Well, we had a different driver this time on Friday and he actually told us that D’s orphanage is the best orphanage in Moscow because it is the only orphanage in Moscow that is run by a MAN!!!! Ok, so I said it! I did not enjoy that comment! May be I am just silly and/or you have to be there. Anyhow, let it go …
So was time to go to Y orphanage. I handed him to the caretaker and as I was leaving I looked back and blew a kiss at him … he smile and blew a kiss back to me!! It just makes me cry even as I write this!!
(To be continued)
Review of the restaurants close to Arbat street.
As I promised, this is a review of the restaurants close to Arbat street.Ok, so Brian and I did not eat at McDonalds, TGI Fridays no even Baskin’s Robins while we were in Moscow Are you surprised? even though these restaurants are all found on the Arbat Street. Well, the way we see it is, we can always get to one of those when we are home (not likely really!) so why not venture into something new and exciting!!
We were so tired while in Moscow that we actually never got to have dinner in the actual Arbat street. You see, when you walk from the Arbat Hotel towards the Old Arbat street you will find plenty of restaurants.
Right across the street from the hotel, there is the newly open restaurant called Hindu serving Indian fusion cuisine. We went inside and got to see the décor and environment. Pretty nice furniture, hardwood floors, it looked very upscale. Their chef is one of the most famous Chef in London and he just opened this location in Moscow 1 month ago. The prices are in Euros – around 30 Euros per dish. Bentleys, BMW’s and 7 series Mercedes are the type of cars parked at dinner time. Brian and I did not eat there. I just was not in the mood for the celebrity-chef type of restaurant plus I like Indian food but would not want to pay 30 Euros for one dish.
If you continue walking you’ll find a French restaurant – Great Food! Decent prices. The picture above shows the dish I ordered – Sea Bass Provence Style: Just Delicious! I know some of you would not touch this dish – since it comes with the head! – the meat between the fish cheeks is the most delicious – Ask any fish connoisseur :)
Water in Moscow is more expensive than ordering Russian Champagne – so what do you do? Yeah – get some Champagne and caviar while you are at it! Anyways, I highly recommend this French Restaurant for food, ambiance and great service: very friendly people. Brian had some chicken breast wrapped in bacon in a creamy mushroom sauce it was awesome! It came with potatoes. We also shared a green salad that was also very fresh and tasty.
Continue the walk and you’ll find a Turkish Restaurant: our favorite! I love Middle Eastern food and this was great and tasty food. For lunch, this restaurant has a US$10 special where you get to choose one type of salad, one type of soup, one meat dish and your choice of coffee or tea. For meat dishes they have a choice for chicken, beef or Lamb. Go for the Lamb!! Or any other will just taste great. The Lentil soup is to die for and you also have the option of chicken soup. I love lentil soup anyways! So this is a great Lunch alternative when you are in a budget since Moscow restaurants can be very expensive.
Across the street from the Turkish restaurant there is a Uzbekistani restaurant – the food is similar to the Middle Eastern cuisine but it was not my favorite – I would not go back to it, plus, you have to pay cash since they do not accept any other type of payment!
Then, right next to this restaurant is the famous Moo Moo restaurant. Great food at very reasonable prices. There are lines at any hour of the day to order your food but, somehow you will always find a spot to sit once you order. If you are in a hurry or just have something to do after your meal, I would suggest not to order anything that will require further cooking for it will take a long time to come to your table; just choose from the already prepare food – it is fresh and delicious. We ate there a couple of times, but with kids, is better to let your partner order for both of you while you wait at a table with the kids. This is a place you got to go to eat while in Moscow! Is like coming to the United States and going to Cheesecake Factory, it is just a Russian experience. There are many Moo Moo’s around town so even if you are not close to Arbat street you could get to one of them.
Next to Moo Moo there is an Italian Restaurant called “Italia” we ate there .. good food! I thought it was a little pricy but not so much if you ask for Pizza which is around $7 per personal pizza – it is very, very thin crust, which I love.
