on Speck

If you follow me on Instagram you might notice something a little different around our casa. Something a little more pink.You might notice the hashtag #SpecialK from time to time.
The big smile.
The mischievous look in a certain pair of blue eyes.

If you have read this blog for awhile then you know about our families consideration of adoption.
Of how we have been curious about ways to grow our family in ways other than me growing my belly (not that I mind that part as much as my body seems to mind scaring all of us a bit.)
So we have considered foster care.We have looked into foreign and domestic and state (mostly state) adoption.
We have thought about sibling groups. We have thought about daughters.
One time, we even got THE big stack of paper work. And it looked daunting. And so did a lot of other things in our life. There seemed to be so many roadblocks. All the while I kept saying "why can't a baby/daughter/sibling group just be dropped on our doorstep?

So it all got put on the back burner. And I was frustrated.  Embarrassed that we hadn't made it work. Jealous of those who did. Disappointed and confused by what I thought what was a very good plan for our lives. A plan even God could get behind.



 Meanwhile, we began helping out a single mom with two daughters who was trying to juggle it all. A mom without any of her family close by. A mom trying to make a new life for her and her daughters. Daughters we had known since they were babies.Old neighbors. Friends.
So we gave rides to dances, and went shopping for Halloween costumes. We helped with after-school care, and homework. We cooked dinner together, and played, and laughed, and went Christmas shopping for their mom together. We went out for pizza and asked for a table of 6 instead of 4.
We had our bumps. We had to adjust to each others habits and expectations. To doing bits of life together-not as guest and host, but as family.
And somewhere in the middle of it all, Sweet Man and I looked at each other and our full house and said "huh. isn't that interesting?"

And then the girls got bigger. And their mom got re-married. And suddenly they didn't need so many rides home from school or so much help with homework anymore. There was someone else now to help.
Which is as it should be.

We still see them, we still give rides from time to time. Help whenever needed.
They are still part of our lives. Always will be. They have our hearts for all time, and our couch anytime they need it. But for the most part, we were back to being a party of 4 at the pizza joint.



And then by golly, just as we were settling in to our predictable quad-life, there was another one. Another single mom with no people of her own. Another little girl in need of a safe place to land while mom works a job at night and goes to school during the day. And sometimes its bumpy. We are learning to do life together, not as guest and host, but as family.
So friends, I would like you to meet  Special K (or Speck  as Sweet Man has now nicknamed her nickname.) She goes with us, for as long as needed. Which now brings our party up to 5 when we go out for pizza.


Going through the motions doesn’t please you,    a flawless performance is nothing to you.I learned God-worship    when my pride was shattered.Heart-shattered lives ready for love    don’t for a moment escape God’s notice
Psalm 51:16-17