Always on my Mind

Holiday season, here we come!   Every year I shake my head and marvel at how quickly the year has passed.  Once again, I can't believe Thanksgiving is just a few days away, and Christmas a month from now.   In my faith tradition, we begin the season of Advent this Sunday.  It is a time of preparation, reflection, prayer, fasting and anticipation for the arrival of you-know-who!   Our Savior.   Jehovah Jireh -God Provider.     I can't help but think about the parallels as we enter into the season of waiting.  As our family waits for news...any news, we continue to prepare our hearts and our home for our blessed baby.

I am somewhat surprised by how hard it's been for me to be detach from thinking about the adoption.    I thought that once the dossier was submitted,  we could just focus on everyday life and ordinary, no-waiting-for-the-mailman days.   I also thought the timing was nice, because I wouldn't be stressed about paperwork over the holidays.   It hasn't quite worked that way.  Every gift catalog that comes in the mail, I think of her.   Should we buy her a gift?   A dollhouse, a Barbie, a babydoll?   How old is she?   Does she know that this will be her last Christmas morning she has to wake up without her mommy and daddy and brothers?   This Thanksgiving too,  she will be missed around our table.  She is already a part of our family, born in our hearts and covered in prayer every day.      I have never looked a girl's clothing or toys before,  but it's impossible not to peek with all of the items on display for Christmas.   With 3 boys, my life has been Star Wars and swords and ant farms, so this is new territory.    I just wish when I felt more joyful about it, but instead I feel sad.  Is that normal?   I guess it's just hard with the combination of an unknown timeline, and few details.   We knew this was part of the process when we started though, and the payoff will be worth every waiting minute.   That is a gift I can celebrate!:)  

St. Stan's

Today we took a little road trip to visit a very special place.  In the heart of Slavic Village in Cleveland, is the breathtaking St. Stanislaus Cathedral.    It is the mother church for all Poles in the Cleveland area .   It's also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and for good reason.  This church ranks up there with the majestic cathedrals in Rome (in my humble opinion) and is enough to bring a  person to their knees in awe,  upon entering.   

We arrived just as the Polish mass was letting out.  A little boy bolted out of the church speaking Polish very fast.  My kids thought it was the neatest thing!   Next time we will definitely attend a Polish-speaking mass.  I realized they also offer missal in English so we can follow along.  What a great way to learn.  

Before mass began, we lit a candle for our child (or children) .  We also prayed for all orphans in Poland, and around the world.  As well as the families who are considering, or are already on the journey of adopting.   It was emotional.  Here are just a few photos we took:

A mitre worn by Pope John Paul II, that he he donated to the church

 The Black Madonna.  Our Lady of Czestochowa.

 After mass we met a wonderful  parishioner who was so welcoming.  He told us where to grab a good bite to eat, and even shared his favorite Polish greeting with us.   I left in a puddle of tears!   I just felt like the Lord wrapped us in a warm blanket and I am SO PROUD to not only adopt a Polish child, but entire beautifully rich culture.    I couldn't help but think about bringing our child (or children) back to St. Stan's once our family is complete.  I have a lump in my throat just thinking about it.    Thank you Lord, for this day.

Hurry Up and Wait

We have had a very busy month indeed!   A lot has been going on in our humble little home lately.    We've been notarizing, aposotilling and driving to downtown Cleveland for fingerprints and paperwork.  To make a long story short, our dossier is in Poland!    We can now exhale.  It's actually been there for a little while and is in the process of being translated so we can go on the waiting list.   We learned so much as we went through the process, and our Government learned so much about us too.   Lol.   It's exciting to be in the phase, knowing that the daunting paper chase is behind us, and now it's just a matter of waiting.     I tend to become restless easily, so I am asking the Lord for an extra dose of patience as we anticipate news.  The focused intensity of collecting data has given way to a phase of calmness and peaceful resignation.    It could be many months until we hear something, but at least we are moving forward!