Then there is McDonalds! No we did not eat there but we had coffee at the Mac Café which is a cool place for people watching and having a good latte (did not like the cappuccino) and a dessert; I would not go for the looks of the desert but I will just go for ingredients, looks were deceiving when we chose some of the cakes; tiramisu was not great.
If you are staying at the Arbat Hotel and too tired to walk anywhere, try the restaurant at the Arbat Hotel. The menu points out which items are traditional Russian. I wrote some about their food in a previous post Blog from April 25th – “We made it to Moscow” so, scroll down and check it out!
Again, there are also other options once you are in the Arbat Street we did not get to experiment – there were some restaurants getting ready for the summer and they were constructing their outdoor patios with canopies for seating – just getting ready for our second trip to Moscow!
In case you are wondering: no, I did not gain weight while in Moscow, even though I was a big “Moo Moo” eating – you can eat as much as you want but the stress of the adoption process and all the walking somehow will help your metabolism.
Meeting our Kids
I will try to recall the happenings on the Thursday we met our children and I will be honest – I just hope to help some of you out there that might have to go through a similar experience and have some expectations that might not be accurate when the day comes.We Met Vlad at the lobby at 9 am Thrusday morning. There was another couple there also – we became good friends! We went to the MOE office. There was this room where you go and meet him with the translator. The officer just looked at our papers, looked at our faces, and signed some stuff. Then, he handed over the permission for Brian and I to go visit the children. That was it! No pain, very easy.
Then we drove to the first orphanage to visit our girl. I was in the back of the car, not nervous at all, I was kind of surprised at my self, I felt the prayers of family and friends at that very moment. We got to the orphanage and they told us to wait while they made her up. I actually understood what they were saying since the word in Russian sounds like the word in Spanish “Maquillage” which means “make up” in English.
The women that work in this orphanage are very “lively” compared to most Russians we encountered in the whole trip. I felt very at home and comfortable, the orphanage Director has a very relaxed and informal attitude, again, very different that the rest of the people we encountered in our whole time there. I think people in that orphanage actually enjoy their jobs.
Then there she was, pretty and … just a little stranger … We started the right way .. we smiled at each other, Brian took some pictures, we started to warm up to each other and then … everybody left the room and there we were Brain, Y and I.
She looked at me, looked at the empty room and started crying!!! She cried for 15 minutes no stop – Vlad and the Orphanage Doctor came by and she told me that maybe she was just hungry, so she took her to feed her. While she was out, Vlad just felt so bad for me, you could see it in my eyes, I was just confused, I felt rejected, I had all kinds of thoughts!
Vlad sat in front of me and gave 2 good pointers, the first one, helped me to remember that I had options and the other pointer was something I already knew from researching the web, but at that moment I was just confused and I did not remember: If the child cries when she is with you alone, it is horrible, but it is a good sign as to the health of the child! It means she understand that something is happening and she misses her normal surroundings.
Well, she came back from feeding and again when we were left alone she cried for another 15 minutes! At this time I was also crying literally and praying “Lord I can not handle this please help me, what are you trying to tell me?” so then, Vlad and the Doctor came running and asked me if she ever stopped crying to what I answered: No. Now I felt that I was not even good enough to be a mother …
So, they took us to the room where the other children are … and they took her temperature (Just so I felt better I think) as soon as she saw her Social worker, she was just fine!
So, then we started again, this time with all the other children in the room. I looked around me and it just hit me: I would not choose any other child from that room … She is the only one I would pick, she was still an stranger, but a very special one, a little stranger I could see me falling mad in love with!! This were the exact feelings that Brian had also: confusion, frustration, excitement and a sudden discovery that in that room there was no other like our Y.
I got closer to other children and Y became suddenly interested. I sat next to her at the couch but I took one more child to my lap for a while, until she felt comfortable with me.
She hold my finger, played with the toy we brought her and even gave me a little smile and then Vlad came running: “It’s time to go to the other orphanage”
Reflecting back to the experience, I realize that it is the most unnatural way to meet your child. I have no biological children but I think that none of you where looking at how many fingers, the size of the mouth, looking for FAS signs, etc, the moment you just delivered your baby. That’s what I was doing! It is horrible … I still feel kind of guilty for it – I almost think that Y could feel it!
