Be Still and Know

I've been learning what it means to "be still and know." I don't like to sit still, and frankly, it's not really possible around here, but God has His ways and through circumstances that He's orchestrated, I'm learning. One thing I've learned, or maybe that I've known all along, is that we all have "seasons of life." Sometimes our circumstances restrict our activities. With one self-sufficient child, we could still do almost whatever we needed or wanted to do. But having three children now, especially young children, I'm learning our "season of life" has taken two giant steps back, and that's okay.

So right now, our "season of life" does not allow us to go out to eat very often, especially where we have to wait. It also doesn't allow us to shop for more than about 15 minutes or go out of town for a weekend getaway. We spend a lot of time just maintaining the cleanliness of our house inside and out, instead of changing out our flower beds with the season or cook meals that take more than 30 minutes. All of this will come eventually. The fingerprints on the refrigerator will get higher and higher until they're gone, and then our "season of life" will change once again.

Our "season of life," however, does not excuse us from doing what God has called us all to do. God still calls us to carry out the Great Commission, no matter your stage of life. And not just give money or pray for those going (which are GREAT things to do), He calls us to GO. After hearing the message this morning, it confirms what God has already been teaching me. And although this "season of life" may be the most difficult to pack up and go, He still wants us to be available. (And you're not available if you don't have a passport. CLICK HERE to apply online.)

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

Happy Halloween!

The last several weeks in about 5 sentences...

Happy Halloween! Trying to explain the holiday is interesting. Why do we dress up, ring peoples doorbells, and ask for candy? I just don't know. But they caught on really quick and loved it. And now we have three children who don't like candy. Go figure. But I wonder where all the Reese's went...

Next, Jack's children's choir sang in church. Here's a snapshot from that.

Also, Ben's choir sang this past week. I haven't loaded up the pictures yet, but here's the link if you want to watch it. It's about 2 minutes right at the beginning. He did so great!!!

Random thoughts and I guess this post was more than 5 sentences...All 3 boys learned about Pilgrims and Indians this week. That only fueled rough play time. We just had to pray their Pilgrim hats and Indian feathers didn't get smashed. Eli's English has taken off this week. Watching kids learn a language is fascinating. They pick it up so quickly, and then plateau. Then spout off 50 new words and sentence structure falls into place, and then plateau. Anyway, he's doing great. Indoor play time, since it's been cooler and rainy, has gone well so far. The little boys can be entertained pretty easily, like with a balloon. A single balloon can bring at least an hour of fun. We've been explaining a lot of holidays lately. Those are some interesting conversations. Here are some examples: 1.) Why do Santa come in da fireplace? He so scary. 2.) If Christmas is Jesus' birthday, why do presents give to us? (Why do we give presents if it's His birthday?) 3.) I not like turkey. I want hamburger. 4.) I want Christmas tree for my birday (birthday). It so pretty.

I promise the next post will be slightly more interesting. As much as I want to remember the BIG milestones, the little ones can be just as important and funny! :)

Pumpkin Carving Contest 2011

First of all, look at these cuties. :)

Now to the contest. Since we had more little people this year, our pumpkin "carving" contest has been modified to the pumpkin "decorating" contest. Voting ends on October 31 at 5:00pm. Cast your vote at the poll to the right. Here are the contestants...

1. "It Just Doesn't Go Away"

2 "This Might Belong to Jack"

(who carved it all by himself)

3. "The Classy Crooked T"

4. "The Porcupine"

5. "The Slightly More Traditional"

6. "The Sea Turtle"

7. "The People Pleaser"

Caramel Apples

Another first. So much fun! :)

Santa Rosa Beach 2011

This year at the beach was much different than previous years for obvious reasons. Definitely busier, but much more fun. :)

Eli karate chopped or kicked every single wave that washed up. We couldn't keep him out of the water.

Ben built sandcastles the whole time. He'd get his feet wet and jump the waves, but he loved playing in the sand.

