Wednesday, December 24, 2008

I am the Lord's servant; be it unto me as you have said...

......says the young virgin Mary after receiving news that she would become pregnant and bear the Son of the Most High. Here she was...a young, engaged teenager who had been virtuous and remained chaste...and she was told that she would become pregnant outside of wedlock, a crime punishable by death in her time and culture. Nevertheless, Mary believed in the fulfillment of the things spoken to her by the Lord through the angel Gabriel. Mary was blessed for taking God at His word, for believing Him in the midst of a seemingly impossible situation and for believing His seemingly impossible promise.

This Christmas season has made my youngest sister Ciahnna especially attentive to the Christmas story from Mary's point of view as Ciahnna is 15, the same age that Mary was believed to have been when she gave birth to Jesus. Cici and I have spent considerable time discussing Mary's complete humanity, complete faith in God, and complete blessedness. Ciahnna and I both would like to be more like Mary and proclaim that we are servants of the Lord and desire to have everything befall us as the Lord wills.

Luke 1

46 And Mary said, My soul does magnify the Lord,

47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

48 For he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from now on all generations shall call me blessed.

49 For he that is mighty has done to me great things; and holy is his name.

50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.

51 He has showed strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

52 He has put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.

53 He has filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he has sent empty away.

54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;

55 As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

The Spirit of Adoption

“Ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry ‘Abba, Father.’” I’ve had this verse on my sidebar for quite some time now. However, this verse is more pertinent now than ever before.

For the past three weeks our family has been celebrating and adjusting to the arrival of two new family members. As planned, all finalities were completed for our pending adoption by the day after Thanksgiving. The following Monday, Karmello and Kaydence came home. I honestly feel like I forget what our lives were like before the arrival of these two precious blessings. What a reason to be thankful during that Thanksgiving season!

Both Karmello and Kaydence have been adjusting very well and are reaching attachment/bonding milestones right on time.

Kimora and Kariah have also adjusted amazingly well and have shown themselves to be flexible, easy-going little girls. Karmello and Kimora are attached at the hip now; sometimes they include Kariah, and sometimes they choose not to. That proves to be a challenge.

Before coming to us, Kaydence had not learned to walk. She was simply content to crawl about on all fours. Kimora and Kariah both walked before they were a year old, so I was a little shocked that Kaydence at 15 months had not yet begun. During these past three weeks I’ve worked with her a little bit, walking around the penthouse helping her walk (you know, with me standing behind her and her little hands curled around my pointer fingers). I know she’ll take off on her own when she’s ready, but she’s already shown substantial progress….she just needed a little individual attention, which was something that could be rarely given her at the foster home.

Kaydence continues to call me “MOOOMeeeeeeee.” Karmello prefers “Lia.” Hmmmm..ok. For now. I don’t blame the poor kid. He’s almost four years old and has never had a mother figure in his life. Why would he be expected to come into our home and instantly dub me “mommy.” How is he to know that’s what my title is in relation to him?

Some of you may be thinking, “Well, what about the baby? What about Kajanae?” Well….as always, Kajanae has been an amazing source of joy in my life. That little pumpkin is my “ride or die” chick (don’t know what that means?...look it up on urbandictionary.com). Kaji is always with me; she’s my constant companion. If there’s going to be a late walker in our family, it’s probably going to be Kajanae. I NEVER put that baby down!! People have jokingly asked me if she’s cemented to my hip. Yep. I believe she is. Actually we’ve scheduled a surgery to do just that. She won’t ever have to be without me; I won’t ever have to be without her!!

One other thing that I want to be sure I mention so as to not confuse my readers is that my sister Jaslene comes over every weekday to help out with the kids. She’s not really a nanny because I’m not off on my own jaunts, but of course we pay her generously. It’s been so fun to be able to spend my days with Jaslene. I freakin’ love that woman, and so do her nieces and nephew. Before “employing” her, she would come by and hang out with us just about every evening anyway. We’re tight (crossing middle and pointer fingers). Thank you for being such a blessing Jassi!!

So……..Kx5……Karmello, Kimora, Kariah, Kaydence, and Kajanae’s Mommy. Being a mother of five children three and under has already proven to have its challenges, and surely there are more posts to follow on such incidents. But my heart is so FULL of JOY that I simply can’t focus on those challenges. The overwhelming focus is how in love I am with my kids. Normally I apologize if my blog undergoes a hiatus…but this time I just can’t bring myself to feel sorry. No worries, you all know me….I’m documenting every little “jot and tittle” in journals, scrapbooks, and baby books, so nothing is going unrecognized or forgotten. The fact is that I love my life and I’m living it, and if it happens to not show up online for everyone to read about, that’s okay!! I love my five K’s, and I’m so honored that God has chosen me to be their mommy, that He has entrusted them to my care for this short segment of eternity.