Y had a cold; she is teething and was left alone with a stranger that was just checking her out. What else could I expect but that?
We drove to the next orphanage and it was already time for the naps. We entered D’s room and got to see him in his crib, he had his eyes opened. He is a gorgeous boy! And lays down in bed just like my husband, with his arms back.
The Orphanage doctor took us to her office with the social worker in charge of the case and gave us all the information they had on his mother, his delivery, ect. The people in this orphanage are very different that the previous one. The people here behave more like “Professionals” Just a different approach to the same job.
We went back to the hotel and had some lunch there… yes, the picture in top is me after the experience … really tired!!!
To be continued …
He provides where we lack!
We were in Moscow at the time the Russian Orthodox church celebrates Easter. We visited the Christ the Savior church on Wednesday and people were still bringing flowers to the Lord remembering that He is alive!! All the doors inside the church were open as a sign that He came and he is alive. The eggs are marked: Christ is Risen.
I found this poem from - Rev. Dr. Herbert Brokering someplace in the web:
“Lord, send me a surprise.
One that catches me off guard
and makes me wonder.
Like Easter.
Send me a resurrection
when everything looks dead and buried.
Send me light
when the night seems too long. “
Ah! And He did! I was surprised to be in Moscow at this time of the year to meet our children – they are like resurrection to us in an area where we were dead.
He provides where we lack!
May 3rd. Today is my girl’s first birthday!
May 3rd: Today is my girl’s first birthday!
Happy birthday to Y from Mami and Papi!! We were able to celebrate on Sunday with her at the orphanage! What a blessing!
This is Mami’s pledge to you in Spanish:
Viniste de lejos
Mi alma ganastes
Con ojos de ensuenno
De Dios el tesoro
Que vino a su tiempo
A mami alegrar
Tan cerca te tengo
Muy dentro, muy fuerte
En el Corazon
Con Dios de testigo
Prometo quererte
Por siempre un monton!
Now I will try to translate to English:
From far you came
Your dreaming eyes
My soul they won
From God you are the treasure
You came just on time
To make mami glad
So close now I have you
Deep inside and strong
In my heart and soul
With God as my witness
I promise to love you
Forever and lots!
Blog from April 25th - We made it to Moscow!!
We made it to Moscow!! The trip from Milan to Moscow was actually pleasant but when we got to Passport control we had to wait 2 hours in line; that just tired us a lot.
Vlad was there to meet us which it was a blessing!! We were so worried he would just leave after waiting for so long. The ride to the hotel took us around another hour. We are so tired; it feels as if we just traveled the whole day, and I guess we did!
I want to thank all of you for your prayers, we have felt the warmth and we really appreciate it! In less than two days we will meet our potential children!!! … I will try to write about our experience with them on Thursday night.
As soon as we made it to the hotel today, I took a shower and then went for dinner to the restaurant at the hotel. Ok, so, Brian and I think that normally hotels do not have good food because it is not their line of business so; we never judge a city’s food just by eating at a hotel restaurant. Today we had no other option; we went to the hotel’s restaurants here in Moscow just now. It actually serves traditional Russian food.
I got to say: wow, it was good! I just have to write the food journal because I borrowed the hotel menu and I have to return it tonight and I just don’t want to forget. I got to learn as much as I can about the culture in a very short time. So you don’t have to continue reading this is just for diary’s purposes. Thanks for visiting our blog and again thanks for your prayers.
For appetizer, Brian had: Far east Red caviar with blines, finely chopped hard boiled egg whites and yolk, crèmefresh, finely chopped red onions and parsley. That would be a great idea for an appetizer to do at a party when our kids come home with us.
I had the Russian Fish soup which is actually made out of salmon, potatoes, celery, wild mushrooms, carrots. Brian does not like salmon, which means no Russian soup for Brian since the other option is Borsch and beets are the only type of food that he actually won’t even touch. Nevertheless, I thought that was a great soup, I am getting the recipe to prepare it for our children. Oukha is the name of the fish soup.
