Cinnamon Swirl Love

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Blog Love

So I get this e-mail from a friend of mine....completely unrelated to the RAD world. She says is (click here) ...this... you????????????

"Yes" it is! Nice surprise.

I'm posting the 7 Things About Me...firstly because I was asked...and secondly , I think it's very good to remind ourselves and encourage others to remind themselves that life is not all about RAD all the time.

1. I am a photographer.
2. I home-educate. Teaching IEW this year among other things.
3. I do not have a belly button.
4. I love film. Went to USC Film School. Trying to produce a film as we speak.
5. I enjoy crocheting and bead work.
6. My favorite books are A Tree Grows in Brooklyn & Stepping Heavenward.
7. I love travel and the Food Network.
8. I'm not sure the Lord's finished expanding our family.

Update:
(I just realized that I posted 8 things. I have no idea why I did that????????) Exhaustion??????

Thank you, Beckyjoie for the compliment and the encouragement.

Promise Land

For many adoptive parents, the long wait during the adoption process or even just the longing to grow your family has felt like the desert wanderings of the Israelites. You have survived this torturous season. You have trusted Christ for your daily sustenance. You have hoped with joy at what lies ahead. You have followed Him to this child. To bring home your pined for child seems about to cross the Jordan. Soon you will be together forever and the time as a family will be rich and fruitful and yummy. But and a major but to possess the promise land with a RADish takes work. There will be battles. Lots of them. You will have to fight for the regulated and joy filled home. It will seem impossible. The temptation is to be grumbling like the Israelites. It was better before this all began. The wait was easier than the adoption itself. At least I was familiar with pining. It had become comfortable. What was I hoping for? God has led us all this way to now let us fumble, fear and faint with this child. But we must be like Joshua, beloved. We must see the possibilities for our child and for our family. We must be willing to enter into the wars and impossible circumstances. There is hope. We have promises. He will not leave us. He will go before us. He will give us strength for each battle and a way out of every temptation. The possibility of milk and honey so far exceeds the sand of the desert. For your child. For your family. For you. Press in.



~thoughts and reflections after reading Number 16

10 Positives

Recently I was asked to describe my kids by someone who doesn't know them. She said, "you know. what are their personalities like, what are their interests. you know." I honestly sat there dumbfounded for a good 30 seconds. I started to talk about my other kids while I was frantically multi-tasking in my brain to think of things for my RADish. Things flooding to my brain were.... well, like... she likes to manipulate people....or have total freak outs during lessons.... or fake laugh with strangers. Honestly. I know here that doesn't seem crazy but in other circles....like with this lady I don't know well, those were so far from appropriate answers. I wouldn't talk about those things with her for one but also because somehow it seemed incomplete. It had been a hard few weeks. Really hard. Like every inch of my body was feeling her emotional pain hard. I was exhausted. Her choices flooded my days and absorbed my nights. Fortunately, I could see that even having those thoughts did not reflect my desire to pursue my child's heart. I realized in that moment how focused on the behavior I had become that week. I had given the sin too much power in our home. This is a child--my child--that I am fighting for not just behaviors and a will I am trying to curb. But those were thoughts to be mulled over later. I had to give this woman an answer. I began listing a two things my lovey is naturally good at and changed the subject.

As I thought later about all of this, I sat quietly with the Lord. I repented of the ways I had not seen my child this week and for the distraction I had allowed sin to become. Then I listed 10 things that she was good at or growing in or had at one time made me smile over. It wasn't easy. The days have been hard. She seems to be in a horrible mood from the moment she wakes up til the moment she finally falls asleep. She doesn't seem to think about anything fun or happy. I need to help ID those things for her, though, and help her work towards honing those skills in her regulated times instead of her survival skills. So do it. As a part of I Thessalonians 5:18. When there are no warm fuzzy or easy days, choosing thankfulness and the child's heart and God's sovereignty refocuses our minds. 10 things you can thank God for in your child. Share in our comments if you feel led to help get other parents thinking and to delight in the child God has given you.

Big Feelings

Big big big feelings over here.

