What we learn from our children....

"A" was one of our foster newborns.  She adores Eliza.  She came to us at a day and stayed until she was 6 months.  She is back with her mom and doing well.  We are blessed to see her.  She came over last night with her mom.  She has taught me to enjoy "today".  We never knew how long she would stay.  I enjoyed each day without a thought to the future.  I had a good lesson on selfessness, too.  I had to mentor her mom so that I was sending her to a place she felt comfortable and safe, when if fact, I really wanted to keep her to ourselves.  Her mom and I have forged a unique friendship.

Now, a little about Eliza.  She is 13.  She has been looking into adopting from Africa for 2 years.  In school, someone did a talk that included how many orphans there were in Africa.  At the time we were interim foster parents.  We knew nothing about the possibility or the process.  Through her initial actions, it was printed on our hearts.  She is a sweet, gentle, goofy, headstrong, and compassionate.  She loves to ride.  She loves the underdog and the underprivileged.  I always said that all those things that challenge me in parenting her I will love when she is thirty.  I have come to love them in her at 13.