On a Brighter Note (Merry Christmas part 2 of 2)

Even though my last post was a vent, I am a very blessed person. I really hope everyone who read part one will also read part 2! This is by no means an exhaustive list, but rather a small portion of the goodness I'm pondering tonight. Please read on and enjoy!

I'm glad to be alive, have a wonderful husband and 2 blow-my-mind awesome kids. Just to have a family unit that's in tact, healthy, and enjoyable to be around is a rarity in this culture in this time. And I have all 3 qualities!! Amazing! I love that the 4 of us are on the same page and we're at a place where we can serve and play together. When we do stuff like host another child, we do it as a family. Even though the kids (specifically my oldest) is branching out, outside the family these days, our options for doing stuff together increases with meaningfulness as well. And it's good for us to gather others into our fold. Most days there are 2-5 extra kids hanging out with us. Broadening our sphere of influence for sure.

I have 2 jobs that I absolutely love. I look forward to going to work most days. How many people can say that? Even this week when my school job is on Christmas break, I worked 2 days at the PT aide job and left feeling fulfilled and happy that I could connect and help people by doing what comes naturally to me. I mean, when it comes to the PT aide job, they literally pay me for being myself. That's crazy! I walk in there smiling, and walk away smiling. Most of my clients walk in with ails and walk out feeling better and smiling as they have been blessed. A good set up? I tend to think so!

Living in Middle Class America, it's easy to forget what blessings we have daily. I live in a relatively clean, warm, dry, comfortable house. After working 2 years in AL w/ Alabama Rural Ministry who helps those with inadequate housing, my perspective is very different on that. And the conveniences we have! Are you acutely aware of how easy our housework is?! We have dishwashers available if we want them! And having a washer/dryer combo is quite normal. I can literally have my clothes and dishes being washed and dried FOR ME while I type this. These conveniences are MAJOR helps to those who wish to have clean dishes and clothes. We don't understand properly how nice those things are until you're washing EVERYthing by hand. So I love laundry and dishes. It's really just a few minutes of prep and the push of a few buttons.

I'm thankful for friends in my life! Both for the ones that are exiting my life, the ones that are just now entering my life, and those who are still in my life, whether here or away. I have been tremendously blessing in that category and to all of you, I say send heartfelt thanks and Love! No matter where I've gone, God has certainly brought an interesting and diverse collection of people in my life to love and cherish, sharpen and be sharpened. LOVE! And thank you to all, both friends and strangers alike, who poured out love and understanding with my last post. With me, you have to take the good, bad, and ugly all in one package. I'm super blessed by those who accept me (flawed as I am) and love me anyway.
THANK YOU!

I'm thankful for heaven. This world is not the end-all, be-all for us. So even though ails like what were outlined in my previous post happen, it's not the end of the story for me, or thankfully, my husband and kids! And this is made possible by the Reason for the Season! I'm thankful for Jesus, his birth, resurrection and life! I look forward to celebrating that with loved ones this weekend!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!

"Keeping up with the Lontzes is like being a storm chaser!" ~Maria Stout (Merry Christams part 1)

I thought about making a year-end upbeat Christmas letter/card thingy this year, but considering the past 5 months, I opted to vent first. For those of you fear frankness, consider yourselves warned; this post is not for you.

Since we've been back in VA a mere 5 months ago, we've had a tire blow on the way here, we traveled 700 miles to find the renters left our place a literally CRAPPY MESS, we're in the negative with school loans, Nathan put a knife through his hand second day back (Happy Birthday, Travis) (ER visit #1), we had an earthquake, then we had a hurricane, I started 2 jobs, Nathan snapped 2 bones in his arm (ER visit #2), Nathan went on a field trip with his school and not one, but TWO cars rear-ended them and were totaled. Thankfully, Na didn't go to the ER with that one, but 12 of his friends did. No small trauma watching them being taken away on backboards and me trying to calm other kids whose parents weren't there yet.

