What-will-my-son-think mode.

Adoption is obviously a big deal around our house.

I mean, everyone who lives here has been adopted at one point or another.  Some of us by our heavenly Father.  Others by an earthly Father.

Either way.  We're all the same.  And different, too.  But mostly the same.

I'm blogging at 12:37am on a Monday night when I should be sleeping because of adoption. 

As the self-appointed adoption advocate at our new church, I was asked to look through videos to show at church on Sunday.

Sunday is Orphan Sunday.

But I've moved past the what-will-make-them-cry-and-stir-their-hearts-into-adoption mode and into what-will-my-son-think mode.

Because ultimately he's the only one that matters.

One son will be excited and talk about all those kids he saw on the video that are "brown like me".  Because he is 5.  And the world is exciting and fun and as long as he gets a doughnut, it was a good day at church.

The other one will ponder what he sees and hears.  He will watch carefully, scrunch up his face and then look for our reactions.  Then those brilliantly smart wheels in his little brown head will start to turn.  He may ask questions.  He may not. 

Most likely not.

This is the child who wanted to know where he would go when we ran out of money to take care of him.  Because that was a real fear for him.  This is the child who was terrified he would have to go back to Ethiopia.  So he refused to talk about it.  This is the child who told me he wants to be vanilla like me.  And have straight hair like daddy.  This is the child who still fights to get to the front of any line because he lived for so many years in a survival-of-the-fittest world.  If you weren't first, you didn't eat.  If you weren't first, you didn't play.

Sunday is Orphan Sunday.

We don't really use the word orphan around here.  Mainly because no orphans live here.  And my kids aren't "the least of these" because our God had big plans for Nuredin and Edaso.  Go ahead and take 2 (or 3 if you want to jump the gun) off that 147 million orphans in the world stat.

I have to look at this Sunday through his eyes.  Because he's the one that matters.

Even though I want you all to be terribly convicted, bust into tears and rush to emotionally fill out the first adoption application you can get your hands on, it would probably be easier for me if we just showed a video about fluffy puppies and butterflies and sunny skies.

Watching these videos remind me of what the boys life could have been.  And no doubt will remind Charlie as well.

But I'm prepared. 

Dear Jesus, Thank you for allowing us the blessing of adoption.  Thank you for hand-picking our family and placing us all together.  Thank you for Charlie and Sam.  Protect their little hearts.  And draw them close to you soon so they can experience Your adoption as children of their heavenly Father!

October Debriefing: Lynch

Ok.  October debrief.  I promise you'll get more updates soon.

I say that life is getting back to normal, but the holidays are fast upon us, so I'll probably eat those words soon.

I'm gonna go backwards over the last few weeks of a very busy fall.

Last week we went on our annual Lynch Family Mission Trip.  I've explained the situation in Lynch in posts from previous years, but it is still shocking every year to drive a mere 4 hours from our house and feel like you are in a third-world country.  It's hard to get over that.  It's also hard to leave when you only spend 5 days knowing how great the need is...

Nicole and I blogged about our trip over on the Redemption Hill Children's Ministry Blog.  Some silly (shocking, I know), some serious and lots of pictures.  So I'll just direct you there....to the Lynch Posts.  Of course, that will have you reading the posts backwards, so if you are anal like me and need to have the story in order, you may want to go to the bottom of the page...

After a picnic lunch at Kingdom Come State Park on the way home Sunday...

The answer to "How's the adoption going?"

I warned y'all a few weeks ago that October was going to kill me...

And although I'm not dead yet, we are not even half way through.  Girl's Trip and Fall Break Camping trip down (pictures soon)...field trips, fall gatherings, mission trips, Bama Football trip all still loom...

But since it's been on my mind (and also part of the reason my house stands under a good inch and a half of dust), I'll give you a good 'ol adoption update. 

At least the laundry is done.

Let's do this bullet point style.  Mainly so my OCD brain can make sure we get it all.

• You know that Alabama background check I told y'all we have to have?  Well, it's been completed and returned to the appropriate folks.  And free of a criminal record.
• And you know all the blood work we found out we had to have done?  The last piece of paperwork for that was picked up today.  And good news...neither of us has TB.  Or HIV or syphilis.  And our livers are functioning at top notch level.  No, I'm not kidding.  These are the things they ask when you are adopting.  I wear a size medium underpants and an 8.5 shoes, depending on the brand.  There.  Everything about me is now completely out in the open for all to know.  (That may have crossed some kind of line...)
• Our home study is officially complete and was mailed today to be given the official signatures needed.
• I did have to request an additional background check through the state of Kentucky that is required by our home study agency, but fortunately I was able to do that today online and it was completed in a matter of minutes.  And yes.  I do have a criminal record in Kentucky.  There is something quite sobering about reading how you've been charged guilty and sentenced.  The offense:  speeding 23 mph over in a school zone.  Yeah.  I'm a criminal.  In my defense, I didn't know I was in a school zone.  And the normal speed limit was 45.  Which would have made me going just 3 mph over.  But Mr. Policeman didn't care.  Let's hope China doesn't either.  I'm not really worried.
• Our I-800A is filled out and is only waiting for one small correction and our John Hancock's and off it will go with a grand amount of money, where I think we then wait to have appointments assigned to us for fingerprinting.  You know, in case we have committed a crime that the 47 background checks didn't catch.

And after that we wait.  For approval of our I-800A.  And for our dossier to go to China.

But I'll let you know when that happens.

Wow.  That was a lot. 

Okay.  It may not seem like it to you, but that was a good month worth of work...emails, phone calls, doctor visits, driving from one side of town to the other getting the right paperwork.

I'm pretty sure this child needs her own assistant and she isn't even here yet.

I have a few more adoption posts brewing.  They are just still in the 'ol brain.  But I'll go ahead and title them just to give you a little teaser...

Be on the look out for:
"What shall we call her?" and "The Hard Paperwork"

Yeah.  My interest is peaked too!