We are getting closer to little S coming home.  Another paperwork milestone passed this week! As I mentioned in my previous post,  S's age is between Anna and Grant.  When we went through the adoption process with Kidus, we never even considered the option of adopting an older child, we wanted a baby and one as young as possible.  And we are SO THANKFUL that Kidus is our son.  We are so thankful that he came home young enough that we got to be there for his first words and his first steps.

However, we learned A LOT about international adoption as we went through our process with Kidus.  One of the things we learned is that older kids aren't scary.  That sounds funny doesn't it. But to be honest, one of the reasons we never considered adopting an older child initially was that we were scared of it.  We were scared of all the possible emotional scars and trauma that an older child might come home with.  We were scared of Baggage.  But the reality is that ALL children, whether adopted at birth or adopted at 15 years old, will have emotional baggage to grapple with over time.  They have lost their first families.  Internationally adopted children have lost their first culture and their first language.  As absolutely beautiful and redemptive as adoption can be, there is profound loss involved, no matter what age a child is adopted at. 

So, if we have to help our children deal with tough issues, no matter what age they come home, why couldn't we help an older child go through their tough stuff.  Why should they have to live in an orphanage, without a family, just because they are "older."  I'm not naïve, I realize that there is a different dynamic bringing home a 9 or 10 year old versus a toddler.  I realize there are different needs an older child will have.  I realize that in many ways this could be considered "harder."  But I don't have to be scared.   I can trust that God loves little S. and has a beautiful plan for her life.  I can trust that God will provide us with wisdom to find the resources S might need.  I can trust that God can take the adoption mix of loss, joy, grief, love, disappointment and excitement and weave together something beautiful...both in S as an individual and in our family as a whole.

And then...there is M.  We met M on our first trip to Ethiopia to meet Kidus.  She was about 10 years old and she melted me.  I loved spending time with her.  M was waiting to come home with her new adoptive family.  M braided my hair, took silly pictures with my camera, sang songs and tried to teach me Amharic words.  M started both Jeremy and I on the road to exploring what adopting an older child would look like.  I am so thankful I met her.   Her influence is changing our family!

We received new pictures of S. last week while we were on vacation. Oh, she is sweet! We are so excited to meet her!  However, since I can't show those to you yet, I will share a few pictures with you from our trip to St. George, Florida.  Our friends gave us a huge gift by inviting us to spend a week with them at the house they rented for the month of March.  First time for the kids to see and swim in the ocean!  Thank you Fleming family!