Category Archives: Adoption

Adoption, Life

Lucy

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Today is Lucy’s ninth birthday!  I wonder what I was doing nine years ago…

I had no idea!  And if you would have told the Rothfuss’ youngest child “your little sister was born today” in 2006 I would have thought you weird.

I realized recently that I didn’t tell you guys much about Lucy.  I was kinda’ distracted!  Here’s several things we’re noticed about her personality (if you read our family-blog you’ll already know most of this):

* She loves to sing.  And she can actually carry a tune.  Unlike one of her older sisters!  Lucy and I have lots of fun singing together… until she gets upset when I stop singing because my voice gave out.  It doesn’t help that I’ve been coughing since we got home!

* She loves to dress up!

* She doesn’t like all sweet things, but she likes chocolate! 😉  I was afraid she wouldn’t ’cause they’re not big on chocolate in China and I didn’t want to be “that family” but she likes it after all.

* She likes yogurt and fruit–just like they said in the first update!  We’re having Jell-o cake with Tsa Mei [strawberries].

* She tosses and turns when she sleeps–just like me!

* Speaking of sleeping, we share a bed and she does all the things Becca says I did to her: she climbs over my feet to get to her side of the bed, rolls on top of me, and she’s kind-of a cover-hog!  I don’t usually mind that sort of thing, but I don’t abide cover-taking! 🙂

* She’s very crafty and loves cutting, gluing, and folding!

Lucy was very excited about her birthday.  She was all impatient last night, and it reminded me of the night before one of my birthdays that I prayed I wouldn’t have dreams because it made the night seem longer! 🙂

Happy birthday Lucy!  I treasure your personality!

Adoption, Life

Three

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She slipped quietly out of bed and tip-toed through the dark to the bathroom.  Taped to the mirror was a note.  These weren’t uncommon at her house and she leaned over the counter to read it:

“Good morning!  Call Dad’s phone.  Heart~ Mama”

It has been three years and she still remembers.  She went back to her room and told her sister.  “They weren’t expecting us to call at 5:00 am.”

I wonder what I was doing right now–at 2:00 pm–three years ago.  I don’t know, but I remember I was very emotional that day.  I was probably at the hospital.  I’m sure I had seen him by now.

But it seemed like hours before they’d let us see him.  He’s my brother anyway!

I remember the first time I held him.  Becca and Spencer got to hold him first.  Trying.  Stressful.  I did get to hold him though–that day, that hour.  Which was a blessing.  We took him home from the hospital.  And now I forget that you can get a baby any other way.

But I forget that he came that way.  It’s strange.  It’s wonderful.

Most wonderful things are strange.

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Michael’s officially 3.  I can’t believe it’s been three years.  But it feels like forever.  I remember things that happened before he came along and I catch myself picturing Mom holding a baby.  And while we were in China I kept feeling like somebody oughta’ be pushing a stroller.

Force of habit.

I love you, Micheal Joe!

Adoption, Life

14th Christmas

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I can’t believe I didn’t post earlier!  I really meant to.

Last Friday was my 14th birthday.  I can’t believe I’ve been in my teens for a whole year!  We usually have our grandparents over on birthdays, but because of “cocooning” with Lucy we just celebrated quietly the seven of us.

We took Lucy to a Christmas-party yesterday–for less than half an hour.  You can go to our family blog to read about what she’s been up to.

And I got a camera at aforementioned Christmas-party!!!  I am SO excited!  I haven’t gotten it out and figured out how to use it (aka given to my dad or brother and asked them what to do with it) but I’m really excited to!  Maybe I’ll start posting pictures now! 🙂

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We cheated this year and got our Christmas tree at Lowe’s, but at least it’s real!  We went real simple this time and just did lights, tinsel (because Lucy likes it), and red Chinese tassels.  It’s lovely.

It’s been fairly warm here (hence the bike #FamilyBlog) which has been nice.

Merry Christmas!

Adoption, Life

Home, Sweet Home!

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I thought I should just check in and tell you that we all made it home in one piece… well, four pieces actually, all of us.

Only there’s SEVEN (7) of us now!  Five kids… that’s kind-of a big family.  I mean someone called our family big once when we only had 3 kids; but even I’ll admit that 5 is kinda’ a big number.

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China was great, but I was homesick before the first week was even out!

