Well, I posted that night about us "Aunts" taking out my nieces for their annual birthday dinner at one of the local Italian restaurants...Well....we were the only family in the room we were seated in UNTIL another large family got seated RIGHT BEHIND US....There were a couple of older grandmothers in the group that smiled and watched Lucy Lane "learning" to walk up and down the restaurant. Ok, so I didn't think much of it UNTIL I got the email below:
"Kristi,
I just wanted to tell you how God used your family to bless my family this week. On Monday night my aunt and uncle took my grandmother to B Restaurant for my cousin's birthday party. My grandmother has not been in full support of our adoption - partly it's a generational prejudice about adoption and partly it's a racial thing. After the evening, my grandmother told my mom that they had seen a beautiful family with two precious girls dressed in Christmas dresses along with another little girl who was black. She was really interested in the family and watched them through the evening. She told my mom that it was a great family and that maybe it isn't so "weird" or uncommon to adopt transracially. That is huge! When my mom told me about this, I knew exactly who it was because I had read your blog from Monday. I just wanted you to know that your family makes a difference just by being who you are out in the community. Thank you!
I just wanted to tell you how God used your family to bless my family this week. On Monday night my aunt and uncle took my grandmother to B Restaurant for my cousin's birthday party. My grandmother has not been in full support of our adoption - partly it's a generational prejudice about adoption and partly it's a racial thing. After the evening, my grandmother told my mom that they had seen a beautiful family with two precious girls dressed in Christmas dresses along with another little girl who was black. She was really interested in the family and watched them through the evening. She told my mom that it was a great family and that maybe it isn't so "weird" or uncommon to adopt transracially. That is huge! When my mom told me about this, I knew exactly who it was because I had read your blog from Monday. I just wanted you to know that your family makes a difference just by being who you are out in the community. Thank you!
S"
www.goseeklove.com
****Isn't God just the COOLEST!!!! It is such a reminder to me that GOD intended for me to do so much more than to just adopt ONE child...He intended for me to come home and keep the RIPPLE EFFECT going...because adoption can/and does have a RIPPLE EFFECT!! Every time someone says "YES" to God's calling on their life to give an orphan a family...SOMEONE else is guaranteed to do it too!! I was determined upon my return from Africa to NOT forget what I saw...to help those we left behind...AND as I had the opportunity to speak at my church AGAIN this past Sunday, I saw the impact, once again, it has to SHARE your story!! I saw tears flowing and God touching people's hearts for adoption!! It is an amazing miracle to witness, no matter HOW many times you see it!! I saw a scripture today on a friend's blog that said it perfectly:
Deuteronomy 4:9 says, "Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them."
So..that's WHY I'm still blogging today...to bring light to the orphans of the world STILL WAITING...AND to fulfill God's calling on my life: TO NOT FORGET....AND TO SPREAD THE WORD!!! Oh, and I'm good at spreading the word :) I LIKE TO TALK!!! Ask my poor sister who traveled with me to Ethiopia to get LL...She was stuck with me in close quarters traveling for over 30 hours...BOTH WAYS :) Poor thing...I thought she might resort to hitting me like she used to do when we were kids to GET ME TO BE QUIET :) LOL
**SPEAKING OF SPREADING THE WORD....Check out http://house4family.blogspot.com/ OR http://house4family.blogspot.com/ to see how an ordinary mom is doing extraordinary things to bring in the money to help OTHERS adopt!! She has already adopted ONCE, but is now determined to help others raise the money to adopt...She has a GREAT idea..check it out!!!
***Gotta run...more presents to wrap...My hubby is a "wrapping maniac"...Phewww...there's LOTS to wrap with 5 kiddos this year :) (ok, so we seriously wrap up pairs of socks so the kids have LOTS to keep them busy opening presents...we could seriously wrap up a rock and they wouldn't care..they're at a great age :)
Happy Tuesday to you all, kj
