A Very Significant Hour

Jason was home again today (praise the Lord!). It was good to have a day of transition between all the holiday fun and normal life. I needed it . . . desperately. Celebrating Christmas as a family here at home was wonderful yesterday, but throughout the day I battled many feelings of sadness that I still don’t know the source of. But that doesn’t really matter compared to what happened at lunch today.

We were just having a normal day and a normal lunch when near the end of our meal, one of the girls pointed to a scar on her leg. She began to tell us how it got there, which involved her birth family in C. We asked some questions to engage her further and she shared eagerly as much as she was able in her limited language. At the same time our other daughter acted a little withdrawn until we asked her a couple questions about her birth family. She also opened right up and began sharing (again, as much as she could with the English she has). We kept asking a few questions which would prompt them to keep talking. We ended up having a nearly one hour long conversation (after scooting the boys off to play) about things that happened to them and the basic series of events that led them to the orphanage and then to Marie (oh how they love her!) and then to us. Several of the things they said lined up with the very first reports we got when we were matched with them. 

It is one thing to assume our girls had a hard life before they came here . . . it is quite another to hear in their words with their body language what happened. One of the girls acted like “no big deal” about everything she said. The other we could tell had a little harder time with it. But they were both very willing to share. We didn’t push at all. In fact we could tell they liked us asking questions. And even thought it was the very basics, in very broken English it was almost too much for me to take in one sitting. They have endured A LOT. I’ll just leave it at that.

However, I am praising God more than ever before because the fact that the girls were willing to share this much with us in only the second month they have been home is very telling. I have read that kids adopted/fostered from hard places will usually only begin talking about their pasts and the pain from their past when they feel SAFE and when they can TRUST those they are telling.

It was an incredibly significant one hour.

Throughout their sharing we were able to tell them how much we love them and that we will never leave them. We asked what they thought when Marie told them they had a family (us) and they were all smiles with lots of “good.” At the very end, Jason asked Claire if she and Zoe were good friends at the orphanage. She said yes (which we already knew). We then explained to her that when we decided to adopt I prayed and asked God that our girls would be friends. We told her that God heard our prayers and brought them to us together.

The smile beaming on Claire's face was like something I have never seen before. She knew. She got it. She was so happy and grateful. She doesn’t know those words in English, but her smile said it clearly. I started crying and am crying again as I write this.

I am so glad God saw past my fears and failures and gave us this incredible privilege of adopting and raising older kids (along with the younger ones). The blessings are innumerable!

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

Now for some pictures . . . 

Last night we had the TV on the one station that comes in, which happened to be NFL football. Abram got out of bed and we let him stay up with us and watch football (which he LOVED)! When I put him to bed later he said, "Thank you me watch football with you." Sometimes he is so sweet I can hardly stand it!

Jason did some work from home today and the girls thought they would "help." I'm still not sure they understand the concept of Jason working from home. :)

 Snack time

When the kids heard they could have ice cream (again!) while we watch Charlotte's Web after dinner, they hurried to get p-pops on and Claire helped Isaiah with his.

And then she helped the boys brush their teeth. I wish I could let her do this more often, but for attachment purposes Jason and I still need to be the ones to meet the kids (in this case Isaiah's) needs. It gave me a good glimpse of the future, though!

They got to eat their ice cream in the living room while watching the movie - a triple treat!