Please pray

Yesterday, on our way to church, we stopped to have a quick snack/dinner. After ordering some "healthy" fast food, picked a table and started eating before it got late for church. We were on our second bite when suddenly our son stopped us, "you forgot" he says with a very concerned tone of voice "you didn't pray for the food" So after swallowing that un-chewed second bite (how can you keep chewing after that?), proceeded to thank the Lord for our meal including our everyday pray for our son Adiel’s sisters and all the children who don't have a meal. Right after that "Amen" our son added in a very "by the way" but serious tone of voice; "and for all the children who don't have arms or legs"... It was so impromptu, that I couldn't restrain the picture from flashing in my mind: children missing limbs!!! So we "amen" his addendum and had to put that image aside for the moment so we could finish our meal.

I later tried to think on the "why?" but the answer wasn't hidden; you know the reasons, the main one is called man, you know! "Adults" I was going to say mankind but somehow the "kind" part didn't really fit in this context. So, if a six year old can bring this up on prayer, I am convinced that we, as parents and adults need to keep it as part of our everyday prayer.
Would you pray with us? Can you include those children in your prayers? Thank you

What can you do?

Ethiopian Orphans from Simon Scionka on Vimeo.

Some recent pictures

Just updating with some pictures. No news about our adoption yet.

Letter to my girl.

To my daughter,

Hello my little girl! I want you to know that we love you, yes… we already love you and are waiting for you. As a dad, I find amazing and painfully rewarding that I can love you this much without even knowing you yet, --thank you lord Jesus for the Love--. Then again, maybe I do know you, just maybe, that tear that I shed sometimes thinking of you, is actually you… coming close to me and with a soft kiss in my cheek saying I’ll be there soon!!!

I don’t know what you do every day, I wonder if you are happy or cry yourself to sleep… longing for loving arms to hold you, and a voice to tell you “everything is fine”; I wonder if you are being fed enough, if you are sick, if somebody takes the time to fix your hair. If you play with other children; but then, I breath and trust that God is taking care of you and keeping you safe… and then I wonder again, how does your smile looks like?, how does your laugh sounds like?

You know, this is going to be a really big change in your life, your brother’s life (who prays for you every night), your mom’s life and I would like to say, especially my life.

I hope I’m wrong and you don’t cry yourself to sleep… because that is what I do when I go to bed thinking of you…

I love you, your dad.

Just keep waiting

Well it’s been close to 4 years since we traveled to Manila, Philippines. We have seen our son grow from a shy toddler (ok, at least for the first 3 days), to a strong and very active and loving boy. We are so thankful to God for allowing us to complete our family through adoption.

Now, we are back on the adoption road. This time that road will take us to Ethiopia. I wish I could write here why we chose Ethiopia, there are many reasons why anyone would choose this country but, why did we?? The answer is very deep in mine and my wife’s heart. When we try to put it on paper for our agency, it took 5 revisions and I still wasn’t fully pleased with it. Sometimes is hard to explain your deeper feelings…

Our dossier was completed and we were added to that famous “waiting list” by the end of March “09 and from there, that’s what we’ve been doing; waiting, waiting and waiting. All this while we try to continue with our life as “normal” as possible.

How much longer??? Well, I wish we knew… all we can do is pray for our daughter and yes… wait. Stay in touch!

Catching up!

Only a few pictures from '08

Smile!!!

Carlito's first year

The first year with our son Adiel Carlito was full of new experiences (duh!). It has been so much fun to see him grow and learn a new language, --actually two, he speaks English and Spanish-- even though he had to forget his native Tagalog.

He is active, fun, loving, smart, active, inquisitive, did I mention active? Well let's say I finally understand the phrase "he is all boy"

I'll give you just a few pictures of his first year with us.

Philippines adoption

This was his first laugh, a special day.

Flying home...