Going Home

We're baaaack. We went back home to Ohio for three days to visit with family, but also to meet with CPS for the required monthly supervision of baby Brandon. The travel conditions were less than ideal. We encountered major fog during part of the 6 hour outbound drive, and freezing rain and blinding snow on the return (the kind of snow that comes at the windshield in a hypnotizing swirl). I literally spent some time praying for our safety on the return, as the road conditions became quite treacherous for a few hours.

Allow me to brag on my family a bit as I share the little things that endear them to me:

• Papa made homemade spaghetti sauce for all and "peaches hot stuff" for Liv.


• Nana loved on all the grandkids, giving baby Brandon an extra dose of lovin'.


• Uncle Scot gave us hummingbird feeders, a neat way to remember him when apart.


• Aunt Lori loves on our kids as if they were her very own (and they eat it up).


• Uncle Mike brought out Reece's contagious giggle by hoisting him high above.


• Aunt Jackie generously passed on her son's baby clothing to Brandon(moms who have done this can relate to how hard it is to say "goodbye" to your child's baby things).


• cousin Colin enjoyed his cousins with all the energy that comes with being 2 years old.


• Uncle Todd stopped by in spite of feeling like crud and was ever so careful not to pass his sick germs on to the kids.

Okay, so the above named family members plus our family of six went to lunch at a Chinese buffet. You will recall that Reece is a crab leg connoisseur. He immediately noticed the absence of his favorite buffet item, which resulted in ten rounds of, "Where's duh crab legs? I don't see any crab legs. Do you see duh crab legs? Dis better have some crab legs." Suffice it to say he was not impressed with the two hundred other items to choose from, all because there were no stinkin' crab legs.

And the salad bar was housed in a boat-shaped buffet. At one end, there was a drain pipe where melting ice was draining into a white bucket. Naturally, Mr. Fix-it needed to get the low down on that as well.
"Duh boat's leakin.' Why is dat boat leakin'? Is it going to sink? Do they know dere boat is leakin'? Let's tell dem. Mom, do you see dat boat is leakin'?"
Oy vey!

Back at Nana and Papa's, the kids had a blast playing out in the snow for hours; building a snowman, making snow angels and snow forts, and even riding their little pedal toys on the patio (well, as much as they could with wheels spinning out on the slush covered pavement). Sheesh, it's a major production to suit up children for winter weather, then to undress them cold, tired and wet all over. But it's worth it to see them enjoying the best of childhood; carefree moments of snowballs, snowmen and snow forts with a tolerance of the elements that only children can demonstrate.

During our stay, we also stopped at a local fast food playland to meet up with another special person in our life, Reece's birth sister, Kimberly. It was challenging to coordinate our opposite schedules but I'm so glad we found a precious hour that worked for all. Kimberly is a year older and the splitting image of Reece. She and her sisters, Anna and Sarah, had a nice time playing and giggling with our kids while the grownups gabbed a mile a minute, catching up on lives lived in two neighboring states.

The smiles on Reece and Kimberly's faces told us they enjoyed their special time together as brother and sister. Adoption has touched both our families in such an incredible way, proof to me that our Heavenly Father truly can bring beauty from ashes, peace from pain (for adoptive families and birth families). I only wish our visit could have been a bit longer and that we could have seen other dear friends as well. There just wasn't enough time to make it all happen (sigh).

Carl and I were able to take a rare break away from the kids to see a movie (courtesy of Nana's generous offer to do so). I find it perfectly fitting that we saw a movie entitled The Pursuit Of Happyness, starring Will Smith (and his adorable son, Jaden). While the message could be misread as the pursuit of materialism, the stronger message was positive and motivating; pursue your dreams with all your heart and to the very best of your ability (F.Y.I. note: There is only one scene I can recall that would be unacceptable for child viewing and it centered around graffiti painted on a daycare building. Otherwise, it's a good movie with a good message, in my humble opinion.)

As Will Smith's character so clearly stated in the movie, Thomas Jefferson never wrote that happiness itself was a right, rather just the pursuit of it, as if he somehow knew that we would struggle to ever achieve a "state of happiness." That insight from Jefferson seems to shine brilliant light on the difference between human happiness and God given joy.

You know, we were in Ohio pursuing happiness of our own this week. For the most part, we found it. But I have learned a most valuable lesson from studying God's word, a lesson that Thomas Jefferson might have learned as well.

Happiness is merely an emotion, a feeling. As such, it is dependent on what is happening outside of me every day. Just as I can count on a beautiful sun to set (and with it goes the warmth I basked in), so too can I know that happiness will fade with the rising of life's difficult moments; illness, loss, and stress for example.

But joy is not the same as happiness. Not at all. And it's not just a matter of semantics but rather of sources. Abiding joy does not depend on what is happening around me. Rather, it is present because of the one who lives in me. I am not exempt from the "valleys" of life. I am not promised a life without trials or pain. And I will clearly not feel happiness when those hard times are upon me. Happiness is in fact fleeting.

But a constant remains; the joy of God's promises. I have joy because nothing can ever separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:38-39). My daily prayer is for you to discover this same joy for yourself.

And As I write this, I hope that my parents find a bit of happiness relived as they glance through their kitchen window and see the remnants of our visit; a melting snowman and a blurred snow angel. And may we all reflect on the God given joy that remains long after the feeling of happiness is gone.

Psalm 16:9, 11
My heart is glad, my inner self rejoices and even my body rests in confidence: For You are making known to me Your Path of Life. And in Your Presence, Oh God, I find fullness of joy!