Lanie has come into our family and this American culture with unique eyes and heart. Everything is new and fresh to her and yet what she wants most is simply love. She continues to challenge the priorities of this place in beautiful ways. Below are a few lessons from Lanie:
- Live life with a humble and giving spirit – On the day of her small birthday party, she was giddy excited to see that her friends and families had come to celebrate her. “For me?” she kept saying followed with squealing as she jumped up and down. When we began to give her the gifts to open, I handed her a gift saying, “Lanie, Ethan gave you this.” Not fully understanding what was happening, Lanie instead joyfully gave the gift to Ethan. She thought she was to give others gifts at her party. Lord, thank you for her giving spirit. PLEASE help our self-serving American culture to not mess her up too bad!
- Sharing stuff is better Lanie is typically surprised to discover something is actually hers. If given something, she usually (not always!) wants to share it with everyone around. In her world, she never had much and what she did have was always shared. Lanie simply desires to enjoy relationships with people and therefore will use her “stuff” to help facilitate that.
- Love everyone you meet – MUCHO hugs and a loving personality go everywhere with Lanie. No one is a stranger to her. They are merely new people she can give hugs, smiles and be silly with. She just wants to be loved and love others.
- Love to Work – So much is new to our little girl and since she is significantly delayed in almost every area, there is much she is learning. While she is very apprehensive at first to try new things, after some persuasion and encouragement she has learned to work diligently at gaining speech and many other skills. Her perseverance level is increasing and her joyful spirit is being shown more and more. Lanie’s motto is “I’m VERY happy to do any work, learning or cleaning as long as you do it with me!”
- Expect nothing. Be grateful for everything. Complain little – As I put presents under the Christmas tree with Lanie’s name on them Lanie began jumping up and down with great joy saying, “For me? Thank you Mommy! Thank you Mommy!” That’s a typical reaction from our girl.
- Live simply – Lanie doesn’t need much. She enjoys puzzles and toys, but really she just wants people. She doesn’t require extravegant gifts, parties, outings, room decor or really anything. Living in Colombia taught me a lot about the joy of living simply with only what you can fit in a suitcase for 2 months. Our culture (and my life often) are full of excess that only distracts and does not add to life.
- Cling to Jesus – She is enamoured with Jesus, clinging to Him for her everything. Many nights Lanie has been fearful as many children are. However, her fears have more meaning than many. The fact that Jesus is there with her has been HUGE. Praying through tears with desperation, a quiver in her voice and firm belief, she prays, “Jesus, help Lanie no scared. Thank you.” She understands He is her protector in ways I never have before. On a stormy, rainy night, our little Colombian was once again scared. I told her God made the rain to come to grow the trees, flowers and the apples on the trees so we could eat them. The next morning she woke up, ran to the back window and sadly said, “Mommy, no apples on trees.” Her child-like faith and understanding bring smiles to us all.
Alot of Lanie’s “vision” of life comes from a child who knows she is needy. She has been in hard places and is using tactics to survive her world. All of these tactics aren’t always good, BUT… there is much to learn from her. Aren’t we all desperately needy? I am often disillusioned to believe I am in charge of my life and can control if I eat or not, have family, friends, a job, etc. However, in one instance all of these things can be gone regardless of how smart or nice I am, how healthy I eat or how hard I work. I too am desperately needy for the one who is the constant, steady, provider of all. Lanie knows she is needy and she is learning to cling to Jesus. It is there that she has found peace and rest (and mommy has gotten sleep!).
Disclaimer: In case you think from this blog post that Lanie is just a sweet little angel that has brought smiling fairly dust to our family making everything blissful, please read the next blog post. She’s wonderful. We love her. It’s not always easy!