Philly Area mom, Life forever changed by adoption
This girl. Asked to write a “have you ever…” piece by her 2nd grade teacher, this is what she wrote.
Have you ever been to China?
Sweet thing spent her babyhood in China but I’m certain she never walked the Great Wall. But, if she wants to write about that wall and what she imagines it to be right down to the person panting because of the hard work to climb it and the “twet twet” of the birds, I’m quite okay with that.
She may not have realized when she sent home a letter like this with questions like this that she was sending it to a mama who overthinks everything.
_________________________________________________
I have literally thousands of pictures of Drew. This one is one of my favorites, taken just last summer simply using my phone discretely. The picture itself is nothing special; in fact, it’s really not that good. But, I experienced the moment it captured and know how it stands like a window into Drew’s heart.
Andrew Micah.
Andrew was the first called, the first disciple Jesus called by name. As our third child, we wanted him to know he was valued, called by name, known. Even as we were expecting his arrival, we prayed Micah 6:8 for him, that he would seek justice, love mercy, and humbly walk with God.
We love his heart, the mercy and compassion captured in this picture, the passion he has to see broken things made right, the unfair made fair, and his developing understanding of who he is and how he fits into a larger picture. That’s not an easy process; we see him struggling, easily injured and often hearing the wrong message that he’s not important, not valuable. We want to help him wrestle with all that in all contexts—in our family, as he considers his own physical frame, as he processes every part of school social and academic. His sensitive heart may get injured easily as he wrestles, but it also responds to nurturing easily. So, we work hard to give him what works to build him up, speaking affirming words and giving him lots of physical affection. As he matures and becomes more secure, he will likely need less of that. But, for now, we’re happy to give him what he needs, believing that the encouragement to his heart is infinitely more important than anything else and actually will be what makes all that anything else effective. With that encouragement, he’s better able to learn hard math facts and history lessons, better able to physically do what he thinks he can’t do, more willing to work as part of a team even when it’s hard.
Our desire is that his teachers would trust us and see us as willing able to be what he most needs and then to partner with us to reinforce how we are building him up to be the man God wants him to be and to give him the anything else so we can be freed up to pour into his heart.
10 days ago, Mark flew to China to join our crew over there for their first days of school. While he was gone taking tons of train rides and taking pictures of body-less donkeys, I kept the pieces together here which included an adventure going to our state Renaissance Fair (I refuse to add the “e” at the end), a day of sewing several critters in lieu of the ones they wanted to buy at said fair with no e, and 2 school open houses which left me wondering how I ever managed to get my Masters degree.
Needless to say, I’m quite happy that I’ll picking up my husband from the airport tonight on his birthday eve no less. Based on what I read in Lydia’s writing journal at the open house this week, she agrees.
as does this critter.
(I may not be into dressing up like a knight or even putting an “e” on “fair,” I am quite proud of the creatures I made that are complete with wire and whiskers.)
No homework over the four-day weekend for my four kids after four days of school.
However, I was served this Thursday afternoon.
Mark’s in China. I’m managing the home front with our four kids back in three different schools including our first experience with high school. And, I’ve got an essay to write.
So, while the kids watched an episode from Season 2 of Amazing Race on Hulu tonight, I did my homework.
_____________________________________
A million words aren’t enough to say all I could say about the girl we get to call our daughter. It would take a whole lot of words to tell you how she is faithful and committed to truth even when those around her are not. It would take more words to explain how big her heart is and to testify to how nurturing she is and how she cares for those who are vulnerable. I’d likely need a lot of words to explain how she’s proven to be a gifted leader who is learning to not simply take charge but to be wise as she leads. I’d use at least a few thousand words to explain how she is good at weighing the cost of her choices and is willing to do hard things. It would take more yet to tell you that she has shown us that she knows that most shortcuts are not worth taking. I’d probably use too many words to tell you how she likes to be right (like her mother) and is learning how to handle when she’s not (like her mother). I’d use words upon words to tell you that her smile and laugh light up a room and how we’re glad she’s generous with both. I can’t imagine how many words I’d use to tell you that we’re very proud that we get to be her mom and dad and that we are very serious about doing those jobs as well as we possibly can. Some of those words would explain how we know she’s not perfect, but we will defend her to the end. It’s what we do.
But, since you’ve asked for a million words or less, these four words will do.
Ashlyn is pretty great.
_____________________________________
That is all. I wonder what grade I’ll get.