The Making of a Family.

  On Saturday Brian and I were so, so blessed to get to attend the final adoption hearing of Mena, Cassandra, Alondra, and Jose – children so precious to us. 

  When we got there the kids were so excited that we had come – and could not wait to say that they were part of a forever family.  Mena and Cassandra came to live with us over two years ago, and it was such a blessing to get to be a part of this day.

  Saturday was National Adoption Day, so we got to be a part of a celebratory balloon release with all the other families that were there to complete adoptions.  There were seven families there that day, adopting a total of 13 children.

 

 

 

 

 

   Sylvia loves being with the kids and was happy and squealing all day.  Her big brother (I guess we’ll call him a cousin now!) Jose carried her all over the whole time we were at the courthouse. 

 

 

 

I think that because it was the final adoption hearing, Cassandra was under the impression that she may not see us anymore.  We reassured her that we will see her again very soon, and that we will always be a part of her family!

 

 

 

After the hearing, their mom and dad had a large group of family, us, and a couple of the caseworkers from their case over for a fiesta!  We ate (really, very good) food, played with the kids, and celebrated their new family.  There was even another couple there that spoke fluent English, which was very exciting, and made things a little easier.

 

  We are so happy for their family.  We are so thankful for their mom and dad who we know will be a wonderful family for the kids.  Praise God for happy endings like this one!  There is nothing much more beautiful than to watch a family in the making, and to see the gospel lived out through adoption.

Linear Thinking.

Oh, child of mine.  You are going to give me a run for my money, I can just tell.  Not in a bad way.  In more of a “Mommy, someday I am going to change the world when I learn to channel my stubbornness into passion and my hard headedness into hard work.” kind of way.  I know honey.  You will.  But the sooner we start channeling, is the more wits Mommy is going to have left to cheer you on while you are changing the world.  Let’s keep this in mind.

I’m not sure where you got that stubbornness anyway.  Or the hard headedness.  Or the passion.  Seriously, where did that creep in from?

You come by it naturally, you say?  Genetic?  Oh.  Errrrr….possibly, I guess.

 

I love seeing your personality shine through.

 

Like yesterday, when you were playing with all the jumbled tupperware in the kitchen, and I walked in and found this:

 

Do you see it?

You went in, pulled some groceries out of the bags, pulled a bunch of scattered containers out of the cabinet,

  and you organized and stacked them according to what kind of container it was.

Now I’ll own the stubbornness and the passion.  But this?  This has got your Daddy written all over it.  An organized man, he is not.  But the linear thinking?  Oh yes.  All him.

 

I just wanted to document all of this so that when you are 16 and you are working to save all of the orphans in Africa while simultaneously making an organized excel sheet of all of the donations you are collecting and organizing it in different ways to see what the most effective use of resources is – we can look back and see that it is exactly who you’ve been since you came out of the womb.  And we’ll have to own up to it.

In all seriousness, I love seeing glimpses of the woman that God created you to be.  The person that he knit together for a purpose greater than her existence.  Getting the blessing of wondering just what he has in store for your heart and your gifts.  It’s incredible.  I love being your Mama.

And while we’re going to get started right quick on channeling that stubbornness – this obvious gift of organization is something that I could definitely put to use….hmmmm….

Politics. Adoption.

I hate politics.  Used to really like it.

Now, basically, I loathe it.  Probably makes my top ten of things I really wish could just not exist.

Hate, hate, hate.

 

Anyway.  So I don’t particularly like politics, but I do lllooovvveee adoption and fostering.

 

Presidential Proclamation–National Adoption Month

Giving a child a strong foundation — a home, a family to love, and a safe place to grow — is one of life’s greatest and most generous gifts.  Through adoption, both domestic and international, Americans from across our country have provided secure environments for children who need them, and these families have benefited from the joy an adopted child can bring.  Thanks to their nurturing and care, more young people have been able to realize their potential and lead full, happy lives.  This year, we celebrate National Adoption Month to recognize adoption as a positive and powerful force in countless American lives, and to encourage the adoption of children from foster care.

Currently, thousands of children await adoption or are in foster care, looking forward to permanent homes.  These children can thrive, reach their full potential, and spread their wings when given the loving and firm foundation of family.  Adoptive families come in many forms, and choose to adopt for different reasons:  a desire to grow their family when conceiving a child is not possible, an expression of compassion for a child who would otherwise not have a permanent family, or simply because adoption has personally touched their lives.  For many Americans, adoption has brought boundless purpose and joy to their lives.  We must do all we can to break down barriers to ensure that all qualified caregivers have the ability to serve as adoptive families.

