February 13th: Blue...

I don't know what the mean, median, or mode is on the statistics of eye color, but blue eyes are a rarity in our family.  In fact, out of ten kids, we only have three with baby blues...and these are the only two left in the house:

Here are Mercy and Sam,
helping with dishes after breakfast this morning.

If you know us in real life (or if you've read Are You For Real?!) you already know that Mercy and Sam were the two babies we got the hard way:  We adopted them out of the foster-care system.  Mercy was placed with us when she was six-weeks old, and less than a year later, we received her new baby brother, almost fresh from the hospital!

Now, I've done the labor thing...I've done the c-section thing...I've played the wicked step-monster...I've endured the 27+ hours of foster-care/adoption preparation classes...

But nothing really prepares you to hear your little child--the one you've cared for since he was 72 hours old--tell you he misses his "real parents."  Ouch!  Where's the Epidural Man when you need him?!

Regardless of how I acquired my children, they have all arrived with little surprises I couldn't have anticipated.  Little tricks and pranks they pulled on me.  

You know what I'm talking about.  The hospital doesn't send you home with a What to Expect book specific to your child!  And it wouldn't have mattered anyway!  Knowing something academically doesn't make it any less shocking (hurtful...confusing...awkward...) when you find yourself facing it emotionally. 

For instance... 

• Knowing Mercy and Sam could end up being returned to their birth-parents was a completely different beast than having our social worker sit us down to say that, if things stayed on their current trajectory, the kids would be leaving us within a few months.  
• Knowing that kids who were exposed to meth in the womb can have new problems crop up at any time without warning is completely different from realizing that your five-year old can NOT seem to memorize the numbers 1-12.  
• Knowing that virtually every adopted child WILL at some point require some counseling to get past a feeling of abandonment by her birth-parents isn't even on the same planet as hearing the words, "You're not my real mommy!"

But...

Would I go back and do it differently if I could?

Not even for a minute!

And really, it's almost shameful of me to even have this conversation.  Talk about hypocritical!  After all, I am God's child through adoption...not birth.  He didn't have to choose me, yet He did.  And much more often than not, I act like I'm still a member of my spiritual family of origin!  

(That would be the family of Satan...not the Duttons.)

In fact, it is through Mercy and Sam that I think I come the closest to understanding God's love for me.  

Blessings!

Missy

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, 

so that you live in fear again; 

rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.

And by him we cry,“Abba, Father.”

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

Now if we are children, then we are heirs—

heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, 

if indeed we share in his sufferings 

in order that we may also share in his glory.

Romans 8:14-17

As an added bonus...here's me with Kayla,
my other blue-eyed girl and personal beauty operator!
She looks just like me, right?!