Fútbol Has Begun

At right about three months home, like clockwork, the exciting newness was wearing off and my boys specifically started to struggle.  They're doing great in school and do everything we ask--homework, tutor, church, etc.  And without much complaint!  But you can tell there's a little bit of discomfort.  Unease finding their place.  My oldest Peruvian shows it the most in his face.  

More than just about anything, the boys talk about how hard it is to not be able to play soccer outside everyday.  We've had some great weather days...and some not-so-great days and the inconsistency is annoying!

So competitive soccer means a whole new kind of crazy!  But it's needed for their sanity.  They say "it's in their blood".  Not to mention it's good for my boys to run and get worn out and compete!  

The first game had quite the fan club!  In addition to the fact that our own family is a clan of groupies, we had my parents and friends come to cheer with us too!

 JHONNY

 SUPERFAN

So now I drive the minivan and am the literal soccer mom!  It's still tons of fun, even in just normal moments like now--helping with homework, rice in the cooker, and boys playing outside.  Spirits are lifting!  If you're praying for us, pray for my Peruvians to continue to feel at home here (and Peru of course), to make friends that help them be themselves, and that they would learn that the only person who can truly be the confidant and friend they need is Christ.  Pray for us to continue to ask God to teach us how to do family in this capacity.  And that God would have His way with us. 

Daffy and Her Sister

My three year old is into this family tree thing--who is that? What is her daughter's names? What are him's parent's names?  She is obsessed with my grandparents and their parents.  But last week, she kept talking about Daffy.  Daffy is a girl that we met in Peru when we met our kids for the first time.  Daffy isn't even close to her name by the way.  I'm not sure why Laney calls her that; her name doesn't even sound like Daffy!  But anyway....Daffy and her sister were around quite a bit in the few days we spent with our kids on their turf.  At soccer games, at the orphanage.  And I watched as Daffy and her sister asked our attorneys if they would find them a family too!  Heart wrenching.

I honestly have no idea why this week, Laney moved from family tree to Daffy.  (And now back to who is whose daughter, etc).  But I felt like God was helping to keep the girls in our minds.  My kids adore these kids.  One of my boys wants to make clear that a Sterling doesn't need to adopt them because well, then they would be his cousins and you can imagine why he wouldn't want that! :)

Acting on the prompting (and checking with our attorneys to see that the girls are interested, available, etc.), I thought I would tell you about them.  If you have an inkling of interest in more information, please email me at laurensterling9@gmail.com.  I don't use their real names here so as to not appear to exploit them in any way.  

Daffy and her sister are 2 beautiful girls that live in Peru in the same orphanage our kids grew up in.  They are 15 and 13 I believe.  The story we were told is that they were dropped off by parents that were separating.  The girls were convinced that someone would be returning for them soon.  Time passed and the parents separated and began separate lives.  No one returned.  It took the girls years to decide that their family was not coming back and that they wanted a family.  The story kind of reminds me of Annie, which we watch about 1000 times a week at our house.  Annie thinks her parents are returning with the other half of the locket.  Meanwhile, they actually pass away and no one tells her.  But then, Daddy Warbucks to the rescue!?  And who doesn't want to be Daddy Warbucks!?  

New Life

Easter has always been very special for us.  Pivotal to our faith, of course.  Plus, Scott and I got engaged very, very late on Easter Sunday in 2008.  New life for us began that day in so many ways.  So appropriate for Easter Sunday. Then Easter Sunday 2 years ago, Scott said "I'm willing" to moving forward on this crazy journey to 5 Peruvians.  So this Easter Sunday was pretty special.  New life.... and they live in my house!!!  Nuts!
So I'm not a fan of making every holiday about gifts and we certainly don't have cash growing on our trees...but Easter Sunday is special.  We talked about La Dia de la Resurreccion a lot beforehand.  Peru celebrates Holy Week in some capacity and our kids know about Jesus and the resurrection. But I'm not sure they understood why we make a big deal out of these days (like being out of school Good Friday) so it required a lot of conversation.
It was fun to give a small gift and let the kids try American Easter candy.  I bought things I don't even like, including Peeps, just so they would understand what their friends were talking about with Easter baskets, jelly beans, and cadbury eggs.

Then that evening, the kids had a fabulous surprise!  St. Mary's, a hospital in Blue Springs, contacted me a few weeks earlier and wanted to adopt our kiddos for Easter.  I tried to give a few different options for the kids of different $ values unsure of what they were wanting to do.  They did more than I could have imagined!
Each kid had a basket full of something specifically fun for them---fishing poles and tackle, itunes gift cards and an iHome, chess book, other books... I could go on and on!  Laney has been wearing her princess garb for days!  And to top it off, they received 3 bikes.  2 were specifically chosen for 2 of the kids and 1 that I'm sure we will all share!  They truly went above and beyond! We even received a family gift for all 9 of us to go to a Sporting KC game (which I'm super excited about because the boys have been :) AND an individual family got me a sweet gift.  We felt truly loved and blessed!

"And He who was sitting on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new....Write this down for these things are trustworthy and true'. "

Revelation 21:5