Hello everybody, it's me, Mary Jane. Jim finally let me have my chance to speak again. I know he's been giving me a bad rap here lately about not being sympathetic and all but he didn't tell you the whole story, does that surprise you at all? I must say, I am not the most sympathetic person in the world when it comes to being sick. As a mother, I never get to have a sick day so I figure why should anyone else get to lay around and rest for a whole 24 hours while I work my butt off taking care of seven kids. Are there any other mothers out there who can relate? So yes, I did tell Jim that if he wasn't better by Monday that I was going home. And yes, I really did mean it at the time. Jim told me that I had offended him when I said it because he thought that I was blaming him for being sick. What I told him was, I just said that because I wanted to be able to take care of you and being here I wasn't able to do that with all the kids....I think he bought it. Needless to say, I am SOOOOO glad that he's up and feeling better and I need him more than I want to admit. This is definately a team effort (including Maryssa, Matthew and my parents and of course all of those of you who are home praying for us) and I am committed to see it through! For those of you who have asked, Jim is doing great and the doctor said he is going to be fine. I guess that means I better unpack my suitcase, ha ha!
Seriously, things are tough but going really good. The kids are trying so hard and you can just tell that they love being in a family. They are already looking forward to coming to the United States. We got some good news today. I talked to Lino (the contact for our adoption agency that is here in Brazil) and he said that we will be having our final interview with the psychiatrist this week. The good news is that we were supposed to have four interviews with her and so far we've only had one so that means we are only going to have to have two total. I call that favor. I know it doesn't seem like that big of a deal but Brazil is very precise in their adoption laws and it's very unusual that they would allow for us to only have two interviews. They said things are going so smoothly that they have decided to use their time on other families that things aren't going so good for. It is truly amazing to see how God is at work in all of this.
So, for those of you who are wondering why I said, eight is enough!? Well, today it feels like eight is enough. But then again, we thought three was enough too. I can't imagine what our life would be like if we had decided not to pursue God's plan for our life. Well, more sleep would be one thing, a clean toilet, less laundry, less food to prepare, less fights to break up, more me time.....but then I stop and think of all the things we would have missed. All the hugs and kisses, the smiles, the laughter, the knowing that we are making a difference in this world even if it's just a small part. There is nothing like hearing a child, who doesn't speak your language or even look like you do, call out for you in the middle of the night because they are sick. It just melted my heart and made me realize that God has blessed me with five more kids. I am their mother. Not because I deserved it, not because I am a better mother than anyone else, but because He knew that He could ask us to do something and we would do it. These children were created by God for us and to be a part of our family. It's truly amazing!!!
I am going to be so much more appreciative of the things that I have when I get home. I was believing for a commercial sized washer and dryer before I got here. Now, I'm just looking forward to using my rusty white ones in my little laundry closet. You don't realize what you have sometimes until you are forced to do something different. Washing clothes has been a challenge for me. I used to wash everything everyday not really caring how dirty it was. Now, I smell things to make sure they are dirty or not. It doesn't count if it just has a little dirt on it, now it has to smell before I will wash it. That means most of us wear clothes for two days in a row before washing them. It has cut down on laundry so much. But with nine people, it's still a lot of clothes to hand wash and hang out to dry. With three little boys (and a couple of older ones too) I've seen more skid marks than the Indy 500!! You think I'm kidding. There is nothing private about hanging out your laundry for all to see. I told Jim to leave his leopard print thong at home but for some reason it made it here and it's hanging out there for all to see. I am hoping that they think it's some American sling shot. Just kidding ya'll.
We are counting down the days until Michael comes. We miss him very much and can't wait for him to get to meet his new brothers and sister. They are all really excited about meeting him too. I hope everyone had a great Easter. We really missed being at church, but enjoyed getting to watch it on line. It was nice not having to worry about what to wear. And I can promise that no one wore the same Easter outfit as me. Other than that, everything is going good here in sunny Curitiba, Brazil. We love you all and really appreciate all your love and support. Your prayers are definately being felt here and we couldn't be doing this without you.
Love ya'll,
MJ
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