Sometimes you get caught!

       
        We have been having a very tough few days. Our lives are so full of schedules, meetings, doctors, hospitals, and living that I was surprised when I had a moment to just look. In that moment, I saw the most beautiful thing. In that moment I got to witness my sons being the hands and feet of Christ, literally.
         If you don't know, we have been so busy with the surgery of our daughters hand and arm. All of this running around, meetings, surgery and hospitals have been to help our daughter's arm be able to grow in a somewhat normal way. Our daughter, Blandis, is adopted from Cameroon, Africa and has been home with us about 5 months. We adopted her knowing that this surgery was necessary for her growth. Our children knew this also. With all of the time spent caring and loving on Blandis it was not on her that my boys showed Christ.
          This afternoon was an early release from school and I watched my sons show Christ's love. I had to pick up my boys but one is at a different campus and took a bus over to the younger sons campus for me to pick up. This was the first time, this school year, Santiago rode the bus. Today the bus was extremely late and I was getting impatient. I had to leave Blandis at the hospital when I picked up the boys.
           I waited on the side walk as Everett ran up to get his brother as he got off the bus. As I waited I  watched all of the kids get off and go their ways. All of I sudden, I was a bit afraid that Santiago had forgotten to ride the bus and I would need to spend more time to get him from his campus. Then lastly Santiago came off the bus very slowly and handed his brother a bunch of things. Santiago then turned around and walked over to the door as he held his hand out. Surprisingly, I noticed that he was helping another child off the bus. The boy had his arm around Santiago's shoulder and was slowly hopping down the sidewalk. Both of my boys were helping this boy hop to his father. One was carrying his things and the other was being his crutch. They came pretty far before the boys father realized what was happening and that is why i happened to see so much. I got to see my sons actually be the hands and feet of Christ.
           While I watched and waited for them. I was not fully aware of what was happening. When we got to the car Santiago thanked me for waiting for them. Santiago explained he was the last off the bus because a classmate was hurt. He said that the boy got hurt this morning but really started to be in pain this afternoon and could not walk, at all, on his foot. He was not really friends with the boy but knew he should help him because no one else was. Santiago asked Everett to carry the boys things when they got off the bus and he helped him to his father. The boy was in such pain that when he reached his father he was extremely relieved. I saw the relief on the boys face and was thankful for my boys.
             Today I witnessed my sons being the hands and feet of Christ. When others were to busy, or didn't realize the circumstances, I got to witness my sons being who God asked them to be.  I caught Everett following his older brother and doing what was asked when needed, as the hands of Christ. Just as importantly I saw Santiago be Christ's feet. He carried his friend to his father for the comfort that he needed. Just as our Christ carries us to our father for eternal comfort.
             I could not be more proud of who my boys grow to be than who they are today. This very minute they exude Christ to others. They have taught me that even though we are busy thinking we are helping Christ's hands and feet. God is in control and Christ is shown through us! We need to remember to always be Christ's hands and feet by helping others. Always, even when it is not in our time. Always, even when it is not our thought and even when it is not our want. Christ may use us to sit back and watch rather then be.
             Today,  as I was helping my daughter heal her arm and hand, I received the blessing of seeing my sons BE Christ's arms, hands and legs. These boys are amazing and I caught them being so!
             

New Experiences can be a Blast!

      I am sitting outside, going through my photography stock pile, and came upon these images.

 While it has only been 3 and a half months since Blandis came home it seems like an eternity to me. I wonder what it feels like to her. I will have to ask her in the morning but for now it is my thoughts. We have done so many things, had so many new experiences and spent meaning full time as a family that I assume she has seamlessly become a part of our family. It seems like she has always been with us, weather it be in a physical state or in our minds prayers.  As I look back at these photos I have to remember that she is still new to our family. I absolutely love how easily she handles new situations. She goes at them with gusto! To know everything about her new life and to have fun while it revolves around her. She grasps new experiences and treasures them as how God wants her life to unfold. As her mom,  I can only see these blasts of life through her eyes. These photos were taken in Belgium during the sunrise at the airport.

There is a First Time for Everything.

     When you adopt an older child you often think of all of the firsts that they are experiencing. Everything is new, strange and different than what they knew before. As a parent, we often take as many pictures of our children's first experiences as we can. These split second memories will hopefully recall happiness in our families time together later in our life.
       Last night I was going through some of the pictures I took, of our family, in the first week that Blandis was home. I remember taking these images and being excited that she was getting to do something purely childish. She was not working, cleaning, cooking or helping. It was a time she was getting to feel the blessings of being our child. Blandis was going to experience the joy of running threw the sprinkler. Oh, how I wanted to remember that look of excitement on her face.
       Only as I was looking at the pictures I realized there was something bigger. It is much much bigger. It was in God's plans for our adoption and I feel that I may have not held it in importance. How could I have missed it? As Blandis was having her first joy, so were her brothers. Santiago and Everett were getting to share in this first moment. I see so much happiness on their faces. As they get older they will remember running through the sprinkler together, all together.
       Even though Rob and I waited to bring home Blandis her siblings were waiting also. We adopted wanting to bring Blandis into our family. How could I forget that, as she had her first, we would all be having firsts.