Have any of you ever felt like you were living in between two or more places? Have you ever felt like you have finished your life in one place and you want to begin you life in another, yet you are still stuck in the first place? I am in this position at this moment. Page and I call it limbo, living in two different places. Your body is in one place, but your mind is in another place.
For those of you who do not know, Page, Karis and I are moving back to New Orleans this coming week. Page is taking a position at New Orleans Seminary as a Professor of Theology and Islamic Studies. I am taking a position as Mommy. We will both finish our PhD's in October and graduate in December.
I do not have to pack up anything in my house because the wonderful moving company is doing that for me. I look around this living room and thank God that I do not have to pack any of it. I do, however, get the blessing of traveling with my 2 month old down to New Orleans. I am very fortunate to have my mother traveling with me for at least half of the trip. My car will be packed to the gills with baby stuff. How do they acquire so much stuff? It is amazing to me that they need all this stuff, but all the "experts" tell you they do, so here we are.
So, I leave Sunday to travel to AL and then on to NOLA on Monday. I feel as though I have been living in NOLA for the past few weeks. My mind has been traveling down there quite often. I wonder how my life will be different from the last time we lived there. I also want my life, in a way, to have some of the same aspects of life that I remember so fondly from before. I wonder if the whole situation will be similar to seeing friends that I have not seen in a while. I get a little nervous everytime I spend time with a friend I have not seen in a while. Will she be the same as I remember her? Will we get along as well as we did before? Have we both changed so much that we do not have anything in common? I go through this litany of questions over and over in my mind making the slight nervousness I had before turn into full blown worry. Then I meet her at the airport and we begin a conversation that lasts the entire time she is here. There is no awkwardness nor is there any pretension. Our friendship is the same, but we are in a different time and a different place. I have a feeling that my relationship with NOLA will be the same. We are old friends. We may have some bumps in the road, but with the Lord's help we will get through whatever hurdles (or potholes) are before us.
New Orleans, Here we come!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Family Reunion
Page and I have had the pleasure of learning a lot about babies over the past few weeks. Karis is teaching us so much. I am going to have many new things to share in my Human Growth & Development class, if I ever get the chance to teach it again.
One of the things that I have learned is that babies fix their eyes on a person in order to get to know him or her. Page has been gone for the past two weeks to Annual Training for the National Guard. He came back on Friday, and Karis has had eyes only for her Daddy. She has been watching him and listening to him as he feeds her and plays with her.
Again, God has reminded me that we should do the same thing to Him that Karis is doing to Page. Karis learns more about her Daddy by watching him and listening to him. She is learning about his personality as well as his character as she spends time with him. The same is true in our relationships with God. Many times we miss our time with him or we neglect our time with Him. By spending time with Him and fixing our eyes on Him we are able to rekindle that relationship and get to know God even more. We are able to get to know His character and His faithfulness. The more we stare the more we know. I guess this situation is the only one in which staring would not be impolite.
One of the things that I have learned is that babies fix their eyes on a person in order to get to know him or her. Page has been gone for the past two weeks to Annual Training for the National Guard. He came back on Friday, and Karis has had eyes only for her Daddy. She has been watching him and listening to him as he feeds her and plays with her.
Again, God has reminded me that we should do the same thing to Him that Karis is doing to Page. Karis learns more about her Daddy by watching him and listening to him. She is learning about his personality as well as his character as she spends time with him. The same is true in our relationships with God. Many times we miss our time with him or we neglect our time with Him. By spending time with Him and fixing our eyes on Him we are able to rekindle that relationship and get to know God even more. We are able to get to know His character and His faithfulness. The more we stare the more we know. I guess this situation is the only one in which staring would not be impolite.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Dedication
We had the wonderful pleasure of dedicating Karis back to the Lord yesterday. Page was able to come home from drill for a day so he came back Saturday night and was able to go to church with us on Sunday. We went back to First Baptist Spartanburg for our last service with this precious congregation that welcomed us and has loved on us for the past 2 years. Karis slept through the service and was very good. She worshipped God while dreaming. ( She likes to raise her hands while she sleeps).
At the end of the service Dr. Wilton called us up on stage. He prayed for both Page and I as parents that God would lead us and give us wisdom. He then took Karis and prayed blessings over her as she grew. He prayed that she would come to a saving knowledge of God at an early age and that she would have a heart that seeks after Him.
For you women out there, Karis wore a very pretty white dress with while booties and a white hair bow. I can actually clip it in her hair. No toothpaste needed for this girl. She was so cute.
Page and I realized back at the beginning of this journey that Karis, or any child that God blesses us with, belong to God. We have been give children to disciple and raise for the Lord. They are not and never will be ours. We have them on loan for the time that God sees fit to loan them to us. He has created them for a purpose and has given us the opportunity to teach them the things He has taught us. We are very excited to see the plans that God has for Karis. He has many plans to prosper and give her hope and a future. Aren't we the blessed ones to be apart of it all.
At the end of the service Dr. Wilton called us up on stage. He prayed for both Page and I as parents that God would lead us and give us wisdom. He then took Karis and prayed blessings over her as she grew. He prayed that she would come to a saving knowledge of God at an early age and that she would have a heart that seeks after Him.
For you women out there, Karis wore a very pretty white dress with while booties and a white hair bow. I can actually clip it in her hair. No toothpaste needed for this girl. She was so cute.
