Email Update

My friend Elizabeth, a fellow missionary here in Philadelphia, just sent this update out to her supporters. I LOVED it, so I decided to share it with you guys as well!! (Please note: I do NOT see myself as a "super-star missionary". Those are her words, definitely not mine!)

So, here is Elizabeth's Update:

Hello from the winter wonderland of Philadelphia!

I hate it when the weather man gets it wrong, tells us there is snow on the way, and it turns out to be a cold drizzle. On the other hand, when they call for 5ish inches, and you end up with over a foot instead, this Ohio girl couldn't be more thrilled! We've had fun in the past two days playing in the snow, shoveling alongside neighbors, and enjoying the company of friends who got a snow day off of work.

While the snow brings out some of the worst in our city and it's people (I wouldn't give many a Philadelphia an A+ in snow-driving skills) it a joy to see some of the grime and litter blanketed in fluffy white and to see neighbors help each other out. I'm not sure that I would have picked 12:30AM - 3AM as the ideal time slot for my boisterous neighbors to express their love by shoveling the sidewalk, but I am humbled by their kind intentions and servanthood toward us. (Besides, I'm pretty sure I woke up at 3 AM once last winter wondering, "Who is that psycho out there shoveling at 3AM?" only to realize that my husband was no longer in the bed with me.)

I've been thinking for the past couple of weeks about what to share in this update and two stories with a common theme keep coming to mind. Bear with me until you see where these stories are going ...

In moving to Philadelphia, it didn't take me long to catch sports fever. Philadelphia is well-known for having some of the most passionate sports fans on earth. (They even booed Santa Clause!) Philly fans are no joke, and I have proudly joined their ranks!

Baseball is quickly emerging as the favored sport in the Varaso household. We watched our Phitin' Phils every chance we got this last season, traveling to Florida to catch a Spring Training game in March all the way through to the bitter end on October 23rd when they were denied a chance to appear in the World Series by the San Francisco Giants.

Football probably comes in at a close second for us Varasos, but probably takes first place for our good friend Trish. She and her housemate Ashley and joined us as we watched the Phillies' fateful playoff game in October, and again a few weeks ago when the Eagles' playoff game ended in disappointment.

I'm not gonna lie - I think I cried in 2008 when the Phillies won the World Series and again is 2009 when they lost. I'm pretty sure I cried again this past year on October 23rd, but for a much more sobering reason. While we were watching the game, we got a knock on the door that our next door neighbor Priscilla thought she may be in labor, and needed a ride to the hospital. Her plan was to have her 12 year old cousin accompany her, so it took a while to figure out an execute a more reasonable plan.

While we were waiting in the van for Priscilla's mother to get ready to come with us, suddenly someone else came out of their house crying hysterically, screaming for someone to call an ambulance. Not knowing what was wrong, I called 911, and found out a few minutes later that 17 year old Gage had taken some pills, passed out and wasn't breathing. When we left for the hospital he had begun to breathe again, but the ambulance still had not arrived. While we were gone the EMTs showed up and took him to the hospital where he was seen and later released.

I saw him the next day, and if I had not witnessed it all for myself, I never would have guessed any of it happened. Same ol' same ol ... no lesson learned. Gage was always one of those kids who ended up being a the favorite of one of our visiting mission-trippers. If any kid on Fletcher Street has had a wealth of love, prayer and attention lavished on him, it's been Gage. Even so, I've watched him spiral into dumber and more costly choices with each passing year, and it breaks my heart.

Fast forward a few months to January 9th of this new year. We watched in frustration as our Eagles embarrassed themselves on the field in a loss to the Packers. In the last quarter, things looked pretty bleak. This time there was no knock on the door to disturb our sports-induced depression, but Trish got a notification on her phone that made our hearts sink.

About 7 years ago when Trish took four siblings into her home who were being removed out of their own. They lived with her for a couple months then, and last year, the two sisters Bonita & Linda moved back in with Trish again for the better part of the year. I don't think I've seen anyone pour themselves out for anyone in a way that compares with how I've watched Trish pour herself out for these girls. She's cared for their physical needs, taken them on their first vacation, shown and taught them who Jesus is, and loved them far beyond the love of a mother. They ended up choosing reckless freedom and chaos over the support and structure that Trish's home offered them, and their lives have become a pretty big mess since then. The message that Trish got during the 4th quarter was from 14 year-old Bonita who has all but dropped out of school, telling her that 15 year-old Linda is pregnant.

Nothing puts a disappointing end to your favorite team's season in perspective quite the way that these events did. Philadelphia is an awesome place to live, to cheer, to minister. It is also a place full of broken lives and desperate need. It's a place where sports heroes lose championships, and super-star missionaries like my friend Trish do most everything right and still see people choose a broken way instead of Jesus.

