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Wednesday, April 2, 2008

full house, full hands, full hearts

I just read an amazing post over here and had to share it with you.  It is beautiful.  Take a minute to read it, it will bless you.

Kids and Moms (and Dads)
I have been thinking a lot about kids lately... kids who don't have moms (and dads)... kids waiting for moms, and what life is like for kids who do not have parents. I have been thinking about the transformation that occurs when a child realizes he has a mom, a dad, a family...security, love and somewhere to belong.

With some of our kids, that "realization" that they have a Mom and a family, that they have someone to belong to, someone to watch over them, someone to care for them and someone to love them, has been gradual. With some of our kids, there has been this "a ha!" moment, where you could just see that they "got it".

There was baby Maggie... almost four months old... laying on the bed in our hotel in Vietnam on our first full day together (I had been visiting her for days at the hospital before this point). Before her hospitalization she had lived in a government orphanage where the babies had their names written on their legs in black magic marker so they could be told apart, and got very very little personal attention. She didn't cry when she was hungry or when she wanted something. She was quiet and tiny, but I could tell she loved being held and loved the attention I was giving her.

I walked away from the bed where she was laying to get a bottle for her, and she made this teeny tiny pitiful (feeble attempt at a) cry, and I rushed over and picked her up and offered her the bottle. She got this look of amazement on her face with a little smile that seemed to say, "Holy cow! You mean that crying thing WORKS with you??" and after that she did not want anyone but me and always wanted me close. She got it. I was there for her. I was her mom.

With Mercy, she was nine years old. She had had a mom before, who did not value or respect her role as a mom. Mercy knew neglect and abuse and loss. Despite that, she came to us with an open heart and a surprising amount of trust. At one point during our first week, Des needed her hair washed (and Mercy had been the one to care for Des up until that point, even though she was only three years older). Mercy told Des to go into the bathroom so she could wash her hair, and I gently told Mercy that I could wash Des's hair, and reminded her that that was the kind of thing a Mom should do. The social worker had warned us that "letting go" of being the caregiver of Des might be hard for Mercy and we might have some power struggles over it... but Mercy looked at me and looked at Des and looked back at me and said, "You wash all the other little kids... You would wash Des's hair too?" and I said, "Yes". And she said, "And then what would I do?" and I said, "Well, you could go play." And she looked at Des again and then back at me, and then she got this huge smile on her face, and you could almost SEE her letting go of the responsibility of caring for her little sister. She ran over and gave me a hug, and then took off to play. She got it. I was there for her and for her sister. I was their mom.

With Solomon, that moment came when we left AHOPE for the second time together. We had spent two days together, and then we had gone back to AHOPE to visit. As we walked through the gate and the kids called out his name and came running to say hi to him, he sat in my arms with huge, silent tears running down his cheeks. He would not make eye contact with anyone (including me, the kids and the nannies) and just stared ahead with this heartbreaking acceptance of the fact that he thought he was being left. Again. It hurt me so much that he had come to accept this from life... that nice people came and went, but he did not truly belong to any of them. I couldn't imagine how his little heart felt and how he had endured all that he had already. I comforted him and held him close and told him over and over again in his ear that I would never, never, never leave him.

He started to relax a little the longer we were there and I stayed with him, but he was not his usual self. And then it happened. I put him in the sling, we waved good-bye, went back out through the gate and headed back up the road towards the hotel for some lunch. He got this HUGE grin on his face, and was bouncing up and down in the sling laughing, and then grabbing my face and kissing it over and over as we walked. He was so happy and joyful. He got it. He was not going to be left again. I was HIS. He was mine. I was his Mom.

Since then I have watched him blossom with love. I have watched him learn how to expect and look forward to being held often, comforted when he cries, rocked to sleep, having his needs met, getting individual attention and being smothered in hugs and kisses often. As I crawled into bed last night, a few hours after I had put him down to sleep, his little body turned towards me, and without waking up, he put his arm on me, snuggled in close and let out a content sigh.

