Vote for Mom

Today at the end of mass, the priest gave a reminder that elections are this week. He said, "Be responsible Christians and get out and vote for the people you want to spend eternity with." Little Girl turned to me and whispered,"Vote for Mom!" Now, don't you think my little girl is PRECIOUS!

Two inspiring orphans...

I am currently reading Maria by Maria von Trapp and the new book about Steve Jobs. Both of these people made a personal decision not to live as victims. They have a very inspiring outlook on overcoming abandonment . If I was had readers I would recommend these two books.

Nine Mile Hike

The kids and I (along with 100 of their closest friends) went on a long, strenuous hike yesterday. There was elevation, giant boulders and great views! There was exhaustion, perseverance and great reward. I love how a great hike can be a metaphor for nearly everything: childbirth, adoption, school work. You bet I have already put that to use. Lessons aside, as I lifted my legs from the car when we got home last night, Farm Boy said, "Mom, are we still running in the morning?"... If you could have seen how I was walking up the steps at that moment...cracked me up.

I've got that airport goodbye feeling...

...tomorrow is the first day of school.

Our sacrifices only count in the first world

For my oldest two kids the biggest sacrifice is that they will most likely be in college when the new kids come home. They are sad that they won't really get to know them. Nothing we have done compares with the true sacrifice of knowing you have exhausted all hope and must place was your children for adoption. Nothing compares to the lifelong grief a child experiences the loss of their first family. We appreciate that in a tiny way our move across the country has given us a tiny glimpse of what it is to miss all you have known and loved. Yet, we never lost each other. Sigh. All of our other so called sacrifices have shown us we were way to excessive to begin with. So, for this Sunday and all other days, my prayer for my family on the other side of the world is, I hope since we're still waiting that you're still in each other's arms, because for the rest of your lives, there is no other place that your heart will really want to be.

A Waiting House con't

Each time our family has grown has been really special. This time has taken the cake! We began this process after years of begging on the part of the kids. Adopting again was something we also really wanted to do, but we knew we had a cross country move coming up first. Once we were settled enough we were able to begin the paper trail. Our youngest was five. Now our youngest is seven. WOW! Officially we have been waiting for 8 months. Anyone in the adoption work knows there are many months of waiting that go on before being official.
I think the most beautiful aspect this time around has been the sacrifices. The irony is, we moved to a smaller home so we could afford to have a bigger family! How God rewards! Sweet! We love our smaller home. What a revelation. We all have so much more time to have fun, because we divide and conquer and the dear house is clean! Other luxuries we have eliminated: a computer. Yep, I am typing this entire blog on my phone. Perhaps someday I'll send just leave ALL of auto-corrects very annoying changes. When we need a computer we go to the library. We've found it is actually fun because the entire family can play on computers at one rime. Other items in the list are: no dishwasher, disposal, cable tv, home phone, microwave,etc. and one car for one year tenting it vs. Hotels, simpler birthdays, simpler Christmas, almost exclusive thrift store shopping, no A/C until those kids are home, feeding the family on a detailed menu budget, no movies in the theatre, etc.
God has taught us and rewarded us. It wasn't that hot here this summer and we have been fine with fans. We have one plate per person and don't have really miss the dishwasher. Who needs a disposal when you were can feed scraps to your chickens.

We are a WAITING family

When I was about four years old, I had a book I loved called, The Waiting House. At that time I was the youngest in my family. The Waiting House seemed so mysterious. It was about a little kid, his/her parents and grandparents waiting for the arrival of a new baby. The mom was pregnant, but I didn't get that part. In fact I really didn't get any of it. I didn't know any pregnant people at that time. I also didn't know any babies. We lived in a two kid per family area and the families I knew were "complete" by the time I came around. The only baby I knew was some distantcousin who happened to have dimples just like me. It was all very egocentric on my part. Still that book held this special mystery and somehow made me feel sorry for this family because they had waited so long. My mom always seemed so sad when she read it. Now I understand why that I was four and she was sad because we hadn't been a waiting house for a long time. It wasn' t until I was in the 4th grade that my precious, adorable baby brother was born. I don't think a baby or young child has escaped my glance since that cold winter day. I have been blessed to have my own waiting house six glorious times. Adoption has been the hardest type of waiting house. But we are seasoned. THIS time we will continue to LIVE and not obsess. NOT!
When you live in a waiting house you always feel it. It's probably kind of like living in the line at the post office or the doctors office. You can be you, but somehow it's n t your regular you. From the moment you both know it is time to begin again, there is a brief knowing glance that says this is us now, our new theme until they are home...no matter how long that is.