We said our goodbyes!!

Has it really been 4 1/1 weeks.  Did she really spend the entire month of July with us.  I have so many thoughts running through my head since we have said goodbye to "our" Tanya (as the kids call her).   Will she keep in touch?  Can we keep in touch?  Would she want to come back at Christmas?  Can we afford to bring her back at Christmas?  Did we sow enough seeds in her heart?  Does she know that she is deeply cared for?  More importantly does she know that she has a Heavenly Father who cares for her?  Did we do enough?  I know we bought enough (she couldn't take it all back), but did we bless her enough?  The questions keep coming.

 I am so thankful that our friend reeled us in.  This whole process started with a midnight Facebook message from a friend I haven't talked to in years.  It started with a tiny seed that she planted...and it grew into an amazing experience for us, for our children, and hopefully for Tanya.  We weren't that family she was expecting to go to...I think it took her a while to get over that.  But in the end the surprising tears in her eyes as we hugged at the airport gave her away. She might miss her friends, but she did care, she did enjoy us, we did touch her heart.

  I have thought a lot about this amazing program...I started out with scrutiny, wondering if it was really "fair" to bring someone here just to send them home back to their life.  To literally drop them into paradise only to send them back to the lonely, survival of the fittest life?  Even after Tanya has come and gone I have questioned all of this...really wondering if our short period of time in her life will ever make a difference.  Then I read something that my friend wrote.  She and her husband have hosted 6 children over the last few years.  She is the one the Lord used to draw us in.  Her husband is deployed and she still hosted.  She gave me permission to share this and it really settled my spirit this morning as I think back over this last month...I hope it will touch your heart and encourage you to be willing to do what God has called you to do - whatever that may be!!

"As I sit here in the middle of the night with boarding passes printed, last minute instructions emailed, bags "almost" packed, I wonder in awe of how God has moved so mightily in the last 5 weeks, in all the volunteers, in all the families and children, and in all the preparation that has come before and during.

This program is complex. More complex than I knew even 6 months ago. The hours that... volunteers put in answering questions, trying to solve problems, mentoring, figuring out logistics of airports and bus terminals and coordinators, keeping track of 300+ passports and confirmation ‪#‎s‬, planning interview trips, traveling around the world twice a year, interviewing 500+ kids, being in compliance with foreign countries rules and regulations is stunning.

Did you know we have a coordinator that ONLY deals with chaperones? Or one who ONLY does airport and bus information? Or one who is our special needs coordinator? Or that ONLY LeAnn does all these flights and connections?

Then I think on the families. The families that give up vacations, fund raise even when its so uncomfortable, rearrange bedrooms, borrow beds, spend $100s on clothing and mp3s and suitcases and backpacks and toiletries and little gifts and tickets to events, make so many more phone calls than you can imagine to find dental care and eye doctors that will donate their services, and then....they bring in hurt children into their lives. They disrupt their own children's lives, they bring in uncomfortable situations, they bring in a language barrier, they bring in weariness.

Then I think on the children. Hurt children. Children with messy, volatile, uncertain pasts and lives. Children with no parents to tuck them in and protect them and teach them. These children get on buses and trains and planes and fly with people they don't know across the world. When they arrive they are literally thrust into the arms of perfect strangers who they can't communicate with. They smell weird things. They don't understand our culture and manners. The food tastes funny. Their favorite things aren't here. It's scary. And yet look how brave they are! They chose to come!

And then I think of Jesus. He has put these tuggings into the hearts of ALL the people involved. He has stirred something inside them to make them do these crazy ridiculous things. He does it on purpose. Seeds are planted. He woos hearts. He begins healing. He pours blessings out even in the midst of the worst day imaginable. He teaches. He shows how reliable He is. He shows us how much He loves us.

This program changes lives and hearts. Each one of my 6 host children has changed me, touched me, taught me, brought me closer to Jesus. They ARE my children. They are a part of my story, and I am a part of theirs. I love each and every one of them.

And so I sit here in the middle of the night in awestruck wonder at how big my God is and that He loves each one of us so much that He causes normal, everyday people to do crazy ridiculous things.

I hope I am always ready and willing to do those crazy ridiculous things for Him."

Fishing...

I haven't met a girl who loves fishing as much as Tanya!  You mention the word fishing and she breaks out in a huge smile.  For most things she is a bit slow to get ready.  She is ready in 10 seconds flat for fishing.  Justin has been great in getting she and the kids out to fish!  At this point, she has caught 34 fish.  They are little...but she is happy!!!!

Side story....the bat!!

I just need to tell a quick side story!  Most of you know we live in a 100 year old house on a military base.  Along with that comes some interesting things...this time of year that means bats.  We have been in our home for one year.  In that time, we have had two bats...one dead and one alive...now the count is three.

Well...I was getting ready to head to the rodeo!  I slipped my boot on and felt a little lump in the toe so took it off and did what any normal person does.  I stuck my hand in the bottom and tried to pull whatever Paige had stuck in it out!  It didn't come out but was fuzzy.  I quickly pulled my hand out and thought I must have a little mouse in the bottom of my boot.  I grabbed my boot, and shook it.  Nothing came out.  Zach was coming in the back door.  I said "Hey Zach, there is something fuzzy in my boot that I can't get out.  Can you help me out?"Zach bravely stuck his hand in my boot and out flew a bat!!!!!  He flew straight into the screen door, clung to it with wings spread out and teeth bared.  My heart has not ever beat that fast.  I was yelling.  Paige was doing some combination of shriek/cry/scream!  I trapped him in between the scream door and the door.  The neighbor boy quickly came to our rescue and contained the bat and killed him.

It's been a week and my heart still races a bit when I put on my boot.  Paige things everything in the dark is a bat...and has been waking up crying almost every night scared!  Hopefully this bat experience won't repeat itself anytime soon!!!

Cowboy up...

When I was little and growing up in Montana, I always wanted to be a cowgirl and I always wanted to marry a cowboy.  Now I get to be both for 2 weeks out of the year!!

The Rodeo...with my brother and his family, Tanya, and the Ukrainian chaperone Sergi.

It was Patriot Day at the Rodeo.  She proudly wore her "America dress!"

Championship Bull Riding

Having fun with my oldest niece, Emma.

Enjoying the Rodeo with Tanya

I really like this picture Justin took of the midway at night. 

Lovin' his rodeo look!

Heading out to the Rodeo

 

Frontier Days!!

Frontier Days is here...For 117 years Cheyenne has turned into a cowboy town.  Everyone breaks out their boots and hats for carnival rides, rodeo, concerts, and championship bull riding!   For people who are from Cheyenne this means...get out of town!  Its the time of year that the city's population almost quadruples.  For those of us not from Cheyenne, it means...invite your family and go have a blast.  This is exactly what we did.  My brother and his family came out from Oregon to experience the "Daddy of 'em all..." 



I am not sure I will have time to sort through the hundreds of pictures I took at Frontier Days...but here is day 1.  We hit an Alan Jackson concert, the rodeo, the carnival rides, and my personal favorite and evening of bull riding.  What a great time!!!