ODR Outlook

We are truly blessed and amazed to watch a little life grow in our care. I’m everyday reminded how much I need God’s help in raising a child. My patience and wisdom is so limited! But Jadon gives us so much joy.

Yesterday, December 5, was Jadon’s 2-month checkup. The good news is that he is huge. He is 24.5 inches long. He weighs 12.8lbs. We are so excited about how fast he’s growing. He sleeps about 4.5 hours at night at a time, which makes me very tired, but slowly we’re hoping he can sleep longer. The bad news is that he also has some things we need to take care of. Poor baby has something called Torticolis. His neck is stiff which makes it hard for him to turn his neck to the left. Thus he has a flat head on one side. The next problem is his left testicle. Hopefully in the next few months it will drop or we might also have to take some more serious measures to deal with it.

But other than that we are enjoying spending lots of time with him and watching him develop. He can hold his head up for limited amounts of time and he smiles and cooos (sp?). He loves to smile at his Grandma Verna.

We are looking forward to having lots of family, food, and snow for the holidays. All the Odiyars and Blankenships will be together for this Christmas to celebrate the life of little Jadon. Looking forward to the memories it will create!

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Most times I write a post I have time to think about and organize my thoughts before writing, but unfortunately I have not for this post. My thought might seem out of order or scattered but it can only be expected as I’ve only had a solid 2 hours of sleep at a time for the past week or so. Yes, our baby has arrived. The most overwhelming and precious gift we could have asked for. Really you can never be quite prepared for the changes a baby brings, you just have to do it! I could wax on about the lack of sleep I’ve had in the  past days, but I’ll try to steer my thoughts away from the negative and focus on positive.

The things I’ve really been thankful for: A beautiful, healthy baby, great fall weather to take Jadon outside in, velcro clothes that are easy to take off and put on in the middle of the night when coordination has stopped, Adventist television in the middle of the night, a husband who can work from home and help out when necessary, friends and family who bring food, friends who gave hand-me-downs (saved so much money because of that), and many more things. These are just a few of my thoughts lately.

On a more serious note, I’ve realized that its time to start getting serious about my prayer life! I’ve always felt assured because I KNEW that my mom was praying for me every day. In whatever trials I faced, she prayed for me. Now I want to give my children the same gift. Pray for me as I pray for my new baby

We were not able to have Ronald’s parents with us for Jadon’s birth. Jadon’s “due date” was supposed to be October 10th which was Canadian Thanksgiving this year. But the Odiyar grandparents are on their way today, so we are excited to see them. Then Uncle Royce arrives in a week. We have a lot to look forward too in the near future.

Hopefully soon my brain will start working again and I can write a better blog post. Just thought I’d give an update.

I sit in the Honolulu airport in front of the Continental check-in once again. The last memories I have of this place include many nervous and excited student missionaries with lots of luggage. This time, I am alone. I am waiting for Ronald to return from the car rental agency. My mind can almost relive those moments before departing to Saipan. I shared the excitement and anticipation. All of the advertisements for spending a year on an Island were streaming through my mind. Images of adorable students hugging and loving their teachers. There were pictures of perfect white sandy beaches and missionaries that are out for an adventure.

While I sit here and somewhat reflect on my one year as a “missionary” I don’t really compare my experience to that of those images. For me, the drudge of daily life sets in,  waking up early just as I would for any other job. The students were precious, but not more precious than any other children would be. The beaches were beautiful, but for me, they were not any better than Florida or Hawaii. I’m not trying to say that I regret my experience in any way, but I’m realizing that no matter where you are, you need to treat it as a “missionary experience”.

You see, I thought that going to a remote Island would make me a better person, and a better Christian. However, in many ways, I think I regressed. I didn’t spend as much time praying or reading my Bible as I would have liked. I thought that once on an Island, I would HAVE to depend on God for strength. But unfortunately, my proud self took over and life just got “too” busy to do all these things.

As I prepare to go again through airport security and board the plane to my new life, I want to make every moment count. I want to pray more than I did before, and really learn how to be a Christian. I want my marriage to glorify its creator and I want my children to look to God for love, guidance and everything else.

…now, if only Ronald will show up to the airport, we can get on with it!