Page and I realized back at the beginning of this journey that Karis, or any child that God blesses us with, belong to God. We have been give children to disciple and raise for the Lord. They are not and never will be ours. We have them on loan for the time that God sees fit to loan them to us. He has created them for a purpose and has given us the opportunity to teach them the things He has taught us. We are very excited to see the plans that God has for Karis. He has many plans to prosper and give her hope and a future. Aren't we the blessed ones to be apart of it all.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Going Home
Karis and I have spent the last week in Tifton, GA. For those of you who do not know where it is, think way down south. A place where the temperature stays around 100 and the gnats are plentiful. A place that is completely flat and the landscape is rows and rows of cotton, tobacco, and peaches (and maybe a few peanuts here and there). A place that hales sweet tea as its drink of choice and bar-b-que as a staple.
My parents have called Tifton home for well over 10 years. It is the place I grew up and graduated from high school. Karis has spent the last week getting to know her family a little better. She spent a great deal of time with her 2 year old cousin Anyston who thinks that Karis is her baby. She wanted to "hold the baby" most of the time and loved kissing Cousin Karis. We also spent time with her Great Grandma and BigPa and Mema as well as her 3 week old baby cousin Jason and his family. We had a wonderful time.
We head back tomorrow on the 6 hour trip that will probably take 8 or more. It is amazing how much more time it takes when you are traveling with an infant. If you think about it, please keep us in your prayers.
Daddy (Page) has been at annual training for the past week, but is on leave for Saturday and Sunday. We are very excited about seeing him. He will go back on Sunday afternoon for his second week.
God is so good about slowing me down. Karis has brought many joys and lessons into my life. One of the lessons she is teaching me is that I need to slow down and enjoy the ride. If I try to hurry I will miss her smile or coo or cute facial expression. I have found that my relationship with God is like that many times. He is not so much interested in me getting to the destination as He is me slowing down and learning what He is teaching me on the way. This week I have spent much time with people I have not had a chance to ever sit down and talk with for an extended length of time. If Karis had not been taking a nap or needed feeding, I probably would not have taken the time to sit and talk with these individuals in the way I needed too. Isn't it just like God to use a baby to teach me a lesson. I have a feeling I am in for many more of those lessons through this child. Oh may my prayer always be as Samuel's was, "Speak Lord, Your servant is listening." I hope your's is the same.
My parents have called Tifton home for well over 10 years. It is the place I grew up and graduated from high school. Karis has spent the last week getting to know her family a little better. She spent a great deal of time with her 2 year old cousin Anyston who thinks that Karis is her baby. She wanted to "hold the baby" most of the time and loved kissing Cousin Karis. We also spent time with her Great Grandma and BigPa and Mema as well as her 3 week old baby cousin Jason and his family. We had a wonderful time.
We head back tomorrow on the 6 hour trip that will probably take 8 or more. It is amazing how much more time it takes when you are traveling with an infant. If you think about it, please keep us in your prayers.
Daddy (Page) has been at annual training for the past week, but is on leave for Saturday and Sunday. We are very excited about seeing him. He will go back on Sunday afternoon for his second week.
God is so good about slowing me down. Karis has brought many joys and lessons into my life. One of the lessons she is teaching me is that I need to slow down and enjoy the ride. If I try to hurry I will miss her smile or coo or cute facial expression. I have found that my relationship with God is like that many times. He is not so much interested in me getting to the destination as He is me slowing down and learning what He is teaching me on the way. This week I have spent much time with people I have not had a chance to ever sit down and talk with for an extended length of time. If Karis had not been taking a nap or needed feeding, I probably would not have taken the time to sit and talk with these individuals in the way I needed too. Isn't it just like God to use a baby to teach me a lesson. I have a feeling I am in for many more of those lessons through this child. Oh may my prayer always be as Samuel's was, "Speak Lord, Your servant is listening." I hope your's is the same.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
The Great Adventure
I have come to the conclusion that our lives are one BIG ADVENTURE made up of smaller ones. I would say that when Page and I married we had no idea the adventures God would allow us to take. We have married, almost completed PhDs, moved almost 2 times, joined the National Guard (when he joined, we joined :-)), tried to adopt two children and successfully adopted one, worked what seems a million jobs, and are finally moving back to where the adventure first started for us, New Orleans.
These adventures have not been easy for us. We have been through our share of heart ache, but we would not have had it any other way. Through the experiences God has grown us in our faith and commitment to Him as well as to each other.
Our most recent adventure has been the adoption of our daughter, Karis Esperanza Brooks. We had the blessing of picking her up from the hospital two days after her birthday (April 28) and we have watched her grow like a weed ever since. She has already taught us more about love and sacrifice than we could ever have imagined. Page and I could not love her any more if we had birthed her ourselves. I will have to blog about her adoption some other time, but to give you the very short version, we could not have asked for a more perfect adoption story. God's timing is perfect and He placed her in our lives for her to bless us and for us to love and bless her.
I hope you enjoy reading these crazy adventures of the Brooks' family. Let us hear from you.
These adventures have not been easy for us. We have been through our share of heart ache, but we would not have had it any other way. Through the experiences God has grown us in our faith and commitment to Him as well as to each other.
Our most recent adventure has been the adoption of our daughter, Karis Esperanza Brooks. We had the blessing of picking her up from the hospital two days after her birthday (April 28) and we have watched her grow like a weed ever since. She has already taught us more about love and sacrifice than we could ever have imagined. Page and I could not love her any more if we had birthed her ourselves. I will have to blog about her adoption some other time, but to give you the very short version, we could not have asked for a more perfect adoption story. God's timing is perfect and He placed her in our lives for her to bless us and for us to love and bless her.
I hope you enjoy reading these crazy adventures of the Brooks' family. Let us hear from you.
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