One Year Ago...

One year ago today, I went to a lawyer for an innocent consult. Wondering if as an unmarried foreigner, not yet a "national" of Bolivia, could I legally adopt a child? Less than an hour later I left his office nearly hyperventilating. Turns out I could, and I'd be a mom by Christmas. No nine months of gestation to get used to the idea, decorate her room, or finish off my single-person "bucket list." But fortunately, I don't have bucket lists, the room was pretty much ready, and I'm not very contemplative.

Today, as we spend our Saturday doing homework projects and rocking babies, I'm ruminating on all that I've learned this year. For instance:

- I had no idea that good hair comes straight from God, not from a bottle. Of all the hair product options out there, Angie doesn't use a single one of them and her mane is always gorgeous. I can barely get her to shower more than twice a week, but no matter, perfection can't be damaged by poor hygiene. She brushes it in the morning and I envy her all day long.

- In Bolivia parents have homework too. Literally. Ange comes home with projects that say, "Para Padre o Madre." Really, you want me to design a poster about the endangered giant frog of Lake Titicaca? Excuse me, why do I need to decorate this huge parrot and cheetah, again? I'm still not sure how they will punish me if I don't do my assignments, but I'm afraid only Angie will suffer, so I usually comply.

- A nine-year old could teach me so much. She's taught me how to cook rice the Bolivian way. All about head lice. That these chickens in the picture poked their own heads through the plastic on the roof of this car (I was baffled by how the owner had poked breathing holes in the tarp.) And how resilient a person can be after serious trauma, huge changes, and great challenges. She's a trooper.

- Finally, I've learned just how weak I was when I thought I was so strong. But I've come to believe as God told us that through Him all things are possible.

-Matthew 19:26