Then, for main entrée Brian had the beef “a la stroganoff” also with wild mushrooms, rice and quail eggs. I had a typical dish from Georgia called “Luly Kebab” which is a sort of kafta wrapped in eggplants with a pomegranate sauce. My entire family would enjoy this dish it is very clever! It also came with a salad of cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce.
All was delicious! Even the bread was great (I don’t eat bread as I try to watch my carbohydrates consumption)
We also had cappuccinos. When we are in Brazil, I normally have at least one discussion with someone serving me cappuccinos. The thing is that the people in southern Brazil insist that cappuccinos are served with powder chocolate on it. Well, cappuccinos do not contain chocolate when served in Italy nor in Russia, so there!
We are back from Moscow – but still on Moscow time!
I apologize for the delay in writing and updating our blog.
We were in Moscow without a converter!! How did we forget? That was a big mistake.
There are so many things I would like to write about and I am so tired!!!
We are back from Moscow as of Monday night and my body is still in shock – I am at work today … I need coffee.
I will be publishing different blogs in the next couple of days that will talk about our experiences while in Moscow meeting the MOE and our children – first trip. I will write about:
1. First impressions from our meeting with our kids - They are a beautiful
2. Our impressions on Russian culture - The sign at the airport: “it’s another world”
3. Restaurant reviews from around Arabat street - Great food
4. Our time at the orphanages. - yes, two of them!
Thank you so much again for your prayers!! We are so blessed to be able to go through this experience.
Thank you so much Lorien and the Moscow team! May God bless you!!
Bible verses and stories about adoption that have touched me.
Well, we are almost packed … we got 2 carry-on!
We are very excited to go tomorrow and as we do, I just wanted to share with you some of the scriptures I am been looking at, that speaks directly about the orphans.
Jesus said many things that implied He will honor the good deeds His followers would perform towards people in need. While we were in Brazil this February, I got confronted with Jesus words: “… once I was a stranger and you received me …Lord, when were you a stranger?”
Of course, there is the even more direct statement (for some of us who have a harder time to see the calling on the one above):
" ...whoever welcomes in my name one child such as this, welcomes me." Jesus (as found in Matthew 18 v.5)
I found these portions of the Psalms to be very insightful towards the orphan and the barren women:
Psalm 113: 7 - 9: This Psalm is a promise to me:
He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
He seats them with princes, with the princes of their people.
He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children.
Praise the LORD! David -
"God sets the lonely in families..." Psalm 68:6a
Psalm 27:10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.
Psalm 68:5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
Psalm 82:3 Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
Interesting Old Testaments commandments and truths related to orphans and widows:
DEU 10:18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow,
Deu 26:12 When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.
13 Then say to the LORD your God: "I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them.
27:19 "Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
Jer. 49:11 “Leave your orphans; I will protect their lives. Your widows too can trust in me."
And finally, in the New Testament we find a very direct definition:
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:
- to look after orphans and widows in their distress and
- to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. "
James 1:27
God saved the life of Moses using an adoptive mother, Pharaoh’s daughter – not just an adoption story but a trans-racial adoption story.
The most moving one to me is the story of Jesus in the cross and John and His mother Mary crying at the foot of the cross asking (I imagine) why? Why do you have to die?, why so much pain? ...
Jesus did not answer their questions – He just looked at them and said “son here is your mother, mother here is your son” and the Bible says that from that day forward, John took Mary to his house as his own mother.
What a beautiful adoption story!!
As I visited last February with older orphans in Brazil I realized that the kids are also looking for parents to adopt.
I have learned that, even today, the best place to meet your adopted son or daughter, your adopted mother or father, is definitely at the foot of the cross: I have been there, asking about my pain … He did not answer my questions "my way" but instead, He asked me to look next to me … also with lots of pain and hurts, the little ones that are missing a mom and a dad …
The world is hurting … I was awaken one night by the Lord with a new song in my lips and it was an eye opener for me .... “if I am sited in Heavenly places with you I should see the world the way you do, I should see a world in pain and suffering, I should feel the urge to bring them Hope “
The Hope of His resurrection!
