Finding the Joy at Home

When we adopted Peter, I had the chance to connect with several adoptive parents. The first two to reach out to me where Jenny and Lauren. Lauren had just adopted Elisabeth from Yantai and Jenny would be heading to China shortly to adopt Carlee. We connected quickly because our children had been together for quiet some time, basically their entire lives,  and Eric and Chelsea had their girls in their family group at Bring Me Hope. This past week Jenny and Lauren's family went to the beach to meet. And we did not...

I was not a happy camper. I was very angry, very upset and very sad that I could not be there. So much so that I was on-line last Friday looking for camp sites, hotels, anything. Can y'all imagine me driving Eric's truck with our pop-up behind me? Those who know me well are laughing right now. I was so determined that I even thought about driving to Alabama early Sunday morning and returning on Monday morning. Yes, I am that crazy. I so wanted to be there! Abi wanted to connect with people who get it and would not judge her. And I really wanted to go to the beach. But it was not meant to be.

 Instead, God had things here at home that I needed to be here for. After I stomped my foot in frustration, cried a few tears and realized it was not going to happen, I tried to look at the good in staying. God revealed it quickly and I am so grateful that I found the joy at home.

 And then the biggest revelation of all occurred on Sunday morning. I was not supposed to be there. I was supposed to be here. And not to just experience these joys but because we would have been in the way. Oh, we would have a blast and made memories, lots of fun memories. And no one would say we were in the way or maybe even realize it. But after one or two days, well, it wouldn't have been so good. Carlee and Elisabeth need an opportunity to connect as girls, as China sisters. They didn't need a pesky little brother hanging around. And he would have turned into that pesky little brother because new situations bring that out. The girls have their own brothers now to annoy them so they did not need their previous Chinese brother bringing more to the situation. My husband would not have been there. That, too, would have been fine for a day or two but I would have started to be the third wheel after awhile and I would have really wanted my husband to be there. Six days with 3 kids and no hubby? No thank you. These moms needed to connect as the moms of internationally adopted teen moms need to connect. Our issues are similar but theirs are very closely related. Their girls are close in age and well, they're girls. Boys and girls are very different. (just in case you didn't know that) And I had a peace. An absolute peace and delight for these families. I had tears as I thought about the reunion these girls would have. The bonds these families would make. And they were happy tears. Oh, sure, I still wanted to go but that's the selfish part of me. My role in this was to be the supportive friend, cheering them on at home, praying for them. And I was perfectly content with that. Perfectly happy to be that friend, happy to have the chance to do this. Our chance will come. We are hoping it comes soon but with another set of friends. These are the friends that Peter needs to see because it's a boy, his Chinese brother who he has been with since he was 2. Spring will come and we will start making beach plans. Or we could all go to Disney World which is Peter's plan. Or just the mom's could meet up for a fun weekend. Now that sounds like a great plan!

Had I gone I would have missed out on:

- A chance to say 'see you later' to a Godly woman and have her son share the most uplifting words to my daughter

-A fun dinner with my daughter and stepmom on Friday evening

-An amazing small group study on Saturday night that I really needed to hear.

-A great church service and Lifegroup class that reiterated all I learned on Saturday evening.

-Hanging out with neighbors/friends and my bil and sil/friends on Sunday evening.

-Seeing the joy on Abi's face as she returned to ArtsView to sing

-Enjoying dinner with our oldest daughter that she cooked in her apartment. Those who have adult kids know this joy!

-Gathering with other homeschool families for See You at the Pole on Wednesday morning and having Andrew say he would start the prayers.

-Seeing the absolute joy on Peter's face when he and his partner were the only winners of a contest for the 7th-8th grade

-Having lunch with a fun group of ladies while our teens were entertained at the church

-Enjoying dinner with my parents at Peter's favorite Chinese restaurant because he made a '100' at speech

-Seeing one of my best friends in high school for the first time in 20 years and being blessed tremendously by her generous gifts to our family

-Getting the mail on Friday, realizing we did not send paperwork needed for the adoption and being home to get it mailed the same day

So did I share this so you could all see what a great person I am? No! I shared this because I want you to all see what a selfish person I can be and how God can change anyone's heart. Believe me, if He can change mine, He can change yours. God has been speaking to me about the verse that states 'Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friend' (John 15:13) And I'll talk more about that later.....

You're on pins and needles, aren't you?