Jack went in between the water and the sand. The red flag and jellyfish kept us out of the water a little, but we're glad all three boys are beach bums like their parents.

God is Good

We have our 6-month post placement visit on Friday. SIX months already??? For the few of you who knew the ups and downs of the first 2 1/2 months home, you can whole-heartedly say with me, "God is good!" Now say it fifty times over, and it still wouldn't be enough.

The Bible we read to the boys at night talks about the love of Jesus as a Never-Stopping, Never-Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love. He is our Rescuer. We can personally attest to that.

God is good.

Be Holy

"We should wash ourselves clean from every impurity of the flesh, making our sanctification complete in the fear of God." 2 Corinthians 7:1

I read this verse today in my daily Bible reading. So many verses in the Bible talk about washing yourself in the Word, coming before Him with clean hands and a pure heart, cleansing yourself from impurities, and so on. But in the verse above, it says to wash ourselves from the impurities of the flesh, in order to make our sanctification complete in the fear of God." God is telling us to be holy.

First Peter 1:15-16, "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy." He is not calling us to be all-knowing or all-powerful or so many other things we can somehow almost idolize.

Be holy. This is how we honor God.

We do not glorify Him by eloquent expressions of pompous service, but by aspiring to converse with Him with unstained spirits and live to Him in living like Him. -Selwyn Hughes

Adoption Video

Here's a (rough) video we put together of our trip to get the boys. Only 6 months late. :) But you'll have to adjust your volume. (Apparently, we were really close to the camera, but then sometimes really far away.)

Fall Soccer

First soccer game of the fall soccer season. Where did this long-legged fast runner come from? Jack is playing with his good buddies Parker and Hudson this season. He's giddy about it.

This was Ben's first time to play "organized" soccer. They played all the time at the orphanage, so he's pretty intense. He's happy to be on Mr. Greg's team with Turner and Elin. :)

Jesus in the Sky

Ben: "Jesus, thank you for Paw Paw, Grandmama, Big Mama, Nana, Poppy, and for our food. And Jesus in the sky, Mommy say play in backyard. Jack do homework. And Jesus in the sky, I step on poo poo and Mommy said I come in the house no. And Jesus in the sky is so big and so long arms. My frisbee on the house. You can get it, no? And Jesus in the sky and on the cross. Amen."

Name That Tune

11 Things We've Learned, Part 2

This post is continued from the last post entitled 11 Things We've Learned. I'm sure this will be an ever-growing list...

1. Dinner, play outside, shower and in bed QUICKLY before they ask for 2nd dinner.

2. Boy #3 likes to pick up spiders. Step on them before he sees them.

3. Coffee stains baby teeth.

4. When boys do really dangerous stunts, like ride their bikes down the big hill with their feet propped up on the handle bars, don't look.

5. Anything can be turned into a weapon. Legos, spoons, a PB&J...

6. Karate and any other rough play must be done without a shirt.

7. Starting the day asking for wisdom and safety along with gratefulness is a good combination.

8. The smell that you can't locate is coming from sweaty Keens. Trust me.

9. Don't break up the wrestling until someone starts bleeding.

10. The bathroom can be flooded in a matter of 5 minutes. One little boy, two plugged sinks, and a bunch of dirty toys apparently needing a bath.

11. The big black streak that shows up on the side of your WHITE car from a scooter handle comes off with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

One Year Ago

One year ago today, we received an unexpected phone call followed by an email. Our dossier had just left the U.S. only weeks prior to this phone call. But God's timing is perfect, and in His perfect timing, we received these pictures...

And we fell in love.

We studied these pictures and prayed for these boys over and over.

And so many of you did too.

"Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—

this is God whose dwelling place is holy.

God places the lonely in families;

He sets the prisoners free and gives them joy."

Psalm 68:5-6

First Day of Mother's Day Out

Aren't they just the cutest? And they can't wait to go back. Everyday they ask if it's a school day. So sweet.

