Gratitude

I have been truly amazed by the sheer number of people who have reached out to our family since we returned home from China.  No, not amazed.  Astounded.  We saw God's hand working so mightily throughout our adoption process, I don't know why I ever wondered if that would all suddenly stop once we got home, but it hasn't.  He continues to work and move and make His power known in all of this--in the beauty of Hannah's life.

When we got home the texts, e-mails, and Facebook contacts began flooding in.  And I mean flooding.  It has not been a trickle.  Hannah has touched so many lives, so profoundly, and many of these people we barely know.  What a gift it is for me, to be so intimately involved in this child's life.  God has big plans for Hannah.  Even before we brought her home, her grasp on the hearts and lives of so many people was palpable.  We are touched by the many who read our blog, follow our updates on Face Book and comment along the way.  You are our cheerleaders.  We need you and we are so grateful for you.

So many people have specifically thanked me for being so open, real, and honest through my posts.  If you know me in real life, you know I am open, real, and honest so this is the only way I know how to write.  I also know, that as I prepared to become an adoptive mama, I needed someone who was going to be honest with me.  I needed my expectations to be centered and grounded.  It was through those select few who chose to be transparent that I found the best preparation.  I do not intend to air all of our dirty laundry here, but I certainly hope to be truthful.  Photos and Facebook posts can leave us with such false impressions of what life is like.  Life is not a smiling photograph.  A smiling photograph is merely a brief moment out of the thousands of moments that make up our days.  We don't post the photos of meltdowns, heartache, or anger.  We all know those things go on, but yet, it is still so easy to look and compare ourselves, thinking our family falls short in one way or another.  My intent behind being real is to be a support to those who are in the same place.  They are not alone, they are not isolated, and they are not going crazy. 

Others have thanked us over and over for "sharing" Hannah with them.  My answer to that is that, Hannah is not ours.  She is His child and He clearly has a great plan for her.  Bringing Hannah home required an army.  I may be her mother, but she's not all mine. She is the product of so many prayers, so many financial gifts, so many meals and fundraisers. People need to see the fruit of their prayers.  So I share her because she is proof of God's work in the community of believers.

Several say they don't know how I have the time to write.  Truthfully, I don't know the answer to that.  I don't know either!  Writing right now is very therapeutic for me and it feels necessary.  There is so much missing of Hannah's life.  I want to document her early days as you would document the early days of your newborn child.  Writing also allows me to see so many spiritual connections that I would have missed had I not sat down and processed events through writing about them.  God is teaching me so much.  Do not be fooled to think I have "arrived" spiritually.  I flounder and fall and miss out on so many wonderful nuggets He has for me in the moments of day to day life.  He graciously allows me to go back and capture some of those missed nuggets when I hit rewind on the day and reflect in writing.

So many people are thanking us or telling us Hannah is blessed.  We want to say first no, Hannah is not blessed, WE are.  Secondly, we say, "thank you!"  We would not be here without you, so stop thanking us and take a look around.  There is a crowd of you gathered around us.  We see it and feel it and know your prayers are lifted.  Look around and see the power of this community that is coming around our daughter and pat yourselves on the back.  Thank each other.  We did it.  You did it.  Orphan no more, hallelujah, our daughter is home!  Rejoice in what we have accomplished together.

Your continued support has been the most amazing blessing to us.  We have sort of fallen off the map during this phase of cocooning and not one of you have forgotten us.  You write to us, you text, you call.  You bring meals.  Oh....the MEALS.  So many, wonderful, delicious meals that I could never dream of preparing right now.  Our fridge overflows with left overs, our freezer is full of quick fixes that are ready to be heated!  You love our children...you take them to co-op for us, you have them for play dates and outings, you invest in them at church, you give them the extra snuggle or read them the one more book that you know they so desperately want right now.  Wow.  You are truly amazing.

We are filled to overflowing with gratitude because of you.  Thank you.