Family Home From Guyana

Hi Friends,
Well, blogging hasn’t happened in a while!  We’ve been a little busy – became a mom again for the 4th and 5th time!  We are loving life with 5 kids.  Miles and Kallie have added so much joy, laughter, noise, and fun to our family!  I’ve had several blogs I want to write on our adoption story but there is one I just couldn’t wait to write anymore.  So if you will all bear with me as I share a few adoption stories in the coming weeks – some things are just to good to not share!

My family (husband and 3 biological children) headed to Guyana (South America) to adopt Miles and Kallie (siblings)  We stayed in a furnished apartment.  Guyana is hot/humid and there is not much to do there (like really – there is nothing to do there!)  so our days were filled with homeschooling (yep, perks of homeschooling you can do it anywhere), swimming in the pool, and in the evening we would all cuddle up and watch a movie.

One night the kids wanted to watch Horton Hears a Who – I love this book, I’ve loved this book for a long time.  Last summer we spent a week in Tahoe with my husband’s family and visited a traveling Dr. Seuss museum that included his rare hats.  Super fun trip and we learned some really neat stuff about Dr. Seuss.  There were rare paintings he had never planned on releasing to the general public and the stories they told about his work was wonderful.  But the explanation for Horton Hears a Who I will never forget – they told us that Dr. Seuss wrote Horton Hears a Who against abortion.  I researched this and there are conflicting reports as for whether he actually wrote it for this purpose or not, but it sure made the book stand out to me in a whole new way.

For those of you who have never read Horton Hears a Who the general story is that a large elephant hears a noise on a flower that has a speck on it.  The tiny speck has the entire town of Who-ville living on it.  Horton and his enormous ears are able to hear the town and he promises to take them to a place of safety.  Horton has a great quote “a person is a person no matter how small” and he goes through all sorts of teasing and weather and perils to finally put the speck in a safe place so the town of Who-ville can survive.

Now back to my story (sorry totally derailed) . . .  my kids decide to watch Horton Hears a Who one night while in Guyana.  I’m cuddling up with Kallie on the couch watching this super funny movie and the Lord so sweetly spoke to me.  He reminded me of all the times I was back in America feeling crazy because my heart and my arms were breaking for my babies in Guyana that I couldn’t get to quick enough.

Adoption is hard, it isn’t like when you are pregnant with a child and everyone knows you are expecting because – well. . . it’s obvious by that cute little basketball under your shirt and the jar of pickles in your hand!!!  When you are “expecting” with adoption no one knows and you want to shout it from rooftop.  Every time you buy a piece of clothing or their beds or their toothbrushes you just feel like a crazy lady and end up telling the checker at Target all about the kids you are adopting only to have them look back at you like a deer in headlights wondering why on earth I had to get in their lane.  Oh yeah friends, lived this out more humiliating times than I should have.  Yes, I have some super amazing stories where when I couldn’t contain myself and started sharing with strangers about the children I didn’t have and they were equally as excited with me – one in fact has become a friend because she just had to know when we were bringing our kids home and has been praying for me ever since!  But there are plenty of times I shared and people just confirmed the craziness I was feeling by the look on their face.  It’s hard – adoption is so hard!

I also can’t say enough thanks to those who followed up constantly on where we were in the process – why?  Because though most days I had nothing new to report it made Miles and Kallie feel real, it made me not feel so crazy, and you so constantly reminded me of the faithfulness of our Savior.  You see like Horton – we had a speck in Guyana.   2 beautiful children – “my Who’s” that no one knew existed, that no one knew needed help and home and mom and dad.  Yet somehow by the grace of God, He put us in the exact right place at the right time so we heard “our Who’s” tiny cries, their longing for a family, their need for safety and protection and love.

I sat on the couch that night watching Horton Hears a Who and sobbed and sobbed.  I was living the real life Horton Hears a Who!   We serve a God who also says “A person is a person no matter how small” and He heard them and brought us together.  I had “my Who’s” finally safe on my lap cuddling watching a movie and it was all too much for my hea
rt.  Too much amazement at the goodness of God, too much gratefulness that He chose me to be their mom, too much love for “my Who’s” and it was simply a night I needed to share with you.

Friends, I don’t know where you are at in life right now, but I do know that we serve a God who hears our cries – ALL of them.  From the smallest child to the greatest it makes no difference.  I just want you to know as you read this your Father hears you.