A few weeks ago, Odesco came to me with a splinter in the sole of his foot. He was very anxious for me to remove it so I told him to come with me upstairs. Before I knew what was happening, L, G, Mercy and C were following closely behind. G quickly found a book to read in hopes of distracting Odesco during the 'procedure', L went to find a prize to give to Odesco to help him feel better after the anticipated splinter removal(he chose a harmonica!), and Mercy and C were there for moral support.
So, I closed the door to my bathroom as I sterilized a needle in alcohol and tried to hide it from my little man with the tender foot...I was not too successful as he caught a glimpse of it and was immediately anxious about being 'juked'. At this point G began to loudly read "Busy Town" to him , trying to divert Odesco's eyes and attention from his foot. I very gently prodded the sore spot with tweezers and he very loudly yelled...L very persistently tried to get Odesco to blow on his prize -(the harmonica), and Mercy began to very loudly sob! This was not ordinary cry...it was deep and guttural. We took a little break, I instructed G to begin reading and Odesco to roll onto his belly so he could not watch me....still no success at getting that little sliver of annoying wood from his foot....he was once again crying loudly and Mercy was following suit. L was still doing his best to get Odesco to 'blow the harmonica' and C was gently patting Odesco in attempts to calm him down. I told Odesco we would work on it a little later but he wanted that splinter out NOW! So, I gave it one last try fully realizing that this splinter was not going to budge under these circumstances and guess what I did? I faked it...I pretended I got a piece of it out, put some antibiotic ointment and a bandaid on and waited for the chaos to dissipate. (I knew that in time, that little splinter would work its' way out all by itself! ) Moments later Odesco declared triumphantly that , "It feels better already!!" In the meantime, Mercy was still heaving so I hugged her and asked her why she was so upset. I was thinking perhaps this triggered a memory of her Liberian Ma doing the same for her but she simply said it made her so sad to see Odesco in such pain. It was an opportunity to encourage her and recognize an evidence of God's grace in her life...He is giving her a tender heart! This was a gift as so often I am redirecting, correcting and instructing our little girl- it was a blessing to be able to shower her with genuine encouragement for her tender and compassionate heart and to tell her that I look forward to seeing how God will use that in the days ahead . This transformation really has been happening over the months since her homecoming. Initially, both children laughed when others got injured and showed no signs of even caring. Now, both kiddos will say, "Are you okay?" if they observe someone in pain... in fact, they will often be the first ones to run to the freezer to get an icepack for their injured sibling or friend! What a difference 8 months makes :)!
By God's grace, I was able to see His hand in this ridiculous situation:total hysteria over a splinter and lots of noise as others tried to distract, console , and cajole ("Blow the harmonica, Odesco" as if that's what he really wanted to do while he is crying his heart out!!) .
I will sadly admit that with my 'to-do' mentality, I would have typically viewed the 'intrusion' of all the other kiddos as a hindrance to my efforts but by God's grace I was able to see that He was doing something in the hearts of our children. They were bearing the burden of their little brother and showing compassion, kindness and empathy and by His grace, I was able to rejoice in this. Our children truly are being grafted together !!
Below are some of the pictures of them making memories together :)
Grateful for yet more evidence of Him at work in our lives!!
MamaB
This is the result of one distracted Mom and 2 very quiet little boys trying to find a single car in their previously organized closet!! Needless to say, they had a lesson in clean-up and organization a bit later in the day :)
I was in clean out mode and found a bunch of old birthday and party supplies. These 3 went to town ...planned a pretend birthday party, found 'gifts' to wrap and even hid Easter eggs while I was busy decluttering and organizing.
She still hasn't lost her touch!! This remains Mercy's favorite, most efficient way of carrying stuff! 
A sweet sibling moment...Mercy and Odesco with Big brother C-the current man of the house while Daddy and P are away 
Every year before we start school up, we have a scavenger hunt with goofy clues to find school supplies and fun educational games etc. This year though I was a bit sneaky: I wrapped up the younger kiddos actual curriculum since I wanted them to be really eager to start...it worked and we began a bit of school last Monday...not doing it daily yet but just easing into it :) The big boys are just along for the ride...they have already begun using most of their new curriculum although there were a few goodies for them as well (Story Of the World cd's and a computer game similar to Oregon Trail that focuses on Africa) 
The only girl I know who gets excited about a tomato!! 
Our first harvest from the garden.....Mercy was so excited about this green pepper. She excitedly asked if we were having it with peanut butter for dessert!?! She was not as excited once she tasted it...,"EEEEwwww, this tastes bittah(bitter)!" 
Are these 2 adorable or what??
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