The Miracle of Michael

 

The first moment I met Michael my heart melted.  The difference between him and my other children is that I knew that he would not “be like our other children”.  Plain and simple fact, but what happened after adopting Michael is the real miracle.

We said “yes” to Michael after being told that most of his brain isn’t functioning.  That he has barely learned to crawl, can sit up (very slouched), he may never be able to eat normal food, he may never learn to walk, he may never know how to communicate, and this is a very short list of the "he may nevers". 

 

That can be more than intimidating.  That can be enough to make you run for the hills.  I mean what will he be able to do? 

This is where the miracle happened.  It didn’t matter! 

It didn’t matter what he couldn’t do at all.  The miracle is in how our hearts changed, believed in him, and in what we cheered him on to do.  It was a huge shift in thinking.  I mean we talked and prepared a lot for Michael to come home.  We talked about expectations with our other children and our families.  We shared the “he may nevers” with them.  We shared our thoughts and feelings about it.

 

When Michael came home none of that seemed to matter.  At first when the kids snuggled and loved Michael I was fully expecting that this would last for a while, but would they love him as he got older?  Would I love him as much as he gets older and isn’t a baby anymore?  Would our feelings change? 

Again, the miracle of Michael took over and changed our hearts to what can we encourage him to do now?  How can we help him to do his best?  Then we watched as he has grown and learned!  We watched in our own hearts how we didn’t shy away from a child that can’t do what other children his age can.  We watched at how our hearts still come back to a place of deep love and care for this young boy who loves in such a huge way.

 

He doesn’t care that he can’t run, but he is lightning fast crawling.  He doesn’t care that he can’t reply with full sentences, but he can tell you in an instant if he wants more, or if he is happy, or if he is upset which are all things he has learned.  He doesn’t care that he may not be able to understand everything you say, but you can bet he understands a lot more than you know.  Proven true by his ability to follow commands and sentences spoken when we didn’t think “he knew”. 

The number of times he has blessed us is immeasurable.  The number of times we have cheered him on thinking we were encouraging him, and yet our hearts were the ones encouraged!   The number of times we have felt down about what we are going through that Michael simply doesn’t seem to care about.  In his mind you are amazing every single day.  When you feel at your lowest Michael seems to remind you of who you really are in Christ.  That is the true miracle of Michael. 

I Don't Need Easy..... I Just Need Possible

When Jason and I meet almost 20 years ago now we had no idea what our lives would look like.  We were young and in love.  That is the way it is meant to be.  There have been some hard things we have faced in our life together.  Huge disappointments, moving, different jobs, different churches, different homes, change of cars, change of philosophies, getting to know ourselves and each other in deeper more meaningful ways. 

Easy has never really been a part of our vocabulary for many years.  After doing ministry together, moving, and 9 adoptions I don't think easy was in what God planned for us.  Don't get me wrong there have been plenty of "easier times" than others.  When you are going through a difficult time in your marriage or job there may be easier days than others.   

In the movie Soul Surfer (The Story of Bethany Hamilton) after she loses her arm to a shark attack she has to relearn how to surf.  It wasn't that she didn't think she could do it, but more a matter of how long will it take me to relearn everything I know about surfing.  Bethany Hamilton went on to win many championships in surfing.  She knew her strength came from God and even in the confusion that kept her going.  

That is us in our family.  We are relearning everything.  From time to time all families have to do this in different ways.  Maybe you find out a child has a learning disability and you have to figure out how can we help them in the best way you can.  Maybe grandma dies and your family now has to learn to live without an important part of your family.  Some people lose a job and when they start the new one there is so much that changes from income, hours worked, and commute times.

This is where we have to determine in our minds even if we don't believe it every day or week or even month.  We have to determine that we don't need easy.... we just need possible.  That statement changes everything. 

Believing that it is possible with God for your marriage to turn around.  It is possible with God to parent a child that is really struggling or even several that are struggling.  It is possible to chase the dreams those God sized dreams He has planted in your heart and so much more!

I was reminded by a good friend that I was setting my goals too low because with God ALL things are possible.  I was thinking I want to rebuild our lives to "our normal".  She reminded me that God doesn't want "our normal" He wants --- something BETTER!  I have underlined and bolded some words- be strong, For I am with you, do not fear..... The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house, and in this place I will grant peace. 

Haggai 2:1-9New International Version (NIV)

2 ¹ on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: ² “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak,^[a] the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, ³ ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? ⁴ But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ⁵ ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’
⁶ “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. ⁷ I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. ⁸ ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ⁹ ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”

Happy 14th Adoption Day Andrew

January 6th is this handsome man's Adoption Day...... 14 years ago we stood in court and said yes to being his family forever.

 Ha- yes the weights were wrapped in a towel, because paper would have torn from me trying to pick them up to put them on the table!  He also got a watch, clothes, and of course books to read because he goes through books like I go through a meal.  ;)

 Andrew is fun, crazy, very smart, LOVES history, very persistent, wants to be a police officer, is incredibly smart with his money, and likes to organize games or activities. 