Yet so mischievous. ;)

First Day of 2nd Grade

Where has the time gone? It seems like only yesterday, we were walking in to Mother's Day Out saying, "No hitting, no biting, no pushing and say nice words, and please don't say Son of a Nutcracker." (Apparently he was listening to Elf more than we thought:)

Summertime

Here are just a few pictures of our summer adventures, mostly to Pensacola. We swam, played, rode horses, watched fireworks, celebrated birthdays, cruised with dolphins, swam some more, laid around on the beach, ate popsicles, took naps, and loved on grandparents (I didn't know if three little boys would even come home with us.)

Swimming in Nana & Poppy's pool

Annual 4th of July neighborhood party

My birthday present wrapped in pink cupcake paper secured TIGHTLY with camo duct tape.

Family picture on my birthday

Farm day at Green Cedars Farm with family friends and farmers Pam and Roger and the lovely Laurel.

Jack could stay on a horse all day. He loved it!

Fearless

So stinkin' cute

Watching from the sidelines with my FAVORITE almost 2 year old baby girl in one hand and my benadryl in the other. :)

Dolphin cruise

Farm pictures taken by the talented Michael Newman,

husband of the lovely Laurel. :)

An Undivided Mind

Teach me Your way, LORD, and I will live by Your truth.

Give me an undivided mind to fear Your name.

Psalm 86:11

This verse has been my theme lately. With three little ones, along with the adventures of life, I need to be spending more time with my Jesus. But somehow, I have less time... So I begin by asking God for an undivided mind, for my time praying and reading to be more efficient.

And while my time at home right now can seem so routine, some days not leaving my house, having my patience stretched farther than I thought possible, stepping on hundreds of army men, and pouring countless glasses of chocolate milk, this is what He's called me to do.

He's teaching this everyday girl that His power is manifested in my weakness. That while I think sometimes my work goes unnoticed and unrecognized and is unchanging, as I'm trying to teach and instill lifelong qualities like kindness, love, and humility, He is at work. He's changing me, and hopefully my children, to live a life of divine proportions.

Letter to Santa from Jack

Dear Santa,

I'm trying to be a good boy this year. It's just so hard having brothers.

Love,

Jack

Bless it...

Top 5 Music Picks

From the three boys and in no particular order:

1. Long Black Train by Josh Turner

2. Don't Waste Your Life by Lecrae

3. Forever Reign by Hillsong

4. Jesus Loves Me

5. Every Promise of Your Word by Keith and Kristyn Getty (Here's a picture of the Getty's singing to the boys on their bus.)

Our musical preferences are as diverse as our family. :)

English Funnies Part 2

I FINALLY was able to come back to choir for good tonight. It's been SOOOO long! All three boys went to their Wednesday night activity.

Now, the English is coming along great! Ben is SO incredibly smart that he has picked it up with no problem and Eli, as well, has picked it up great for just a little guy. Also, Jack talks constantly, so they just listen and piece together what he says and repeat it. It's hilarious.

Well tonight, back to their Wednesday night classes, they each heard a Bible story and colored pictures. The two little boys, that is. And the conversations afterward went like this...

Angie: Eli, what did you color?
Eli: Picture.
Angie: Who is that?
Eli: Guy.
Angie: His name is Guy? Maybe his name is Noah.
Eli: Yeah! Noah.
Angie: What's happening in this picture?
Eli: Zenaabe all gone! (Zenaabe=rain)
Angie: Yes! Noah is so happy because the rain is all gone! What color is your picture?
Eli: Purple.

Wrong color, but he understood the story enough to tell the story back to me. Yay!


Next boy.

Angie: Ben, who is in your picture?
Ben: Esther.
Angie: What did she do?
Ben: Ben Zekiyos do it! Ben Zekiyos cut scissors, uh, and color.
Angie: Oh I know, but what did Esther do?
Ben: Ben Zekiyos cut it!

The End.