It is official! we are leaving for Moscow on the 21st. of April.
“Many things can wait: the child cannot. Now is the time his bones are being formed, his mind is being developed. To him, we cannot say tomorrow: his name is today.” Gabriela Mistral
We were waiting for the "official" appointment in Moscow. We just got confirmation that we will meet the MOE on April 27th. We will also meet the children that day. We will travel to Moscow via Milan on Friday the 21st of April.
I got to get organized!!!
I am so excited!!!!!
What does an American look like?
A tribute to my sister Debora who became a US citizen today!The USA is a great country!! And Debora is a wonderful girl!! Congratulations Debora.
Love you puchis!
Well, I remember this one day before elections, I was at the office and the guys were talking about not even getting registered to vote! These very bright software engineers were complaining about the country situation and .. the story of, well, our votes really do not count and … they were Not even going to register to vote!
I could not ignore it anymore, so I got up and said, “You know what, I became a USA Citizen by choice, I used to be a Permanent resident and now I am an American Citizen; you know what changed the day I became an American citizen? That now I have the right/privilege and the responsibility to vote! And I don’t take that lightly!" I am proud to be an American.
It just happened to be the year our Florida votes were counted … how many times?
Debora, we live in a great country but it takes all of us to do our part. A great country is made up of a bunch of great people following the great principles established by our founding fathers. Make us proud.
p.s. I am already so proud of you!!
It takes a Farm!
Brian and I are waiting anxiously for our appointment date with the Ministry of Education. We don’t have it for sure yet, and I was hoping to write this blog with the great news, but we are still waiting … We pray we’ll know tomorrow for sure. In the mean time let us talked about a more mundane subject.
Brian and I decided to start another blog; It is called “It takes a Farm”
An honest review of Miami Area Restaurants and other cooking chronicles. We have not started quite yet thought. Brian is a great restaurant critic and friends and family are always asking him for a good suggestion/recommendation. He thought of the name as we were at an Argentinean grocery store shopping for some meat. Can you envision the moment? It really takes a farm to cook stuff and somehow we forget that meat comes from animals. I think that Brian was thinking more of how food really shows how diverse we are as humans but at the same time no matter how different we are all of our diversity lives within the same one “farm”.
When we were dating we would talked about the foods we ate back in our countries and it sounded pretty much the same; once we got married, we realized we bought ate rice but we cooked it differently!
If you look at our profile, you’ll see that most of our hobby interest revolve around food: Cooking, Going to ethnic restaurants, entertaining friends, reading gourmet magazines and books, watching cooking shows, walking to the restaurants in Lincoln Road, chocolate (Brian) and Coffee (Rebeca).
Food is fun for us but it really relates to much more than to our stomachs; I could tell you stories of how food taught me about compromise in our marriage; made us aware of new ways and new cultures, helped us to exercise God’s gift of Hospitality and service, etc, etc, etc.
So, I will share with you one story about how food has taught us a lesson on compromising in marriage: yes, there is the common story of “we don’t know where to go for dinner and then one of us decides to yield to the other’s desires”; but this particular incident was different: it occurred on the first year of our marriage. We were lying in bed together and Brian was reading a brand new cook book, so, every time he would find a recipe that sounded good to him, he would read it to me as if he was reading a poem – I am not kidding!! So, I was getting kind of bored, but then, I got this great idea: I turned over in bed and said “Darling, why don’t you give me a foot massage as you read the book?” it worked great!!! I got a long foot massage and he got to read to me the best recipes from the book.
My father in law is the best cook I know. He lived in Brazil for more than 35 years and he mastered the Brazilian national dish: Feijoada. It is delicious. Brian is a good cook but Dick’s Feijoada does not have a rival! Feijoada is a dish made out of black beans and pork – everything from the pig! (it takes a pig J) and it is served with garlic rice, sauté Kale, farinna and Orange Slices.
If you come to visit us to Miami, we will take you to a Churrasqueria – How many of you, our blog friends have experience the Brazilean Rodizio? It is a very different way of eating. No vegetarians allowed. Some of the Churrasquerias in Brazil could serve 20 different types of meats!
