Keeping it Real

This adoption is surreal.  I have to pinch myself many days because it feels like I'm in a dream.  Are we really going to travel half way around the world in a few months and scoop up this little girl and bring her home?  Are we really going to be responsible for her forever and ever? Really?  I know. It's so "out there."  I mean, how often does a couple with five biological children adopt?  Not very often.

If it weren't for the incredible peace that the Lord sends us every time we pray about Anna and look at her pictures, it would seem just as crazy to us as it does to most people, I'm sure.

I'll tell you what, though. Our eleven year old daughter doesn't need to pray to know that Anna is her sister. She has known from day one. Not only does she know that she's her sister, but she knows what Anna is going to mean in her life because of her Down Syndrome.  

Sadie now has a radar that finds people with Down Syndrome wherever we go.  At the pool: "MOM! Did you see that little boy with DS in the locker room?  Wasn't he SOO cute?  Did you talk to his mom?" 

When we're shopping, she wants me to tell the store clerk about Anna.  When I'm chatting with people in the neighborhood, she nudges me because she wants me to  make sure that they know that we are adopting.  There's nothing scary or out-of-the ordinary about  adopting a child with special needs, if you ask Sadie.  It's as normal as a bowl of Cheerios before school.  And she's not a little five-year-old.  She's eleven!

She knows how I struggle with this all being "real."  The other day, I came home after being gone for a few hours and found this.  She had pulled up Anna's picture on the computer and printed two copies and hung them up.

One by my desk

and one on the fridge.

Thanks, Sadie. What would I do without you?  You help to make this more real for me.  I need this right now while we wait to meet Anna and hold her in our arms.  You know what's so cool?  If God is willing, Anna is going to soon experience the love of a real sister.  Can you imagine that?  Incredible.