11 Things We've Learned

1. If something in the house is missing, check the backyard.
2. If they say they've brushed their teeth, don't assume they used the end of the toothbrush with the bristles.
3. They really do like to play babies, even if they say they don't.
4. The fear of abandonment is a real thing.
5. You can't assume anything, such as knowing you can't open an umbrella in the car while driving.
6. Speaking the same language is not essential for most communication.
7. If someone eats toothpaste, it comes out the EXACT same color. Gross.
8. Tennis shoes are a treasure when you've never had them before.
9. Routine is a must, especially if there's a communication barrier.
10. Imaginations can be developed even at the ages of 3 and 4, especially if there's an overly imaginative 7-year-old involved.
11. When you don't think your house could possibly get any louder, it can.

Recipes: Tomato Pie

Ingredients:
4 tomatoes, sliced
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/4 c chopped green onion
1 (9-inch) prebaked deep dish pie shell
1/2 c to 1 c grated mozzarella
1/2 c mayonnaise
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Place the tomatoes in a colander in the sink or on paper towels in 1 layer. Sprinkle with salt and allow to drain for at least 30 minutes.

Combine mayonnaise, basil, and green onions in small bowl. Line the bottom of the pie shell with cheese and bake for 8-10 minutes. Then layer the tomatoes and spoon mayonnaise mixture over each layer. Should be about 3 layers. Sprinkle cheese over top and bake 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Here's the actual recipe from Paula Deen. I cut about 500 calories out. You're welcome. ;)

Blessing for Today, Promise for Tomorrow

I was reading in 2 Samuel a few days ago where David is fleeing for his life. He cries out to the Lord to be rescued. In the midst of his trials, he writes beautiful, encouraging, promising Psalms like this one from Psalm 40:1-3...

"I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,
and he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
and steadied me as I walked along.
He has given me a new song to sing,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see what he has done and be amazed.
They will put their trust in the Lord."

The devotion that morning said, "How David must have rubbed his eyes in astonishment as he saw God provide for him a table "in the presence of his enemies." Can you cast your mind back at this moment to something special that God did for you to demonstrate His tender love and care? Every Christian has these times - how sad we forget them so soon. God never does anything special in our lives for the sake of the passing hour - it's done also as a pledge to the future. It's as though God is saying: "I'll do this for you now, not only to meet your need, but also that you might always know you are the object of My love."

If new dangers startle us with fear, we have forgotten His past mercies. How David remembered God's consistent love and deliverance. One reason I'm so glad we keep this blog is so we can look back and see His past mercies. Like this one or this one or this one. God is faithful EVERY SINGLE TIME.

I read somewhere else, in reference to 2 Timothy 2:13 which says, "If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself," that everything about God is vast and incomparable, including His faithfulness. He never forgets a thing, never makes a mistake, never fails to keep a promise, never falters over a decision, never retracts a statement He has made, and has never breached a contract. Every declaration He has made, every promise He has given, every covenant He has struck is bestowed by His faithful character.

I Love Cats

Jon just watched this dumb e-harmony video on You Tube about cats. This is what Ben Z did after he saw it. LOVE catching this stuff on video. Hilarious!

Happy Birthday Paw Paw!

Happy Birthday Paw Paw! I love how Jack gets tickled when they say Poppy instead of Paw Paw. :) We love you so much! We CAN'T WAIT to see you!!!

I Love You Dis Much

Bliss

I rarely take enough time, especially on the blog, to talk about my sweet husband. Usually our posts are about Jack and now the Z boys, our house, theme dinners, adoption, recipes, and other randomness. Since our anniversary is this Wednesday, I wanted to tell some of my FAVORITE things about him.

He's passionate about so many things. His zeal for the Lord is contagious. His love for me is always apparent. His family is his priority. Always. He's a Believer, Husband, Father, and Worship Leader. In that order.

He's constant. His mood rarely changes. He's quick to forgive and then forget. And never to bring it up again.

He's funny. Hilarious in fact. We laugh ALL THE TIME!

He's so personable, respectful, and polite with everyone.

