These are the days to hold on to...

I always think about that old Billy Joel song when I think about our family life. "These are the days to hold on to 'cause we won't although we'll want to". I do want to hold on to these days, to just slow things down a bit. Hayden turns 17 tomorrow and Katie and Allison are close behind. As we sat at dinner tonight I couldn't help but think these days are ending soon and I couldn't help but being so very grateful for each and every day we've had. They are growing up, things are going to change. What a blessing to have my three kids all sitting together at dinner, how sad that I know that nothing is forever. I love how we laugh and joke, I hate that I had to tell them at dinner tonight "no f*rting at the table". I hate the word "f*rting" too but sometimes you have speak their language! Instead of my desired affect of stopping the terrible offense it made the whole family laugh and say the word about 100 more times. I hope they leave our home with more than the most basic table manners, I hope the kids walk away from their family of origin remembering that we laughed a lot, not that their mom sometimes lost her temper and called them "hateful, hateful children"...that never really happened...I'm speaking in theory of course! I hope they remember that we taught them about their Savior and why we believe what we believe. I hope they remember that we didn't have a lot of things often because we chose to use our money differently ...like bringing a little boy home from Thailand and helping to support other children in need. I hope they remember that even though we didn't take expensive, lavish vacations, we took time together all the time. I hope they cherish the memories of singing together with their siblings and their dad at church and I hope they learned that they were leading in worship not performing. I hope they use their gifts and talents to go wherever, no matter how far away, to serve Christ and to make a difference for His glory. So as I sat at the table enjoying dinner with my family I was abundantly and exceedingly grateful for each of them. I was grateful that God has entrusted them to us to raise for Him, I hope that we are found faithful in the end with that task. I will forever cherish the memories of laughing with my children and watching them interact with one another. "These are the days to hold on to, cause we won't although we'll want to..."

TWIMC Letter!!!!!

We got the call! The final piece of paper has come from Thailand and it will soon be time to travel and bring home our son! We are all wonderfully thrilled and overwhelmed. At dinner last night Veldon told the kids “we need to talk about what it will be like, and how things will change when Max comes home”. We all stared at him, he stared at me and everything went silent. He finally said, a bit exasperated I think, “I thought you would lead out on this”. We were then both exasperated! I have no idea what to expect! We all laughed and began to process some of the changes. The big thing he wanted to the kids to realize and understand is that when you introduce another member into a family every relationship is affected and changed to some degree. We also wanted them to come to the same conclusion we have, that change is good sometimes and this will be a good change. They are all certainly old enough to get what we are doing and to be active participants in it, more than just little children knowing something is changing. They have prayed with us, cried with us and longed for their little brother as much as we have. He is as much a part of their lives as he is Veldon and mine. They will welcome him home with open arms and be a huge help as he adjusts to his new life.

Whatever else they might learn or experience, about orphan care and following the Word, I hope they learn that love is a decision and a commitment. Love isn’t some abstract emotion that makes us tingly. Romantic love doesn’t work like that, for long anyway, nor does parental or sibling love. We chose to love Max without knowing him or holding him. We committed to him without complete assurance he would ever come home. I hope our kids learn how to better love from walking through this. I also hope they have learned patience, to some degree, and that God is worthy of our trust. Even if Max was never coming home God would be worthy of our trust, He would have honored our decision to adopt in a different way, but He is always faithful to His children.

There are a ton of things to do now before our beautiful boy comes home. A lot of decisions to make, painting to be done and travel to plan. Things will move quickly now I think. But as quickly as time might move, and just as the pains for childbirth are forgotten, I know that we will forget much of the pain of this wait, but I truly hope that some of it stays with us. I hope that through our suffering we can be a blessing to others. I hope that as other parents wait and wait and wait I will be there with them, knowing the road they are on and if nothing else holding their hands. Nothing but good came come from something God has His hands all over, even if we never recognize that good, we can trust that He will complete what He himself has started!

Praise the Lord our boy is coming home!!