Orphan Sunday

Today is Orphan Sunday in churches across America where they will highlight the need to rescue orphans, and to celebrate the ones that have been rescued.  In our circles it has been truly wonderful to see so many children be brought into homes and families and to have the opportunity to have a family, be loved, and have a future :)

To be totally honest, I'm not the biggest fan of making a scene over our two adopted kids.  We have generally skipped these days at church.  It's not that I don't support celebrating all the kids who have been adopted, or support the cause of adoption (obviously, we do....).  I just don't want them to feel like they are something other than us, or different, or like they were a project or something.  I hope that makes sense.  To me, they are just my kids.  I had 3 kids.  Now I have 5 kids.  Not 3 kids plus to adopted.   Just 5 kids :)

When we adopted Kayleigh and Michael, I know I made the decision to just have them be my kids.  In the words of Gary Smalley, love is a decision.  I decided to just love them as my kids, even though I had not been their parent for the first 15 and 13 years of their lives.  To just accept and love them, to treat them no differently than the others.  To just have 5 kids.  Same household rules, same expectations, same love, same bad jokes, same wrestling and tickling (yes, it still drives Jodi nuts.... :). 

As with our first 3 kids, there is still that level of each relationship being different as each kid is different in personality, etc, but they just part of us.  I think for our family that has been a great way to go.  K & M have integrated into our family so very well.  I was talking with one of my girls and their comment was that it was hard to think of the time when they weren't part of our family.

I enjoy all the things we do together, embarrassing Kayleigh at McDonalds (I dance while we wait for our order....), wrestling around or riding bikes with Michael, piled together on the couch watching movies, etc etc.  I love getting to love these kids.  I don't celebrate their being here today.   I celebrate it every day.