He loves his job. And in my humble, but encouraging opinion, he's awesome at it. He's such a hard worker.

He takes care of himself: physically and spiritually. And good thing he exercises so much, because he loves to eat. Fortunately, I love to cook. :)

He truly lives out Ephesians 5 which says, "Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives."

Thank you for loving me consistently and unselfishly. I still get excited to see you walk in the door. I love watching you wrestle on the floor with boys climbing all over you. I love how you get so excited when you grill something. I love your impulse CD buys at Starbucks. I love how you Christmas shop on December 24 EVERY SINGLE YEAR. I love that your shoes are always in order. I love (and appreciate) that you always drive the crappy car so I can have the nice one and you never complain about it.

And this list, in NO WAY, can ever be complete. I'm better because of you. I love you.

Tyner Top Ten

1. We're giving our farmers' tans a break this week and "practicing" playing inside since it's been freakishly cold!
2. Dreading winter. (see #1)
3. Practicing, practicing, PRACTICING violin.
4. Ben Z can tie his shoes. He says, "My shoes tired!!!"
5. Eli Z has gained 4 pounds. He's not so itty-bitty anymore!
6. All 3 boys can now make noises with their armpits.
7. Made asparagus and everyone, I repeat, EVERYONE ate it.
8. Jack is finishing up his last full week of school!
9. Jack won the 100-yard dash at Field Day! (I'd like to say I snapped a picture, and I did, but of the wrong kid. My allergies were so bad, I didn't have my contacts in. Oops.)
10. I've scheduled myself a much-needed facial for Friday. :)

For the Grandparents

Jack's first violin recital is this week. We've been doing lots of extra practicing. Here's a short clip of his piece he'll be playing. It's MUCH longer, but only so much will download on the blog. He really wanted all the grandparents to see him play. :)

Energy Buster

Major changes will be happening at our house due to the tornado damage, and we might be finishing out our bonus room at the same time. Yippee! When we bought our house, which we still absolutely LOVE, we were a family of three and at that time, had no intentions of adopting. Now, adding two more people, we're utilizing every square inch. :) One thing I know, as much energy as these boys have, all three of them, we need another play space before the weather changes in the fall. We'll be going from about 4-5 hours of outside time to ZERO. This Florida girl, and I'm guessing these African boys, don't go outside if the temp is less than 50. So along with our bonus room, this will probably be our next purchase...

Blog Changes. Or Not.

So the header on our blog is of a super cute 4-year-old boy, who's now 7. And it featured our only child, who's not an only child anymore. And our blog address is jontyner.blogspot.com because Jon started it 4 years ago. He'd write about random things, and honestly, I never read it. Now he never writes on it. Some people have asked me when I'm going to update these things. The truth is, I'm not a tech-savvy person AT ALL, so I probably won't be changing anything. Since I'm not a creature of habit and like only a few things to be consistent, let's keep the outdated blog. And my morning cup of coffee. And the 8:00 kid bedtime. And that's all.

Blue...The New Black

The Tyner Language Institute

We found this website that translates words (on their list) from Amharic to English. Most of the time, it works great. Sometimes, it doesn't work since Amharic is the boys' second language. That's right. English is their THIRD! We're trying to video every bit of them talking to each other while they still remember their language, whatever they're speaking. For those of you expecting children from Ethiopia, this website is SO helpful!

It's absolutely hilarious to hear them put together English words. For example, when they know they've done something wrong, they say, "Good boy, no?" Ben Z asked me today in Wal-Mart, after seeing a pretty overweight man, "Eat 1 cookie? No, 10 cookies!" They get it. :) And Jack can interpret anything! Even things we don't understand. Maybe it's universal with kids.

