Sweet Questions

Children are the best at asking those honest questions, especially when you least expect it. One of those questions that I frequently get asked by our 2 year old is "where's Lu Lu?" The first time she asked it was about a month ago. She came down the stairs early in the morning and after I said good morning to her she responded with, "where Lu Lu?" The next question was "where's Lu Lu's mommy?" This is the question that took me off guard. How do I answer this for a 2 year old to understand? As I was pondering this question I showed Isabelle a picture of Lucy. In the background of the picture there is a nanny feeding another child. She pointed to the nanny and said, "here her mommy." As this conversation was going on, I noticed that my oldest child was watching and listening to how I responded to these questions. So I started explaining to my kids that I am Lucy's mommy but for now someone else needs to take care of her until I can get to her. This answer seemed to satisfy their curiosity, at least for now. It seems that almost daily Isabelle asks, "where's Lu Lu?" Now when she has two of something she says, "one is for Lu Lu". It melts my heart to hear her talk about her sister and it amazes me how much she thinks and talks about her. I think she is pretty excited. 

Where are we in the process? We had our homestudy visits nearly a month ago. Our case worker said she has one month to type up our homestudy, so we are patiently waiting. I asked if there is anything I can do while I wait to make things move a little quicker and I was advised not to get ahead of the process because of time lines. The items I may go ahead and get may expire and I would end up re-doing certain processes. So we wait. The good news is that once our homestudy is typed up and accepted, we can start applying for grants and adoption financial aid from organizations like Show Hope. I have started reading a new book, The Autobiography of George Mueller. That man's faith and prayer life are inspiring and it most certainly is helping me wait this out. I will have to share some quotes from that book in a later post.

Our family just returned from the 2nd tri-annual Wiebe (Jason's mom's side of the family) family reunion in Missouri. It was a fabulous time with this amazing family. One tradition that this family started was taking a big group picture with each family having a certain color shirt on for the picture. The Penner family had orange shirts and Grandma Penner decided that Lucy needed a 2011Wiebe family reunion shirt. So I have it waiting for her in her room. I thought about sending it to her in the orphanage, but I am afraid I will not see it again. For now it will just wait until she gets home. So thank you Bernice! Also, what makes this family so amazing is the heritage and faith it shares. Jason and I were asked to share about our adoption at a campfire one night. We were both hesitant at first, but did agree to speak. After our little talk and answering a few questions this amazing family surrounded Jason and myself and prayed for and over us and Lucy. It was so........I don't know what word best describes it. It was just awesome! Knowing that this entire family is praying for us and Lucy is so meaningful and beautiful to me. I will treasure those moments by the campfire forever. While we were at this family reunion, I saw a little Asian girl running around with little pony tails in her hair. ADORABLE! I noticed her sitting with some American adults. I thought surely she must have been adopted. I built up enough courage to find her parents and ask about her adoption. I found out that she was from South Korea. We talked for a little while. The mom gave me some advice and things she has learned since bringing home this little girl. It was such an encouraging conversation. As we said our good-byes and our "see you at the next reunion", I realized that at the next reunion, Lucy will be with us and she will get to meet this amazing family in person.

And someday when Isabelle asks me, "where Lu Lu?" I will be able to say, "check outside or maybe she is in your room or perhaps she is playing hide-n-seek with you."  : ) We wait for that day!