26...and counting :)

So while resting today it all of a sudden occurred to me that I AM 26!!! Wow where have my 20's gone? Most of my friends I have watched finish college, have nice cars, travel, "enjoy life"...I have spent my 20's at home. While pondering that thought I was amazed at all the things God has allowed me to experience so far in my 20's and I became every more excited about what is next to come!!!

My 20's started out with a bang when I married my high school sweetheart and began staying at home (watching 6 kids to make extra $$)...we very quickly said a big fat YES to God when He asked us to allow Him to use the spare bedroom in our home...At the age of 21 we were official foster parents and very soon after approval GRAHAM MOVED IN (total highlight :) and we began the process of learning what it meant to be "parents". Quickly we realised that Graham would require some "extra parenting" and required services for some delays. We believed that we were "super busy" with PT every other week!...At the age of 22 we had a precious daughter "Addie" for 4 short weeks and loved having a daughter! She returned home to her father and we hope that they are doing well! Having her leave left a huge hole that I begged God to fill (be careful what you ask for!!!!) God answered and EVERETT MOVED IN. We redefined what being a "parent" looked like and adding in things like "falling in love with your child's bio family", "getting to know more therapists", "signs and symptoms of drug and alcohol abuse"...things we had never thought about. With Everett came a more involved relationship in the "extra parenting" community when he not only required PT but OT as well. Nearing the end of year 22 we were shocked when ISRAEL MOVED IN!! two weeks before we said our goodbyes to Everett as he moved back with his mother. On to year 23, what a wondrous year!!! On my Birthday we re-took custody of Everett and began a long journey to his adoption. During this year we would learn that drugs and alcohol have more control than we could ever imagine as we watch Israels parents loose him and Everett's mother with her struggles. This is the year that I threw out all of my "what to expect" parenting books...and FULLY EMBRACED the idea that my children not only needed "extra parenting" but that they truly did have "special needs", little Israel was the cement in my relationship with the therapeutic community...and speciality doctors as well. We explored PT, OT, ST, MT, BSC's, and others :). This is the year that we knocked the socks off my OBGYN with a positive pregnancy test and AURORA WAS BORN INto our family!!! Year 24 is a whirlwind of final visits, breastfeeding, staying up all night (with Everett), and trying to get a grasp on my children's needs...WHILE GOD SCREAMED AT ME TO JUST LET GO :)...why is it that I was soooo trusting in God to build my family but was not trusting in Him to guide my steps to becoming their parent? Year 25 started out with EVERETT"S ADOPTION!!! That summer there was the baby who was conceived and then lost. Early fall was ISRAEL"S ADOPTION!!! and I finally gave up trying to parent and allowed God to fully take over. It is because of Him that Israel is all but cured of his Autism...and because of Him that I allowed Everett to be placed on medicine...and because of Him that my children are more successful now then they ever where under just my control!!! This is also the year that God asked us to "Go get our daughter from Africa" WE SAID YES and began the process. Nearing the end of age 25 WE RECEIVED THE CALL!!!! We have a daughter in Ethiopia!!!!!!

Wow at 26 I was thinking that I hadn't accomplished much...lol...I think my children are an amazing accomplishment and if all I have to show at they end of my life is the proof that I said YES to my God...that is good enough for me!!!!

What is God asking of you?? How exciting to say YES and see where He is leading!! "Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest" Ecclesiastes 11:4