"How come some children don't have mommies and daddies?"
That's a good question. And a hard one. It's a question my 4-year-old daughter asked me while we were sitting at the pool earlier this summer.
After my hub and I had made the decision to adopt, we knew our decision-making process wasn't over. There were three little beings we also needed to talk to to ensure they, too, were on board.
We had talked about it in hypotheticals with them as we were going through the decision-making process: "What do you think it would be like to have another sibling?" "How would it feel to have to share your toys with another brother or sister?" "What would it be like to have to split mommy and daddy's time and attention even more with another sibling in our family?"
Their reaction every single time? Pure excitement and joy. Not an ounce of hesitation. Ever.
During this time, we talked a lot about how there are so many other children in the world who don't have mommies and daddies. We talked about how we have been given SO much and how it is our job to share the blessings we have been given with others.
Their reaction?: How soon can we do this? When can SHE (because they wanted their new sibling to be a girl so things would be even and fair ["Two boys and two girls, Momma!"]) come home? Can she sleep in my room? Can she come home on my birthday?
In other words, pure excitement and joy. Not an ounce of hesitation. Ever.
We videotaped the conversation the morning that we told them we would, in fact, be adding a little sister to our family. It was Mother's Day. I was going to get to be a mother for a fourth time. They were going to gain a new little sister. I will treasure the video forever. They were SO excited.
Their reaction every single time? Pure excitement and joy. Not an ounce of hesitation. Ever.
During this time, we talked a lot about how there are so many other children in the world who don't have mommies and daddies. We talked about how we have been given SO much and how it is our job to share the blessings we have been given with others.
Their reaction?: How soon can we do this? When can SHE (because they wanted their new sibling to be a girl so things would be even and fair ["Two boys and two girls, Momma!"]) come home? Can she sleep in my room? Can she come home on my birthday?
In other words, pure excitement and joy. Not an ounce of hesitation. Ever.
We videotaped the conversation the morning that we told them we would, in fact, be adding a little sister to our family. It was Mother's Day. I was going to get to be a mother for a fourth time. They were going to gain a new little sister. I will treasure the video forever. They were SO excited.
Fast forward to now, and we talk about her all the time. Every day. What they think her name should be (I haven't told them yet). Where she will sleep. How old she will be. What she will look like. How soon we can get her here, with her family.
We pray for her every night. We ask God to please take good care of her until we can get her home, until we can wrap our arms around her.
They love her already. We all do.
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27.
We pray for her every night. We ask God to please take good care of her until we can get her home, until we can wrap our arms around her.
They love her already. We all do.
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27.
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