Finally Home, and Finally Bloggin"

So alot has happened since my last blog. As my readers know, I am the world's worst blogger; sometimes I wonder, "Why do I even have a blog?" But here it is, nevertheless. Occasionally I have something to say. And rarely do I have enough time to take the time out to say it.

But we are home!!! We have our sweet and precious Eleni Meseret! And she is just that - sweet and precious and fitting totally in with the family. We came back on July 31st, so we have been home 3 weeks.

I have so more to say about our trip, but I will save that and type out each day, one at a time, so as not to overwhelm myself - I am still processing; and still very tired, so not quite ready to blog about the trip yet.

But Eleni is doing well; acting more and more like a toddler every day. When we first got her, she was like an emotionless lump- just holding on to me for dear life. But sad, not crying sad, emotionless sad, which in a way, at times, felt worse. But day by day, more life comes - and she is FULL of it!! Now in 4 short weeks (well, they have felt long), she laughs, smiles, dances, plays, teases her brothers, tells us "NO!" (as all toddlers do), and so much more. She is so much fun and has such a personality.

She has been very scared of men, including Jason, which has been the hardest thing. She is slowly warming to him, but still is apprehensive around him at times. We make progress, and then she regresses. Two steps forward, one step back each day. Well, some days it feels like 10 steps back, but it is happening. She loves him (or at least tolerates him) when I am no where around. But bring mommy in and it is ALL OVER! She falls apart and his name is mud again. From the reports I am getting, however, this is pretty normal for adopted children. They just are rarely around men in the orphanages, so he is a scary novelty.

So, in general, I am tired, but not too tired, frustrated, but not too frustrated, and full of joy, which trumps it all. In the hard and frustrating moments, I just keep trying to think, okay, what is God teaching us in all this?

And Jason put it well (though I think he forgets his own lesson on a day to day basis when she is rejecting him): It is like God with us. He loves us even when we reject HIM. He perseveres with us. He pursues us over and over, and never gives up. And yes, He is sad when we don't love Him back. But one day, "We love, because He first loved us." (1 Jn. 4:19).