Then I was driving home from work and stopped (7th car back) at a red light and was rear-ended. The car that hit me was totaled and my back was/is still hurt (ER visit #3). Before I could recover from that, Travis got very sick with pneumonia (ER visit #4) and was released after meds were given. Then, 15 hours later, the hospital calls and says Travis also has a blood infection and for us to come back. (ER visit #5). That turned into a 5 day very scary hospital stint that we'd like to never repeat. And this hospital stay burned all of Travis's leave that he planned to use when our exchange student (orphan from Latvia) came 4 days after he got out of the hospital. In fact, he's in the negative and that leaves him weakened (6 week projected recovery time) and him at work playing catch-up and understandably very tired when he gets home. Which leaves me doing this solo when we planned to do this together. Just in time for Christmas. At least he hasn't had knee surgery yet. That'll be a fun start to the new year with me holding 2 jobs and him not able to drive.

Nope. Our lives have had no stress at all lately.

Welcome back, Lontzes!! Virginia is STILL the land of suffering! (Have I mentioned I miss AL??) As we are limping exhaustedly into the home stretch of December, people around us are dropping like flies. My parents left for TX on the 18th, a family we Love and have Loved for 15 years is moving away on the 27th, our former mentors are moving off this continent on the 28th, and our neighbors, who have kids our kids' ages who come over almost daily are also moving a few days after that. Oh, and the person I trust the most outside my immediate family said they're not sure if they want to be friends with me anymore. Shoot me now. (that's a figure of speech, y'all) Really, though, if any of you has bad news to tell us now is the time. Our hearts are already broken and we're already beaten up and worn down. So lay it on us. We can take it. Apparently, we're stronger than we think.

For those of you out there who are formulating a rebuttal in your head, please don't type it out or call me. I don't want to hear how I should be joyful always or how I should be on anti-depressants for having feelings. I'm not depressed. I'm simply tired from the circumstances and couldn't fathom an end of the year letter without needing to vent first. I WILL make another post soon about the blessings going on in my life and what I'm thankful for. But it'll be another day. If you think it should be earlier, please see my previous entries. They're very positive for the most part. However, for tonight, this post is what it is.
Take me or leave me.

She's here!

I know I'm behind on this post, but we've been a bit overwhelmed lately. :)

Evija made it here safely! I will try to post a few photos next week. Some of you out there have rose colored glasses on in regards to orphan care. If you would like to continue with those on, please stop reading here and check back with me another time. Those of you who don't mind a tiny dose of edited reality, read on.

Things were off to a rough start. Evija greeted us with her arms crossed and quiet for the first few days. We quickly found out she understands little English and doesn't feel comfortable trying to speak it. Therefore she's had to endure our less than perfect Latvian grammar and our slowness in speech. It's been almost 12 years since we lived in Latvia, so Travis and I are more than a little rusty. And our kids don't speak Latvian at all. I feel for her. She had just traveled 4,500 miles to meet strangers, then have to stay in a hotel room with them. It's no wonder she was scared and less than happy to see us. Then her first impression of America was the New Jersey Turnpike. I don't care what Pat Mahoney says, that part of NJ is like the unshaved armpit of America. In addition to the smoking factory scenery and bumpy roads, her silence and unwillingness to communicate other than with body language (arms crossed and looking away) made for a VERY long first two days. We got home from our 7 hour miserable car ride and our thoughts were along the lines of, "What have we done?" and, "At this rate, this is going to be a looooong month."

Also, in the first few days, we had to deal with practical stuff, like introducing deodorant, toothbrushes, and American underwear sizes, and other feminine hygiene products. Yay me. The orphanage sent her with one and a half outfits for her month long stay (one pair of pants and 2 shirts.) Trying to navigate clothing purchases and some other female stuff within the first 2 days did not endear Miss Evija to liking me. I smiled a lot, tried very hard with the language, used my pocket translator, and my Latvian friend Marika translated some emails for me. We got through it. Introducing our household routines (like this is a dishwasher, these are the foods we eat, and here's how we do laundry, etc.) has been fairly smooth. She seems to catch on to our ways and she has an appreciation for how easy those things are here. (If only all American teens realized this!)

