Well, Elliott has –almost–officially been out of my tummy longer than he was in it! On December 20, Elliott turned 9 months old! 9 months of watching this perfect little baby grow into a perfect bigger baby…9 months of cuddling him and rocking him and documenting every milestone…AND…not to mention, 9 MONTHS OF NOT THROWING UP!!! Yahoo!!!
I love how every month we learn something new about Elliott’s personality, or see it to a greater degree. Elliott continues to love meeting new people and getting strangers to smile at and fall in love with him. Last month, although he was doing “wave-like” motions, I wasn’t quite ready to declare that my son was intentionally waving. Well, for the last several weeks, there is no doubt about it–he is a waving machine! And he waves to every person, new or old, that he sees.
One of Elliott’s passions has absolutely taken over life this last month–handling small objects. He loves the “pincer grasp.” He is SO in tune to itty bitty things…he will literally go after a piece of thread from 15 feet away. He also LOVES small pieces of trash. What kind of mom lets her baby play with small, chokable things? Well, this mom does. And do you know why? Because he refuses to put them in his mouth! And I know you are thinking I must be so fortunate that he doesn’t want to put small things in his mouth…and I am, until it comes to trying to get him to put REAL FOOD in his mouth, and he gags until he throws it back up.
Look at the terror/disgust in his eyes as I offer him a puff:
"You want me to put that puff WHERE?""In my MOUTH? You've GOT to be kidding me…""Blech! No way!!"
When I was pregnant, someone said to me, “You know, the way your pregnancy has been so rough will probably have some sort of reflection on what Elliott is going to be like…like, he’ll probably have a really bad gag reflex or something.”
Why anyone in her right mind would say that to a woman who had been throwing up for 9 months will remain in the mystery box forever. But, quite unfortunately, it looks like she was right…this poor child has already thrown up twice when there was a tiny little “chunk” in his baby food…
Okay, on to some fun highlights from the last month:
Elliott opened his first Christmas gift at all staff Christmas party that we got to be a part of while in Tijuana for the two weeks before Christmas.
All of the kids got a special gift
Distracted by the super cool used napkin in his hand."Oooh, there was something INSIDE the paper?!""I LIKE this whole present tradition!"
Elliott had his first stab at climbing stairs at my parents’ house, and he went right up them without any hesitation. He loves to climb!
Climbing the stairs with Fable
Made it to the top!
Elliott CLIMBS all the time…on EVERYTHING…it’s so fun! He loves to pull himself up onto everything and walk along anything he can.
Helping us pack in the DR before leaving for Tijuana.
Climbing is so fun!
First time in snow!
Gently placing Elliott in the snow…UTTER AND COMPLETE SHOCKAND…some tearsOkay, LOTS of tears…
I know, I know…we’re terrible. But we had to get a picture of it.
First time meeting the Smiths!
Cousins Andrew & Courtney and Aunt Joanne & Uncle Jim
And, last but not least…a few favorites from this last month:
Baa!Sweet smileCute faceMan on a missionYeah, he's cute.He-ey!
Happy 9 months out of the womb, sweet baby Elliott!!
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me…. See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.“
The first time I walked to the Haitian Refugee camp, it was the smell that hit me first.
I would recognize the smell anywhere. The smell of “house” after “house” crammed into tight spaces, adjacent to a garbage dump…the smell of mismatched cardboard or slabs of tin that form the walls and the roof of each said “house,” each piece carefully overlapping the one next to keep the rain, wind, and sun out as best as possible. The smell of hungry children and runny noses and congested lungs… The smell of eyes longing for love, arms longing for an embrace, hands longing to be held. It’s the smell of poverty. Poverty of environment and poverty of spirit.
This is one of the nicer houses
And every time I walk into a place like this, I am struck with the same sentiment–I am not enough. I am not enough, the five friends with me are not enough, the games we’ve brought to play are not enough…we are simply not enough.
The first week I was there we painted the girls’ fingernails and played jump rope with them.
Juliana
It’s difficult enough for me to dig up the language in my brain that has been dormant way too long, let alone understand these sweet children’s Spanish, which is not only their second language but also “Dominican” Spanish–which is quite different than Spain and Mexican Spanish. I can’t give them anything… I can barely communicate with them, and their needs are far too great.
So we sat there on the ground and painted these little girls’ toes and fingers…one by one, they chose a color and held out their hands. Is this enough? I don’t want to paint their nails–I want to buy them new clothes and give them healthy food and build them a home with electricity and running water…I want to give them an education and disciple them in the ways of the Lord…I want them to know they are loved, I mean really, really loved–by God. And I want them to really be loved by their friends and family. But all I held in my hand was a cheap bottle of nail polish. And my heart cried.
