Patience and Surrender

If the adoption process doesn’t bring anything else to families … it certainly helps you learn patience … and learn how to surrender in the process.  We were hoping to have a court date by the end of September but now that will be delayed.  There is a new regional director in Ghana, which is delaying things a bit.  From what I am reading from a group I am involved in with other families adopting from Ghana, this is a good thing, and this new director has good intentions in doing the job well.  That is something we are thankful for.  What this means for us is that we will wait longer for our first court date.  Ghana is currently working to develop a more streamlined process for adoption, which is also a good thing.  It just requires for us to have patience and trust that God is in control of this process.

 When you are given a child through adoption you have a deeper awareness of the fact that our kids are not “ours” … what I mean by that is that it can be easy to think of our biological kids as property, or beings that we have control over … but when you adopt and receive a child that was born to someone else, we have found that we understand deeply that these children are all God’s children.  They are not “ours” and in that we have to surrender that God’s plan is greater than our own.  Please don’t be alarmed, we believe all of our children are ours, we just know that God gives each child (through birth or  adoption) and it is His plan that determines what that looks like throughout life.  When Kylie came into our family she had a strange infection enter her body when she was 2 ½ months old.  We spent 8 nights at children’s hospital very thankful for the intravenous antibiotics needed remove this infection from her body.  I remember to this day driving to the hospital and saying to God … “She is yours, and I surrender her to you” … we had no idea at that point why she had such a high white count and it took a couple of  days to know for sure what we were going to face.  Kylie healed and she is a very healthy almost five year old. 

We entered this process this time trying hard from the beginning to surrender this whole adoption process to God.  He has the timing all figured out and we know that He loves this precious girl that we have only seen through one picture and He has big plans for her! 

It’s not too late to join us next Saturday for our fundraising event.  We are excited to see everyone that can come and are humbled by the love and support of so many!

Grandma's Love

 

Today would be my Grandma’s 97^th birthday if she were still on earth with us.  As I mentioned in my previous post, she was adopted 85 years ago, at the age of 12.  I miss her tons and wish often that I could ask her more questions about her life and experiences.  I am grateful for the time that we had and am so thankful that I was a stay-at-home mom during her last few years of life.   I would often take the boys to the nursing home to see her and we cherish those memories.

In the service we attend at church we don’t often get to hear what I call “oldies but goodies,” Chris doesn’t always know what I mean because he didn’t grow up in the church, but today we got to hear a beautiful duet of the song “His Eye is On the Sparrow” and when they sang I couldn’t help myself, the tears flowed.  That song brings back so many memories of my childhood and time with my immediate family and also my grandparents.  Such sweet memories and blessings of a life of love.  Though my immediate family has changed, and my Grandparents are no longer living on this earth, it is incredible how a song can impact you in that way.  My Grandma came through adversity, and she loved her Grandkids well even though she had a tough start at life. When I was young Grandma would show her love to us through food … my cousin and I talked about this at her funeral and he pointed out that she and Grandpa did not have material wealth, but she always showed her love through food.  I made Grandma’s light rye bread today to remember her.  My kids don’t associate this bread with their great grandma because they did not watch her bake it: kneading the dough, letting it rise, punching it down and letting it rise again.  That is what I remember when I eat this bread; watching Grandma work hard to prepare food to show her love for us.  Today, my bread machine did all the work, but the end result of the tasty bread reminds me of my precious Grandma.  Happy Birthday Grandma!  I love you so much, and miss you.  I can’t wait to see you again!

The boys have decided that they are going to add a “Bake Sale” onto our fundraiser day.  We are going to make some yummy baked goods (to include a few loaves of Grandma’s light rye bread) to sell in an attempt to raise money for our adoption.  As you can see from our thermometer at the right of the page … we are blessed!  We have been given $2,300 towards our adoption already.  It is so fun to hear from people who want to support us and we are very excited we get to see many of you on October 5^th … we appreciate you and are humbled by your generosity! 

Finishing Last!

 

Chris and I ran a 10K today.  Well, I wouldn’t’ say that I “ran” it as there was a fair amount of walking that was intertwined in my running.  Chris did not and would not leave me so he finished as I did … last.  There is something humbling about coming in last, having the squad trailing the run behind you the entire time.  I am much more of a competitive person than Chris so of course it didn’t bother him to stay with me even if it meant he would also finish last.  I am blessed to have this partner in life.   I was challenged in my own words when I have told my kids that it doesn’t matter where you finish, as long as try and do your best.  So I am reminding myself of that today … someone has to finish last, right?

In thinking about this today I am realizing that I am not used to being last.  I was essentially born into privilege, not that my family had a lot of wealth, but the doors of opportunity were a plenty.  We were always encouraged and really anything that we wanted to pursue our parents would make happen for us.  I struggle sometimes with knowing how best to respond with that privilege I was born into.  Why me?  Why would I be ‘given’ so much?  Working in the adoption world I hear a lot of discussion about adoption, and with that comes those on the side that kids should not be adopted, rather, financial means should be provided for them to remain in live in the culture and/or family that they were born into.  I understand fully the value in this.  I am parenting a child trans-racially already and I know that there are things that she does not receive fully from us, and if I am going to be totally honest, she probably can’t receive fully from Caucasian parents.  However, I do know that her mom chose us because there were many things (beyond just culture) that she wanted for her daughter.  And by God’s grace she chose us for that.

Many of you probably don’t know, but my grandma was adopted.  She spent time in foster care in St. Paul, Minnesota, before her father voluntarily relinquished his rights because he could not provide for her and her two brothers (her mother had passed away years before – essentially starving to death).  She then went to the orphanage in Owatonna, Minnesota.  I am here, and able to do the things that God has designed for me in my life because someone adopted an orphan at the age of 12.  Someone gave her the gift of family, gave her opportunity and for that I am eternally grateful.  You may think that sounds like a dramatic statement, but truly, my grandparents would not have met had God not designed that she be adopted into the Peterson family.  It is a legacy in many ways fraught with pain and loss, but through the gift of family and as my grandma would always tell you, the redemption of Christ, became a beautiful thing.  So you see, it isn’t a given that you are born into a privileged life.  I think of this often when I think of our daughter in Ghana.  I wonder what her life is like and how it can be that God would choose for her to come into our family.  I am not trying to imply that she will gain “privilege” when arriving in our home, but her life will change drastically going from a developing country to suburbia in America.  We hope that God is preparing us adequately.  We know that we can’t do this alone and we humbly ask that you join with us in however God has equipped you!  I (we) may have finished last today, but that is okay!  J