Simple Treasures

Bear Lake 2011
Do you see the joy on these two faces?  They have come a long way from those weary frowns worn years ago.  The time before our children found us.  These are the kinda smiles that you feel deep down in your soul.  The ones that you longed to feel for so long.  Nowadays, luckily they come quite easy with our four adopted children in our lives.  

While still trying to recover from my auto accident, going on family vacations has been a struggle.  The family was really needing a getaway.  Something fun, but something that I could do without being miserable.  So, we went "Up North", as we like to call it around here. 

We were minutes from Lake Michigan. Beautiful beaches, campfires, roasting marshmallows, catching fireflies, and even saw a movie at The Cherrybowl Drive-In. We slowed life down for just a little while. 


 
Not once did the kids complain that the vacation was going to be boring.  Our first day there poured buckets.  Thunder was rolling, and there wasn't much to do.

 

Being the optimist that I am, I suggested that we sit out on the back porch and listen to some music and look out over the 55 acres.  So, the "mini  boom  box" was blaring out in to the countryside, I think the song was, SWEET Home Alabama,  and the kids jumped off the deck and started dancing in the rain.   The mud was not an issue.  The muddier the better.  They had a blast.  We had a blast watching them.  I couldn't be prouder.



It is in these moments when Jerry and I realize just how lucky that we are to have this amazing family.  A reminder of what we struggled so long for.



There is nothing like the sound
of pure joy in your children's laughter.



Fireflies and Cricket Catching

When we dreamed of a family, of course we thought about all of the things that we would do with them if we got the chance.  Living the dream and finding the joy in each moment that you share with them is what grounds Jerry and I in all of the difficult parts of raising an adopted child.  No, we cannot change how they came into the world, and ultimately we cannot control how they feel about all of it.  What we can do it LOVE them. Listen to them.  Hold their hand as they walk through their journey, whatever it may be.  That is what an adoptive parent can do. 



As the week progressed, I found moment after moment, where I just stood looking in awe at this incredible bunch that I call my family.  I realized that my family doesn't need Disneyworld, or Cabo for a vacation.  We found so much joy in the simple treasures that God gave us.


My Forever Family




Standing on the shore, in awe of my blessings, I sigh, with great joy.

Comments

  1. AnonymousWednesday, September 21, 2011

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AmyWednesday, October 05, 2011

    Nope. No Disney or Cabo.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousThursday, October 13, 2011

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SHOCK!

Journal entry dated November 11, 2000 - I am still in SHOCK.  Shaking. My stomach feels like I am in an airplane and we are experiencing turbulence.  Today is Veterans Day and since Jerry had the day off, we decided to go hang out with Jerry's parents and maybe do a little Christmas shopping.  We were sitting on the couch chatting when the phone rang.  My mother in law answered it and came around the corner from the kitchen and whispered to me, "its the adoption agency".  She says, "they said they have been looking for you".  I told her to "RELAX, we finished our home study yesterday and they probably have a question for us." I picked up the phone and said "Hello".  The next few minutes, I would be silent and frozen in my footsteps, for fear that I may be misunderstanding our Social workers words.  "We have a baby boy here at the hospital and the mother has selected you and Jerry to become the adoptive parents."  Not sure that I ...
Read more

Dear Birthmother

I am going to share a very personal letter with you today.  This letter came from my heart.  It is our "Dear Birthmother" letter.   This was a very challenging letter to write.  I was trying to keep in mind how a birth mother would be feeling as she read our letter and what words would comfort her as she made, what seemed to me, to be an impossible decision.  We couldn't possibly understand where each other was coming from, but I felt that there had to be some common ground for us to meet.  The agency told us that you never know what one peice of information may draw a birth mother to you, so we should be thorough and full of detail.  This is our letter. Dear Birthmother, Selecting a future home and family for your child is a very difficult and important decision.  We greatly respect and appreciate your need to know about us and the kind of home that we would provide for your child.  By gaining some insight i...
Read more

My Mommy

Image
Today is a celebration of mothers everywhere.  I am blessed with an amazing mother as well as a lovely mother in law who treats me as if I were her own.  The list is long and endless on how many great things that I could say about my mommy, but I want to share the most important thing that she ever gave me as mother.  No matter what the time of my life or the situation that we were in, my mother always listened with an open heart.   In my mind, I could not surprise her with the level of mischief that I would get into.  I could not say anything mean enough to rattle her.  No sex question through her off guard.  She was my rock.  I am sure that inside she wanted to lambaste me a few times, but she always exhibited great self control.  I admire her for that, because as a mother, I now know just how hard that was.  Through the years, I must say that I challenged her self control quite a bit, especially in the 15 -17 year ...
Read more