Ben Z likes to quiz us on Amharic words. He'll say, "Mommy, dog?" and I have to give him the Amharic word which is wusha, or something like that. He thinks it's funny to hear us say his words. :)



Words they know now and can say:
Shirt
Shorts
Jeans
Socks
Shoes
Pajamas
Closet
Bed
Book
Eat
Hungry
Cheerios
Strawberries
Banana
Bike
Scooter
Helmet
Car
Sidewalk
Church
School
Store
House
TV
Not now
Later
Tomorrow
Swing
Turner :)
Bath time
Bedtime
Kitchen
And SO many more I just can't think of. :)

Life

Life has been happening in our house lately. We're on a pretty disciplined schedule right now, and for those of you who really know me, that's not how I roll. :) But for now, consistency is the key. We wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, make beds, say bye to Jack and Daddy, play outside on and off until lunch time, take naps, pick up Jack, play outside again until dinner time, bath, and bed. These boys LOVE to be outside! The occasional TV watching is thrown in there as well as puzzles, books, trains, and so on.

Some things of note, and really are of no importance, but we run out of food SO quickly! Everyone with boys is saying a big ol' fat I TOLD YOU SO right now, but seriously, they're only 3 and 4. And laundry. I just can't keep up! I know after they're really used to things, it will all get easier. But these boys have put anything and everything into an outlet, pulled every single string on every set of blinds, turned on every single light switch, touched every picture, stand in front of the oven just to see if it really is hot when I open it, ask for just one more bowl of Cheerios (just to make sure we actually have more), and still ask for coffee at least twice every day. The list could go on and on. And even though we missed their first steps, first words, and first tooth, we still have so many "firsts" with them. And it's amazing.

We were also hit with all these tornados last Wednesday, so we're waiting on insurance while we make sure our house is waterproof and pray the rain stays away until our roof and ceilings are repaired. The next day, someone backed into me at the grocery store. As Jon said one time, "LIfe happened today."

We had some new family pictures taken by a friend of ours, Jon Matthews. Check out his website here. I'll post a few of my favorites. :)

That's all for now. Back to life. :)

Check this out!

Here's a link to a friend's blog...shirt sales for adoption! They were in Ethiopia the same time as us getting their sweet boy. Help support this sweet, sweet family! Check it out HERE!

Adoption 101

Adoption is a beautiful thing. It's a Biblical thing. But it's not easy.

Let me preface this by saying we adore all three of our children. We're crazy about them! We've had some of the happiest moments and we've also had some pretty sad ones too, and we're only on week 2.

The movie Annie gives such a false impression of adoption. Most people think of orphans as innocent children who sit and dream of a family coming to rescue them. And the parents who come to rescue them are saints, to which most people say, "I could never do something like that!" And once again, for the orphan, life is perfect.

Wrong.

Orphans are, most of the time, innocent children who have faced more hardship and loss than the ordinary person. Orphans in 3rd world countries have seen their parents and siblings die of disease and starvation. One word. Poverty. They've been dropped off at an orphanage by their only living relative who was too poor to care for them. Maybe they were abandoned. Then, a "rich" family takes them away from all that's familiar, even though the living conditions may be absurd, and brings them to America or some other prosperous country, where they will sleep in a new bed, wear different clothes everyday, be overwhelmed by the amount of food and toys, and expect to be happy.

But for these children, they're just now getting to the point where they can grieve. Grieve whatever horrible loss they had to face. And they ALL had to face something. Every single one of them.

Think of the mom or dad that dropped their child off at the orphanage knowing they would never see them again. Knowing they couldn't provide even the basics like food and clean water, and this was their only option. That's sacrificial love like no other.

Well, like one other.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
John 3:16

What a sacrifice He made so that we could have life. A second chance. And we come with hurt, pain, baggage, mistakes, and He takes us just as we are.

What a privilege to extend the love of Jesus, our Rescuer, to these two...just as they are.

Africa: Embassy (2 weeks late)

I'll just post a bunch of pictures from our trip. Once again, it was a great trip. Jack was such a trooper! And our moms were a huge help. Honestly, navigating through the airports was probably the hardest part! Right now, we're adjusting to life at home. These guys are hilarious and they adore Jack. More to come later...