Wednesday, November 3, 2010

A Flower Blooms

One of my big fears when we adopted was that our four biological children would resent the added workload in the house and therefore resent their new siblings. My husband and I discussed this topic at length with the children. It seemed that every time we mentioned a negative, the children would respond with something like, "But isn't this what God would want us to do." We could not persuade them that perhaps more siblings was not a good idea. The Word of God that we had planted in their lives had taken root and they were ready to grow.

I really had no concept of how much life would change when our family grew by three children all at once. It felt like double cooking, double laundry, double cleaning and picking up. In just a few short weeks I was exhausted. It was Kaytlin, our second child, who stepped up and helped me get through. Sometimes I'd be working in the kitchen, and she would come and offer to help me. Other times she would gather up the kids and entertain them all with stories or engage them in acting out plays. Amber being three still needed lots of love and attention, and yet I had so little time to give it to her. It was Kayt who often held her, loved her, bathed her, dressed her, and even took her to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Many times I would tell Kayt, "You don't have to do this. This is my job." She would tell me, "But I want to, Mom." And she really did want to.

Our daughter, Kaytlin, had up to this point been more self-focused and involved in her own little pretend world. It never quite felt like I satisfied her with what I could give her. However, the one thing she had always wanted was a sister. She faithfully prayed for one each evening. God had finally answered her prayers, but I wondered how soon she would tire of a sister. She was ten, and there was quite an age difference between her and Amber who was three. But Kayt has never grown tired of having a sister. She often tells me that she wants to always cherish their relationship, but that she realizes that means she must work on it. And work on it she does. She still carves out special time each week to play with Amber, draw with her, teach her how to make things, and read stories with her. This has touched my heart so much. I cherish the times I walk into the girl's room and find them snuggled up together on the bed reading books.

I saw Kaytlin bloom into a beautiful flower during that first year with Troy, Mikey, and Amber. I did not know what a precious blossom had been hidden away just waiting for the right time to open up and bless the world around with her beauty.

3 comments:

  1. Oh Natasha! What a beautiful testimony to God's work in our children. My 8 year old son Monkey prayed every night for almost two years that God would let us adopt Butterfly. (from the time we met her till she finally moved in) Of course it is still early days at the moment, but there have been a few times when things got difficult that I had to remind him that her being here was an answer to HIS prayers to God - LOL! They are both 8 and sometimes it is difficult when he has to share me so much. But most of the time they are like quite 'normal' brother/sister relationship. I'm praying for a little more loving relationship to form as time goes on. :o)

    Thank you for sharing this testimony! - Deedee www.homeschoolblogger.com/deedeeuk

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  2. The transition of expanding our family was more difficult for some of the boys. I plan to share more about that in the future. But I can truly say through each difficulty God has been good and faithful. I hope by sharing others can have a realistic view of the challenges involved in adopting through foster care. Perhaps they can be better equipped to take on this great need in our nation. There are so many times I feel like I'm stumbling around in the dark trying to find my way. God Bless you Deedee!

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  3. This is beautiful! makes me smile- at a particularly difficult time in our home where Spence had been flat out dangerous- I asked the boys if this was just too hard for them, and if they thought it would be better if Spence went to a special home for troubled kids. They immediately let me know that even though it was difficult, it would be much more difficult to loose a brother! That was exactly what I needed to hear at the time- it renewed my strength - God always knows what we need! (It was the only time I presented that type of "solution" or asked the other boys about it- we usually only discuss and encourage) Like I said, it was a particularly dark time - it's been almost a year now & the steps we took, well, God has blessed. It's amazing!!!

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