I am not enough.
And He whispered to me, “But you hold the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.”
And so I prayed. I prayed with every stroke of the mini brush. I prayed with the faith that every prayer I prayed would not only be answered, but answered quickly. I had no choice but to pray that way–I had nothing else to offer.
One little girl was dubbed “the mean girl.”
Beautiful one
She would provoke all the others by hitting them, messing up their freshly painted nails, stealing the nail polish, spilling it every where. And then she would cry…and cry and cry…when someone hit her back or she didn’t get what she wanted. I was told she’s always like this. She was out of control.
I didn’t have anything to offer her. My attempts to love her were rashly pushed away with cries and swats. She was difficult to communicate with and she had no intention of communicating with anyone anyway. I didn’t have weeks of relationship built up with her so she could trust me. I didn’t have a corner to put her in for a time out. I didn’t know if that would be the last time I ever saw her. And my heart flooded with tears.
I am simply not enough.
And so I prayed. I prayed as if this was the only time she would ever be prayed for–I prayed for her past to be healed, for her present to be rich, for her future to be set upon the straight and narrow. I prayed with deep unction and conviction. I prayed, believing every word uttered under my breath was answered the moment it hit the air. I didn’t have the option to pray any other way.
Then there was Jonathan.
His nickname is "Chiquito"
He was constantly held the whole time he was with us and never uttered a word. We had to take him home after the program, and I got to hold him on my lap. Adrienne told me his story as she drove and as I listened to his congested breaths slowly go in and out…in and out…He was so thin, and so sick. She said that his mom abandoned his family when he was a toddler and so his father is his only caretaker. Yet he doesn’t actually take care of him…because he works every day. The neighbor woman told Adrienne to watch him carefully–since no one watches over him, the other kids rough him up whenever they can. He is so hungry. He is not well. He doesn’t waste his energy on speaking or running or playing–no, he uses the small amount of strength he has to lift his arms up towards anyone who will notice him, asking to be held. His eyes, his heart…long to be embraced. And there, in that moment, I had a 5 minute car ride with Jonathan. I knew it was my only window. And my heart sobbed.
I am not even nearly enough.
And so I prayed as my heart cried. It’s impossible to describe the agony of the ache in my heart for this precious child. How can he have a chance in this world? You know he wasn’t rocked when he cried. You know he didn’t nap and sleep well as a baby. You know no one was there to greet him with the biggest smile and warmest embrace every time he woke up. You know no one reads him books every night. You know no one sings to him. You know no one has taught him how to count. You know no one (on earth) has been speaking truth over him ever since the day he was born. I held the tears back as I asked God for big things for His son. I prayed for healing to consume his physical body and his emotional mind and his sensitive heart. I prayed for his salvation. I prayed for provision of every type. I prayed for love to surround him. I prayed every short minute that I had with Jonathan…because I knew that was the best thing I could do for him…
It is times like these that I wonder if it would just be easier to look away; to not acknowledge and turn my face towards the massive suffering and injustice in this world. Because it is all-consuming and overwhelming to choose to invest my heart in the lives of those who suffer and have need.
That is, until I can fixate my mind on the Truth of the cross, and the truth of our Savior who goes out of His way to love the one. And that’s all. Why do I underestimate that I am one, loving one? Over and over my God speaks to the importance and impact of just one. Especially one of the little ones. He calls children “the greatest”… God thinks Jonathan, this one, is the greatest. And so when I remember his eyes, I must not just remember the loneliness, the abandonment, the sorrow, and the pain…no, I must remember that his angel sees the face of our Father in Heaven. He is not forgotten.
Because my God is enough…yes, HE is enough…He is enough for these children. There is too much need for my two hands. But He…yes–HE–is enough. He is always enough. And, just like the bible lesson I preached to those kids that day–HE in ME is greater than THE ONE in the world…HE in ME is enough.
I, with the power of Christ living in me, am enough...
…Because the one is enough. The one is the greatest.
He is one God, who sent one Son, who left with us one Spirit.
For one lost sheep.
For one sandwich for the woman who hasn’t eaten.
For one home built for the family who didn’t have one.
For one toy for the child who has nothing.
For one bible lesson for the girl who had never heard the Truth.
For one gospel presentation for the boy who didn’t know Jesus.
For one prayer lifted up in faith.
For one person choosing not to avert her eyes when she sees the brokenness.
For one believer who says, “Yes” to the call of God.
