Conversations

Many times, I sit and am amazed at how God has woven our family together. Sometimes we have opportunities to laugh about our conspicuous family and sometimes we cry over losses that can never be completely healed until we stand before the Lord. Today we've had both.

Usually Friday nights are family time, but since the big boys are gone, we went to Tae Kwon Do class. It is a class that we can attend, but don't normally attend. We go to other classes during the week. Tonight there were two families there that we didn't know.

One of the ladies said, "Oh....carpooling....looks like you had a car load tonight. Are they all best friends?"

Me: "Well, yes, but...." to which the kids instructor began introducing our kids to the other kids in the class......

Strange looks come my direction......

Me: "They are all ours."...........cricket, cricket............."Brothers and sisters......we also have a teenager..........."...........cricket cricket.............

Hmmmm, don't think I made any new friends tonight. We all laughed profusely in the car. The kids said that the other kids were trying to figure out our family as well. All of them thought it was way funny.

Later in the evening, we popped popcorn and settled in for the movie, "The Game Plan." Towards the end of the movie, the plot thickens as the news comes out that the little girl's mom had passed away in a car accident six months earlier. Here is the conversation that ensued....

M: That is so sad.

Little J: Do you feel sad for me then? My birthdad died when I was a baby.

M: Well, at least you know what happened to him. I don't know where my birthdad is or if he is alive.

Not too long ago, I listened as an adult adoptee shared her story. She said, "There are still days as a grown woman, wife, and mother that I grieve for a story about my life that I will never know. On those days, I just need my husband to understand, hold my hand, and let me grieve even if I never say a word."

So, tonight, without words, we silently grieve a loss of a piece of the kids' lives that we will never know on this side of glory and stand in thankfulness that we are able to tuck them in with a hug and a kiss and a whole lot of love.

How many children are grieving tonight? How many don't have a mom and a dad to hold them while they are sad. What is the Lord asking of you?