Fellowship and Fun

 This weekend we were excited to welcome our priest, Fr. Chris to family dinner.  He is from Poland and was there when the seed was first planted to adopt from Poland.  So, it was nice to have some special time to talk about Polish culture, how he grew up, and travel tips.   For those of you who were kind enough to comment on the recipe ideas, thank you!  I just wish I would've done a better job at following-up.  I was going to try Bigos, but changed the menu when I realized it was going to be 70-degrees and sunny.   We opted for one last grill-out instead.  Then, I was going to make  pierogies, but I ran out of time (Fr. Chris said they are just as good in the freezer section at the grocery store!:)  Lol.  So, my hope to create an authentic Polish dinner experience was a bust.   Nevertheless, it was still good.  We had some pinwheels (from Sams). 
Cupcakes for dessert.  Hazelnut Vanilla spread too (from Holland.)  Getting closer!:)

The rest of the menu consisted of the regular grill food.  Hamburgers, chicken and hot dogs (with sauerkraut. The closest we came to Polish cuisine)!:)

Here is our family with Fr. Chris.

He is from Trzcianka (northern Poland).  His sister lives in Warsaw so it was great to hear about her, and also gather some tips for traveling.   For instance, he suggested getting a "magic jack" for phone calls when we are there.  I have a big note pad going, so that will be added to the list.   He also said food and gas are more expensive in Poland.   Good to know.   We are moving forward in the adoption process and I am just hoping/praying things go smooth as go to the next steps.  

Dinner Ideas?

Any Polish chefs out there?   We are having a big family dinner on Sunday and I am on the hunt for a Polish dish.  Our priest, Fr. Chris,  is from Poland and he will be joining us.      I am hoping to find something relatively easy and that will also feed alot of people.   I found some ideas here, but I thought it would be nice to hear from anyone who has a tried and true favorite.  If all else fails, I may go the standby route:  lasagna.   Will keep looking though, hopefully I can pull this off!:)

In You, the Orphan Finds Mercy (Hosea 14:3)

Praying all orphans would have such a beautiful answer to this prayer:

Each night before I go to bed
I fold my hands and bow my head
Praying for a family and the day she will come for me
I ask God to watch over my friends at the orphanage,
The place that I call home
Wishing we find families and rooms of our very own.
I finish my prayers and climb into bed
Hoping that God heard what I said.
My prayers usually turn out to be my dreams at night
Hoping she will be standing there when I wake to the morning light.
One very special morning, I will hear their call,
I jump out of bed and run down the hall!
Is it her, Is it her, is that why they’ve called my name?
Running I hear them shout “It’s her, it’s her, she finally came!”
Have all my prayers been answered, have all my dreams come true
There she is in front of me, Oh Mama! Oh Mama!! Is it really you?
“Yes, it is my darling, I’ve come to take you home,”
“I will love, protect and cherish and you will never be alone.“
Mama looks at me so differently a look so new to me,
She touches me so gently, just as I dreamed it would be.
As I look into her eyes I watch them fill with water,
She embraces me and whispers, “I love you so my daughter”.
She takes my hand and I hold it tight,
I will never let it go, I hold with all my might.
Hand in hand we walk together,
No one needs to speak; we know this is forever.
And through our journey when we finally meet each other,
She will have found her dream and I will have found my mother.

Pardon my Polish

Just wanted to check in with a quick update regarding Rosetta Stone.  It arrived at our doorstep yesterday and we wasted no time breaking it in.    I am already very impressed by the program, even though it's expensive, I believe it will be a good investment.  I thought we would record a start up session for anyone wondering how it works.  My brother recorded this and didn't quite zoom in on the screen enough to show what was happening, but hopefully you can get the idea.  We are learning as a family and I really think the kids are picking it up faster than Jim and me!    I am also trying to remember the great advice from Raime who suggested to focus on verbs.   My apologies to the Poles for doing such a poor job at speaking the language!   My pride is definitely going out the window after posting this, it's pretty rough. :)