So… Once in a while drew and I will write to ourselves or each other on this cool site called futureme.org. Its super easy to do. Basically, you write an email. Set a date in the future. And then the kind folks at “futureme” send it back to you on that chosen date. Get it?

Dear FutureMe,

I am writing to you one day after your 29th birthday and one day before you hear back from the US Embassy in Ethiopia as to whether you can travel to pick up you son. Yes, your SON! By now you have had one whole year with him and have probably lost more hair. By now you love Cassie even more than you could imagine. By now your still writing three sentences in a row with the same first few words because you think it sounds cool.

Today I feel…happy. I don’t know what the email will say tomorrow but that’s ok. God has been faithful to you for 29 years. He has given you everything you need right when you need it. Even a ton of things you just want. But what is great about his timing is that he continues to let things play out to the last minute, which gives you and Cassie humility. You have to trust him till the moment things look the most difficult, which makes the gift that much more powerful. I think God is trying to keep you humble. Don’t lose that. You may earn more money by now but don’t let that mess with the joy you receive by giving more money away. There is some couple out there who needs to be blessed by the money God has entrusted to your care. Yes they will be blessed by the dollars but the true blessing is that they will be reminded of God’s care just as you have so many times. The reminder of God’s love has nowhere to hang a price tag.

Back to Bruk. You are anticipating this moment in about the same way as your wedding day. You are anxious about seeing him because you want him to accept you when the day comes to bring him home. You are being stirred up to lead him as you were stirred to lead Cassie as a husband. You love him more than words could express but your ready to commit your life to him.

Still, it is hard to imagine what a year with him will do to you and Cassie. You had 5 days with him, 3 as your son…but now you have had him for well over 300. Take a minute today to reflect on this day with Cassie. Tell her that you love her. Think about the beauty of anticipation. Hold your son and give him a kiss from 1 year ago Drew. So jealous of you right now.

 Isn’t he getting so big?! His new favorite word is “HAPPY”, and he sure is!

Happy Happy HAPPY!

My Chains are gone, I’ve been set free

My God my Savior, has ransomed me

And like a flood, His mercy reigns

Unending love, Amazing Grace

The Earth shall soon dissolve like snow

the sun forbear to shine

But God- who called me hear below

will be forever mine

We were supposed to write a post yesterday, but it didn’t happen… got busy/forgot- who knows! (We have a toddler now, so thats our excuse) 😉

Anyways, I just laid Bruk down in bed. Most nights that I get to put him to sleep, I sing him this song. “My chains are gone”. It brings me to tears right now just reading the truth in these lyrics. Not only do I get to live free from the insecurities and hopeless that life brings- but I also get to teach that to my son. I want Bruk to know that there is an amazing God who gives love unending and who no matter if the sun is shining or not- will always be there.

Its hard to know what a toddler is thinking. Bruks words are currently limited to things such as ball, car, up, no and the first syllable of many others. But we are beginning to see  him come to life and his personality take shape. Its an incredible responsibility and my absolute privilege to get to teach him, as well as learn with him about Gods amazing Grace and love for us.

A simple, but life changing truth.

Thanks for loving us and watching our mini stud muffin grow up. We’ll be sure to send out more pictures next time (because we all know thats way more exciting that reading my teary posts anyway).

Love to ya’s,

Cass

Well as you can tell from our post being 2 days behind schedule… its been a wild month! Can you even believe its February already?! I’m still lost in twenty twelve, wondering who won the presidential election! Life moves a bit quicker with this dude in the picture.  Bruk turned 18 months on the 30th and truly acts like it!

Here’s our month in review for you.

On January 7th- we celebrated Melkam Gena (the traditional Ethiopian Christmas) with our friends. It was a sweet time to celebrate the boys and let them whack each other with Ethiopian swing drums.

That next week some good friends from PA came to visit.  My friends daughter, Julia has officially named Bruk- Bruky Boy.  It was so sweet to see them play and fight and make up again just like a toddlers should:)

Bruk saw snow for the first time! Drew and I are used to Northern snowfall which tends to be a little “fluffier” than here in NC. Nontheless… this was Bruks first experience with that white icy stuff.

He got to play with a Nerf gun for the first time. Bruk was gently ushered into true boyhood that day.  It was awesome!

This month Bruk has shown so much more independence. Even though that independence causes us a little more anxiety and work, it is really wonderful to see him wanting to do things on his own.

Such as…

Feeding himself. 

And making big messes…

 Oh, and how could I forget!?  He got his first haircut too 🙂 Homeboy was a trooper. By the time we left the barber, he had the eye of every person in the room! What a stud.

Thanks for caring about us and looking at pictures of Bruky Boy. He’s stealin’ hearts and takin’ names.

So glad I get to be called his momma.

Well… if you can believe it, Bruk has been home for 3 months and has grown so much. No literally- he got his first pair of skinny jeans by growing into his regular ones. He looks dorky, but hopefully soon he will be in the double digits on the growth charts and wearing his actual age appropriate clothing;) He’s still rockin the 12 month pants, but as Drew can attest to… he is a full blown toddler!!

Some of his toddler tendencies are as follows:

If there is a table or anything resembling a table, he WILL climb onto it!

People say that teenagers will “eat you out of house and home”… well then we have a teenager in a 17month old body!

He is also becoming much more social.

Bruk has brought us so much Joy, we celebrated his first Christmas at home. It was precious to see him with family. What a loved little fella! He is pretty good at opening gifts, but even better at playing in the tissue paper.

How cool is it that he is ours forever! I love this boy more and more everyday.

Thanks for reading,

Cassie