The #1 Bonus Child

To put it lightly, Johnny is a character.

He's hilarious,

passionate,

boisterous,

and strong.

These distinctive traits in his personality can translate into

inappropriate potty humor,

hissy fit tantrums,

make-your-ears-bleed-loudness,

and unyielding stubborn opinions.

One of my closest friends says he reminds her of me.

Nice.

Johnny is about to turn FIVE (how can it be?) and I wanted to do a little photo collage of my baby (who if he heard me say this would wrinkle up his little nose and strongly inform me that "I. am. not. your. baby.").

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

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We sure love you, silly Johnny boy.

Authentic Poetry

I'm not a big fan of real poetry. I don't think I'm artistic enough or cultured enough or something enough to appreciate it. I am able to write it though. Today, when I held Andrew over a barf bowl while he puked his guts out, I was reminded of a poem I wrote about 7 years ago, in the middle of the night, after nursing my sick baby back to sleep. This was when we were a family of 4 and had no idea we would be receiving a "bonus" child (further post on him coming soon).

So, with no further ado, I submit my original poetry entitled...

"And Chris Makes Three"

I'm completely exhausted, yet wide awake
thinking about my kids' bellyaches.
The washer and dryer have been going non-stop
cleaning up barf and all kinds of slop.
It's been 48 hours. "We've been through the worst!"
Or so I thought til my bubble burst.
Andrew cried out from where he lay.
He barfed on me twice -- we'll be okay.
I laid him back down and prayed for us.
God likes that more than when I cuss.
I removed my pajamas (the second pair)
and took a bath with lots of fresh air.
It's 1 a.m. and I'm back in bed
when I hear a noise and lift my head.
My poor Chris is running down the hall
to upchuck his dinner, soup and all.
To hurl, ralph, or puke... it's all misery.
David, Andrew, and now Chris makes three.
Who knows? Will I make four?
Nope. I'm needed to mop up the floor.

Andrew Thoughts

So, last weekend, we were in the process of buying new shoes for David. We took a wrong turn - down a fire alley, to be exact (I wasn't driving) - and end up parking behind the store instead of beside it. In order to get into the store, we all needed to climb over a fence. After Johnny relieved himself in the parking lot, all 5 of us traipsed through the bushes, to get to the fence, to climb the fence, to get to the store. I say, with clear annoyance in my voice (did I mention I wasn't driving?) "We Frohlings sure like to do things the hard way, don't we?"

Andrew responds, "Yeah! Like move all the way to Argentina to give people money when all we really need to do is send a check."

I pause. Think about what he just said. Respond. "Um, Andrew, we are also going to make relationships with people and help them with their businesses and work alongside them."

"Well, we could just write them a letter," he tells me.

"We want to learn from them though too!" I quickly say.

"Well, mo-om. Just tell them to write. you. back."

Like-minded

When we went to the LAM orientation last June, we met some really great people. One of whom was Jodi. Our first meeting was when we sat next to each other the first night at an Argentine steak house (a bit of foreshadowing there, wouldn't you agree?). I liked her immediately when she was bold enough to try the tripe. Although we are similar ages, she and I are in different seasons in life and have been gifted in different ways (she's an artistic storyteller, and I'm, well, a number lover). However, we share many of the same thought processes, deep yearnings to communicate Christ's love in tangible ways, and love for God's big world. And she loves my kids and they know it. She leaves for her mission field of helping raise awareness - through videography - of Christian missionaries reaching out to the Muslim world of North Africa. Single, white, Idaho-ian woman. She is currently taking classes in self-defense.

Here's a shot of the boys (Andrew is laughing hysterically in the back) at one of our last days at the LAM orientation. If only there was a picture of Jodi, Chris and I watching this "performance". The kids were asked to sing a few songs that they had learned in their Vacation Bible School. Johnny, of course, had said "no way!" But, when he saw the other kids up there, he changed his mind. And instead of singing the songs, he yelled them at the top of his lungs. And, as you know, he has very strong lungs.

Anyway, Jodi has been in Simi Valley doing some consulting as she prepares to leave and we have been able to have some sweet time together. She gave me a book [Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle: Living Fully, Loving Dangerously by Kent Annan] and it is one of the best I've read in quite awhile. Here are some quotes that I resonate with:

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"In the years leading up to the decision to move to Haiti, part of what helped me wade through the guilt and hypocrisy was not pretending - to myself and to others - that it's pure altruism. Rather, I could be honest about searching for more meaning but also committed to the hard work of making a better life possible for someone else."

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"Reasonable limits don't work best for me. And it's true in my trying to follow Jesus too. I relate to the young man slumping away from Jesus' demand for everything, but I'm also profoundly drawn to Jesus' radical demands. They strike me as true. They're so hard, yet I long for the invitation. At this intersection it seems grace, work, freedom, obedience, sacrifice, and joy meld into a simple, whispered invitation.... But then what kind of narcissistic, messianic, self-important, desperate thing is this - or am I? Sure, some heroes like Saint Francis and Mother Teresa do a radical separation so they can go further into the world, but they're saints, and they're a bit nuts, and I'm pretty sure not eveyone is supposed to do it their way. I always find more courage to do what I believe or want to believe when I'm not alone. Shelly's the one I wanted to be with me. Here she was, married to and loving a fool - and wanting, like me, to learn more about love. So we drive to the airport. We board the plane for Haiti."

... or Argentina.

T minus 6 months

It's so hard to imagine living life outside of Santa Barbara.

It has also become hard to imagine continuing to live life in Santa Barbara...

when we feel so strongly that God has other plans for us at this time.

Today, at this moment, we are trying not to think about leaving loved ones to follow this path. Nor about missing the ocean air, renting our home out to strangers, giving up secure jobs, support-raising in a depressing economy, and leaving a church we love.

Instead, we are concentrating on being brave.


Go David! :)

One last post

So, to our non-meat eating friends.... you could survive a visit. Besides the meat, we thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful and delicious fruits and vegetables. That's all for now!

The perfect way to end our trip...

Argentina beat Uruguay in the last game of the World Cup qualifying games! It was the perfect way for us to end our time here (Argentina now goes directly to the World Cup in South Africa in 2010). After driving us around the north side of the city, Noelia, Ezequiel, Chris and I went to a bar to watch the game.


Here we are at the bar, drinking coffee, watching the game. It was very nerve-wracking during the first half... 0-0 score.


Inside the bar, after Argentina scored the game winning goal... the place erupted in cheers and high-fives which I was too caught up in to take a picture. But Ezequiel had this smile on his face for the rest of the night. I love this picture!




In the middle of the city with all the people proudly displaying the Argentine flag.


Chris jumping around, celebrating the victory, with the rest of the people in the middle of the street


Waving the flag at passing cars...


We just wished our boys (and the McLeans) were here to experience it as well. They would have LOVED it.

We leave today at 5:30 pm Argentine time (1:30 pm CA time), have a layover in Chile, and then travel to LAX where we land at 6:50 am CA time.

Hasta pronto, amigos. :)