Yesterday was the annual Chosen Marathon for Adoption race, a half and full marathon race, the purpose of it to raise funds for families pursuing adoption. This race has a special place in our family as it was the primary fundraising driver for our adoption along with the generous support of the Abba Fund. If I could only run one race a year, this would be the one. I'm pretty sure I'll run it every year for a team of either someone I know or friend of a friend, or just pick a random team that would benefit.
The race shirt has the phrase "sweat and sacrifice" on the back, and as we well know it's a huge undertaking to adopt. Being a runner, I had a great time racing (and a great race, set a new personal best for my half marathon time by 8 minutes!). What really stood out though was all of the racers who I could tell were not runners. People who came out and ran to financially and emotionally support family and friends who ran for them and their adoptions. Who ran for an orphan they had never met. Who truly "sweated and sacrificed" for families they love, or are friends of, or for someone they may not even know (we had all of the above for our team in 2011).
I think that is what makes the race and day so special, in that it's not just financial support for a faceless cause. It is real help for real people and to literally change or even save a life. To change families. I was talking with one of my kids and they made the point that it's hard to remember a time when Kayleigh and Michael weren't a part of our family. It's only been a year and a half since they walked out of the plane in San Antonio, but I see the point. It seems like they've always been ours, and have been such a joy and blessing in our family.
I often wonder if it is they who have gained more by being adopted, or us by having them added to our family. I know their likely fate if they had not been adopted and it would not have been good, but I also know that we've so enjoyed getting to be their dad, mom, brother, sister, family. I think we've all been blessed by it!
Welcome to our blog! We are so excited that you would take the time to follow our adoption journey! Thanks for coming along for the ride as our adoption of Kayleigh and Michael was completed in May 2012 and as we embrace our new world of parenting five teenagers!
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
News Is Good News
Being as busy and always on the go as I am, I am thankful for reminders so that I don't let things fall through the cracks. We got a reminder letter from the Ukranian embassy here in the states to send in our annual report on the kids. When you adopt from Ukraine the embassy here wants you to send a report on how your adopted kids are doing up until they reach the age of 18.
I had to laugh when I got the letter because I had totally forgotten about this. Not so much as that I just had forgotten about it (which I had, hey I'm A GUY, I'll never remember something a year in advance....), but more so because as I thought about it, I don't really think of K & M as being our adopted kids. They're just our kids. Honestly, I would have to put some real thought into what life was like before they got here.
We still get a lot of comments and observations on how well they're doing and fitting in, and those would probably be understatements of how well it's gone. They fit into our family so well, jumped into their new family and melded in like butter on hot toast, and have been a true joy and blessing to our family. To us all it just seems natural like they've always been here!
That's one of the big reasons I keep on blogging now. It's an amazingly wonderful adoption story. A great success story. A huge blessing. And we don't hear enough of these. People and media and all will greatly tend to highlight all the negative stories, all the adoption horror stories (and to be fair, there are more than enough of those!). BUT, there are also great stories like ours, where orphans and families are brought together and lives are changed for the better. Those should be heard as well.
I am very much looking forward to sharing our story with the embassy so that they may know that these two kids are 6092 miles away from where we found them, but they are now HOME :)
I had to laugh when I got the letter because I had totally forgotten about this. Not so much as that I just had forgotten about it (which I had, hey I'm A GUY, I'll never remember something a year in advance....), but more so because as I thought about it, I don't really think of K & M as being our adopted kids. They're just our kids. Honestly, I would have to put some real thought into what life was like before they got here.
We still get a lot of comments and observations on how well they're doing and fitting in, and those would probably be understatements of how well it's gone. They fit into our family so well, jumped into their new family and melded in like butter on hot toast, and have been a true joy and blessing to our family. To us all it just seems natural like they've always been here!
That's one of the big reasons I keep on blogging now. It's an amazingly wonderful adoption story. A great success story. A huge blessing. And we don't hear enough of these. People and media and all will greatly tend to highlight all the negative stories, all the adoption horror stories (and to be fair, there are more than enough of those!). BUT, there are also great stories like ours, where orphans and families are brought together and lives are changed for the better. Those should be heard as well.
I am very much looking forward to sharing our story with the embassy so that they may know that these two kids are 6092 miles away from where we found them, but they are now HOME :)
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