Christmas

We had a very peaceful Christmas Day. This is the first Christmas in years there were no tantrums or tears. Granted the weeks leading up to Christmas did include that, including a not proud parenting moment when I announced Christmas was cancelled and I was taking down the tree.... Make me feel better tell me we have all had those days! However the actual Christmas Eve and Christmas Day went off without a hitch. I am thinking this morning about Keith, whom we have waited almost 4years to bring home. His birthday is this week, he will turn 14, he has missed another Christmas and another birthday and I have to say as much as we hold out hope, I have started to tuck away the fact that he may never come here. For the last few years we have hung up his special ornament each year and we will continue to, as he is our son in our hearts. Now onto the tasks God has given me for today...praying for no post Christmas meltdowns! Merry Christmas to all who may read this blog :)

Persistence

Our adoption journey hasn't followed any path I planned. In so many ways that is the beauty of it. After AJ was born I wanted to adopt a newborn, I love those baby stages and it was what I knew and what I was comfortable with. I would read too many stories of kids with "issues" and the problems and things that seemed too hard. Then there was the pride I knew I was a good mom, I had 2 great kids who listened and were pretty well behaved. Then we finally got on "the list" to wait to be chosen by a birth mother. A few months passed many times we got a call that said they are considering your family and then another call saying sorry you were not chosen. We prayed Lord we will take any baby regardless of race, situation or handicap. God heard us and sent us 2 toddlers, then another toddler, preschooler and school age girl. During our wait we often said things we will not do....adopt an older child (did it), adopt out of birth order (did it), adopt an abused child (did it), adopt a child with emotional issues (did it times many only did know it at the time!) God brought us all the I can handle that situations and you know what....its not easy but its beautiful. This time of year while full of fun and joy is also sensory, emotional capacity overload for a few of our kids and usually ends with a lot of behavior issues, but each year I see them grow emotionally and mature and I see the real miracle of Christmas, that like them we are chosen by a God who loves to lavish us with more then we ask for. He gives us the energy to persevere when it seems your forgotten or lost. This year again we put on our persistant attitude, without Keith here and without Baby we wait for the one whom God has chosen for us. I have learned to not guess if it will be an infant or a teen, a boy or a girl. I don't know if we will always have 7 or if we will be parenting 10, 15 or 20 more. I know I will keep telling God we will take any little one that you will allow us to parent and he will keep the beautiful blessings flowing, because as we know, thats what a father does.

Bathrooms

In a family like ours no matter how many bathrooms there are in a house there is still a line. I know some people wonder if by homeschooling they get the same experiences as public school kids....well if one way is learning to stand in line and wait then yes they do :) We tell the kids during the week that they have to be up for breakfast and family devotions by 7:45 dressed and with their bed made. So usually by 7:15 the lines form. You can imagine the lines 2 to 3 kids deep dancing around waiting to get in and then we have the notorious ones who take FOREVER. People here they are in there and quickly get in line for another bathroom. Many times I will yell reminders to keep the line moving. Ahhh the things they make our family unique :)