We went to Universal and had a fun day out!!!  In our family Adoption Day is the same as a Birthday.  We want to bless our children and have some fun together as a family. 

We love you Andrew James Wright!  We pray daily that God continues to work in your life to make you who He wants you to be.  That God gives you strength to continue to grow in Him and share Him with others.  That you trust Him completely and that you seek Him! 

Hanging Onto Hope

This past year has been the most difficult our family has ever faced.  Yet when last year started I had an overwhelming sense of peace that healing was going to happen in our family.  The thing is that in order to experience the deepest sense of healing there is usually a crisis of some kind or a series of crisis.

We desperately pray asking God to reveal more of Himself to us, but in the same breath we ask God to make it easy for us.  This is not what He desires because in all reality we have to be so completely dependent on Him that we would never be able to get through the day without Him....or even a minute.  If we had it all figured out chances are we would thank God with a quick prayer and move about our business as usual, but we wouldn't be in complete awe of Him.

This is my engagement and wedding ring.  Nothing terribly special in the amount of money that was spent on them.  It is only amazing because of who gave it to me!  It is only amazing because of the almost 20 years of marriage they have withstood!  It is only amazing because it holds the story of how we saved money and flew back and forth several times over the ocean just to be with each other the year before we were married!  It is only amazing because of the millions of memories Jason and I have shared since he placed that engagement ring on my hand!

So several months back my engagement ring broke.  The original estimate for the repair was about twice what the ring was worth.  Yep, that gives you an idea of the money spent on it now doesn't it?  So I tucked it away thinking one day when we have tons of extra money we can repair it.

I missed the ring, but my love for my husband is definitely not caught up in a ring.  Months passed.... some of the most hard experiences any marriage and family could go through happened... and we breathed in and out and kept marching on sometimes barely, but still moving forward.  We knew there had to be hope even when it didn't seem like there was at the moment.

On New Year's Eve we celebrated as best we could.  Lit up fireworks, had a dance party, watched the last episode of Little House On The Prairie (where they blow up the town), laughed, made a tinfoil doll dress, ate pizza and drank plenty of soda, and chased kids around in a Hulk mask.  After we saw in the New Year and tucked the kids up in bed Jason and I sat on the front porch - on my Christmas gift of log rocking chairs.

He pulled out a card and read it to me.... and then handed me my ring!  You see he thought of everything in our lives that was broken and needed healing.  He knows as well as I do that we can't fix it all.  We can't possible find healing on our own.  We can only hang onto hope.  Hang onto a God that doesn't ever leave us nor forsake us!

Last year I knew healing was coming as God whispered it into my ear.  I just didn't know what we needed healing for.  Oh, I guessed what it was for but I will be the first to say I was really clueless.  Now I see what we need healing for, and all I can say is our family is Hanging Onto Hope! Praise God for HOPE!  It is the only real tangible thing in this world we can have that can not be stolen from us no matter what the world says because our Hope is based on God! 

Surprise!

I am getting back to something that makes me happy!  Blogging!  After stepping away for far too long I realized that I blogged because it made me happy.  I enjoy writing about our family and sharing.  It was a sense of creating that I have missed for far too long.

Shout out to Jason because my computer is having technical difficulties so he stepped in to help give me some solutions.  For those of you who think I have all the computer things figured out- nope.  Jason is who I call if I have problems and beg him to help! 

 So let's see this year we did a lot that I didn't blog about, but maybe that is the point of a New Year's Blog post.  To say I missed out, but it's ok to pick it back up and start again. 

 I got to hold some babies which is a great perk to the job of helping families through the adoption process. 

 Jason's parents were able to come visit! 

 We went to the beach!

 We had lots of crazy fun times together as a family. 

 Don't ask me what this is......because you know...... boys! 

 We snuggled a lot because Michael is pretty irresistible! 

 We loved well!

 Oh- look at my Christmas present!  Rocking chairs for our front porch so I can enjoy our beautiful 3 acres. 

 Date nights with this special man who after almost 20 years has put up with me.  It must be love! 

 Fun times out! 

 Oh and this magical fun from Christmas time.  Jason and I snuck out one evening and made multiple trips to the store for........

 BIKES!  Ummm.....let's just say getting that many bikes into the Suburban took a few trips. 

 It was worth it as our kiddos have spent time every day on their bikes since then! 

 OK say it with me- Joshua has gotten extremely tall!  (He is about 6'2")

 Michael got a bike too it just doesn't have pedals.  It is to help him learn how to walk (balance bike).  I just ordered a bike trailer for him as well so we can all go out on family bike rides as well.  Daddy put it together this afternoon. 

 Joanna and Jonathan learned how to ride a bike for the first time and it didn't take long for either one.  Now they are zipping all around our yard and neighborhood. 

 We have had many trips to Universal this year and have enjoyed all the rides there.  Joanna was so excited to be tall enough to ride The Mummy. 

 So after not blogging for a long time, I am back and starting again.  So if you want to follow along on our crazy Wright Family Adventures feel free to come check us out.  I will still be blogging about adoption, our adoptive family's adoption stories, about our family, and about our faith.  Praying your 2016 was great and that your 2017 will be even greater!