Our Impossible Adoption Story
If you're looking for the unbelievable account of how "impossible" became "done" in 5 business days, start here.
It’s Official: Meet Our Newest Son
We got our Letter of Acceptance (LOA) and he is officially OURS.
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And that means I can finally tell you about him, and show you his picture, and share (almost) all of the ways that God has been answering prayers before we ever prayed them.
Meet Jude
This was the picture that grabbed our attention and dropped a, “What if?” into our hearts, and kicked off the craziest week of paperwork and anxiety I have ever experienced.
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That pic is probably about a year old now, but look. at. that. face. Is it any wonder I had to know what was going to happen to him? He slays me.
When we submitted our Letter of Intent, we got to request more info (and pics), and we got these:
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I just love him. I would expedite paperwork and run through downtown Chicago a thousand times for that face.
His Story
We don’t know the whole story, and we probably never will, but we know a little.
His adoption file says that he was found on the stairs outside a hospital when he was about one month old. Read more…
She Liked ALL the Flowers
Saturday afternoon I sat on my grandparents’ back porch. Alone. Watching birds dart between the trees and sunlight fade to a golden glow and leaves bob in the occasional breeze.
After five days and scores of photos. After hours of smiling and shaking hands and being Amy’s daughter (and much bigger than the last time they saw me). After lunch in the church hall, a failed nap, a house full of other people’s old friends, another failed nap, and a dinner of everything that so many wonderful people brought by over the previous several days, I sat on the back porch alone. And quiet.
My Nana loved that porch.
They had it built after they bought the house. Or they had it finished and screened in, I don’t really remember. It presides over a backyard Eden, and my Nana loved to sit out there and just look at her garden.
I sat there for the better part of 30 minutes hoping that if I sat still and kept quiet I wouldn’t scare it all away: the rose bushes, the rabbits, my memories. Read more…
Happy T-Shirt Tuesday! (And Other Fun Things)
It’s the first Tuesday of June, which means it is officially T-Shirt Tuesday and there is a new shirt at rebrand.ly/therst-shirt! There were some requests for long sleeves, so this one is available short or long.
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If you’re not familiar, we’re running a T-Shirt Of The Month for 21 days every month, because my husband is an amazing artist and they don’t cost us anything if they bomb. So they’re a kind of constant, secondary, behind-the-scenes fundraising effort. The latest will always be at rebrand.ly/therst-shirt, so save that URL and check on it when your wardrobe starts looking shabby. More details are here.
Fundraiser: Cards for a Cause
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Our Usborne friend hit me up about this awesome fundraiser that they do: Cards for a Cause. These are four different boxed sets of high-quality, hand-crafted, and individually wrapped greeting cards for birthdays, congrats, engagements, weddings, thanks, and more. There are 30 cards in each box, and each box sells for just $30. Read more…
I Am the Lucky One
One of the training courses we completed for this adoption was all about how to deal with being a fairly conspicuous, multi-ethnic family. Part of the training was about how to respond to people’s comments about your family.
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The voice on the other end of the pre-recorded webinar went through dozens of hypothetical scenarios, and gave a few examples of different kinds of responses every time — and when/with whom to consider each kind of response, etc. And when we got to the, “He’s so lucky to have been adopted into your family!” comment, I knew what the “less confrontational” answer option would be.
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“Yes, we’re lucky to have each other.”
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Because I’ve heard this answer before. It’s a lovely sentiment and I’ve already used a future-tense variation of it on several occasions, because I like it and it’s legit.
But now I really get it. Read more…
The ‘Family’ Art Show
It was aptly named. I thought Husband was being a little lazy about it, honestly, at first, but man – was it aptly named.
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We felt the love, guys. Seriously.
To The Artists
A huge, massive thank you – again – to all the artists. We were absolutely blown away by how many people jumped in, and then went above and beyond.
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I’ve told this story countless times, but I’ll tell it once more: When we started trying to put this together, we had the idea to ask a bunch of people if they would be willing to donate art. That way, if about half of them say, “Yes!” we’ve got a decent show.
Because people are busy, and we totally get that. These people have families and most of them have day jobs. It’s a huge thing to ask for this kind of draw on someone’s time. Additionally, many of them are trying to make it as artists – to make enough money so they can quit their day jobs. It’s another huge thing to ask someone to give away their livelihood. We would have 100% understood and supported anyone who said they just didn’t have time, or just couldn’t afford it.
But no one did. Not one. Read more…
Spits and Wiggles 