The end of March and early April have always been a whirlwind of days, between Passover, Easter, and both kids' birthdays it's non-stop. This year has been no different.
Last weekend we celebrated another "Zoom" Passover with family all across the country. Hoping that it will be the last "Zoom" Passover we have to do for many years to come.
On Friday we went for Liiy's dress fitting! She looked so beautiful!
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Dress fitting
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On Saturday we celebrated Lily's 15th birthday. I took her and one of her besties and her mom to a tea room in Sykesville. It was absolutely lovely. I made Lily wear a tiara and sash that said Mis Quince Años. An enjoyable time was had by all. Also up until I took this picture I had never seen the resemblance between Lily and her birth mom. I'd always thought she must favor her father. But in this image, I can see her birth mom shining through! The eyes!
Today was Easter and we celebrated with an Easter basket scavenger hunt and Easter egg hunt, with our good friends the Rinkes family.
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You are never too old to find eggs
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A rare picture of them both together and smiling
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With the Rinkes family
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We also recently got an updated report and photographs from Lily's biological family.
English:
Report for: Kimberly Gjerde
Visit to: Lilian Bernardina Yac López
I read the letter to Lili and she answered:
“Dear family,
I
hope each one of you feels healthy, bear in mind it makes me happy to
know about you, we traveled to support people from Alta Verapaz, Tucurú.
They were affected people from the hurricanes and we helped at an
evangelical church.”
“Our church´s name is: “Mision
Evangelica Pentecostes Pacto Eterno”. COVID-19 sounds like a tragic
thing for everyone but no one in the family has passed away.”
“It’s
better if Lily receives lessons online to protect herself from the
virus. It gives me joy that Lily is a great student and feel proud of
her because we are illiterates. Sorry, but the only idea I was able to
catch was that Lily wants to become a public defender. I think it´s an
amazing idea and justice should be more involved in our daily activities
at our jobs, with friends and the family relationship.”
“Lily,
God bless you for turning 15 in April, hopefully, the people who love
you will be present for that moment. Choose the best dress for you, and I
wish you to feel happy that day. I hope you can share with me pictures
from your 15th-year-old celebration.”
“How do we pray for someone? We kneel down without having eaten anything before the pray and we do it with respect.
About
the other baby I gave in adoption, to be honest, I don’t remember
anything. The only thing I remember is that he is a boy.”
“Susana
wakes up at 9:00 a.m. every day, has breakfast, accompanies us to the
church, and during the afternoon we pray. She gets involved in her
parent´s activities and she is emotionally stable.”
“It’s
so nice to hear that Lily got excited to get our pictures on Christmas.
The same thing happened to me during the first contact with Fide. The
first reaction for me was to find a feeling I didn’t know a person could
experience.”
“I started to process the information step by step.
It´s exciting to receive news from you and the pictures are even
cooler, thanks.”
Lily said: “Lily, bear in mind that you
look beautiful and tall in those pictures. I thank God for allowing you
to celebrate your 15th-year-old celebration, God bless you! You will
be present in my prayers and hope that the people who will be
surrounding you for the celebration are the ones you love. I love you
and wish you the best at this stage of your life.”
“You
are saying bye to your childhood and the life as a teenager will start
developing. Please, be happy and very disciplined in your academic life
to overcome any kind of obstacle in the way. Life is difficult when the
best years are gone and the intellect stays the same. For example: “At
my age, I’m just happy with what I have and that won´t change. The reason
is that I am conscious that to regret is a toxic feeling.”
“I always carry you in my heart.”
Gjerde family:
“Thanks
for staying in touch, it excites me a lot to know the girl will become
15 years old; time flies. The supplies for us are an amazing support in
our family diet. I Feel extremely grateful to each one of you who
makes possible the girl´s celebration. If at a certain point the girl has
an inappropriate or negative attitude toward you, please, forgive her.
Discipline her taking off little privileges if it´s necessary but I can
understand she is a calm girl.”
“I wish success to each one of you in your daily activities.”
Spanish:
Kimberly Gjerde
Lilian Bernardina Yac López
Le leí la carta a Lili y contesta.
Querida
familia, esperamos que estén bien de salud, nosotros somos felices
saber de Ustedes, fuimos apoyar a las familias afectadas por los
huracanes en Alta Verapaz y a la vez estuvimos en una Iglesia Evangélica
de Tucurú, Alta Verapaz.
Nuestra Iglesia se llama: Misión Evangélica Pente Costes Pacto Eterno.
Sobre el Covid 19 es muy triste pero en la familia nadie ha padecido.
Es mejor que Lily reciba clases en línea para protegerse del virus por supuesto a su Padre principalmente.
Me alegra saber que Lily es una buena estudiante que orgullosa me siento porque en la familia somos analfabetos.
Disculpas
solo capto que Lily se quiere dedicar a la Justicia y pienso que es
bueno y todos debemos practicar la justicias desde nuestras familias,
con los vecinos y con nosotros mismos.
Lily, que Dios te
bendiga por tus 15 años en Abril, que te acompañen las personas quienes
te aprecian y familia. Escoge el vestido que te guste mas y que seas
feliz ese día y encomiéndate a Dios ante todo. Ojalá me puedas compartir
fotos de tus 15 años.
¿Cómo rezamos por alguien? Oramos en familia de rodillas y en ayunas.
Del niño que di en adopción no recuerdo nada, ni nombre, ni fecha de nacimiento sólo sé que fue varón y nada más.
Susana
se levanta a la 9:00 a.m. todos los días, desayuna, nos acompaña a la
Iglesia hacer limpieza y por la tarde vamos a orar y al servicio de
culto.
Participa en las actividades de sus Padres.
Que
bonito escuchar que Lily se emocionó al ver nuestras fotos en Navidad,
lo mismo me pasó a mí, en la búsqueda fue una impresión grande y mis
sentimientos encontrados (felicidad y lágrimas) experimenté ese
sentimiento y
poco a poco procesé la información en mi cabeza, ahora es emocionante recibir noticias de Ustedes y fotos.
Lily
MB dice: Lily te amo veo tus fotos estás hermosa y grande, gracias a
Dios que cumplirás tus XV Primaveras, felicidades y que Dios te bendiga.
Estarás en mis oraciones y la gente que te acompañe en tu día especial que sean muy especiales y que te sientas cómoda y feliz.
Te
amo y te deseo lo mejor en la nueva etapa de tu vida, te despides de tu
niñez y empezaras a vivir la vida de joven, sé feliz y dedícate a las
actividades sanas para empezar a trazar tu futuro como adulta. La vida
es difícil cuando de joven no se hacen bien las cosas y después hay que
conformarse con lo que se tiene y el arrepentimiento ya no sirve porque
es dañino para la salud. Te tengo en mi corazón.
Familia Gjerde
Gracias por la comunicación y me emociona saber que la niña cumple 15 años éste año, el tiempo se va rápido.
Los víveres para nosotros es una gran bendición nos cubre la necesidad de nuestros sagrados alimentos.
Gracias
por cumplir su misión de XV años con Lily, sé que es un gran trabajo;
Perdonen Ustedes cuando la niña tenga una inconformidad o les haya hecho
sentir mal por sus palabras, acciones o movimientos de no me parece.
Bendiciones en su familia, hogar y para cada uno de Ustedes.
