As the Summer Sun Fades
Talk about changing up your routine, this morning was an extreme case of that in the Griffith house hold. Over the past couple of months we have learned to embrace the idea of lazy summer days, more so than we ever have. I have let the children guide the pace of our morning routine, sometimes not waking until 9:30 or 10:00, with Luke snuggled tight in his bed until noon at times. My workday has always been flexible enough to allow this, but until this year I have always felt the need to get up and get going. I'm not sure what changed, if anything did. I sometimes think that as I get older and the kids get older I see how precious this time is, the time at home with the kids, the time snuggled up, the slow wake ups, the long breakfast conversations. I realize this is a short and quickly passing season in their lives. I don't want to rush through that. And so we slowed it down, a lot. And although I haven't had a very productive summer, I must admit I have truly enjoyed it. I hope the kids have as well. The long days of endless sunshine have given way to vacations, family visits, trampoline jumping, and swinging...but a change is the air. The days seem to be getting shorter, the wind a little cooler and the suns rays just a bit weaker. I hope the take the next week or so and really reflect on our summer before we rush into Autumn.
Where do we begin...
Memorial day weekend, the unofficial start of summer, brought a brand new experience to the Griffith Gang. I received a phone call from our Pastors wife a few weeks prior asking if we would be willing to house two orphan children for the holiday weekend. She went on to explain that the Children of the World Choir, a touring choir made up of orphans from around the world would be doing a show at our church on the Sunday before Memorial day. Honestly I didn't really know what to say. This is a weekend that we typically find our way to the Smokey Mountains to kick off the Summer. I spoke with Jeff about the idea and he basically told me to decide, but was of course leaning toward the road trip. Luke was NOT interested. He thought it was a strange idea and said, "Mom, I'm afraid you will want to keep them". What to do?? I thought about it, eh for about a minute, then decided that this was something we needed to do. Givers, that's what Jesus wants us to be, that's what we should teach our children, right. I thought I had something to offer these poor unfortunate children, boy was I wrong. The children were not the ones who would gain a whole new perspective from this visit, I was, my husband was, my children were.
It was my understanding that we would be getting two boys, so that's what I had my kids to anticipate. Luke was getting more comfortable with the idea while Macy was disgusted that there would be two more boys in the house. On Thursday I was told that we would instead have two girls around the age of 8-10 and that we should pick them up at the church on Friday afternoon. I announced the news of girls to the family and Macy was thrilled. The kids and I went to pick them up on Friday afternoon and headed for the house with our two guest in tow, one from the Philippines and one from Uganda. They were so delightful right off the bat. Luke was relieved to learn that they indeed spoke English very well. They were intrigued with his long hair and were quick to tell him that he looked like a girl. Thankfully my son takes little offense. He laughed it off. They quickly settled into the house and we carried their suitcases in. Each had one medium size piece of luggage which appeared to be packed to the brim. We played outside and introduced them to some neighborhood children. They quickly chose Pizza for dinner. We had been told that they would naturally choose more healthy food options and would self regulate things such as bedtime and wake up times. This had saddened me thinking that they had to be so self reliant. Well to my relief zero of such things were true. My girls pigged out of pizza, peanut butter, freeze pops(always cut in half) and anything else they could get their hands on. That evening I had to strongly coax the girls into the bed after hours of playing, watching movies, and just hanging out on the sofa. They were much like our children in their love for sugar, jokes, running, playing, screaming, watching tv, and all things princess. They were very different than out children in their gratefulness, their unending "thank you"s, their reckless abandonment with praying and talking about God, their freedom of dancing and singing, and their manners that were truly inspiring. It was that night in bed that Jeff and I realized that we had already been touched by these girls. They already had our hearts. The kids had already began to know them and learn from them. We knew our lives would never be the same.
The next day the girls requested a skating trip. We went to McDonalds for lunch. The girls began to show me some of the songs they would perform. They quickly attracted an audience and were happy to dance and sing for the strangers. Nearly every comment I heard that day was, "Wow, those girls are full of joy and life". And that was exactly right. They were bubbling over with it. It was as if their hearts were so full they were overflowing. Their faces seemed to shine Gods love right out of them. It amazed me that these girls could have everything they own sitting in a suitcase in the middle of a strangers extra bedroom yet somehow be the happiest children I have ever been around. We spent the day skating, bounce housing, then finished up with a cookout at Pastor Scott's house. There we got to spend some time with all the children and learned that they all seemed to have the same attributes. Where do you get that was my question, because I really wanted some.
That night putting them to bed was so tough. We all snuggled up on the bed and read bedtime stories. Jeff read them the book, On the Night You Were Born, a book we often read our children. This book tells the story of how the world rejoiced on the night you were born. I love to stress that to my children and If only for one night I wanted to stress this to these girls. I remember Jeff posed the question to me that night, "if we could adopt these girls for real, would you do it" We both answered absolutely yes without any hesitation. Unfortunately that was not an option given to us, and further more we were told that we wouldn't even be able to be in contact with the girls after they return home. I washed the girls clothes, wrote them letters and cards, packed pictures of our weekend together, and prayed for them that night when they were sleeping. I dreaded that next morning like no other. Both my children had made it very clear that they didn't want the girls to leave. Luke had plans to hide them out and Macy couldn't believe that her "sisters" were leaving.
Jeff took the girls on to church since they had to be their early to get ready for the performance. The kids and I came just before church started and I was already in tears. I couldn't hold it back, I didn't want this weekend to end. I didn't want them to go home with the chance of them not receiving the love that they deserved, and I didn't want to wonder if I would ever feel again they way they made me feel again. . I cried throughout the entire performance and throughout lunch after. I hugged my girls so tight and gave them at least a hundred kisses on their little fore heads. I told them that I put hundreds of extra kisses up there for them and that they could take one down anytime they needed one.
And with that they were gone. For weeks I found traces of them throughout my house, drawings, notes, freeze pop papers and the many pictures we took of our fun together. I couldn't stop thinking of those girls. I wondered where they were every morning and wondered of someone was tucking them in every night. I still do. Every fun event we have attended since I think about how much they would have loved it. Every yummy pizza I eat I think of how it would have been to share it with them. Every time Macy request her freeze pop to be cut in half like her sisters did it I remember how they were with her. Luke mentions them at least weekly. We all enjoy talking about them and looking back at pictures. I did get to see some pictures of one of one of the girls on Facebook that a chaperone had posted from back in the Philippines. She was wearing the WV necklace we got her. It made me smile and cry all at the same time. I changed my parenting techniques a little over the following weeks and months trying to remove so much focus from material possessions and putting more focus on being grateful. I tried to have more family time and less screen time. I am trying to teach my children to have the freedom to worship God with boldness and abandonment. I want my children to be more like those girls and less like the children that we all are here in the US. I am eternally grateful for all they taught me in their one weekend here (including dance moves). I love those girls and I always will and I pray that one day I will be given a chance to meet them again and see what amazing things they have done with their lives. So wherever you are girls...Goodnight, the Griffithgang loves you!
Its late now and the tears are flowing, so I guess I will have to give the lowdown on the rest of the summer in my next post. I didn't realize I had so much to tell about my girls. I keep thinking of so much more. I could go on forever. Again, above all I am grateful!