All kids deserve that knowledge, that peace and that comfort. All kids deserve to know that they are loved and that they belong to someone.

I believe with all my heart that our Heavenly Father did not send us down here to go at life alone, to worry about ourselves and to focus our lives on material and trivial things. I believe with all my heart that we are meant to live in families... mothers, fathers and children together, focusing our lives on loving, enjoying and serving each other.

We have several reasons to believe that Solomon most likely spent very little (if any) time with his first mother. And yet even after multiple changes in caregivers and "homes", multiple losses and lots of suffering without a mom to comfort him, he KNEW what a Mom was for from our very first days together. His heart and soul reached out to mine and grabbed on firmly. He knew that he wanted a mom. He knew that hugs, kisses and rock-a-byes were something he wanted, deserved and needed. The other kids we met in Ethiopia knew it too. They knew that they belonged with parents. They knew that something big was missing from their lives.

My heart rejoices for my kids and others that have had their lives changed so drastically...who were once alone, and now live with love, security and family. Watching Solomon over the past few weeks has reminded me of what an incredible miracle adoption is.

And at the same time, my heart aches for the so very many kids who are living life alone right now. . Even the very best orphanage is no comparison to a home and family. It is wrong that these kids must wait and yearn for a family. They deserve, as all children do, the peace and security that comes with the knowledge of knowing that they belong to someone, that they are being cared for and that they are loved.

This is why I support adoption...because I have seen the sadness in the eyes of the children who wait for moms, I have seen the amazing transformation in children once they have been "claimed" and loved, and because I believe, with all my heart, that that love and belonging is what our lives on this Earth are supposed to be about.

14 comments:

Nicholas said...

Oh Em... I'm certainly tearing up.. what a beautiful post. I loved every word and believe it to be true..

You will be able to comfort and cuddle with your babes soon...

Rebecca said...

I couldn't stop reading that! Adoption is an amazing thing, and I feel blessed every day that God is allowing Ben and I to experience it. We are so fortunate to be able to love Eli and feel blessed that we are going to be able to bring him home to live with us forever! (Or, at least until he's 18 :)

I'm looking forward to seeing you guys add two more to your family too! Hopefully, the rest of the process will be super speedy!

Amy said...

I read this post on another blog too.. I cried the first time I read it and I cried again. It is a beautiful post indeed. I can only imagine what emotion this invokes in you as you wait to physically love on your two new ones! I can't wait to see you ALL together!

These Three Kings said...

wow..yea, definitely a tear jerker...

cant wait for you to have those babies!!
love you!

Laurzie said...

Moving, Emily! So moving! Seeing all those little faces that need mamas changes your heart forever. I pray that every single one of them finds a mother to love and comfort them!

Jenny said...

I heart Erin. Those posts of hers make me cry every time. And that part about Solomon thinking he was being left again, then realizing Erin was his Mama...gets me every time!

Oh, and I never officially congratulated you on your 2 new kids! That is so great!

mama becca said...

Oh I can't wait to have that transformation with Sam... and hopefully with more...
thanks for sharing!
love
becca

Candy said...

Beautifully spoken and such a reflection of our Father who "puts the lonely in families". Praying the referral comes asap so we can go love on Seth and Addie.
Love,
Mom

Tara said...

Wow, that was beautiful...I can't wait for both of us to get to our children home so that we can...just be their mom's!

Natalie Fournet said...

What a beautiful post...such assurance of the Lord's work. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Crying and thinking about sweet Addie and Seth...Oh how I am praying for them and their transition...I just talked to you so you already know the rest of my thoughts :) See you manana...hurry up summer!

Holli said...

such a blessing. and oh can't wait for the kids (yours, mine and everybody else) to have the a ah moment!

Gwen Oatsvall said...

i have gone back and read all her post ... she is an amazing lady and their family is so special ... will be keeping up w/ them from now on .. have a great day sister ...

HoodMama said...

What a beautiful post!

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"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from becoming polluted by the world." James 1:27
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