The Midnight Oil

well, here I am again. It's nearly midnight and I can't sleep. Why should I anyway? I can sleep when i'm dead. I was just telling my sister that one day I want a happy blog. I want a blog that makes people cry because it's just so funny!

We have received an overwhelming response of people wanting to help, wanting to encourage, wanting to inspire! It's amazing to see God's love abounding in people we have never met face to face. Our story is meant to make people more aware. Be aware that a sending country can take your child away from you if you haven't finalized in-country first. I keep telling myself that if we only knew.....if we only knew that this could happen. If we only knew that being Guardians instead of being finalized could make such a huge difference we would never have done this.....would never have chosen that country. But we all know that isn't the way of it. We never chose the country. We saw a little girl who needed us.

Let me back up a bit and recap. We were foster parents looking for children available for adoption. God told us years ago to adopt and we finally got around to it. We weren't in a hurry but Cody wanted a sister. As foster parents we only took older kids. They asked us one time why we didn't take babies or toddlers. I said "How many foster families do you have that will take babies and toddlers?" They said A Lot!!! And I said exactly my point. Who will take the older kids? There's an obvious need here....and we can help meet that need.

When we saw Brooke on a waiting child listing she was 9 years old. Perfect! We thought. She hadn't had anyone express interest or request her profile in years. Litterally years! We were excited! Here was a kid who needed us, just as much as we needed another daughter. Cody was thrilled too. She would have a sister. Then we received her profile. By the time we got it and realized it hadn't been updated in a very long time....our soon-to-be daughter was all of a sudden 12 years old. But it was too late.....we were taken w/ her. She needed a family, someone to love and care for her. And we wanted to build our family. And we wanted to add her to it. We were adopting a 12 year old! No problem ,we thought.....we have had kids ranging in age from 5 to 16 in our home in the last 4 years. We enjoyed the 9-12 year range.....we can handle an older kid. Sure, she has Cerebral Palsy but it seems minor and we can teach her to live as an independent and successful adult. It will be a long road and she's sure to be here longer than Cody but that's ok. We will do our best and make sure she knows she's wanted and needed and we're her family forever. We thought love could fix everything. Well.....we've learned love isn't always enough.

When Brooke's 14th birthday rolled around I wanted to scream. I couldn't be there for her! But next year....next year we would celebrate for all the birthdays we missed. And when she turns 16 we could celebrate again. Maybe Dad would teach her to drive, and I could take her shopping and take her to have her hair and makeup done by a professional. You know, all the things girls love to do. And then we received the call to travel. We were bringing home a 14 year old girl w/ CP and delays but we were going to be parents again! And Cody would finally have the sister she has always dreamed of.

Brooke turned 15 about a month and a half after we got home. She picked her own birthday cake and you could tell she didn't believe it was really happening to her. She wrote me a letter (by way of her school translator). It said something like

Thank you, Mom for the birthday cake. Thank you Mom and Dad and Cody for the presents. I have never had a birthday cake or presents before ever in my life. Thank you for everything you have done for me. I love you.

And here I am....burning the midnight oil. I'm finally tired. Lately, I must exhaust myself before falling into a dreamless state. And tomorrow is another day.