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

I forgot to bring my Bible to China 🙁 so I’m trying to get back into the swing of reading it daily.  I’m currently in Deuteronomy, which I didn’t really have the brain cells to read today (or thought I didn’t) so I just flipped around and landed in Psalms.  I found these two verses which I previously underlined, and I thought I’d share them with you:

Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.  The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delgithful inheritance.

-Psalm 16:5,6

Adoption, Faith

Broken

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There were lots of things, about China in general, that I wanted to post. And maybe I will sometime. I was going to now. But something happened. Lucy happened. She is everything now. Lucy is the world.

The days, and mostly the last few hours before we met her for the first time, I always felt like I should be preparing somehow. But there was not much I could do.

And nothing could have prepared me for that moment. I thought I had cleared it in my head that she was real. That she was a person, not a picture; something I could touch, and love on and hug. But I guess I hadn’t.

I was expecting to have more time to get ready (like time would help!) but we just walked into the room and there she was. It was shocking; life-changing.

I expected Lucy to be wonderful. I expected her to be beyond my imagination—but I didn’t expect her to shatter my world like this. I didn’t expect to come to pieces over her.

It’s been three years so I don’t remember everything, and I wonder if Michael shattered me like this. And I wonder how many times I can shatter before I just break. I hope it’s a lot. Or maybe I hope it’s not very many. Because maybe we’re supposed to break. Because there’s pain in this world, and brokenness. And I think it shatters God’s heart too. I’ve been praying lately that HE would give me his heart. Well, maybe he has.

We’ve had reality-checks, sure; but I’m in love. And that’s a dangerous thing. Because when you really love someone you are willing to sacrifice everything for them. I’ve worried before that after Lucy comes home I won’t be able to play by myself—swing by myself—what about reading? And writing? And in the car on the back from the Civil Affairs building, I realized: it didn’t matter. If I could be with Lucy, I would give up anything.

I’m in love. And it’s dangerous. But I don’t even care. I thought I knew what it meant to love her. I was wrong. I can’t tell you how exciting it is to be her sister. It’s not what I expected. But very few things are! And I like her the way she is. I’m glad I was wrong.

I was kind-of caught up in the fact that I WAS GOING TO CHINA at first, and I’m still excited about that, but Lucy is what’s most important.

I remember when I was on the plane, shortly after I’d spent hours trying to sleep next to my comfortably snoring parents, as I was sitting there in a total haze, only sort-of coherent; I thought, “what if this whole trip just goes over my head in a wave of jet-lag and I can’t even enjoy or really remember it?”

And then I realized: it did not matter. The trip isn’t important—it’s what we’re bringing home. ‘Cause Lucy is forever. Forever and ever and ever. That’s what family is all about: foreverness. Always being there for each other.

Lucy is a sister.   She belongs; as much as I do. And someday I’ll probably forget sometimes that we had to do without her for eight years. Someday she’ll just there. The seven of us. And it will be the most natural thing in the world.

Adoption, Life, Literature

I. am. in. CHINA!!

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We’ve been in China for a little over twenty-four hours now, and it’s been great!  The jet-lag was pretty bad on the plane.  I was expecting it, but not that bad, and (for some reason) not until we got home; but I perked up when we got to Xi’an… and could go to bed.  I’m never sleepy when I’m supposed to be–like, never!

I had my first conundrum about food at lunch yesterday, when almost everything was SPICY, but we found some mild noodles and some pork that was only… flavorful.  But breakfast is wonderful.  They have Asianie things like noodles and rice and baked yams (for breakfast?), but they also have some more western things like fried eggs, pancakes, bacon, and french-toast.  And they also have different flavors of juice–one of which was grapefruit which I had never seen before.

Our hotel is very nice, and it is a lot like American hotels.  The view out of the window is just short of breathtaking!  There’s a pond out there that the building is kind-of built around so it’s almost like a courtyard.  In some places the water comes right up to the hotel-walls, and in some places there’s a little patio or strip of land in between.  It is SO beautiful!  With the goldfish clustering around in the water, the little trees and patches of green grass, the vines climbing up the yellow walls, the red roofs, the palm-trees, the little wooden porches and long wooden benches, the stepping-stones; with big Chinese buildings and a foggy Chinese sky rising behind it… can you tell I’m in raptures about this little spot? 🙂

Our guide is also very nice.  She is organized and friendly and cheerful.  She’s the only guide I’ve ever had, so I don’t have anything to compare her to; but I decided I liked her before I’d known her for an hour!

