We just finished up a wonderful visit with Joshua's mom, better known as "Grams", this past weekend. She was able to come in from Atlanta to celebrate Christmas a little early with us. I'm so thankful that Jude has so many loving family members in his life and has the blessing of growing up with them surrounding him! Grams loves on him, plays with him, bakes with him, buys him fun things, and does what all grandparents do- lavishes her love on him! I can't wait for the day that Isa will experience this kind of love too! Jude thinks it's completely "normal" to be loved on so much. He knows, and frankly expects, that Bubba (my mom) will act excited every time when he shows her one of his new super hero toys and that she'll kiss his cheeks, hug him, and love on him... every time! He assumes that everyone has a Papa (my dad) who let's them play their guitars and jump on the couch when they visit, it's just a given. Jude also thinks the norm is to hang out with his aunt and cousin almost every day! He pretty much considers Aunt Phoebe as his second mama, and Jake, his very best friend (but he'll always add when asked, "Jake's my cousin too!")... and that's completely normal to him! Jude was disappointed this morning when he realized he missed "Unca" Scott dropping off Jake for the day. "Mom! Who dropped Jakey off this morning?!" Me, "Uncle Scott did bud, but you were still sleeping." Jude, "Aww, mom! (in a teenage attitude tone)... I didn't get to see him! Wake me up next time!". Then, in a couple weeks we'll have "Unca" James (Joshua's brother) coming in town from Atlanta for a visit as well. And while Jude hasn't spent a ton of time with James (due to distance), mark my words that I'm confident the house will be loud, full of boy noises, and fun play time between the three boys all being under one roof! Again, the love that surrounds this kiddo is what is normal to him and I'm am oh so grateful that he thinks it is! But the truth of the matter is, Isa won't experience this kind of love until we bring him home. So many orphans around the world will never experience this kind of "normal love"! The sad truth is, this Christmas, millions of children around the world, will feel unloved and unwanted. Not having a single person (while Jude has a swarm of people who love him) that they can think of that loves them! Ugh, it makes me so sad to think about.
BUT... we can make a difference! God's plan was for His people to rise up and father the fatherless! We're His plan! Let's show some love on these kids that don't know what "normal love" looks like! Maybe it's sponsoring a child, maybe it's looking into adoption... but whatever it is, cover it in prayer and I'm confident that God will lead the way and bless you for it! He's sure blessed us for stepping out of our comfort zone and saying we'll love a babe who needs a home!
Love this post! So sweet!!! Love your heart!
ReplyDelete