Just an Update from My Life

The snow sits on our deck in feet, not inches. The temperature with wind chill is forecast to be thirty below zero tonight. I sit by a warm fire enjoying the beauty of the white world through my windows.

The tree still sits in the living room, but the lights and decorations have all been put away. I began the new year attempting a resolution I made many years ago: In my twenties, I was fairly athletic. I taught aerobics, ran, was a cheer leading coach. I pretty much took off my entire third decade. I vowed to pick it up again in my fourth. With forty looming only six months away, we joined a gym and I have been taking classes. I am taking it slowly and have discovered muscles I did not know existed. The aches of getting old have been replaced by the aches of engaging my body in the attempt to feel better at some point.

The Pope gave a speech on World Day of Peace which included a request to take care of the environment. Like with John Paul II who forced me to rethink my belief in the justification of the Death Penalty, I am forced to be uncomfortable in my conviction that the entire Environmental Movement is a sham. I still believe that much of the International and Political Environmental Movement has an agenda to subjugate human beings, but that does not alleviate my responsibility to try and reorder my life. And so, I am recycling. For those who know me personally, you can picture me holding my nose as I do so.

I am also trying to not waste as much food. I have been turning left overs that usually spend a week in the fridge and then end up in the garbage into some creative soups. Vegetables and fruits in danger of going bad are being fed to our new guinea pigs.

One giant step for Sheila, one small step for mankind, or at least that is how it feels.

I begin to make the preparations to bring home our newest family member. Simon Boki Gramling was legally adopted by us through a representative in the Ethiopian Courts on December 21. My tentative travel dates are the week between January 30 and February 7.

My oldest son will be my travel partner. I am gathering our donations for the orphans, finding rooms and flights, meeting with a wonderful new friend who is a native of Ethiopia to get my bearings for a stay in the Capital City and learn a few Amharic words. Though I am beginning to get into the nesting mode that comes with all new children, my heart is filled with a great peace. I am not anxious, just excited and profoundly grateful that we will soon be meeting our new six year old.

The warm glow of the fire in contrast with the cold beauty of the outside world reflects my feelings of contentment in this first month of the new year. I am trying not to stay in one place, but to move forward. To grow and not just grow older.

I feel blessed in my heart, challenged in my convictions and sore in my muscles. Not a bad way to feel.