Yesterday, I overheard an argument beginning between the boys in their room. I was in the middle of something and hoping they would work it out between themselves so I wouldn't have to step in. As I am trying to figure out what was going on I here this exchange...
Clay: Well, you called me a name in the first place!
Drew: Well, you called me a name in the other place!
I had to laugh, knowing that Drew probably had no idea what "place" Clay was talking about. I really do wonder myself where this "other place" is that Drew was talking about.
In this previous post found here, I asked for prayer for our dear friends the Garcias. Their boys were in Haiti waiting to be united with their forever family. There were months and months of prayers and tears of waiting on all of the paperwork and red tape. Then when it looked like their visa appointment was finally set to bring the boys home, the earthquake hit. God protected the boys and allowed the visa appointment to happen a few days earlier than previously scheduled. Ian and Alec were united with their parents in Florida last Tuesday. Today the entire family was united in Chile. All seven of them!
Adoption is hard, I won't sugarcoat it. It involves heartache, patience and day by day, moment by moment dependence. But in the end, as you see in the Garcias' story, the blessings abound when that little one (or little ones) are placed in your arms. When you see the miracle that God does when he brings a child from around the world or even from the other side of town to be in your care, in your life, adopted into your family to be your child. It is a picture of what he did when he sent his son over 2,000 years ago. Jesus purchased us with his precious blood and those that are his are adopted into God's family. We can call him Abba Father.
I praise God for the miracle of adoption both horizontal, us caring for the orphans in this world, and vertical, him caring for us, who were once orphans.
Check out the Garcias' blog post here to see pictures of all of the children together.
We had our first of nine foster meetings last night. I was excited to go and a bit nervous at the same time. I came away nervous and a bit excited. The past several weeks I have forgotten about my initial fears of the foster system (you can read about that here), I was really getting excited. I bought a baby gate to block off our new staircase and a lock to put on the laundry room door. We already had cabinet locks from our first homestudy we had in this home, so I figured that was covered. I have even started thinking about when might we get the call, the classes end in March, how soon after would it be? But then going to the meeting, I was reminded that reunification was the goal. Please do not get me wrong, I want families reunited, if it is best for the child. That means, however, that we may have a child for months or even longer and then have to say goodbye. So the anxiety started to begin again. Last night I woke up in the middle of the night and had a hard time getting back to sleep. My mind was racing. Thankfully, I finally got to sleep and stayed asleep until this morning. So this morning, I am faced with the decision on what I am going to let my mind focus on. The fears and anxieties that I have, or the truths of God. I am leading a Bible study by Elizabeth George called "Loving God With All Your Mind". So now is time to practice what I preach. We came to the decision of the foster system with much prayer. I am following Jathan in this, who is the leader of our home. We believe our desire to adopt is from God and that He will be with us guiding us every step of the way. I also believe that following God is not always going to be easy, fun or pain free. But I also know that following God results in blessings and best of all bringing him glory. So right now I am clinging to his promise that "God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28) He will be with us in this. And with His strength, we can do it.
For whatever reason this winter has seemed a little grayer than usual. The sun hasn't peeked out as much as I would like. But Saturday was different, it was out full force. Gorgeous day and we took full advantage along with a few other neighborhood kids that came over!
It was great to have the break in the grayness, especially since this week is all rain, we do need the rain though, and if we didn't have rain, we wouldn't get to see this:
Unfortunately, I couldn't get it all in the picture, but it was a full rainbow. Drew spotted it from his bedroom window, so the next thing you know, we are all out in the front yard. A great time to remember what the rainbow means. God promised Noah that he would never again flood the whole earth. And as the kids and I talked about, we know that what God said is true, because God ALWAYS keeps his promises!
It warms my heart seeing the boys try to do things like Daddy does them.
Clay for the longest time wanted to wear a tie to church like Daddy does. After he made his own paper tie and wore it one Sunday, I decided that we needed to get him his own real tie. So Daddy took him to the store and picked out a tie. For a while that is all he wanted to wear to church, even if the tie didn't match his clothes. This year he has grown out of the shirt that the tie went with. Now I need to go shopping for a new shirt. The desire is definitely there to wear it.
Drew has spent much time int he bathroom with Daddy while he shaves. Asking questions, wetting his own face. As I was out shopping one day before Christmas, I found a kids shaving set with a pretend razor. The perfect gift for Drew.
As I look as these pictures, I am reminded of how important the father/son relationship is. It is going to be a while before Drew actually begins to shave, but hopefully during these times he will also learn to follow his daddy in other ways besides making sure his face is smooth. I pray that my boys will follow their daddy in leading their families someday, in the way they treat their wives, in the way they provide for their families, and most importantly, in the way they love the Lord. I am grateful for the role model our boys have and I pray that they will continue to want to be like their daddy.
The other day I was working on some paperwork in the schoolroom
(yes, we have a school room now, very excited that Jathan gave over his office now that he has the loft in the addition)
Anyway, I was working in the school room and Drew decided to come in and play his little piano in there and keep me company. Of course the little piano is set on a very annoying song with Drew playing random keys along with it and of course the volume in on high. I decided to not be grouchy even though I was trying to concentrate and just ignore it. I was glad that he was enjoying himself, staying and out of trouble and that he wanted to be with me. After several minutes of the music playing and not hearing any sounds from Drew, I decided since he isn't even playing the music I was going to tell him to atleast turn in down a bit. So I lean over the desk and here is what I found...
I am really not quite sure how anyone could fall asleep with that music.
Hi, my name is Melissa. My husband, Jathan, and I have 4 beautiful children, 2 by birth and 2 by adoption. Jathan is a pastor and I am a stay at home, homeschooling mom.
You will find me writing about my kids, my husband, God, adoption, homeschooling, our travels, life events and everything in between.
