Double Digits for Samuel

I am 10 days late in recognizing the fact that our first born has reached the highly anticipated realm of DOUBLE digits.  Will I always wonder how the years can pass so quickly?  No doubt, I will.

Samuel, ten years ago your birth ushered me into my dream of motherhood.  Those first moments that I held you in my arms, I could hardly believe that you were actually ours.  You are a very special gift from God!  Your spikey hair, little duck tail, ten little fingers and ten little toes were all so perfect.

Samuel, our love for you has only increased as we daily marvel at how uniquely God has created you and how He, by His great grace, is growing you into a young man after God's own heart.  You are passionate about knowing God's word and desire that everyone know God's truth.  I am humbled every time I hear your sincere and heart felt desire that God will save ALL the people of the world.  Your ability to remember names and obscure details in the Bible that I tend to pass over all too quickly really challenges me and humbles me.  May you always have a desire to learn and may you always have a passion for Jesus.

Samuel, you are such a funny kid and make us laugh ALL the time.  You are not a comedian, but unintentionally you make the world around you laugh.  One of these days I will record a meal time conversation...your unending stream of chatter with questions to random fact telling keeps us on our toes and smiles written on our faces.  Here are some favorite quotes:

Hugging and kissing in the kitchen with your Dad, you come in and say:
"Romance is my trigger word."
Me:  Trigger for what?
"For happy tears" (and yes, indeed your eyes are watery)

Samuel:  Where are Uncle Ben and Aunt Melissa in Ethiopia?
Me:  The capital city, and I forget the name.  Abbia something.
Samuel: [without hesitation] Oh, you mean Addis Ababa.

Samuel said that in school they said Noah's Ark was a myth.
Jonathan: Well, is it a myth?
Samuel: No
Jonathan: Why?
Samuel:  Because Hebrews don't normally make up myths.

Praying for Nano who had the flu:
Samuel:  I pray for Nano's leukocytes to fight well.

While disciplining a sibling, I used the word "rebellion".  From the other room Samuel pipes up and says:  "Where does the word rebellion come from?  Is it Latin?"

I could go and on, but I fail to write so many down as this is just the normal flow of life and conversation with you.  How about it family?  Anyone else have a good Samuel quote they want to share?

This is the first year you chose a cake with no theme.  You told me that you would like to give me a break this year, and that all you wanted was a cheese cake.  You are too sweet looking out for your mamma.

And this was a special surprise that totally made your day from Miss Sabon's class in Michigan!

Samuel, we are so blessed that God has entrusted us with your life.  We pray this year of being 10 will be the best yet.  You are loved beyond measure!  Happy 10th Birthday!

Make My Heart Melt

After a VERY hard day yesterday with Luca...this is how the Lord has answered our prayers (and yours!)  His morning and mid-day attitude was great with no complaints about going to school.  When I picked him up this afternoon from school this is what he handed me....

Talk about making this mamma's heart melt!  Crying in the parking lot and praising God = a priceless moment!

P.S. When Luca came home yesterday from school I had written the verses from my previous post out on to a cutout sword and shield.  Thankful for the power of God's word in Luca's life!

School Update

Today marks 1 month since we have been back in Italy.  In some ways it seems longer than that.  Life and change have a way of distorting the feeling of time.  The kids have settled into a routine with school--3 full days and 2 half days a week.  The older two kids made pretty smooth transitions back into their Italian studies.  Their teachers and classmates were welcoming and excited to have them back.

With the grading period coming to a close Samuel was hit with great intensity of repeat interogations (oral testing) at every opportunity the teachers had so that they would have something in which to give him grades for.  He met the challenge with courage and perseverance and we are so proud of him.  We are so thankful for his self-motivation and study habits.  I can trust his word when he says he has studied and knows the material.  He is pretty quiet at school and says he gets nervous to talk to his classmates.  Pray for continued comfort in the language and for him to seek to be a friend to others.  We have had a couple of playdates with neighbors and more outside interaction will help in the process of gaining back comfort in the language.

Emma also has made a good transition.  She is more of our social butterfly and school is a means for her to interact with friends.  The first day back she came home saying how she needed our phone number to pass out to her friends because they want to call her.  She comes home with little notes and gifts from her friends and truly likes going to school.  She has had more difficulty in catching up especially in math, as the American school system is behind compared to the Italian.  All in all, she has not gotten too frustrated and is doing the work she needs to do to catch up.  She is very gifted in speaking Italian and has been a great little helper and motivator towards Luca.

Luca met the challenge of school without objection and was doing so well all things considered.  His teacher is so kind and compassionate towards him.  I met with her after school a couple of weeks ago and spent an hour with her talking about Luca's experience in Kindergarten and the things he learned there and how we could best help him catch up and transition to school in Italy.  She speaks English quite well and has chosen to use it more frequently towards Luca to help in his transition.  Luca is exhausted and usually an emotional wreck by the time Wednesday night rolls around.  I have quickly learned that Wednesday night dinners need to be all about comfort food for him.  No sense in adding to his stress level by forcing him to try new foods at that point in the week.  Over the past couple of weeks he has become unpredictable in how his attitude will be about school and homework.  Often he is in tears over having to draw pictures for his new vocabulary, saying "I am not a good drawer.  This is too hard for me.  I hate school...."  One thing for sure, is you know where you stand with this boy.  It takes lots of prayer, patience and encouragement to help him work through those hard moments.

Today, he came home for lunch with his backpack declaring how he wasn't going back in the afternoon.  They have a 4-day week because of Carnivale vacation, but I think maybe he thought he had 4 days off instead.  By the time we walked home he was in tears saying how he didn't want to go back to school in the afternoon.  He said he doesn't know what words to say in Italian and was having one of those hard and frustrating days.  He put up a good emotional and for the first time a physical fight about going back.  I had to carry him into school while he was trying to grab a hold of every doorway and object to resist being brought into class.  He was in tears and my heart just broke for him.  Do I let him stay home?  If I do, will this become an expectation that if he just resists enough he will get his way?  The teacher was telling me it was okay to take him home.  But I chose the tough love route.  I prayed with him and tried to reason with him and express my understanding towards how he was feeling, because I have been there too in wanting to give up on the language.  Luca said he was scared and it took me 10 minutes to calm him down and get him to a point where his teacher was finally able to walk him into class.  Please pray for my precious little boy, that God's word would speak comfort to his soul.  That he would put his trust in Jesus and find the strength given by God to carry on with school each day.  Pray for wisdom as parents and strength too as it is SO hard to see your kids hurting--Luca isn't the only one shedding tears right now.

Praying and trusting in His promises for me and all my children...

"Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with my My righteous right hand."  Isaiah 41:10

"The Lord himself will go before you.  He will be with you; he will not leave you or forget you.  Don't be afraid and don't worry."  Deuteronomy 31:8