Bruik is the Number of Grace Today

Happy Birthday, Dear Bruik! Happy Birthday to you!! Bruik Clement "Gift of God", "Merciful One" is 5 years old today. Bruik is one of our treasures from Ethiopia. I had a dream last night in which I was retelling the origin of his name--how fresh it is on my heart, let me tell you as well.

During our 10 months of waiting to meet our new children from Ethiopia, we nested as most parents do--dreaming, envisioning what these precious ones would be like and how they would knit into our family. As you may be able to see in my blog, I love language and the meaning of language--thus the choosing of a name is a special pleasure in our family. Richard and I wanted to grace our new children with a family name full of special meaning and charge for thier lives--a connection/an identity with thier new family plus an Ethiopian name to carry thier homeland with them, always honoring the fabric God chose when He fashioned each of them -- creating an unbreakable link to thier beautiful people and amazing homeland. We poured over Ethiopian/Amharic name lists until we found a boy name and a girl name. Bruik so pleased us for it means, "Gift of God". And Clement is Richard's middle name as well as Richard's father's middle name and his father's first name--quite a family connection! And just what we would desire for a man, its meaning, "mercy".

In our family~out of God's mercy,

Encouraged to live a life of mercy in God...

All that to set the stage for the day of our "referral", the announcement from our adoption agency of Bruik and Ava. In a joyful phone call we got word of a 2 year-old boy and a 1 year old girl. There was only one sheet of information and 2 photos online and there was much jumping around and shouting for joy!! Yet, what I want to give you a picture of in your mind that made me weap as I opened our computer screen to first see my son and his information--in the first blank that stated the child's given name, written in over-copied smeary letters were the letters that spelled out the name...Bruik.

Yes! The same name we thought we had so carefully chosen on our "own" was the name God also had his parents in Ethiopia, in the little town of Nazaret, give to him at his birth. From the beginning, God's fingerprints, all over the story of our lives. Bruik is the gift of God for sure!! Every night as we tuck him in we remind him as we snuggle that we are SO happy that God has given such a special gift to us.

This little boy's smile lights up the room--and our hearts. From the moment we met him, he jumped into our arms and has remained a joyful, extremely obedient, cheerful little boy. He is kind and very generous. On the first birthday in our home and at 2 Christmas celebrations, he walked around the room with his gifts and offered to share them -- to give them away to his siblings out of the simple joy of receiving them. I learn from our "Bruiky" every day lessons of a simple heart, purity, lack of a materialistic spirit, true/joyous contentment. His prayers are beautiful. After experiencing such depth of sorrow in his homeland, including the death of his parents and a loss of all familiar and "home and family" to him, he always first prays for us "not to die" as he begins his prayers and then goes on to worship and to intercede for others in ways I have never heard from a child so young.

And is he ever atheletic!!! He learned to ride a bike in one day atthe age of three and taught himself to swim by watching another child's swim lesson one day at the age of 4. We have had to ask Bruik to stop racing the brother his own age and move on to racing his older brothers--who he can beat with more fairness in the races!! -- The other day he mentioned that when he is a man like Daddy he will be the fastest man in the world. Why not? He definately is speedy ;) and what joy he has when he is moving fast! --The world is open to this precious child. We praise God that we get to be the foundation from where he will be launched.

Yesterday we celebrated Bruik's birthday. It was all things Bruik!! We started our celebration by going to a soccer clinic where he ran around with a huge grin and patted his brothers on the back every time he passed them on the field. The clinic was part of a cummulation celebration for international soccer teams that play in the Nashville area. There were men from many nations there, Bundi, Somali Bantu (we had some friends on this team), Mexico, South Africa,and Saudi Arabia. At the end of our day, we got to watch the game for the finals between Mexico and Somali Bantu--it was an awesome game and such a highlight for our children--I wish we had events like this every weekend!!

Between soccer events we had a 5 year-old party at my parents' home. Our new tradition is to "knight" our sons as they reach the age of five and first enter young boyhood. We have written a "code of chivalry" , a list of values that we would want our sons to embrace through the Spirit of Jesus. We have a ceremony that they highly look forward to and love where they first agree to the code--Each family member asks the knight to be a question regarding the "code" and the child answers an agreement like,"Yes I will, fight for what is right..."--{The cutest yesterday was when "Sir Jack" (our 5 year old who was recently knighted in December) asked Bruik if would "be brave in Jesus" and when 3 year old Ava asked him if he would "be nice to the girls".}-- Then my dad gets out a huge sword he brought back from a travel in Spain and he "knights" them on thier shoulders. Its a priceless end to babyhood and beginning of the age of young boyhood. A first rite of passage...

I have included a picture of our "code" and some of our boys "fighting for what's right" ;)--Yea, what can you expect from mixing 5 year olds and plastic swords!! Well, anyway--some pictures to give you a bit of a "picture" of the ceremony...

This year before our ceremony came a new "proclaimation" written by my dad to give a special name to our knight to give some encouragement of special identity--he's where I get much of my creative juices so enjoy! :

"HEAR YE HEAR YE HEAR YE Be it Trumpeted and Known Throughout the Kingdom That: Squire Bruik of the house of Tucker, having faithfully served the brood of Tuck for the appointed training period, and having been recommended for knighthood by his leige Sir Richard the Tuck, is hereby and forthrightly dubbed Sir Bruik the Swift, Knight of the Realm."

Sir Bruik was delighted!! He then ate cake with Sir Jack and Sir Anderson and Sir Graham , ate burgers from the barbeque, played an assortment of outside party games and then went off to see the teams of Bantu and Mexico battle it out on the fields of Christ Presbyterian soccer fields. Five was Fabulous with our "Gift of God"!! Happy Birthday, Dear Bruik!!




Some promises the Lord has spoken over Bruik--please continue to pray them over his precious life:

"All your sons will be taught by the Lord, and great will be your children's peace. In righteousness you will be established." Isaiah 54:13

"Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the
age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer
of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings" Isaiah 58:12

"They will rebuild the ancient
ruins
and restore the places long
devastated;
they will renew the ruined
cities
that have been devastated for generations." Isaiah 61:4

"And you will be called
priests of the Lord,
you will be named
ministers of our God." Isaiah 61:6


Love, Gillian