Introducing Lola
Lola is our four-year-old Maltese. She is not 28 years old in people years, she is just 4.
Lola understands English, Spanish and Portuguese and she communicates with different voice sounds, kisses/licks, head movements, back steps, and of course with her tail.
She is a blessing to us; one of the biggest lessons we have learned from Lola is well said by my eblogger friends Jen and Caroline: “think like a dog thinks and life will be great. Or in other words- as long as my basic needs are met I need to be very flexible with my expectations. That is a good lesson.”
Let me tell you an amazing story: One day I was talking to my mother while Lola was in the room, Mom just asked me for my opinion on certain subject and I got very passionate about it so , you know, I have the tendency to raise my voice when I feel strong on a subject, is just the Colombian/Italian/middle eastern in me. So I look at the stairs and I see Lola with the saddest face!!!
I went over and talked to her and nothing would make her change; she did not want anything to do with me, no kisses, no tail, not even eye contact and she kept looking towards my mom. Suddenly I realized, I have raised my voice talking to my mother… “maybe Lola thinks we are fighting!”
I went over to mom, and explained to Lola that mom and I were not fighting and then I gave mom a big kiss; can you believe that she changed immediately? She came over and licked my mom to pieces. My mom literally cried, so did I. Mom said, “Lola really cares for me”.
Of course there are the times when Lola does not get simple stuff, it is kind of funny, like “sit”.
I have some friends (who am I kidding?) most of my friends think I am crazy because of how I interact with my Lola, but once they spend some time with her, they start understanding my craziness have some reason to it.
Well, getting back to our “think like a dog thinks”subject, let me tell you some more about our little baby Lola: Lola has her own bathroom in our house, yes, she does.
The whole bathroom is hers. When is time for me to clean it, she follows me to her place, checks everything I do and when I am finish, she does this little walk/jump of excitement. Last week, a friend was staying with us, and one morning she decided to use Lola’s bathroom to dry her hair. When I came home, my friend said that Lola stayed at the door looking persistently at her and "no tail" movement. I think my friend was actually scared of my 7-pound Lola!! Nothing to worry about, Lola was probably trying to figure out what was going on, after all, she is expecting for someone to clean up her mess!!
She is very obedient, but if we leave her alone for too long (1 whole day with no aunties or grandma’s visit) when we come home, we’ll find little “gifts” in strategic places. Is like: she goes and holds it and goes and holds it and goes!!
As we approach the house on any of these memorable occasions, she will have this special “complaining”voice … right away we know what to expect! Well, that behavior does not seem to go well with the conclusion above of “think like a dog thinks and life will be great … as long as my basic needs are met I need to be very flexible with my expectations” I guess Lola’s luxuries have become basic needs for her!!
AndI think that’s what happen to us sometimes. We forget how blessed we are, how much love is poured into our lives by family and friends, how much care we get from them … and then that one time, things go different because … “life happens” and we forget to be flexible so, we: 1. complain and 2. make it into a relationship problem.
The other thing I have learned with Lola is to be forgiving and loyal; no matter how upset she is, once she sees us get home, she gets sooooo happy! We open the door and she licks us, move her tail … I think she just instantly forgives our "offenses"; and, you can tell that she actually feels sorry for leaving her “gifts” all over the house.
Thank you to our new friend Caroline
I actually was at my husbands office that one day … very tired, frustrated, disappointed and very confused.
We tried to adopt an 8 year old boy, Bryan, from Brazil and it did not work out. It is hard to explain how going through so much pain for us and for the 8 year old boy could be part of God’s plan but .. we have no doubts … we don’t understand it all but we know God’s hands were there. We love Bryan dearly but we know we are not his parents. We got to learn on our trip that God is really the father to the Fatherless.
Anyways, we had been back for almost a month, we were re assessing our decision to adopt and … you know what? I think I got to see Caroline’s post on the week of my birthday!!! Now that I think about it … yeah, I just checked .. it was on Friday March 3, and my 40th birthday was that Tuesday February 28th.