I stick out here like a banana in a smoke-house!  People stare at us a lot.  Sometimes people stare at you in America, but I think it’s worse here…. though I could, of course, just be making that up.  We were standing by the fence around our hotel today, and people on the street outside kept looking at us as they walked by.  “It’s like we’re in a zoo!” mom said! 🙂  Sometimes I just ignore people that stare at me, sometimes I smile (especially if they’re children), and sometimes I just stare back.  I’m not sure how I should be responding!

AND-

(Drum-roll please)

WE’RE MEETING LUCY TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The two king-sized beds in our room are pretty close together; and I think it was a long time after we all woke up, but shortly after we turned on the light and all admitted that we were awake (which was a long time before we all got up), mom looked over at me and said, “It’s Lucy-day!”  I just grinned, because it was too early to freak out–but I was freaking out inside!  FREAKIN’ OUT!!!

I can’t believe it!  I’m meeting my sister today!  I’ve wondered about this for a long time.  I wonder what she’ll be like.  What she’ll think of me.  But all my anxiety melts into absolute insignificance when I think about what she might be thinking!  Does she know that she’s meeting her family today?  I hope so.  Is she happy?  I hope so.  Is she excited?  I hope so.  Is she scared? I hope not.  Is she nervous?  Probably.  Is she curious?  How could she not be?!  I pray she is not scared or confused!

 

There is so much more I could tell you!  This is in a nutshell.

And speaking of nuts, I got to try roasted chess-nuts yesterday for the first time!  They were… interesting.  They reminded me of potatoes, honestly.  It was fun to get to try them, because now I know what they are.  You hear about them a lot in English literature!

So far China has been great!  Becca told me before we left: “I think you’ll like it (paraphrased) if you just think of it as an adventure.”

And that’s what I’m doing.  I just keep telling myself: “It’s an adventure.  Just have fun!   Don’t lose your bag.  DON’T DROP YOUR PASSPORT!  Stay under your umbrella (it’s been COLD and WET here!) but don’t bump into  anything with it (even though our guide already hit someone on the head with hers).  Look both ways.  See as much as you can without losing mom and dad.

“Live it up.  Breathe it in–even the smog.

“It is beautiful.”

 

“Then let’s look on the bright side: we’re having an adventure…”

-The Princess Bride, by William Goldman, page 295

Adoption, Life

Tomorrow?!

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Are we going to China tomorrow?

I don’t think so.  It isn’t possible, is it?

Come on, people, give me some grace: I haven’t convinced myself yet that we are going to CHINA!

During our first adoption, I never would have guessed that we would ever do an international adoption.  We actually wanted to do a second domestic adoption… but that door was closed–God closed it.  Because he knew Lucy was out there for us.

He knew she needed us… and we needed her.

We weren’t thinking China either, it was just an open door.  It was just the option that seemed like it was the best fit for our family.

Lucy was born in 2006… the year we went to Florida as a family (at the time, which was without M and Lucy 🙁 )

I wonder what my little five-year-old self was doing that day when, on the other side of the world, things were happening that would change my life–forever.

Yes, we are leaving tomorrow–probably earlier than I’ve ever left the house before.  This is going to be a adventure!  Will you pray for us?

*for Lucy, that she would not be scared or confused

*for health and safety while we’re in China

*for health and safety for those of us staying home, and that God would give them grace and peace

Thank you for coming on this journey with us!  I don’t know if I’ll be able to post from China, but if not then I’ll see you in two weeks!

Adoption

Post #2

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And no, I’m not just going to number off my posts!  That’s cheating. 🙂  I’ll start thinking of interesting names soon!

“Why is adoption so expensive?  I feel like we’re BUYING children!”  I said a while back while we were talking about adoption.

“We’re not buying them,” Spencer said, “We’re ransoming them.”

“Adoption is redemption.  It is costly, exhausting, expensive andoutrageous.  Buying back lives costs so much. When God set out to redeem us, it killed him.”  –Derek Loux

I know adoption is expensive, I know it’s exhausting.  I know it’s costly: it is wearing on us–emotionally, financially, physically.

But it’s worth it!  SO worth it.

Michael has been worth it.  Worth every penny–worth WAY more than that!  And I know Lucy will be too.  She already has!

“Adoption is the gospel in my living room.” -Katie Davis