"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you" James 1:27

We continue to believe strongly in adoption - this blog serves to tell of our journey and encourages all who read it to learn of and love the journey of adoption!

Contact us at VJansen90@gmail.com


Saturday, October 22, 2011

Learnings and Yearnings

Recent Learnings.....

*Meals Matter - for two reasons:

1) A couple of people brought us meals soon after our adoption situation changed. These were especially treasured because my brain just wasn't fully working in that first week or so. It was enough for a bit to just put one foot in front of the other as we dealt with the grief and the shock. To have one less thing to think about made such a difference to me! To be able to come home from work and know that supper was taken care of was such a blessing to me! (Thanks to those who helped in this area!!) Blog readers - don't ever underestimate the power of a meal to those dealing with "life stuff". The next time you know someone is struggling - make them a meal, or at least order pizza for them. You will indeed be blessing them.

2) Dave & I have always put family supper together as a big value in our home.....we have a busy household, but work very hard at making sure we eat supper together as much as possible each week. These past couple of weeks that has been even more important. To have all six of us sit around the table and talk and share and just be together has been very important as we heal together. It has reminded us of how very blessed we are!

*Little Kindnesses go a long way

My co-workers (Laura, Kim & Jane) are awesome! I am so privileged to be able to work with them! Unknown to me, they had been planning some fundraising efforts for the Jansen Expansion, before our recent adoption change. With our "blessing" they continued these efforts. They got permission from the Olentangy Preschool supervisors and certain Olentangy Principals to make each Monday from October 17th until Christmas Break "Jeans for Jansen Expansion" for the Arrowhead Elementary Building and all employees of the Olentangy Preschool Program. Any employees who want to wear Jeans to work those Mondays may do so, but must contribute to our Adoption Fund to "pay" for the jeans. It may seem like a small thing - but do you know how much teachers like to wear jeans and usually can't? YES - they will pay to do so! This was a wonderful shot of hope for us and the continuation of our Adoption process.

*My husband has a wonderful Daddy heart

I've always known that my husband had a wonderful Daddy heart - but recently, I have seen a new depth and love to that heart, that just continues to grow deeper. If you had told Dave five years ago, that he would be impatiently waiting to adopt, he would have laughed you off. But, Dave opened his heart to do what God wanted him to do and has allowed God to work in his heart, deepening his love and desire to care for the orphans of this world. His heart has hurt deeply this past two weeks or so and his eagerness to bring our child(ren) home has increased all the more. Through our recent heartbreak and the many tears he continues to watch me cry, I have fallen even more in love with him and am glad that he is my partner in parenthood and in life!

Continued Yearnings......

*I am tired of waiting

I don't want to wait for another referral, I don't want to go back to our "status" that we were so excited to be at last January. I want to stomp my feet and cry and fuss and fume. I don't want to wait. I am frustrated that in a country of 6 million orphans we must wait - AGAIN. I am grateful we are at "the top" of the list for our age range for our next referral, but I would like the referral now please and I want to travel immediately and I want to bring our family member(s) home this week. Sounds childish and selfish and self-centered - but at some points of the day during this process, it is just what I feel. Part of the reason we started this blog was to keep people informed and to be honest about this whole journey......and sometimes this journey is just so hard. I am tired of waiting. I want it over and I want them home now.

Thanks for reading~

Vicki

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