And I must point out the positive side: Evija is a trustworthy young lady! She's been respectful of our stuff, she's complied with bedtimes, basic rules, and such. After doing foster care, we're well aware of what we could be dealing with. I don't have to worry about her destroying things, wandering the house at night, or trying to hurt our kids. Compared to some kids who have lived with us over the years, Miss Evija's shyness and reluctance to bond right away is a cake walk (very easy) for us. So when it comes to obeying rules and being safe, Evija gets an all important A+.

So far, things are getting better each day in the shyness category. She opened up to Emily first and they have bonded. I'm so proud of how Emily relentlessly went after Evija and forged the first connection. My daughter is growing up to be a woman of breakthroughs someday!!! She's well on her path. Then Nathan showed her our rope swing and they became fast friends. Just yesterday, Evija bonded with Travis and initiated communication with him. Yes. He had to wait (and try) 5 days for that. I'm still waiting. It hasn't happened with me yet. Please understand, Travis has been at work, the kids at school, and me at home with Evija the whole time. She's not warmed to me very much and doesn't enjoy talking much with me yet. Maybe it's the language barrier? However, if you know me, you know I'm pretty good at communicating. That kind of rejection is hard to take on my heart, but I'm standing in faith that my day will come soon. Who knows what's behind her hesitancy, but I'm going to keep trying different things and bless her with Love.

This morning, Evija got to have a dose of all the Lontzes home! We have a Saturday morning brunch routine that we enjoy very much. In the past, our Saturday brunch cooking is one way we break in new foster kids and see how they react to the "real us". Well, we decided to try it today with Evija. We all broke into different jobs and cook together as we talk 90 miles an hour all squished in the kitchen at once, bumping into each other and laughing our heads off. I'm VERY happy to report that she did well with that! She helped set the table and assisted with Emily's job of scrambling eggs. And SMILED!! YAY!

We're seeing her beautiful smile more and more as this goes on. She enjoyed the Lighthouse (hilarious!) Christmas pageant last night and she delivered Angel Tree gifts with us this morning. We'll see how she does with Grace tomorrow. I discussed church a little 2 days ago because of the Trivett's nativity scene on route 3. There will be many many new things to discuss and do in the coming weeks. It should be fun to show her around and let her explore American museums and culture, etc. We hope she enjoys meeting our friends (and their kids) soon too.

So all in all, we're doing all right. Things were off to a less-than-hoped-for (quiet)start, but we're seeing the ice melt and slowly we're all bonding. We like her very much! Any prayers would be appreciated. Pray for safety, clear communication, and blessings! I may not be able to write as often as some would like, but I'm doing my best. And we DO APPRECIATE all of you who are encouraging us along the way! Thank you!

On the Cusp!

Evija is already traveling to America by now. It's absolutely crazy to think that she's in the air and headed our way. We are just now getting around to cleaning up and getting ready for her arrival ~ less than 24 hours away! Having done that trip many times in our lives, Travis and I are full of empathy for the jet lag that will ensue. Nonetheless, we look forward to meeting her and finally getting to the point where our lives and her life intersect. On the Cusp indeed!

With Travis being sooooo sick last week and me still recovering from the car accident, we are both moving slowly! Even though we've had AMAZING help from some WONDERFUL friends and family, things are not as perfect around here as I would like it to be for Evija's first impression of the Lontz clan and our life. But perhaps this is a good thing. She'll know right away that we're not perfect! There will be no elevated first impression. I don't always make my bed, have the house in order, or have everything organized or neat. But I do love my family fiercely. That I can do, and do well. She'll be a part of my family for a month, so hopefully she'll experience fierce love and bask in it. And I hope she'll enjoy our extended family, both the blood related side and the chosen friends-that-are-family side that are oh so important to us!

So pray for our transition, safety in travels, clear communications despite language barriers, and for SLEEP! We should be able to post photos in a few days. Thanks for joining in this adventure!