Friends of ours adopted a baby (at day one). Mom lost a son a few months ago and has continued to pump her breast milk sacrificially and faithfully. She is now able to nurse her adopted newborn.

Girlie is watching closely....this entire story unfold.

She asked me recently if she could sue Russia. For the lack of care she received as a young child.

The good news....she expressed her anger, frustration, and disappointment in a healthy way.

She trusted me.

____________________

She was "off" in the beginning of the week. I couldn't put my finger on it. Finally, she was asked to spend some quite time...pondering deeply her "obvious off-ness." She wasn't to rejoin the family until she could articulate the issue buried below the surface.

Within 10 minutes she was standing before me with a quivering lip. She wanted to know if I thought she had cancer.

?????????????

Two days prior we had been at the dermatologist and she had seen a Cancer Warning Signs poster on the wall....complete w/photos.

It is a dry patch.

The good news is....she was able to identify her fear...articulate it(rather quickly) and trust me.

__________________________

A friend of ours has a son who is having unexplained seizures. Last week he was unconscious for 6 minutes and we were all worried.

Again...two days later...Girlie asks how our loved one is? I tell her he's seeing a specialist and that he is fine right now.

Her response...."cause if he died we'd be going to a funeral, right?"

I asked her if she thought that if he had died that maybe possibly I might be crying and sharing the news w/the rest of the family and crying and mourning and talking about it..... and crying????????

"I was just checking," was her response...... (then)...... "Of course you would be crying....What was I thinking?"

The good news.....she got around to speaking her fear out loud. She trusted me.


____________________________

Towards the end of the week...Girlie was "off" again. Couldn't quite put my finger on it.

She was asked to go think about her 'off-ness" and not return until she had it all figured out.

About 10 minutes later she is standing before me...lip quivering again.

It seems she had had a sore throat for two days but didn't want to tell me because she thought it might go away on it's own.

The good news....she was able to articulate her fear (rather quickly.) She trusted me.

I explained that I would rather know about sore throats when they first appear because we are a family who shares straws. She acknowledged that that made more sense and promised to do so in the future.

I gave her medicine.
_____________________________

All this rising to the surface in one week's time.


Big big big feelings over here.


P.S. Also had to ask for a larger cup bra. Big time trust.

Just remembered.....my hubbie and I are traveling. Alone. Our first real vacation alone during our 19 years of marriage. We are the kind of people who like to take our kids everywhere with us. It's killing us not to bring them...but it's Italy and its's waaaaaaay too expensive to get 7 people there...and it's sorta a combined work/pleasure trip. I'm shooting a wedding :)

Anyways.....back to Girlie.

She whispered in my ear the other nite while I was tickling her back (which she loves and asks for)...."do you think my RAD will come back when you are away?"

"No. Never"....I reassured her.

LOL! Things have for sure improved GREATLY around here over time (slow and steady wins the race) but does she think her RAD is gone?????????

Isn't it absolutely amazing how the Lord works through the circumstances of our lives?

Every step along the Sanctification Road leads us Home. Even the baby steps.

Love in Rocky Places

On a recent walk...we collected a pile of quartz. Wasn't expecting to find a little lovin'...but nevertheless...there it was.

Look for love in the unlikeliest of places.

you are NOT alone

This goes out specifically to my "new phone friend." Anytime.

.....Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. Amen.

Matthew 28:20

Eye Contact

Across the board, eye contact--or the lack thereof---is always an issue for our kiddos. It is just too intimate. My little one will look anywhere except my eyes. Eyebrows, nose, cheeks, ears..... sometimes it seems to be in my eyes but there is a glaze. It is like she is unfocusing her eyes to not have to be in the moment with me.

I have started doing something a little odd. Bu hey, you have to get creative with these kids!! So I thought I would share it with you in the off chance it might help someone out there. When she is looking in my eyes, or saying she is, I move ever so slightly from the left and right. If her eyes track with mine, I know she is not glazing over. Once I know we have eye contact, we can address intimately the challenge, need, pain or lesson before us.

spoiled strawberry heart

Phileo 2

Cate's last post is crucial...in my humble opinion.

