Their Turn

Paul has been home for a little over two months. Wow, how life has changed in such a short time span, both for him and for us. It was a super intensive, 24/7 parenting kind of summer; one that reminded me that super intensive, 24/7 parenting is hard, Hard, HARD, but that it is also well worth the effort. As the wise Jimmy Dugan (A League of Their Own) said, "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great." (He also said, "There's no crying in baseball!" which seems equally relevant to my life.)

Our counseling intake went well last week - it was a good chance to review where we've been and where we are now. Many of the issues that we dealt with early on - sleep, epic tantrums, catatonic anxiety - have virtually disappeared. We struggled to remember the last time he raged. That's not to say we don't still have issues to work through - grief and trauma runs deep, and healing those scars takes a lot of love and a lot of support and a lot of God. But the boundary testing that we're working through now feels more six-year-old-super-energetic-boy parenting than it does post-traumatic-stress-and-trauma parenting.

A brief interaction today reminded me just how much English Paul has learned (!), but it reminded me even more just how special it is to know you are loved and that you belong to a family. Four children that we met at Ministry of Hope while in Lesotho are meeting their forever families tomorrow. Paul heard Sam and I talking about them. He said, "New m'e and ntate for Thabo and Sebata and Mpho? New mommy and daddy? Like Paul new mommy and daddy?" We said yes, they were getting a new mommy and daddy like Paul got a new mommy and daddy. His face lit up with that special Paul smile that changes his whole countenance. He said, "Their turn? Thabo and Sebata and Mpho turn?" We said yes, it was their turn for a family.

Paul was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "When Retsedise turn family?"

Sam and I didn't know how to answer. Retsedise is a beautiful little boy, one of Paul's age mates at MIS, with special medical needs. With the slow pace of Lesotho adoptions, and with Retsedise's needs, his "turn" may never come. So we didn't answer. Instead we prayed that God would care for Retsedise and his sister, and that God would provide just the right family for them at just the right time.

Please pray for the children who are still waiting their "turn" for a new mommy and daddy. Adoption is not the only answer for all the orphaned children in the world, but it is one answer, it is a beautiful answer, and God is the only one who can cut through all the bureaucratic mess to "place the lonely in families."

Paul (stripes) and his friend who is still waiting his turn.