Egg Dyeing Gone Wrong

It is inevitable when you want something to be perfect that it turns out just exactly the opposite.

This is our first Easter with "M". And it was to be her first time ever of dyeing Easter eggs. She was supper excited about it. So the day before Easter I had everything ready. The eggs were boiled and I had the dyes out and ready to go. This year we were using this swirling sorta dye that I had in the Easter box that my mother-in-law had given us for the kids. This was probably the problem. This certain egg dyeing kit looked a bit complicated so I held off a few years to use it. You know when the kids were a bit older. The box showed perfectly dyed eggs, with beautiful pastel colors all swirled around the egg. They looked professional.

Well I read the directions, had everything set up. Put the drops of dye in the water. Now I went first to demonstrate how to do this new technique. Per directions, I put the egg in where the dye was floating and then brought it out in a spot that the water was clear.

Voila!

A perfectly white egg emerged from the water. Now my hand was a bit colored and felt gross because this is all oil based. But not a drop of dye was on the egg. OK, well the kids wanted to try anyway, so they all submerge their eggs and swirl around and dip over and over again and they came out bleach white. Oily hands and white eggs were not what I envisioned for this perfect first time egg dyeing occasion.

So out come the crayons, stickers and any other left over egg decorations from years past. I went back in the house to look over the directions again. Drew comes in asking if he can eat the egg that he accidentally cracked. I say yes. And soon they are all wanting to eat some eggs. I go back outside to see eggshells everywhere, crazy decorated eggs, and happy children.

So I guess it wasn't all a loss.

And yes we even had a guest participating.

What If I've Done it All Wrong?

I read an article today by Lisa Qualls from One Thankful Mom. The article was called What If I've Done it All Wrong? It was a very encouraging article and if you've adopted children from hard places or if you know anyone who has and would like to understand them better, I encourage you to read it.

I have recently struggled with knowing the hard place that "M" came from and wanting so badly to help her heal. I have read books, watched videos, seen countless articles and been told what to do. As I read, I can see the struggles she has and know how I should react. But I don't react that way. If I looked in the mirror I would be horrified of the face that I am making, I wouldn't speak to a friend in that tone of voice. What happened to what I learned, to my plan on how to handle the lying, the authority struggle, the fussing? Where is the compassion that I thought I had when we began our pursuit of adopting from hard places? I am not helping her heal this way.

The article came at the perfect time. There is forgiveness. But I do need to do better. I covet your prayers for our family as we seek healing for "M". It can only come from God and we need his help.