An absolutely crucial concept for Christ following parents of kids struggling w/attachment to acknowledge (if present), grasp, and pursue resolution to.

I will never forget the moment of clarity...years into our struggle.... when I realized that what was missing on my end wasn't an agape love....but a (click here)PHILEO love.

That natural affinity towards another person. That "brotherly" love which so often comes organically....and ever so naturally.

It's not that it had never existed.

It was there. For sure. But it had retreated ...hidden itself behind protective walls after being mocked, torn down...spit on...kicked...taken advantage of and abused. Feelings of phileo love had disappeared.

(It was very similar to a dark and troubled time in our marriage when it was as if all hints of phileo love and eros love had vanished into thin air.)

On Girlie's end...both types of love...phileo and agape were missing.

Girlie might've.... possibly.... had a phileo love for me/us...but it was was not manifested, communicated or received as such.

Agape love on her part?????? No Holy Spirit...so no possibility of it's authentic existence.

Yes.... Lord, grant us phileo love when our hearts fail us....all the while supplying us with a never ending overflowing fountain of agape love.

It is our desire that we would love our sons and daughters...those you have entrusted into our care...as You would have us love them. Help us to be good stewards of these good and precious gifts You have given.

Phileo Love

Lord of miracles, give me a phileo love for this child, especially in the hardest moments.

Identifying Triggers

God's timing is always so amazing. I just posted on defining this Mommy love thing. Then tonight it was the root of a 24+ crazy cycle. I don't know about you guys, but I find it so hard to find the triggers. Sometimes I get "pretty" responses, but there seems to be something below the surface of the answers she has learned get reactions.

It went something like this. . . we were getting ready for bed and she was choosing very inappropriate behavior to communicate she felt the need to be in control. After getting her to a calmer place, we began talking about what was going on. She said it was because she was afraid at our friends' house for dinner. Tempting to believe, right? We were in a new place, maybe someone said something, etc? But then, so gently, I am reminded by the Holy Spirit that she was having the same control battles at lunch today and dinner last night. So I pushed her to go deeper. . . honey, I don't think that is what is hurting your heart. You were having a hard time all time today and last night. Can you think hard and be brave and trust me with your heart? After a very long time and lots of redirecting, she said it was because she fell yesterday. (I knew about this and she seemed ok) She said she was really hurt and wanted me but didn't tell me how hurt she was.

We talked it out starting with how Mommy couldn't have known she was hurt because when little girls are hurt, they cry for their Mommies. Or they use their words to say how hurt they are. Then the Mommies hug and kiss their babies. Awe and shock from the RADling. She wants and doesn't want that simultaneously. Can you tell me what happened in the orphanage when you got hurt? I am so sorry that happened. That must have been scary. But I am not a nanny in an orphanage. I am a Mommy. Your Mommy. And we talked and talked about what that means and things the orphanage taught her and how she was treating me like an orphanage worker. Most importantly how things would be different.

She apologized for trying to be in control of the family and not using her words. After HOURS of pursuing her heart, from tantrums and yelling to playful snuggles and peace, she went to sleep with a huge smile and promise to let me be her Mommy tomorrow.

Long post short? Define love, define family, define Mommy. Try to find the triggers--the first trigger to the cycle. Pray, pray, pray.

Define Love

A few years after she came home...it became apparent to me that our Girlie needed to hear truth from us about her early life.

She was not connecting with the whole concept of a "Mommy." (Nor a "Daddy" / "Family" for that matter)

I remember our first transparent & authentic conversation about this "mommy" thing well. It was intimate. It was loving. It was very, very difficult...for her and for me.

In Girlie's mind...the orphanage workers whom she grew up with.... loved her.

In her mind...her birth mother loved her (red flag red flag red flag!!!!!!!!!!!!before you have a heart attack about the birth mother thing....hear me out.)

In her mind....we....her parents....loved her.

Yet to her, we were no different than the orphanage workers. No different than her birth mother.

It hit me then and there....very softly...like a whisper.

She thinks you are just like them.

She thinks they loved her..... but then they either left her or let her go. We say we love her....but what's stopping us from leaving her too or.... from letting her go?

