The Good Stuff

I feel like have been dwelling on the negative lately, and I need to turn the tide. Jubilee has been home 9 weeks, and really I would say we have had three major meltdowns. That is truly amazing. She has been able to catch herself getting a case of the grumps and turn it around. She loves to be with her big sisters, and they have been busy lately which makes things difficult. She has gone to their events and appointments and been very patient waiting on them. I think she is probably their biggest fan.

She has started to be much more playful with the younger kids. She will jump on the trampoline with them, and help them build cities with blocks. She is getting better about letting them "do school" with her, and not getting annoyed when they know the answer before she does. She is learning how families function in ways that orphanages don't. The best thing is that she is starting to ask about next year. What will she be doing for school next year? That means she is planning to stick around, and that she believes she will live until then. We take for granted that we will be around 70+ years, she definitely does not.

She has also broadened the horizons of my family. They are able to think a little more globally. They recognize when they meet people from other countries, that their culture and language is different. They don't get thrown by that, or assume that they are weird because they aren't like us. They are genuinely interested in learning about how they do things differently than we do. They take the time to explain things without being condescending. They go to school with children who are here for a few years while their parents are in grad school, which has allowed them to explore other cultures without having to leave their community. We would love to travel more, but the logistical challenges are too great right now. Hopefully we will be able to do more in the future. Jubilee is determined to take Mads to Ethiopia with her the next time we go. We know that we will be going back, someday...

There are times that my love for Jubilee is overwhelming. She will be trying really hard to do something that we all do, that is completely foreign to her, like pull-ups. Today we were reading together, and I just started tearing up thinking about all the time I have missed with her. She tells stories about her past often, and we talk about things she was told, or saw, that she didn't understand. I really love that kind of thing. It can be emotionally draining, but it is all very good to work through. We have had some really good conversations about her family, her friends, her school, her church, and AHOPE. She has a beautiful spirit, and is going to be a powerful young lady. I can't wait to see what God has in store for her life, and I know that she is starting to feel the same way.

Adopting older kids has all kinds of challenges. They are more complex people than the younger children. There is a lot of hard work involved in overcoming the abuse and neglect that they have experienced, but the rewards are priceless. I have another beautiful, talented, smart daughter. She will teach me more about myself than I ever would have learned had God not brought her into our home. I am not the mom I thought I would be, God has taught me that I can be far more compassionate and empathetic than I would have dreamed. It is not easy, but I know that we will all be better people for it.