This year, on November 20, families, adoption advocates, policymakers, judges, and volunteers will celebrate the 11th annual National Adoption Day in communities large and small.  National Adoption Day is a day of hope and happiness when courthouses finalize the adoptions of children out of foster care.  Last year, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was honored to preside over a ceremony celebrating two foster care adoptions as part of my Administration’s support for this important day.

Adoptive families are shining examples of the care and concern that define our great Nation.  To support adoption in our communities, my Administration is working with States to support families eager to provide for children in need of a place to call home.  The landmark Affordable Care Act increases and improves the Adoption Tax Credit, enabling adoption to be more affordable and accessible.  As part of the Adoption

Incentives program, States can also receive awards for increasing adoptions and the number of children adopted from foster care.  AdoptUsKids, a project of the Department of Health and Human Services, offers technical support to States, territories, and tribes to recruit and retain foster and adoptive families; provides information and assistance to families considering adoption; and supports parents already on that journey.  I encourage all Americans to visit AdoptUsKids.org or ChildWelfare.gov/Adoption for information and resources on adoption, including adoption from foster care.

As we observe National Adoption Month, we honor the loving embrace of adoptive families and the affirming role of adoption in the lives of American families and our country.  Let us all commit to supporting our children in any way that we are able — whether opening our hearts and homes through adoption, becoming foster parents to provide quality temporary care to children in crisis, supporting foster and adoptive families in our communities and places of worship, mentoring young people in need of guidance, or donating time to helping children in need.  Working together, we can shape a future of hope and promise for all of our Nation’s children.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2010 as National Adoption Month.  I call upon all Americans to observe this month by answering the call to find homes for every child in America in need of a permanent and caring family, as well as to support the families who care for them.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.

BARACK OBAMA

 

(can I get an ‘amen!’)

Project 365 – Week 35/36

Halloween!  Sylvia went as Super Sylvie.  Here she is saving the world from Desmond the bat.

 

Cousins!

 

 

   Halloween parade!  Brian still thinks it’s weird that my hometown has a Halloween parade.  I say he’s the Halloween scrooge.

 

My Mom and I went to the Women of Faith Conference this weekend, and I completely failed to take any pictures.  Ugh.  But, she did send this yummy pack of goodness home with me, and Sylvia thought it was very exciting.

 

So exciting she thought she’d just eat the package.

(The girl has never even had an Oreo!  She’s was obviously just born with good taste. Ha!)

 

As foster parents, we have clothes for almost every shape and size floating around.  (I mean, come on, who doesn’t have size four boys underwear randomly sitting around the house?)  Anyway, Sylvia found these and thought they’d make a good hat.

 

Something up His sleeve.

  Have you ever been bombarded by a billion (or five or ten) different places or people all speaking to you of the same need?  Or there is something on your heart that you just cannot dismiss that keeps being affirmed by random occurrences?  It seems to happen to us a lot.

  I liken it to God putting a piece of sand in the middle of my heart.  Which does not sound comfortable at all.  Which is why I liken this feeling to it.  God puts it there and lets it bother me for a while, and the longer it’s there, the more it bothers me.  And eventually, when I feel like saying, “Ok, God, enough with the sand already.  What’s your point??”  then he reaches in an pulls out the pearl he has for us that’s been baking.

  Except generally these pearls are not the ooh and ahh kind.  Usually they are the challenging, get off your rear, make you uncomfortable, “Really God?  You want me to do THAT?” kind of pearls.

  Like when God told us we needed to foster.  When we finally picked up on what he was preparing us for, we were uncomfortable and scared, and we, along with most people we told, thought we were insane.

 

 

All this to say, there is a piece of sand that has all but rubbed my heart raw.

I’m not sure what He is preparing us for, but I know that in His typical fashion (which always is much better than my own) it will probably be hard.  He’s given me a few hints, but nothing conclusive.  But we’ll see.

Will it include fostering?  I don’t know, but I hope so.  Will it make us uncomfortable?  You can be sure.  Will it grow us in the end?  Undoubtedly.

I do know I have a refreshed longing to do whatever it is that He has for us.  And I pray that He always uses us in ways that we cannot take the credit for.

For now I’ll just do some prinking.