Here's the words I spoke to her....very carefully. With lots of tenderness.

The orphanage workers might have cared for you...maybe they even loved you on some level...but not like a mommy loves you. If they were not paid to care for you....they would not have. They did not take you into their own homes. They did not try to keep you for themselves when we came to get you. Therefore, they did not love you like a mommy loves you.

Your birth mother....we do not know her...therefore we do not know her heart. What we do know...is that she cared enough about you to give you life. We do know that she cared enough about you to leave you in the care of a hospital the day you were born.

We also know that she did not come to the orphanage to inquire after you for 4.5 years. When ads were run in the local paper...telling the community of your pending adoption....she did not come. She might've loved you on some level...but she did not love you like a mommy loves you.

Mommies do not say, "I love you "....and watch as complete strangers take you away. Mommies scratch out the eye balls of strangers who try to take their kids away because we love you.

She let all the info sink in. I saw her little mind processing. Her wheels were turning. After a while she started to cry...heartbroken. Utterly heartbroken.

"So who loved me, then?"

"Jesus loved you, Honey. The whole time you were in the orphanage...those long 4.5 years...Jesus loved you and He never left you or gave you away.

Girlie was wounded. And angry. And sad.

This is so important parents...so listen......

If our children do not grieve their losses....they will be stunted. They cannot grow in a healthy manner without working through their grief.

We do not help them by ignoring their losses or by glossing over them. We help them by acknowledging and processing through their losses with them.

I went on....

"As soon as Mommy and Daddy knew about you....we started the paperwork the very next day and came to get you the minute we were allowed. We flew all the way across the world...just to get you. To bring you home. Our daughter."

Believe me when I say....it was as if a huge burden was lifted from my little girlie's shoulders that day.

Without being able to articulate it...she had been walking around with a warped idea of what love is.

In her world....love didn't mean much. So WHAT!?!?!?!?!?...you love me? Big flippin deal!

Parents.........define love.

What is a Mommy?

I talked a bit last year about the seemingly emptiness of the word Mommy as it rolls off a little RADtastics lips.  At times it feels like everything is so fake.  So I started asking my little darling the same question every couple of months:
What is a Mommy?
For a very, very, very long time the only answer I got was "gives me clothes" or "makes me food."
Now I don't discredit that answer completely.  (especially if your child was malnourished or worse--food could = love)  BUT it was clearly incomplete.  Your social history may be different, but for us, I was able to say, "Hmm, but the nannies in the orphanage gave you clothes to wear, right?" or "the nannies at the orphanage gave you food, right?"  "What does a Mommy do?"
Over time and hearing her siblings answers, she will now say "gives me snuggles, kisses me, helps me, teaches me, etc.  I don't know how much of it has really sunk in, but at least floating in her mind is the truth that there is something special about our relationship.... about having one of these Mommy-deals of your very own.

Talk it out

My kiddos came home around preschool age from an international orphanage.  All of them have vivid memories.  Some have more of them than others.  As they shared pieces of them, I was beginning to see that their memories, dreams and thoughts of that place were impacting our relationships at home.  We've had to have some very straightforward discussions.  I think what is most important in talking with these wounded children is truth. The beautiful and the fuzzy right along with the ugly.  The truth of what they've been through so that the Truth can be applied for healing.  Some awesome starters for your older kids:

Do you want to talk about (country/orphanage)?

What do you remember?

Do you have any questions?  I may not have the answers but I'd be happy to talk it out with you.

I am not good on the fly all of the time.  So I always have a few replies at the forefront of my mind before initiating a conversation.  (how did that make you feel?, that must have been scary, what did you do?  who else was there?  do you want to know more about that?  If I was there, I would have...., let me think about that and let's talk again later).

If they seem aloof or disinterested, just follow up with a:

Okay, if you ever want to talk about it, just know I am here.  Talking about (your birth country, birthmother or O) does not make mommy scared or sad.  I am your mommy and I care about what goes on in your heart!

I think very often there are big feelings just under the surface.  The anger is coming from somewhere.  They need to find a safe place in you.  A listening ear is a good place to start.