Home-Coming Preparations

I think nesting is starting to kick in. I hope I don't have to explain the concept of "nesting"... you know when a new mother starts to prepare the home for her new child. The night before last I started to steam clean the carpets. I have an incredible urge to pull off all the screens from the windows and clean the screens and the windows. I also want to fix any paint scratches in the walls. Those seems like such odd "nesting" activities. How is it possible that clean windows and painted walls make for a better home for a child? In addition, I want to start buying clothes and other basics for the girls. But I am not sure what sizes to buy. Those seem like more normal nesting activities, but I suppose since I can't start those activities, my brain is at least satisfied (or temporarily satisfied) with clean carpets.

On another note, yesterday, I was talking with a friend of mine about these trips we take to meet and bring home our children. We had a good discussion about how these trips are for our children much more than they are for us. Maybe I am not there for me at all. I go to learn the culture, to be a better parent. I go to see the land so that I can share in the discussions with the children. I go to buy gifts that will be for the children as they grow to remind or teach them about the country that loved them first. And every photo I take is a thousand words about their country, and their life "before".

Ethiopia changed me in ways that I cannot describe. My "barely-scratched-the surface-attempt" in my first blog is like a looking at a weather map and knowing, "it's hot right here, windy right here, and there is a storm warning right here" That kind if information is nothing like the children playing in the sand on a warm beach, or the kite flying in the wind, or the family huddled together to fare the storm. I usually find that writing offers many dimensions to a story, but in the case of the lessons from Ethiopia, the writing seems to lack the ability to flex beyond any first dimension.

I wonder what Ghana has in store for me. I wonder what Ghana will teach me. And my girls, what is it that they will help me understand. I too am "nesting" in my soul, preparing for what is in store for me. Cleaning out any clutter and making room for what is important. It's good I have not been worried or anxious in preparation for the girls' home-coming. I think my trip to Ghana will require all the energy, focus and love I can muster.