Blessings After Adversity

You will notice that there have been no postings in over a year. Ironically, I had more to say than ever before in my life, but was not allowed to say it. And for the protection of the children we had in our home, whom we loved in spite of the hardship their situation brought, we agreed that writing about it publicly was not a good thing. However, as I look back on the past few months since our foster children returned home, I can see some tremendous blessings that have come to fairly quickly restore a feeling of peace in my heart that has been missing for many months.

When our foster children arrived, we soon understood that we could no longer keep up what had become our accustomed pace. We dropped almost all extra activities and our boys immediately became helpers - their number one responsibility being to entertain so I could make dinner, fold laundry, etc. Our only real activities were just our family time together to read the scriptures, pray and have Family Night. We thought for sure life would go back to the old ways, but it just hasn't. Although we are getting back into some things, we have become more selective on what we allow to take up our time. We have more time to spend together and be home as a family. Being compelled to simplify our lives has been a tremendous blessing.

Who knew building a Lego bridge could be so much fun!

The event that sort of "forced" the issue, making DCFS commit to finally sending the kids home instead of continuing to drag out the situation, was Adam working on a project that took him to New York for 2 1/2 weeks. We decided that if he was going to have a "free" hotel room for that long that we needed to take advantage of the situation. Our foster daughter, the last child still in our care, went home just before we left. It was hard to say goodbye. We loved her and knew we would miss her terribly, but this was the right time for all of us to make the break from each other. Tyson is at a really great age right now - pretty independent, but not too old yet to think his parents are a complete embarrassment to him. So we wanted to take him on an adventure in New York. (Jacob stayed with my parents and then with Adam's sister, Emily - thanks guys!). It was really only a vacation for Tyson and I since Adam worked hard while we were there. Tyson was the perfect age for traveling. He quickly learned the subway system and was so helpful in getting us on the right trains, and that gave us the freedom to go anywhere we wanted. We would walk around for 10-12 hours a day trying to see as much as we could. Tyson also loves theater, so we saw Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins and Wicked. He was afraid they would be boring, but about 10 minutes into our first show, he was hooked. Although we really didn't see much of Adam in our time there, it was the best bonding time I've ever had with Tyson - like 2 friends out traveling together. It is something we will both look back on and remember and treasure. A true blessing.

Top of the Empire State Building

Tyson's first Broadway experience

Thankfully Tyson loved my favorite bakery as much as I did, and with all of the
walking we were doing, the calories just burned away - so it was guilt-free eating

And finally, while we had our foster children, our boys were squished together on bunkbeds into the smaller of our two upstairs kids bedrooms. We have a larger bedroom down in our basement that we tried to get them to move into, but neither wanted to be down there - at first. Around December, when the boys were each moved back in their own rooms, we learned Jacob was still considering our suggestion from earlier and informed us he was ready to move down there. We were leery at first, thinking we'd get the bunkbeds dragged down there just in time for him to change his mind and want to move back up. But that never happened. When he realized he was literally sleeping right under us, he was at peace and has never been scared to be down there at night. With Jacob out of his bedroom, we now had an empty room...

For Christmas, our anniversary and my upcoming birthday, Adam has helped me shop for and purchase a desk, chair, bookcases and accessories for MY NEW OFFICE! It's beautiful. It's heavenly. It's the first time in our married life that I've had a room that's all my own. And I love it! I have to make myself leave it to get other things around the house done. It's probably why I'm actually sitting and blogging today - an excuse to be in here. I chose a light blue color for the walls, my desk is an espresso color, and the bookshelves and trim are white. I have lacy curtains and flowery lamps. I've bought bins and baskets in which to store all of my things, and it's almost completely organized now. It's girly and peaceful and my favorite room in the whole world. What a blessing for me in my testosterone-filled home.

My Haven

It was never ever a goal of ours to do foster care. We did it because the promptings came and we wanted to be obedient. In the midst of the adversity, it was hard to see the blessings. Thankfully, the Lord eventually does show us some of the blessings of our adversities. So, while life has not ever gone the way I had planned, I am feeling so loved by my Heavenly Father who is leading me on an incredible journey. I am so blessed!