What better way to celebrate our country’s independence than spending the 4th of July holiday in our nation’s capitol? So far, we’ve had the privilege of touring George Washington’s home at Mt. Vernon, staring in awe at the Washington Monument, gazing at the somber face of Abraham Lincoln at his memorial and mourning the loss of hundreds of thousands of brave lives at the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall and at Arlington National Cemetery. Washington, D. C. is a beautiful city; rich in history and culture.
Since bringing Abraham home, we have to file adoption reports with our agency after three months, six months, one year and then annually until Abraham is 18 years-old. Every time we file a report, we have to send in a dozen pictures of Abraham, including a family picture. This is our six month post-adoption picture. It will be fun to see these pictures as the years go by. Already, Emily is taller than me and Michael is growing like a weed (I’m standing on my tip-toes behind him!). Caitlyn is always ready to pose for the camera and Jacob is in the make-goofy-faces-at-the-camera stage. Abraham is now nine months old…I can hardly believe we’ve had him for five months! The time has flown by and yet it feels like he’s always been a part of our family.
Abraham loves his biggest brother, Michael. They met for the first time just a few weeks ago and are bonding fast. Michael is so sweet because he often gets down on the floor to play with Abraham and cuddle with him. Tonight at dinner, when Abraham was fussing, Michael took it upon himself to feed Abraham his puffed cereal. It did the trick and kept him quiet. Abraham knows his biggest brother is looking out for him.
I LOVE working from home and my sweet, little girl (don’t tell her I called her “little”) is one of the many reasons why. Summer has barely begun, and she has already taught herself how to do summersaults, handstands, and snorkeling in the pool. I’m pretty sure she would stay in the pool all day if I let her. Almost everyday, she hurries down the stairs in her bathing suit and swimming mask and jumps into the pool.
I took my step-daughter, Emily, to see Chris Tomlin and Toby Mac this past Friday night. It was great to get to hang out with her. We spent a fair bit of time goofing off in the car on the way to the concert. It was the best we could make out of the horrible traffic situation. A trip that should have taken us 45 minutes, took 2 hours due to an accident on the highway. To keep us entertained in the bumper-to-bumper traffic, Emily made up stories based on the signs along the interstate. My favorite was one about a cow who went to Dairy Queen and was offended because she thought SHE was the Dairy Queen. Even though we ended up being an hour late, I’m thankful that I got to spend some time with her. She’s only with us for eight weeks in the summer and every other Christmas, and while she’s been here, she has spent a fair bit of time in her room. I can’t say as I blame her…what with being a thirteen year-old with four younger siblings. Shoot, many times I want to have some alone time in my room. But with all the daily family matters, I haven’t gotten to spend much time alone with her.
I’m also thankful that Chris Tomlin played first, so that we didn’t miss any of Toby Mac’s performance…which was AWESOME!!
Words I thought I’d never hear myself say to my eight year-old girl.
A year ago, Caitlyn bought a book called “Oh Yuck! The Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty”. It is a very well-read book. One of the “nasties” in it is about people who eat bugs. For what ever reason, Caitlyn had been pestering me lately to buy her some chocolate covered insects so she could try them. Her rationale? “Well, eating meat is gross to some people in other countries, but eating bugs isn’t gross to them”. I couldn’t argue with her thinking. So, Daddy ordered her a heapin’, helpin’ of chocolate covered grubs and crickets. They arrived in the mail today, much to Caitlyn’s delight (and to my disgust). She tore into them right away. I even let her try one before dinner; at the risk of ruining her appetite! The chocolate was a bit melted on them, but we’re keeping them in the fridge so they stay nice and fresh. Eating bugs is all about variety…white chocolate or milk chocolate covered bugs. Caitlyn chose a milk chocolate covered cricket for her first foray into bug eating. I made her pause a moment so I could get a picture…in case she spewed the contents all over the floor. She popped the little cricket into her mouth and remained all smiles throughout. Phew! Her thoughts? “They taste like chicken with chocolate, only they have a slightly bad after-taste. I think I have an eyeball stuck in my teeth.”
And there you have it folks! My daughter is now an eater of insects. She has since eaten a handful of chocolate covered grubs and crickets. Perhaps I won’t have to hire someone for pesticide anymore. The bugs in my yard should be running scared!
Abraham has bonded with me. His face lights up when he sees me. He cries if, on the rare occasion, I leave him in another's care. When that happens, it's my cuddles and kisses that calm and reassure him. He reaches for me when I go to get him out of the crib. We've been sharing many special moments together, but my favorite by far is when I give him kisses all over his sweet little face. He grabs my hair, pulls me closer and coos with joy. I am head over heels in love with this little boy and I'm pretty sure he now feels the same about me.
But, this didn't happen over night. It's taken months of, not only meeting his basic, physical needs, but also meeting his emotional needs. Playing, cuddling, soothing, kissing...lavishing love on my littlest boy.
As I reflected one day on this transformation, God laid a verse on my heart. 1 John 3:1. "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" What an awesome perspective God has given me! I am both the receiver of His lavish love on me, His adopted child, and the giver of lavish love to my adopted child, Abraham.
There was a time when I didn't know God, but He knew me. He took the initiative to love me and to demonstrate His love for me. He pursued me. I quit running and accepted. I'm now His adopted child. His forever. And He continues to lavish His love on me.
Another thought struck me today while I was giving Abraham his kisses. God initiated His relationship with us through a kiss. "The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." Genesis 2:7. God was so close to man as to breathe life into him. I've always envisioned this as a kiss. Imagine, the God of the universe being as close as a kiss. And, yet, how sadly ironic that Jesus, God in the flesh, was betrayed by man with a kiss. However, the kiss that Judas meant for evil, God meant for good. To bring us a different kind of life. An eternal life. God's love is lavish indeed!