So, Brian and I were ready to sign papers for adopting in Hungary and we were supposed to send a good chunk of money that next Monday but I was not feeling peace at all. We were even taking MAPP class … (I know, can you see how confused I was), MAPP is the required training for the willing to foster-to-adopt domestically. We wanted to make sure to investigate all the possible adoption routes.
In my devotional one day that week, I felt that God was asking me to look back at the beginning, when we started this process and not just ask Him for what I thought could be possible, logical, easier, etc but to ask for what I really wanted the time He first talked to us about adopting. So I remembered, we wanted a 2 year old boy from Russia and then I would love a girl form China. I now understand that asking that way you really are asking out of faith.
So, that Friday, I was on the internet, since someone asked us to help this summer to start a hosting program in Miami, yes, we even thought of hosting to adopt!! and that person pointed us to go to this one Yahoo Group called “2HostKids” and there I found Caroline’s post and her blog !!…I just kept remembering that day that God had asked me to go back to my original desire; I started reading and became more and more interested in her story on adopting a boy from Russia … I could feel her excitement and it was very contagious. ..so, I kept reading and reading and found out the agency she was using: Lighthouse, I sent an email to the agency right away and the director, Lorien who is very efficient, answered my email back right away.
Thank you to our new friend Caroline! She really helped us in a big and unique way!
Remembering our Brazilian “nieces” and “nephews”
I just wanted to add some thoughts of our February experience which I had written on our last blog. As many of you know, we were in the process of adopting an 8 year old boy in Brazil and it did not work out at the end.
We had some great experiences in Brazil at a very special orphanage last February. We spent around a month visiting with the kids and the director. We celebrated 3 birthdays there. There were 24 kids total on this orphanage. This is a special needs orphanage because it houses siblings and children with disabilities. I love that place!
I fell in love with the kids so quickly, and I wanted to take at least 10 of them home. I could not find a good reason why not to …. Except that most of them are not quite paper ready. That is the sad truth of most of the orphanages, the kids age there while waiting for either parents to give up their rights or the government to finish their paperwork
The top shows the pictures of some of my friends – my forever “nieces” and “nephews”
I had so much fun holding them on my lap and playing with them – one of the social workers told me how sad to see how much in need these kids were for a mother’s type of affection, love and care …. And it made me think …. I realized I was starving for the love of a child to call my son or daughter also.
Do you know who these are? The director asked as we were at the gate of the orphanage, “these are “Tio” Brian and “Tia” Rebeca!”
We were able to meet all the 24 kids!!! While my husband Brian went on playing soccer with a group of boys, the rest of the kids just kind of surrounded me, came by to say hi, specially 2 girls (Jasmin and Beatriz) and a little boy (Gabriel), they just got a hold of me. I just sat at a bench and the three of them sat next to me, Gabriel (4) got on my lap, Beatriz (6) and Jasmin (7) sat next to me each in one side and hold my hands.
Beatriz and Gabriel are siblings and they have two more sibling in the orphanage. Jasmin is the sister to Ivan(9) and Aletea, a very cute 13 year old.
Do I have to say it? Or did you figure it out by now? Yes, I wanted to take them all!!
My Brazilian friends will never be forgotten!!! I cannot wait for our next Missions trip to Brazil and see them all again!!!
The director of this orphanage is a great human being! Brian gave her a copy of “the purpose Driven Life” devotional book as a gift.
We love her dearly - she quickly became our friend. She is honest, loving, so hard working and has such a big heart!!! Still, a type “A” personality – yes, the character combination does exist! And she is a living proof of it :)
We are already gathering gifts and donations for our next trip – We bought some school supplies and got some blankets also. Brian’s parents are going there in 14 days and we might be able to send some of these with them.
I thought I would start with a short introduction about our family and our adoption journey:
Our Family:
My name is Rebeca and I have been married to Brian for almost 14 years (July wedding) – Brian and I met in Bible school. We studied at Bethany College of Missions in Minneapolis, MN and graduated with a degree in Theology and missions, the school had an emphasis on Cross-cultural Communications.
