Our Thanksgiving decorations have all been put away & replaced with Christmas decorations. Our Elf on the Shelf has made his big return & the excitement of Christmas & all the fun it brings has filled our home. But before November slips by, I wanted to write about the gratitude that I've felt this month. Because gratitude expressed is always better than gratitude that is simply felt & then often forgotten. My family is always at the top of my list for things that I'm thankful for. This month especially, I've been thinking about 2 women in my life that I'm so grateful for, that have blessed my life with the beautiful children that I love so much it hurts. Cassie & Aubrey, my children's birth mothers, have been such an incredible gift to me & my family. Adoption looks so different for each family, but I feel like one of our greatest blessings is that we are able to have open adoptions that are healthy & happy. I admire & love Cassie & Aubrey so much. I'm so grateful that they are such wonderful examples to my children & I'm so proud of them & the lives they're living. They gave my children the most incredible gift & then second only to that is the example that they've set for my children about how people can change & reach their full potential. I'm so proud to be able to talk to my children about them & tell them how good & loving & kind they are. We all love them deeply.
Sometimes I think the greatest blessings in life are the unexpected ones. The ones where our lives take a different turn then we had planned. And while these unexpected turns often bring hurt & loss initially, when we try our best & turn to the Lord, it somehow becomes something beautiful & even wonderful. I'm really proud of these relationships - not because they've always been perfect, but because everyone involved has been fully committed to making them what they are today. We worked really hard at this & at the center of it all were 2 children that we loved with all our hearts. It's an incredible thing to have someone in your life who loves your child like you do. And maybe that's why this all means so much to me - because these relationships represent a selfless love & have also brought 2 friendships into my life that I value so much. And that is truly something to be thankful for.
