Love is a Verb- 6 months home

It is no coincidence that I've been silent for the last few months. Life has been busy :) Introducing two older kids to our family of three slightly older kids has had its share of challenges. Have you ever heard anyone say "you should adopt older kids, they're easier?" No, no one does because they're not. Not only do you have to teach them, but you also need to unteach them as well. Everyone in our family has had changes & transitions. They are learning our ways & we have been learning theirs. We are becoming a family. It's a process. It can't be rushed. 

Although our new kids are not babies, in many ways we started over like they were. Temporarily, schedules were cleared, outings postponed, life was simplified. All was traded for spending time w/ one another before the treadmill of life called us back. 

So, what have we been up to?

• Learning English
• Getting used to automatic faucets, toilets & hand dryers
• Being excited about riding elevators & escalators
• Discovering why doors open & close by themselves
• Getting used to having "stuff" & sharing "stuff"
• Trying new foods- some are very yummy, others are not
• Being retrained to actually throw the toilet paper in the toilet
• Learning to trust
• Coloring, drawing, pasting & painting
• Telling stories about life in Russia, the orphanage & before the orphanage
• Learning how to be gentle & take care of pets
• Learning how to be nice & play nice
• Making friends
• Playing at the park
• Learning to listen to mom & dad
• Swimming at the pool
• Learning to ride bikes
• Reading lots of books & watching almost as much tv
• Being excited to help out in the kitchen
• Learning that the kitchen has hot things in it
• Remembering that hard wood floors can be very slippery
• Mastering the remote controls & the Wii
• Realizing that Americans are crazy obsessed w/ brushing their teeth
• Exploring the wonderment of Legos & puzzles
• Deciding that having five kids in one family can be lots of fun
• Lastly, that there's ALWAYS enough food for all of us

We have had good days & bad days. Days that were easy & days when I wasn't sure I would make it though. We have been helped, supported & encouraged by so many. Friends have blessed us w/ meals, clothing, house cleaning, play dates & babysitting. We have struggled. But, the reward is great! We have been overcome w/ hope. We have seen progress. We will continue to have our ups & downs.  We are halfway through our first year home & I can see a small light at the end of the tunnel.

In all honestly, I could not have made it the past 6 months w/o my husband & prayer...lots of it! What I've learned is that love is a verb. It is making beds, doing laundry, feeding mouths & teaching/correcting all day long. I'd be lying if I said that it has been easy. It hasn't. It's work & honestly some days I don't feel like it. But, on those days I drag myself out of bed & do the laundry & feed the mouths & someone will look into my eyes. For a moment, I see them, only them.  In that moment, I don't have to deal w/ their wounds that need to be healed or their issues that need to be addressed. I see them for the person that God made them. Instantly, a rainbow bursts through my clouds & I know what I am doing matters. It matters to two little people. It matters to God. It matters to me.