Julie Gumm - Author

Ocean View

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It seems that almost since they got home Beza and Wen have been asking about going to the ocean and today was FINALLY the day.

As we drove into the parking lot and Beza looked to the left she exclaimed, “Mama, it’s so pretty!” Amen, girl!

They promptly strapped on the boogie boards (thanks Vay!) and started to walk toward the water.

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“Is it cold?” Wen asked.

“Um, yes.”

But they walked on. They were a bit taken aback with the waves coming in and out and the sand going out from underneath their feet, but we trekked onward into the water.

The caught on to bogey boarding really quick but seemed just as content to stand and play in the waves, undeterred (for the most part) when they fell down or got salt water in their face. Especially Wen. I think he would have like to go out further and swim if we would have let him.

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We had lunch, the kids played in the sand, I laid on a towel for a little too long and sunburned the back of my legs…you know the drill. I’m thrilled they seem to love the ocean as much as I do.

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Swim Progress

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Friday we spent the day swimming at our friend’s house. Dad told the 3 youngest kids “No floaties!”

I was curious to see how all of them would do. Natalie is right on the brink of being fully independent in the water. As long as she doesn’t try to cross at a really wide part of the pool, she does great at swimming underwater, gliding. Gotta work on her freestyle some more and being able to get a breath and continue.

Wendemagegn and Beza stayed in the part where they can stand up for the most part but they had a lot of fun swimming back and forth. It’s really fine tuning – like getting them to kick with mostly-straight legs, and “scoop” the water instead of slap it with their hands. They got more adventurous as the day went on and even went down to the deeper part, would jump in and then swim back to the side (w/ mom standing by for backup that was unneeded).

Here’s a couple really short clips we took to show dad when we got home:

Answering the prayer of a little girl’s heart

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I was just commenting to someone last week that it seemed as if we had not had as many grieving tears lately – especially from Beza (she’s the one that shows the most emotion about leaving Ethiopia and Grammy behind).

Well I’m not sure exactly what set it off (although I’m sure it was exacerbated by lack of sleep) but last night the tears were flowing. She even told me she wanted to go back to Ethiopia and not come back. (I knew she didn’t really mean it, so I didn’t take it personally.) We have told her before that we would love to take her and Wendemagegn back to Ethiopia some time but it is very expensive and so we’re not sure when we will be able to do that. Her concern is that Grammy will die before she gets to see her again.

So I was comforting her the best I could. I asked if she maybe wanted to write a letter or draw a picture for Grammy tomorrow and she said “No, it’s not the same. I want to SEE Grammy.” So we prayed that God would keep Grammy healthy until Beza and Wendemagegn could see her again, that we would be able to have the money to make a trip to Ethiopia sometime “soon” and that he would help Beza not to be sad.

I finally left the girls room only to hear her calling me a few minutes later to come back up. When I got up there she was trying to figure out how to stick a picture of Grammy on the wall next to the nightlight by her bed so she could see it. So we taped it up there. Then Natalie asked if she could sleep with Beza so she wouldn’t be sad (isn’t she sweet). So we compromised by throwing all the blankets and pillows on the floor and they slept together.

This morning as I was scarfing down breakfast I grabbed by Blackberry to scan my emails. There in my inbox was an email from the family friend in Ethiopia. Attached were 4 WONDERFUL professional pictures of Grammy and the kids half sister Mesret. I totally got chills at how God answers Beza’s prayer. I know it wasn’t exactly what Beza meant when she said “SEE” Grammy but what a wonderful reminder that God cares about what is in her heart. He sent us a visible reminder that Grammy is well.

She is a beautiful woman and to me embodies so many things including courage and selfless love.

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