Cooking Like a Filipino

Mabuhay (welcome/hello)!

This month we celebrated Ben's 29^th birthday! We were able to see his family and celebrate the week with some yummy food, fun games, and even delicious ice cream cake (Ben's favorite). We also had my sister, Destinee, up for a few days before she started school back up (via online classes). Today I am enjoying some beautiful weather as I type up this blog in our backyard. Tomorrow we will wrap up the month and a weekend of amazing temperatures exploring a nearby park with a picnic. What a fun month we have had!

Ben and I believe that through this adoption journey, not only will our kiddos become American, our family will also become in part Filipino. We want to embrace the birth heritage of our kiddos and integrate it into the core of our family. We feel so blessed that God has brought us to a place where we can learn about and truly embrace a different heritage and culture.

One area I feel particularly called towards is Filipino food. For my family growing up (and Ben would likely say the same), mealtimes were just a significant part of how our family connected and bonded throughout the week. I remember quite fondly many a meal around the table or outside on the deck in my childhood home. Mealtime is a way for families to stop in the hustle and bustle of life and listen to what's going on in each other's lives and learn more about each other. And, of course, the food itself should never be forgotten – this coming from a lover all yummy food! 😊 We want our children to feel connected to us and their heritage during mealtime. Plus, for me, preparing a meal for my loved ones is a way of showing love – it's lifegiving. As such, I've decided to take it upon myself to learn at least a few Filipino dishes. I don't expect to be a pro any time soon…or ever for that matter…but we want our children to know we love their heritage and for them to feel like they are connected to it still…and food is such a big part of that in my opinion. We hope to integrate Filipino night into our regular weekly meal routine in the future. For now, I'm striving to learn 5 meals before the end of 2020.

The picture above shows a few cookbooks I ordered this past week. After flipping through them, I have to say I have my work cut out for me. The love and effort and time Filipinos put into their food is quite astounding. I'm a bit intimated. 😊 But a bit of intimidation can be healthy, right? Yesterday, I set out to the store to gather a few staples for Filipino dishes. I quickly found, as I thought might be the case, our local grocery story doesn't carry nearly the selection of ingredients I'll need to prepare a variety of dishes. However, I was able to grab enough items to make my very first dish – Mixed Noodles with Chicken and Vegetables or Pancit Bihon and Canton in Tagalog. Today, I successfully made the meal and even Ben said he enjoyed it – a definite win in my book! 4 recipes to go before the end of the year. My next adventure will be visiting an Asian Market so I can find more of the staple ingredients that make up Filipino dishes.

On the adoption progress front – We officially submitted our family for consideration for the sibling set we mentioned last month. We feel God is calling us to be considered as their forever family. That said, we still recognize it is a long shot, as many families across the world may be submitting their family for consideration. Only by God's divine plan will these amazing siblings join our family. While we'd love to share more information about the siblings, at this point, trust us when we say they are precious! We have been told it can take the deciding committee and ICAB (the governmental board) anywhere from 2-6 months to choose a family from all the submitted names. We ask that you join us in praying that God would make it abundantly clear to the deciding committee that we are their forever family and that that decision would come quickly!

Our prayer request this month –Lord, we're praying you would make it abundantly and quickly clear to the deciding committee that we are the forever family for the particular sibling set you have called us towards. We pray that you would be with the children as they wait to be matched with their family. We thank you, Lord, for all you are doing in and through theirs and ours situation and journey. We trust that your divine plan is best. We thank you in advance for all that you're working out in your plan. Place your loving arms around the kiddos and help them to know they are loved – by you and by their forever family.

Until next time - all our love!