a Nichols worth....and some other loose change

It is worse…

When a child is adopted and told they are loved, it should be unconditional and forever.

They are chosen. They are special. They now belong.

In this sin-filled, broken world, promises uttered with good intentions are sometimes voided.

Today I sat helplessly by and watched it happen.

Again.

 

Disillusioned. Dissolved. Disrupted.

Clinical terms.

Cold words.

 

It is worse than death.

Dreams of belonging are murdered.

Trust is killed.

Hearts calloused and shattered.

 

It is worse than divorce.

Separation.

Rationalization.

Unresolved conflict.

Blame placed to ease the conscience of the offended party.

 

It is much like abortion.

Affecting many beyond what can be counseled or consoled all in the name of what looks best at the time.

Lesser of the evils determined.

Ramifications pending.

Scarring inevitable.

 

Why?

You promised to love me...

What is wrong with me?

What do I need to change?

I can do better…

Please.

Please give me another chance to be loved.

 

Heart-breaking.

Heart now shattered into pieces so minute and so badly damaged

…quickly scattered in the torrential winds of this raging storm.

 

No one can put this vital organ back together again.

 

No one.

No person has the words to heal.

There are no words.

No person has the power to fill the heart's gaping hole.

It is too deep.

No person has the ability to provide what is needed unconditionally.

Conditions always apply.

 

But.

 

Jesus can.

He needs no words to heal the broken heart.

Just a touch.

Jesus takes us as we are

...where we are.

He is patient in love.

He understands because he was rejected, beaten, bruised…

 

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus' Name.

 

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

 

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.

 

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

 

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

 

He is hope.

He is healing.

He is the only guarantee that we will survive through the worst…

 

My prayer is that God will use our family to show that His adoption of us through salvation is very different than the experience described above…to the shattered heart I brought home today.

 

Ephesians 4:2 - Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

    

 

It happened on the produce aisle.

It happened on the produce aisle.
In front of the spinach, romaine, and shredded slaw mix.
Hey.
Hey, Mrs. Dayna. Can I call you Mom?
Mom?
It caught me slightly off guard, and I stood there stunned for seconds too long.
It felt as though time had stopped.
I had been reading my grocery list when he interrupted my thoughts with his request.
Mom.
This word.
This title.
This endearment.
It had not crossed his lips the entire sixteen months he had been with us.
Realistically, I never expected it to.
His mother left him in an orphanage.
She preferred alcohol to parenting.
His first set of adoptive stateside parents didn't last very long.
He was 'difficult'.
His experiences with 'Mom' had not been the happily ever after version.
Mom.
I wasn't really sure I ever wanted to be what he had grown to expect in a 'Mom'.
I'm Mrs. Dayna.
...and occasionally, I am Mr. Matt when he gets excited and doesn't stop to think before he speaks.
I answer to both.
But.
Mom.
He was asking if he could call me Mom.
Of course.
Absolutely.
I finally found my voice and answered him with words.
Words that I prayed were louder than my beating heart.
Yes.
You may call me Mom.
He responded with a bear hug followed quickly by a request for apples.
Mom, Can I have some apples?
You bet we got apples.
Red AND green ones.
Full bags.
Full heart.
...and then by the time we reached the powdered sugar, I was Mrs. Dayna.
Again.
But.
For a moment,
He was just like all the other children in the grocery store calling out
"Hey, Mom! ....Can I have some apples?"

Saving my children’s teeth

Today I am saving my children's teeth.

It is my duty as a parent.

It is just as important as teaching them about God's love.

I feel it is my responsibility to help prevent cavities.

I remind them to brush.

I prompt them to floss.

I buy the best toothpaste on the market.

And.

At this time of year,

EVERY YEAR,    

I do my duty to pilfer the candy jar.

I discreetly remove

{and quite possibly consume}

the chewy, sticky candy.

Starburst.

Laffy Taffy.

Bit-O-Honey.

Tootsie Roll.

I can hear dentists all over the world applauding.

And truth be told.

I was also prepared to rescue their complexion.

But.

They beat me to the chocolate.

…happens every year.

Numbers 14:8

If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us,

a land that flows with milk and honey.

Good Morning, Mr. President

Congratulations on your win last night.

Although I did not vote for you,

I will not riot in the streets

or create a public announcement of your ineptitude.

I simply did not agree with your platform.

So.

I exercised my right to vote

for a candidate that most aligned with my beliefs.

He did not win.

Now.

What I will do is walk into tomorrow with you.

I will pray for you daily.

I will step forward through the election results on Tuesday

and walk beside you as The President of the United States

for another term.

You are MY President, sir.

I am thankful for you as you rule in the highest position of our land. (1 Tim. 2:1-2).

Your job is not an easy job.

E PLURIBUS UNUM 

I determine to support you willingly.

I believe that is now my duty as a citizen of this great land.

I will not kick.

Or scream.

Or pout.

I will respect.

And honor.

And pray.

I will continue to ask hard questions.

I will continue to expect immense results.

I will continue to believe the freedoms we experience

in The United States of America

are not to be wasted.

I will continue to use those freedoms

to point others to Christ my LORD

as I "Hail to the Chief".

 

1 Corinthians 1:9

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

 

 

 

Any bodies house?

"Any bodies house?"

"Any bodies HOUSE?"

Door slams.

"ANY BODIES HOUSE?"

If you can hear that with a thick Ukrainian accent,

you live in my world these days.

English for Kohl, as he is calling himself, is coming along.

Six months.

Six months in a new country with a new language.

Surviving.

Thriving.

This kid amazes me daily.

And.

He makes me laugh.

Things get lost in the translation around here.

House.

Home.

Same thing, right?

Well, not quite.

But.

We are communicating.

We greet him when he comes bounding in the back door.

We are home.

…not just a house.

So much more.

HOME.

And.

So is he.

 

John 14:23

Jesus answered him,

"If anyone loves me, he will keep my word,

and my Father will love him,

and we will come to him and make our home with him.