it's the most wonderful time of the year...
Yesterday was a long, busy day. After some house cleaning and errand running, mother and daughter went to the salon for haircuts. K. is blessed with curly hair, which we had shaped a bit. She looked in the mirror and decided that she had "bangs like a WOMAN now" : ) and she wanted to know if I could show her how to do her hair for church. The women at the salon love her--wherever she goes, people seem to just eat her up. On the way home we looked around at some Christmas gift possibilities for family and found a Christmas tree--she tells me that this is her "very first tree" that she helped to pick out. The tree was delivered shortly after we returned home. Mark will bring the decorations up from storage tomorrow, so we should be decorating after church today.
Miss K. was a little cranky and weepy as her bedtime was later than usual. She was getting fairly mouthy and argumentative, then she suddenly burst into tears. She talked about how she thought it was her fault that her b-mom took drugs and was not able to care for her or for her b-sibs. I try to reassure her every day she is not responsible for b-mom's choices. She also worries that people won't like her if they discover she is bi-racial...and she wonders why we would want to adopt a "half-black" girl. I reminded her that God loves people from Africa the same as God loves people from Europe, from Asia, and from everywhere else and that she is a beautiful person. We CHOSE her, God CHOSE her, and that we love her and want her just the way she is. The evening ended with cuddling, and she was able to tell us that she felt safe with us.
In our neck of the woods (a small Kansas town) there are few opportunities for K. to meet kids like herself. Some day (when we make it to the next call) we are going to look for a much more diverse neighborhood. Our subdivision in Columbus was perfect--a spicy stew of Asian, African-American, and white-bread.
I usually find myself in a melancholy mood for Advent. Yesterday was the 12th anniversary of my father's death due to cirrhosis of the liver, and it was two years ago December 2nd when my mother was nearly killed by a drunk driver. I hate the consumerist X-mas feeding frenzy, which has nothing to do with Christmas and the advent of our Lord.
Through her tears last night K. told me that she was worried that Mark and I would start drinking or taking drugs like her b-mom. I promised her that neither of us were interested in drugs and reminded her that I knew how she felt, because I lost my father (and nearly lost my mother) due to others' alcohol addictions.
How long, oh Lord? Thy kingdom come...
Miss K. was a little cranky and weepy as her bedtime was later than usual. She was getting fairly mouthy and argumentative, then she suddenly burst into tears. She talked about how she thought it was her fault that her b-mom took drugs and was not able to care for her or for her b-sibs. I try to reassure her every day she is not responsible for b-mom's choices. She also worries that people won't like her if they discover she is bi-racial...and she wonders why we would want to adopt a "half-black" girl. I reminded her that God loves people from Africa the same as God loves people from Europe, from Asia, and from everywhere else and that she is a beautiful person. We CHOSE her, God CHOSE her, and that we love her and want her just the way she is. The evening ended with cuddling, and she was able to tell us that she felt safe with us.
In our neck of the woods (a small Kansas town) there are few opportunities for K. to meet kids like herself. Some day (when we make it to the next call) we are going to look for a much more diverse neighborhood. Our subdivision in Columbus was perfect--a spicy stew of Asian, African-American, and white-bread.
I usually find myself in a melancholy mood for Advent. Yesterday was the 12th anniversary of my father's death due to cirrhosis of the liver, and it was two years ago December 2nd when my mother was nearly killed by a drunk driver. I hate the consumerist X-mas feeding frenzy, which has nothing to do with Christmas and the advent of our Lord.
Through her tears last night K. told me that she was worried that Mark and I would start drinking or taking drugs like her b-mom. I promised her that neither of us were interested in drugs and reminded her that I knew how she felt, because I lost my father (and nearly lost my mother) due to others' alcohol addictions.
How long, oh Lord? Thy kingdom come...
posted by vern at
7:16 AM
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