Friday, October 26, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
stories to melt your heart
Our agency, Holt International, is gearing up for National Adoption Month (which runs through November) and sent out links to their blog. As always, I was touched as I read stories of new waiting children, kids recently brought home, and recollections from adult adoptees.
As I read about a brother and sister in East Africa who are looking for a family to love them my heart melted. Jared, older brother to Gabby, has looked after his little sister since their mother passed away shortly after she was born. She is now 7 and he is 16. I gazed at their pictures, of course asked myself, "Is this something that God has for us?" (this question comes to my mind A LOT) Then I began thinking about their lives. Here is this child, who at 9 years old cared for his younger sister. nine. My heart was wrought thinking about how he had to grow up so quickly. They are just waiting for a family. I wonder what emotions ran through their hearts and heads as the person on the other side of the that lens said, "Ok, we are going to take some pictures to help find you a family. Smile."
...
Here is a story from an adult adoptee who explains why she has chosen to forgive her birth family. I love reading adult adoptee's thoughts as I hope they will guide me as I help Haneul walk through the many questions that she will ask as she grows up. While she explains how her adoption has made her question a lot of things, she says that she now honors her birth mother's choice to give her up. I loved this part the most, "My adopted parents are my parents, not my “adopted” parents. I have two mothers—one who gave me life and the other who let me live it."
That quote brought to my mind the fact that Haneul was relinquished from her birth mother shortly after her birth. As we celebrated her second birthday I can't help but think about her birth mother in Korea. Somewhere I imagine her thinking about her decision and I wish that I could tell her that her sweet, joyful girl is safe and well loved.
As I read about a brother and sister in East Africa who are looking for a family to love them my heart melted. Jared, older brother to Gabby, has looked after his little sister since their mother passed away shortly after she was born. She is now 7 and he is 16. I gazed at their pictures, of course asked myself, "Is this something that God has for us?" (this question comes to my mind A LOT) Then I began thinking about their lives. Here is this child, who at 9 years old cared for his younger sister. nine. My heart was wrought thinking about how he had to grow up so quickly. They are just waiting for a family. I wonder what emotions ran through their hearts and heads as the person on the other side of the that lens said, "Ok, we are going to take some pictures to help find you a family. Smile."
...
Here is a story from an adult adoptee who explains why she has chosen to forgive her birth family. I love reading adult adoptee's thoughts as I hope they will guide me as I help Haneul walk through the many questions that she will ask as she grows up. While she explains how her adoption has made her question a lot of things, she says that she now honors her birth mother's choice to give her up. I loved this part the most, "My adopted parents are my parents, not my “adopted” parents. I have two mothers—one who gave me life and the other who let me live it."
That quote brought to my mind the fact that Haneul was relinquished from her birth mother shortly after her birth. As we celebrated her second birthday I can't help but think about her birth mother in Korea. Somewhere I imagine her thinking about her decision and I wish that I could tell her that her sweet, joyful girl is safe and well loved.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
haneul is 2!
On Friday Haneul turned two! All day we kept asking her, "How old are you?" and Beniah had fun teaching her how to say "Two!".
Daddy had the day off (thanks fall break!) and was able to treat all of us to banana pancakes for breakfast.
Beniah was very excited for her birthday party and helped in anyway he could to get ready. Haneul likes to color (she even colors the wall!! :/ ) so we had crayon crazy celebration. I saw some cool rainbow cakes on pinterest..so we tried our hand. Beniah helped me make and decorate.
The party was at one of my favorite parks. Its has a big open field and a good sized playground. We had a couple friends stop by for some fun outdoors. The weather was beautiful-we experienced a cold front this weekend so it actually felt like fall!
Once we got home, Beniah helped Haneul play with her new fun toys.
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| check out that bed head! EVERY morning her hair is crazy~ |
Daddy had the day off (thanks fall break!) and was able to treat all of us to banana pancakes for breakfast.
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| her eyes get big for food |
Beniah was very excited for her birthday party and helped in anyway he could to get ready. Haneul likes to color (she even colors the wall!! :/ ) so we had crayon crazy celebration. I saw some cool rainbow cakes on pinterest..so we tried our hand. Beniah helped me make and decorate.
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| Papa helping the kids with the chalk |
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| I took like 5 shots of this scene...this was the best one. I like Eli's surprised expression. |
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| the Reyes big kids having their hand at bags |
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| Terrance with his "baketball" |
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| checking out the scrapbook of our trip to meet Haneul. It came just in time on Saturday morning! |
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| Jackson and his basketball :) |
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| Bryce doing double duty |
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| Eli and Haneul both snacking away |
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| Cory with his crayon art project |
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| Missy helped man the station. E is for Emma! |
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| waiting in line |
I think what Haneul looked forward to the most was her cake. We've limited her sweets (compared to what I think she was used to in her foster family) so she could not wait to get a bite of that sweet goodness!
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| Beniah and Rylan with the baby dolls |
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| dress up from Papa and Janet |
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| so sweet |
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| picking shoes to complete the outfit |
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| she showed Dave every outfit she tried on! |
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| feeding and rocking their baby dolls to sleep |
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
the christian left?
"Before you speak to me about your religion, first show it to me in how you treat other people; before you tell me how much you love your God, show me in how much you love all His children; before you preach to me of your passion for your faith, teach me about it through your compassion for your neighbors. In the end, I'm not as interested in what you have to tell or sell as in how you choose to live and give."
- Cory Booker (Mayor, Newark, NJ)
- Cory Booker (Mayor, Newark, NJ)
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