7

The kids are playing in the rain and I am enjoying a nice cup of coffee with creamer (more on that in a bit), life is good!  We have been cruising right through our summer and things are just chugging along.

There is really nothing new to report with the adoption, we are just waiting for a match.  I think it is easier waiting right now because we have been occupied with all the joys of summer, but it is odd to wonder every day if today is the day for "the call."

There was a shared list released last week, but we were not matched off of the list.  In case you do not know, the shared list is a list of new files of children available for adoption that the Chinese government releases roughly every month.  Every agency in the U.S. and around the world wait for the list to be released so they can then try to "lock" files to match families with the children.  Apparently the list was small and the children that might have been a good match for us were locked with other agencies.   I was a little disappointed, but honestly I did not think we would be matched off this list, so I was not too surprised.  Besides the shared list there are also orphanage partnerships with agenceies. Our agency has several of these and this is the most likely way we will be matched.  In this process, the agency gets files exclusively from certain orphanages and then matches them with their waiting families.  Apparently, new partnership files will be coming any day to our agency.  Whether or not we will be matched this go round remains to be seen.

In other news, I am currently reading the book 7 by Jen Hatmaker with a group of friends.  It has been very powerful.  The idea of the book is to cut back on 7 areas of excess (food, clothing, waste, shopping, possessions, media and stress).  By doing with less it opens up opportunities to to have a greater relationship with God as well a deeper understanding of how much we have compared to most of the world.

Last week was our first meeting and the chapter we reviewed was about food.  In the book Jen ate only 7 foods for one month.  The foods she chose were avocado, chicken, spinach, sweet potatoes, apples, whole wheat bread, and eggs with a small amount of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.  For our group there were several changes that we could choose to make.  For example, we could eat the same 7 foods for one week, fast one meal for a week, not eat out for the week, work at a food pantry or similar place, or take a meal to someone in need.

I decided to go with the same 7 foods that Jen picked and eat only those (although I added black coffee, which I hate, because I did not want to deal with the headaches).  Let me tell you, it was so eye opening.  I would highly recommend it to anyone.  It is not that it was really "hard" to do because let's face it, those are all really good foods and I could eat as much of them as I wanted.  Many people in the world do not have access to a well rounded diet, nor do they have the luxury of eating to their heart's content.  The reality for many people in the world is that getting a bowl of rice or some bread is a good day.

What was so humbling and eye opening for me was to actually live with the 7 choices.  Obviously, I am aware that people are dying of starvation every day and that there are real problems in the world as far as allocations of resources and access to food and clean water.  I know this, we all know this.  But to live an indulgent form of it really puts it into perspective.  I took for granted just how many choices I have. Every. Single. Day. Do I want cereal for breakfast?  No eggs?  Wait, maybe I will have fruit and granola with yogurt today?  And all of this before I have showered.  Did I ever think about how much I had compared to most?  Yes, for sure. But did it really truly sink in?  Definitely not.  And maybe I am an oddity, maybe I am more selfish and less aware than most.  While I believed that I thought about the less fortunate quite often, I really didn't get it.  Not until I lived a version of it did it really click.

I know where my next meal is coming from.  I know I will not go hungry today or tomorrow or next month.  My children are going to bed tonight with full tummies.  We are not eating the same thing every day for every meal.  We most likely are not eating the same thing for dinner this week.  I have choices, tons and tons of choices.  I am truly blessed.

I still don't know what I'm going to do with this new perspective, but I know it has changed me.  I think of Mae in her orphanage somewhere in China and how she probably has very few choices, if any, in what to eat today.  She may get some form of congee for every meal.  I think about the 12 year old boy in her orphanage who may be eating the same thing, or the family struggling to get by in Ethiopia, or the thousands of children in Dallas who are going to bed hungry.  When my kids open up the pantry and say there is nothing to eat, it breaks my heart.  I am completely guilty of saying those same exact words to my mom growing up, and if I am truly honest, I probably said the same thing to Joe in the not too distant past.  Makes. Me. Sick.

On the flip side it was nice to know that everything I was putting into my body was good for me. Really good for me.  I wasn't eating preservatives or processed foods.  I went without dairy for a whole week (the cheese lover in me still can not believe this). There was the added benefit of losing 2 pounds (yea!).  There was also a strange freedom in not having too many choices.  What sounds good, apple or avocado?  Apple it is!  So am I glad I took a week to reduce my food intake?  You bet, and I might even do it again someday. Could I do it for an entire month?  Hmmm, I'm not sure, that would be very hard.  Plus, this coffee creamer tastes so good.

The next chapter is clothes.  I am anxious to see what new insight it will bring.