Valuing what the boys see

I love the constant reminders of what it's like to see the world through a child's eyes. Most times it's so beautiful and precious, a reminder to slow down and inhale deeply the creation of God or the little things that really are important. Sometimes, through the eyes of our foster son, we see a different picture. He is altogether sweet and precious, while also not so innocent in some ways, but he's still very much a child of God and a constant reminder of God's love and healing – nothing is wasted. As we help him learn to enjoy the innocent things of childhood, we encourage their imaginations, and celebrate the little things that are huge to them, because we see that when we value what's important to them we grow closer. And so, just as we expected, their favorite stuffed animals visited us at our workplaces a few more days after Wolfie's initial day of adventure with daddy.

Thankful the Lord cares about the cares of our world and spends these connecting moments with us to make us feel loved too. Thank you Jesus for modeling everything we need as parents.

Here's a glimpse of Wolfie & friends' adventurous day with me at work.

  

And here's a second day visit with Steve at work.

Connecting on levels big and small

Both of our boys were so ecstatic to learn of one of their dear stuffed animals adventurous day with Daddy as they asked him to take Wolfie to work with him. Our foster sons eyes lit up as he told Steve how well he took care of his Wolfie for the day. Our bio son hugged Steve and told him he really is a great daddy! So this moment marks a connecting point for us and the boys – where they continue to learn what's important to them is important to us.

You see, as you add to your family whether through adoption or biologically, parents learn of the constant struggle to balance what you do for one child and another, also learning that it can't always fully balance out. Our bio son grew up with a favorite stuffed animal, and for those who know him, you know it looks like a well-loved and worn to the threads bunny that he's had since his first Easter. She, yes it's a 'she', still sleeps with him and helps him with his boo-boos. We recorded many of her adventures with our son in a digital album we printed from over the years.

So here we are – an attempt to show our foster son how much we care about the things he cares about, no matter how small.  Now they are pleading with us to now allow all of their precious stuffed animals to shadow us on work days, one-by-one. Oh my! What have we started?