Adoption Month: Thankful

It's almost Thanksgiving here in the United States.

Originally this week I was going to write a post about the harder part of adoption: PARENTING. The post was going to talk about how you can have this beautiful story of rescuing a baby from a life of parentlessness, but after the fairy tale ... normal life happens. I may still blog about that sometime, but my heart is thankful this week, so I want to focus on thankfulness instead (with an adoption theme, of course, because it's still Adoption Month).

Photo by Ann Woodard

I'm thankful for:

• A Happy Beginning: I almost wrote a happy ending, but our adoption wasn't an ending, it was a beginning. Lately I've been thinking back on those almost seven years when our adoption was in-process (and in limbo), and how I lived in a constant state of preparing for the worst, ready at any moment to have my heart broken. But we didn't get the worst. Our adoption worked out. That is a huge blessing that I never want to forget to be thankful for.
• Options!: Our sweet, oldest daughter has emotional needs that weren't being met in traditional public school. Homeschooling scared me for so many years, but recently we found a school that's a cross between online school and traditional school in a town near us. It's perfect for her because it gives us time together, but not so much time that we drive each other crazy. Overall, she's very happy and making new friends, and I've seen a significant change in her outlook on life, which has been a huge encouragement.
• A Great Man: My Dashingly Handsome Sidekick (aka DHS) is an amazing father who embraced my adoption dream with so much grace. The way he met our oldest daughter was a bit unorthodox: he came home from a school camp and I said, "Surprise! Meet Olivia!" I'm so grateful to have a loving companion who is willing to go on life's adventures with me. 
• Provision: Our oldest has some special needs because she was born with a cleft lip and palate. I'm so grateful to the Shriners Children's Hospital in Portland, Oregon for taking on her case (even though she wasn't a US citizen yet when they started treating her!) and giving Olivia free medical care and surgeries until she's an adult. We have also found a great orthodontist in our area who has helped many cleft lip and palate children. God provides!

Apart from adoption, I am thankful for this great piece of news I got last week: Kirkus gave my book, Red Butterfly, a starred review! You can check out what they had to say here. I've been walking as if on a cloud all week!!

There's still time to enter my giveaway for a copy of Red Butterfly when it releases in February. Click here and leave a comment. Couldn't be easier!

If you're American, have a wonderful Turkey Day on Thursday! Don't forget to be thankful!