Sweet on My Girl

Sixteen years ago, I gained a new name.  I'd been Christie for a long time, Crystal Marie when I was in trouble, Mrs. Hagerman when I signed the marriage license, and now I was going to be Mommy.  For sure, this was the most intimidating name ever.  I was awfully confused (still am, most days) as to why God would grant me--impatient, selfish, lazy ole' me--this privilege.

I entered into this thing prepared to teach, instruct, and guide.  As those of you who also share the name Mommy know, it turns out to be more like learn, listen, and follow.  Thankfully, God walks beside us and teaches us how to teach, instructs us how to counsel, and leads us in how to guide.  Without Him, I can't imagine doing this job.  I feel terribly inadequate more often than not.

But I am so grateful for this baby girl that God sent our way, Little Miss Camille, who was born wise and seemed to skip the baby stages for more mature things.  She went from silent to speaking in paragraphs, from diapers to running her own "business" in the living room.  She is the classic first child--a responsible, sensitive, conscientious leader.

She, like her little sister, is a huge fan of books, and really loved reading Tolkien's famous works.  She really wanted to see The Hobbit in theaters, so we'd planned to cross over into Posadas, Argentina to watch it on her birthday (yesterday).

We packed a picnic lunch, printed out maps, and looked up showing times on the internet.  When we arrived at this border that we've crossed umpteen times the past few months, including a trip last week, we were told that there's a new law.  Uh-oh.  That's not usually good.  "Park your car, please, and go inside to talk to the officials."   Double uh-oh.

Turns out that Argentina has instituted a reciprocity policy for entrance into their country, meaning countries who charge them for an entry visa, will also get charged to enter.  So even though we have Paraguayan residency, the back of our card says we were born in the U.S., so we must pay like any American who decides to cross their border--$160 per person.  Well, The Hobbit was good, but not THAT good.

Camille is standing in the back right corner.

We regrouped, came back to the house, turned on the a/c in the bedroom (it was well over 100 degrees yesterday), piled up in my bed, and watched a movie on the laptop while eating cake and ice cream.  Not exactly the birthday we'd planned, but it worked.

Later that evening, when the sun was WAY DOWN, we met up with a few friends and had terere at a bench beside the river.  

Thank you, God, for giving me a new name 16 years ago, for giving Camille to our family.

(Her daddy posted a bit about her yesterday, which you can read here.)