i got this crazy idea on saturday to run to the shoe store in our little (used to be) outlet mall in town. it was kind of a spur of the moment idea. i remembered seeing some shoe's there probably 6 months ago and wondered if they had a similar style. they did not.
i digress...
as i walked into the store, i saw a sweet woman from church. i've actually known her for a really long time - long before she became part of our local faith family. she's the mom of a dear friend of mine (since i was pregnant with austin!). i struck up small talk with her in the middle of the shoe aisle. she asked "now - you have 3 chinese children, right?". somehow lots of people missed that last one we snuck in there ;-) "it's actually 4 now!". and then i added my tag ling "but, we are done!" people always ask*...
we chatted for a good 15 minutes about life and adjustments and joys and challenges. it was good. so good for me to have that time to really testify to the goodness of god in the lives of these children and in our family.
before we parted ways, she leaned in and asked if she could hug me. of COURSE! my heart was so encouraged...
(zao photography)
the night before, i got a facebook message from another friend. she teaches elementary music at my kiddos school and gets to regularly interact with anna and amy. she had a sweet and funny story to share with me about anna. people always have funny stories about anna... that girl! but, she added a little insight about music that day and it just warmed my heart to imagine the interaction... this friend always knows how to encourage me in this journey we are on. her words always come at the perfect time!
and one more...
the night before that, one of the para's at my kid's school came up to me at a school event to talk. she works with aubrie every day and regularly interacts with anna, too. because the kids go to a k-12 school, she also sees my other kids daily. she told me about how well aubrie is doing and how joyful she is. then she started talking about how much she loved all my kids. how expressive and thoughtful they were with others - and with each other. she even told me that she saw austin stop during a passing period when he saw aubrie and hugged her... yeah. that's good to hear!
all that to say: it's good to be encouraged by other believers! it's good to be reminded that people are praying for us. it's also a good reminder to me to do the same for the moms i know. to share sweet stories and offer a hug.
*yes. it's silly to say "no more!". we don't mean it. i mean, we do mean it, but we are always open to jesus' calling and leading. we don't tell him "no". we just truly feel like we are done and that god has given us the freedom to move into a differnt role with chinese orphans...
Posted by: |