Being Pretty

Although this may come off as being very very prideful, I have a beautiful baby. People stop me in the store, at church, everywhere just to look at her. She is captivating with her perky face, deep chocolate eyes and passes out smiles with very little effort.

I have been talking with Emmanuel however about how I want her to be as pretty on the inside as she is on the outside. When people comment at her beauty, my response usually is "She is as good as she is pretty". Emmanuel thought that was the oddest response, but in my mind, it is preparing all of us for character development. My goal is to get her to focus on things like kindness, goodness, her relationship with God. I would have this in my heart anyway, but if outward beauty is going to come naturally for her...unlike her Mommy...then I have more time for emphasis on the internal and eternal.

We just studied the Princess Chick chapter in our God Chicks book....I think that chapter is just the epitome of what I want for my daughter. I want her to feel valued, to know she is a daughter of the King and to conduct herself like the princess that she is.

I plan on doing everything I can to give her the best possible example.

Practice makes Perfect

So I decided after my 15 minute testimony this morning that if I really want a career speaking to women in the future...I will definitely need to practice! So I think my cam-corder and I will be making some dates! Maybe I will even start posting short blurbs on here so you can help critique me.

My PPT looked great, my outline was tight...but I didn't factor in the following obstacles.

Olivia had a rough night which made me have a rough night, although I currently am battling an infection thanks to her being the worst baby at nursing ever!! So we get to church, I am not feeling well, trip as I go up to the podium, PPT won't come up, lose my voice halfway due to lack of sleep. Needless to say I don't have that confident, "Thank you God for that going well" feeling. I have more the "Please, let someone be blessed by that comedy of errors because of who YOU are God." feeling.

He probably wanted it that way.

Speaking

There are two things I am passionate about. "Friendship Evangelism" especially in cross cultural situations and women's ministry.

This week I get to speak at our church for 15 minutes to the women's group. How thrilled I was to not only for the opportunity to speak to the women, but get to speak about my experiences in cross cultural relationships!

I will let you know how it goes. :)

Children

It is time for a positive post... so here goes.

Last week was the first trip we took with Olivia. We went to DC for sad circumstances...but this is my positive post so I will only share positive things.

We spent time in the Togolese community and with Togolese friends and family while we were there. It is the first time I have made observations about Emmanuel's culture since having my own daughter and I LOVED what I saw.

Not to make generalizations...but here were some of my observations.

1) Children are SO treasured by everyone including the men.
2) There seems to be like a handbook for raising children that everyone is following. Everyone looks out for the children as if they belong to everyone, not just the individual parent.
3) Barring any bad behaviour, the children are given alot more freedom than in American culture. For instance while the memorial service was going on, during the pastor's preaching, children were wandering around the room from person to person. They weren't being bad, just walking around. (never would have happened in US culture)
4) Children are kept with the adults and engaged in conversation with the adults- their responses are encouraged and enjoyed.
5) Olivia was treated like royalty! Everyone wanted to talk with her, and she was passed between her Uncles alot.

I took away and have pondered several key things that I am really excited to bring into our home. Having been in the community for the weekend just gave me such a sense of safety. I am excited for Olivia to be with her Togolese family as much as possible.



Olivia and our Tassi



Olivia with our friend Joseph's family

Stressful Life Events

One of the Pastor's Emmanuel and I work with at our church made the following statement to me.

They say life has 5 traumatic events.

1. Getting Married
2. Buying your first house
3. Birth of your first child
4. Losing a job
5. Death of a family member

Glad I got them out of the way so quick!

Still struggling

It is amazing how I can be so happy and yet so sad at the same time. I lost my job this week. In an embarrassing and humiliating way. I, along with 13 other people were laid off from the headquarters of Step2. But they treated me like a criminal. I was escorted to the room where they told me what was going on, escorted to my desk to collect only mt coat, walked past all my co-workers to the front door where a security guard was stationed. (we never had security guards).

I think how I was let go was so hard. I put in three years for this company, was told my performance had nothing to do with my lay-off, but then was paraded out the door.

The happy part was my little seven week old daughter who was thrilled to snuggle on the couch with me over the next 48 hours of crying. If it weren't for her, I think I would still be in bed, fighting with depression. But she needs me every 3 hours, so wallowing is not really an option.

For now, I will enjoy her smile and look for a job soon enough.

Addition to the list

I failed to mention the passing of my Uncle Loren in my previous post. That probably was the first bad news we got- but it also was good news becuase I know I will see him again in Heaven. I did not know him well, but he had a peaceful and loving attitude when I was around him.

I am thankful to God that some news is softened with the knowledge of an eternal future.