Halloween , 6 months, and freedom thoughts!

Yes, this is a post that covers a little of everything!!

We had a fun halloween at our house. Hannah was Snow White. Sadie was some kind of princess, but I'm not sure exactly what. Since she didn't exactly have a concept of Halloweeen, it was hard to ask what she wanted to be. So, I pulled our dress up box out Friday afternoon so she could pick what to wear. I think they're both cute! Let's just say - Sadie now DOES have the concept of halloween down. It took her no time to master the "hold your bucket up and smile really cute and people will give you CANDY!" skill.

Yes, Sadie has learned many useful things the last six months! You know, it's hard to believe that six months ago I saw her for the first time. I've experienced God's AMAZING work so many times over the past three years. Well, and really over my life in general. And yet, when I stop the busyness enough and get still for just a few minutes to really think about it, what He did to bring both of my sweet girls home still absolutely takes my breath away. Sadie fits our family so perfectly. I remember when I saw her sweet picture on an e-mail from my agency last December...not even a year ago. I remember just *knowing* that she belonged with me. I wasn't even actively looking. I already had my paperwork in China to adopt a second child, but I thought I had a long wait ahead and thought I had plenty of time. I had a new job, Hannah was still in preschool, and I thought my plate was full enough for the time being. Not to mention I absolutely didn't have the financial resources to think about doing this again so soon. I was content to wait. But, when I saw her picture that day in December, I just knew all that went out the window. I'm sure my wonderful co-workers remember that day well too. You know, since I was absolutely useless that day and they had to pick up the slack for me! (Thanks y'all!) I remember trying to call Karla, my social worker, and she was in a staff meeting. So, I e-mailed her and just expressed an interest, but I was really thinking "she's probably already found a family by now". And then I remember checking my e-mail repeatedly to see if Karla got out of her staff meeting and e-mailed me back...and the butterflies and yet relief to hear that no, she did not have a family yet. I put her file "on hold" that day so I could talk to a doctor about her health report. But the whole time she was "on hold" (only a few days), I knew I'd already decided. Then I remember when I finally talked to the doctor who had reviewed her file. It was the last day of school before Christmas holidays and I'd left her a message and was waiting for her to call me back. I must have checked my cell phone 20 times that day to see if she'd called. Again, useless day at work...lucky to have great co-workers! And for the record, I'm not usually useless at work, only when I'm adding a new child to my family! And I'm done now. :-) Anyway, early that afternoon I did hear back from the doctor. And after I got off the phone with her, I called Karla to say "yes" officially! It was not a good time in my human terms to do another adoption!! And I'm so thankful it happened exactly when it did. God's hand was and is all over it!! And now today, I celebrate having this sweet, funny (oh - she becomes funnier and funnier every day!) three year old as my daughter for six months! I don't know how to word how that makes me feel except to go back to what I said earlier and say that it absolutely takes my breath away to think about that. I thank God for interrupting my comfortable, somewhat settled life twice now to bring about blessings beyond what I could have imagined!

I had an interesting conversation with Hannah this morning on the way to school. Today is of course election day. Well, Hannah was going to have an opportunity to vote for our president in a mock election at school. So, I thought I should kind of prep her a little by explaining what it's all about. She's in kindergarten, remember. The conversation didn't go so well as far as helping her understand what it was all about. It was just way over her head. And she wasn't alone - that was true of most kindergarteners. The democratic process to a kindergartener is more about voting whether to have pizza or ice cream for their class party. After all, that's relevant to their lives! So, I was sitting in the car trying to explain elections, presidents, and the democratic process to my five year old this morning. And I was failing big time, so I finally gave up and told her to just have a good day at school. But when she came to my classroom this afternoon with a smile and a sticker on her shirt that said "I voted for president", something stirred inside me. And it hit me - she gets to vote. Both my girls will have a vote. Not just in the mock school elections they will have over the years. Not just in the real elections they will have the opportunity to make their voices heard in. But in life. They will get to make decisions that effect their lives and that effect others lives as well. They have freedom. Freedom to live their lives the way they choose and freedom to be who they want to be. And for two little girls who began life as orphans in the world and then were adopted, that just seemed like a big deal to me. But, my prayer is that they carry that concept farther to what it's meant to be. That they realize where their true freedom comes from - that they have the freedom to worship the God who created them, that they have the freedom to become not just what they want to be, but who they are meant and called to be. And that seems like a big deal for all of us who are no longer orphans, but adopted by God!