"Soda is Good!"

Ok, so many of you know how addicted I am to Soda- any type- Diet Coke, Diet Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, etc. - you name a soda and I love it. I got to where I drank more than 5-6 liters of soda a day and if you ever saw me coach a game at CPA, you know you could see me with a Diet Coke firmly planted in my back pocket- where I would go through more than 4 a game and also was known to throw a Diet Coke a time or two. But, lately, as I try to be more health conscious and with the words of my wife and many of you reading this, I have cut back to 1 diet soda a day- I have to admit, I still cheat some days! All I had heard was that soda was bad and not healthy and certainly not good for me- especially at the levels I was drinking.

So....all that to say- as usual- what is bad in each of us, God can use for good. And, on this day- in the words of Gordon Gecko-Soda was Good!

Tara and I tried not to really focus on the fact that Patrick and Nicholas may not connect with us right away. I mean, lets be honest, we sort of expected the worst (they would not connect at all for a while with us) and hoped for the best (by the end of Day 1 they would feel a connection to us). We had already gotten to the place mentally and emotionally that its going to take time, and we were totally fine with that. So, when we got to Amani this morning and literally for the first 30-45 minutes Patrick and Nicholas cried and cried and cried, we both began to wonder if an immediate connection could be made. So, Patrick continued to be held by one of the Mama's at Amani and Nicholas cried but, would not let Tara put him down. This went on for a while and finally sweet Kelsey a volunteer had the idea that the boys receive a treat and were both given glasses of soda with me and Tara sitting right there. We sat in the floor and drank sodas for what must have been an hour and God used that time drinking Orange Fanta to establish a relationship with these boys.

From that point on the day was different, as we spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the yard, holding the boys, coloring in books, and reading Dora books. We went on to have a totally different day than the way it started and we are so thankful for Soda on this day!

One last thing happened right before we left- Patrick is obviously the out-going, talkative one and Nicholas is more quiet and reserved and studies you. Nicholas went hours with his form of communication being pointing and smiling but, right before we left as it was time for bedtime, he looked at Tara with his fists clinching her shirt and said -"I WANT TO GO." Our hearts melted and we were so excited that the day ended much differently than it began.