Elliott has a “Jesus Loves Me” book, which we read or sing to him almost every night. One day Brian was playing with Elliott and started singing the song. Elliott dropped his toys and immediately started looking for the book, and then found it! We decided to put it beneath another book and see if he could do it again. He did! So we pulled out the video camera and tried again, and sure enough…
We tried it again the next night, but made it a little trickier for him…we hid the book behind him beneath two other books…and here’s what happened:
He was exactly 8 months old in these videos. This is a testimony to how much babies actually DO know at a very young age!! Aren’t little ones amazing?! I have been inspired to a whole new degree to set high expectations for Elliott. Isn’t our God incredible in how he created little ones?! God wasn’t kidding when He said, “From the mouths of babes and infants He has ordained praise!”
Here’s a snap shot of our time in the Dominican Republic, serving with YWAM San Pedro!
Brian worked on lots of projects around the base. Here’s a picture I took through our window as he installed some security lights around the property of the base.
He makes it look so easy…
He also tagged along with a staff member interviewing various pastors and leaders around the community to get a feel for how YWAM San Pedro can best partner with each of the ministries and organizations. Brian then compiled all of that information so it was in an organized and easy-to-reference and sort database.
The staff has been visiting a Haitian Refugee Community, called El Tanque, for the last several months. They have been faithful to come, play games with the kids, paint fingernails, and sometimes even bring a little treat.
Playing "Duck, Duck, Goose"
A couple months back, the YWAM staff helped the men in El Tanque build these soccer goals. One week, we joined them for a game of soccer and I–yes, I–played too! And scored two goals!!
futbolOh yeahGOAL!
As much as they all enjoyed visiting the kids at El Tanque each week, they wanted to do something more organized and formal but weren’t sure how to get something like that started. So, I had the opportunity to help the staff implement a children’s program in El Tanque.
Here are some pictures of me teaching during the program that we got up and running in 3 weeks!
Teaching on how Jesus loves the little children
Johally was my faithful translator. Although I feel okay about general conversational Spanish, I wasn’t quite ready to invest the time it would have taken to really make sure I could communicate the bible lesson in Spanish. Soon though :).
I love this picture…with our little ones right behind us!
And here’s a video of me helping Adrienne, Rafaelito and Sthefany while they lead worship.
Well, there’s a quick snap shot of some of the ministry we were a part of while serving in San Pedro!
This post is a little late, but since we’re STILL thankful, I figured it would be okay to post a post-Thanksgiving post :). (How many times and different ways can YOU use “post” in a sentence?)
We had a very unique Thanksgiving this year! The staff wanted to celebrate, despite the fact that we were in a country that doesn’t recognize the holiday. The only problem? No one knew how to cook a turkey. So the Mobergs, turkey extraordinaires, spoke up and volunteered to cook the turkey for the staff and the Dominican family of 5 who would be joining us.
We prepped the turkey and put it into the oven.
Brian, Elliott, and me preparing the turkey
Then we went for a swim!
…because what else do you do while the turkey is cooking?
My little turkey shark 🙂
And then we got ready to eat!
Carving the turkey!
We made the juicy turkey, bomb mashed potatoes, and boat loads of gravy. And–THANKFULLY–it all turned out quite deliciously!!
Our plates! Mmmm!!
And here we all are, sooo stuffed!!!
The Crew (Danny & Danae, we miss you!)
This was our…
…first Thanksgiving with our sweet baby Elliott!
…first Thanksgiving in a foreign country.
…first Thanksgiving where we went for a swim outside while the turkey cooked.
…first Thanksgiving where it was hot enough to wear a skirt to dinner.
…first Thanksgiving eating with a group of strangers who we now call friends!
I wrote this for a newsletter for the YWAM base here and thought I’d share it! All of them apply to Brian and me except for the first one… Enjoy!
You know you’re a missionary in YWAM San Pedro when…
-you can say you’ve built 9 homes for 9 families who didn’t have one before you arrived.
-it’s a normal part of your week to bring love and the Word of God to a group of Haitian refugees.
-your cool-down at the end of a long, hard day is jumping into the glorious pool in your front yard.
-driving a vehicle on the local roadways no longer has clear, uniform rules…it’s more of a free-for-all sport.
-a long, wooden stick with a hook at the end doesn’t remind you of Captain Hook, but rather makes your mouth water for the delicious coconut it’s about to knock down.
-bug spray serves as your perfume or cologne.
-your room registers at 82 degrees Fahrenheit and you comment on how cool it is.
-the beautiful Caribbean Ocean is only a 10 minute walk away.
-you find yourself playing “Where’s Waldo” throughout the day with the chameleons that scamper about.
-you have learned the mastery of speaking in short sentences because everything you say has to be translated.
-the smile on a child’s face and the embrace of a warm hug is more-than-enough to transcend every language barrier.
