As much as I LOVE fresh starts, I also love wrapping everything up. That is the season we are in right now. Our little guy's adoption was finalized this month! Best thing ever!!! The kids finished their Awana year. I finished graduate school and am now a Speech Language Pathologist. Woot! The school year for the kids is coming to a close. Darah finished up her baseball season. The boys have one more basketball game of the season. Lots of things coming to a close until it all starts up again in August.
Not that I have done a very good job of keeping up my blog, I want to quickly give an update of how everyone is before I go back on a blogging hiatus. :) Our little guy's adoption was on May 10. We were able to participate in a mass adoption in our county, where 53 kids were adopted at the same time. It was chaotic and overwhelming with so many people, but our little guy really appreciated seeing other kids being adopted. They had cake and a reception afterward for everyone and we took funny face pictures with the judge. This ceremony only made official what already existed. He was already our son and it's nice to have that on paper. God is so good. Our son's story is a really neat one, filled with redemption and evidence of a loving Father.
I wrapped up graduate school and am so glad to close that chapter of my life. Going to school as a mommy and a wife is tough. Kids, get it done in your early 20's before kids! :) Even still, it flew by and I think our family unit was able to stay strong despite the macaroni and cheese dinners and the messier-than-normal house. I'm going to work in an elementary school close to my house next year and am very excited to have the same schedule as the kids. The younger two will start kinder in the fall, so all of my babies will be in school. Our boys are able to participate in a Spanish immersion program in our school district. It has been wonderful! Not only is it focused on teaching conversational Spanish, it is focused on teaching academic Spanish. I have loved the cultural experience as well, because many of his classmates are from other countries in south and central America.
My health is A-Ok! I have my six month bloodwork in a few weeks, but won't have another biopsy for quite a while. The only way having CML affects me, is I have to take my medication every night. I have lower than normal bloodcounts, which means I bruise easily. But, that's still about it. I forget I have it all the time. Thankfully, my husband reminds me to take my medicine every night, because there is no way I'd remember, since I don't even remember I have this disease! Haha!!
What's next for us with so much of our adventures wrapped up? I'm not sure, but have no doubt there will be new adventures, since that's how we roll around here. Will we have more children? I'll never say never, but I think our little family may be complete. We have been feeling a real tug toward Ukraine and supporting the families there who are raising their children with special needs, rather than abandoning them. We of course want to love on more orphans who have been abandoned. I don't think you can go to an orphanage and not want to return to visit those orphans again, but we fell in love with Ukraine when we were there are are excited about what God is doing as more parents choose to raise their children with special needs, despite not having very much social, medical, or logistical support.
While we wait to see what God has for our future, we are focusing on being in our present. Our big family focus right now is paying for my diploma...as I have some student loans we want to get rid of as quickly as possible. There is nothing like being free of debt and we want to get there quickly! :) We are also focusing on walking through some healing with our little guy from his tough start at life. He is such a great kid who is affectionate and always telling us sweet things. He is funny and a perfect fit in our family. He has grown so much in the last year that it's crazy to think he's even the same child. But, like all kids who come from hard places, he did not escape some wounds and scars. Being removed from your home and dropped off with strangers (no matter how wonderful these strangers may be and no matter how horrible of a situation the child was in before) is a trauma no child should have to endure. Please pray for his little heart as he continues to establish his identity as a much loved son of ours and a much loved child of God. I only share this because I want people to be aware that there is work after adoption. It is beautiful and redemptive and exactly what we want to be doing. God is so good and so intertwined in our son's story. I am so thankful for the gift of adoption in our family!!
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