When I talked with Trish about my idea to share these stories, she shared how she has really been challenged to not look at any apparent victory or defeat in ministry as the end. Often, well-meaning folks can say, "Wow, you have really made a difference in those people's lives! Way to go!" as if the story were over. We can't accept praise, we can't accept criticism for any end result, because the story is still playing out. Please pray for Gage. Please pray for Linda and Bonita. Please pray for us, as we are a part of their continuing story. As with our sports teams, we hold on with hope for these young people's lives .... there's always next season!

With blessings and hope,

Frank, Elizabeth & Selah (and Trish!) :)

Twin Babies!!!

Meet Baby T!

And Baby C!

I had my first foster children in my home, and it was not at all what I expected!! Ashley called me on Sunday and told me that they had a very unusual situation at her work (she works for Adoptions from the Heart). Twin boys had been adopted by a family on Friday and that family called Ashley on Sunday to say that they no longer wanted to keep the babies. (so sad!!). So, Ashley and her boss had to go and pick up the boys and needed to find a place for them to stay until a new family could be found. As Ashley and her boss were trying to think of how in the world they were going to find someone on a Sunday afternoon, Ashley mentioned that I was just certified as a foster parent. So, they called me.

I was just leaving church when my phone rang. I picked it up and heard, "So..how do you feel about babies?" I knew immediately what Ashley was talking about (she had texted me earlier asking me to pray that the adopted parents would decide to keep the babies), and immediately said, "I'll take them". There was NO WAY I was going to let these poor boys be passed around more than they already had!

So, I quickly left church to head home and prepare my house for babies! (I will remind you that I am the girl that is usually scared to hold babies until they are at least 6 months old!). Thankfully, the parents already had a lot of stuff so I just needed to find beds (I borrowed pak n plays from some friends) and then drive to Ashley's office to pick up the babies. Talk about a crazy day! And it only got crazier, haha.

So, from Sunday night until earlier tonight, I had 4 month old twin boys in my house. It was AMAZING (and not easy! hehe)

Sunday night, the boys were clearly having a hard time adjusting to a new house, and one or both of them were awake at some point almost all night. I think we got about 2 hours of sleep total. Thankfully, Ashley had Monday off from work and Lindsay stayed to help out, so we managed pretty well with a 3 on 2 ratio. :) It also helped that both boys took a 2.5 hour nap; so we did too!

T was the laid back baby, pretty much just chillen most of the time. :)

This is usually what C usually looked like, haha.

But every once in a while, we would get this cute face. :)

Monday night they were a little more settled, but did get up several times. We probably got about 4 hours of sleep, haha. Unfortunately, Ashley had to go to work on Tuesday, so it was just be and Lindsay with the babies. Also, VERY unfortunately, I caught some sort of stomach bug and was SO SICK! Poor Lindsay had to do so much of the work! I had also agreed to make a meal for a family in our church, so that also had to be done during the day. Thankfully, I was able to do some things, just very slowly with lots of breaks. And, the babies were very cooperative; taking plenty of naps and overall being pretty happy. Somehow, Lindsay and I managed to survive, keep the babies alive and even get the meal made!

The boys seemed to have been pretty settled in by Tuesday night and each of them only woke up once, so we got a good amount of sleep! I was also feeling better, so today was a pretty easy day (as easy as it can be with twins!). Thankfully, Lindsay agreed to stay with us until the babies went home, so I had some great help.

We had to get a little creative sometimes, haha. We didn't always have enough hands! ;)

We originally thought the boys would be going home on Monday. Then we were told it was going to be more like Thursday or Friday (which I was not really happy about. Not because I wanted them to go away, but because I could see that they were starting to bond with us and I really didn't want that to happen. They needed to be at home with their parents!!). However, Ashley called me at about 1:00 today and said that they boys had a family and were going home today! We were so excited!! So, Lindsay and I quickly fed them, bathed them, changed them and got them dressed to meet their parents!

Gizmo did not know what to do with the babies, so he just kinda watched everything from a distance. :)

I have to say, walking into the room and handing the boys over to their parents has to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life!!! They were SO excited! They have been trying to adopt for years and had several birth mothers change their minds, so this was a HUGE day for them. What a blessing!!! The dad was really funny. He looked at me and said, "This is crazy. I went to work this morning thinking it was just a normal day, and now I'm going home with twins! We are so blessed". The new grandparents were also there, and the look on grandpa's face is something I will never forget. He was completely in love the minute he saw the boys and was beaming the entire time! I LOVED IT!

C in his going home outfit. :)

T in his going home outfit! :)

So, now the boys are at home with their family and my house is back to normal. It's really weird! I do miss them, but I am SO SO excited that they are with a wonderful family. They will likely never know anything about me, but I feel SO blessed to have been a tiny part of their lives. I know it isn't always going to be such a happy ending, but I really think I am going to like being a foster parent. :)