I was born in Colombia to Christian parents and worked extensibly in my local church until I graduated from College back in 1990 (Bachelors of Science - Software Engineer). When my college friends asked me what was I going to do now that I graduated, I responded: “I will go to Theology school and will become a Missionary to Russia” again, this was 1990.
Brian, my dear husband, was born to American Missionaries (Bethany graduates also) and he also studied at Bethany back in 1989. Interesting enough, Brian’s parents were part of a team that operated a home for unwed mothers in southern Brazil – they worked there for over 15 years, so many children were born there and got to be adopted by Brazilian families, it was a great mission work. Today Brian’s parents work in North Carolina at the Billy Graham Association in Charlotte.
The first month I arrived at Bethany, again back in 1990, I was asked if I had some time to work on a project. My English was not good enough to be accepted as a student, so I was just “listening” to classes for a whole semester before I got formally accepted into the college. The students had a project but since they had to do homework, they were struggling to finish it.
What kind of project? Well, let me give you a bit of background, Bethany College of Missions was pretty much free since the students “paid” with work in the afternoons mainly for Bethany House Publishers; so, for this special project, the students would have to use their free time which was almost non existent. The students did fundraising to buy paper and got permission to use Bethany’s press and all the other equipment to publish Bibles for Russia!!! I was asked to do something wonderful: the type-setting work for the Russian Bibles.
Once I finishthe type-setting, the Bibles went to my brother who did the color separation (in his free time) and then to Brian (my husband and my brother were roommates in college at that point) did the actual printing with some other good college friends. We were able to finish the Bibles!! And now what? Well, the leader of our group (Missionary to Albania to this day), handed one of these Bibles to Former Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev on his first visit to the USA, MN (1990 – 1991).
My brother did some research and was able to find an organization that took the bibles to Russia and all 1 million Bibles got distributed!!! I was already a Missionary to Russia!!!
Brian and I married on July 1992. As Mission College students, we felt called to work with Eastern Europe (Slovenia) but it never happened. We were frustrated for some years. You see, since Brian was born on the mission field and right after leaving Brazil, went to Theology school, our leaders at Bethany thought that once married, we needed to live “in the real world” for a while. Today I know this was God’s leading. We both got jobs – almost 14 years later, I am still working as a software engineer and Brian and I have our own Software consulting/staffing company.
Our Adoption Plans:
After many years struggling with fertility problems, we decided to stop all treatments. As I explained in my previous post, God led us to adopt. We are currently in the process to adopt from Moscow – dossier is ready!!!
We are so excited to go to Moscow!
It has been a long road - as God called us to work with couples I always wondered, why us? We did not feel adequate … but we were called. In obedience we took steps of faith to start ministering as God has asked us to do.
At the same time we have been trying to get pregnant using all kinds of methods. I went into surgery last year to fix a problem that could be the cause for infertility but it did not fix the problem. Treatment after treatment we were feeling frustrated, devastated and tired.
After so much praying, since our family and friends were committed to praying for us, on June 2005 we decided to stop the treatments.
Brian and I have told each other that we are so grateful to God for his love towards us and the love he has placed in our hearts towards each other; and even if we can not have children, having each other is a blessing we will continue to cherish … with no regrets.
We don’t know how and when we started thinking of adopting. We both have confessed later of our private thoughts about it. One night a friend called and told us that even though he already has two girls, he longs for having a baby boy, and he was thinking of adopting. It was this conversation God used to get us talk about our individual desire for adopting.
It was like ... when you are secretly in love with this boy - nobody knows and you don’t know if he likes you - and suddenly he confesses to you, that he has you in his mind at all times … really, it was a very romantic and magical moment. By the reactions of our friends and family, we know they shared those feelings with us. Most of them cried of happiness and shared with us intimate things that allowed us to know each other better.
We know this is a God given gift; All good gifts come from Him!!! and we are soooooo excited!! He has chosen this road for us.
We are starting to understand..... Where there is pain there will be His strength, where there is lack there will be His provision; and in all, we start realizing that we depend on Him for our all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
