Close to My Heart

One of my favorite pieces of jewelry...

Mine doesn't have a J on it...mine has a cross where the J is.  I love it. This was a gift from my husband for my birthday. I wear this nearly every day. (I never was much of a jewelery girl - more of the simple type I guess). I keep our children close to my heart - one I can hold, the others I can't but know I will soon. These children are gifts from God...entrusted to us. Gifts.  Extra special gifts. (You can find this necklace and other great pieces at Blueberry Silver - just click the words and it will take you to the site.)

I say a prayer for our child(ren) each time I put it on. And I thank God for his babies (all of them) and I ask him to continue to hold them in the palm of his hand - protect, love and bring us together soon.

I also got a chance to talk to one of the sweet elderly women at church today. I hadn't talked to her for a while and she hadn't seen E for quite some time.  She is a beautiful woman, who blessed E and me today in a special way. She had come to our baby shower at church - she didn't know us, nor did we know her. But she was there with her daughter.  So I saw her today, and she commented on how big E is getting and how beautiful he is.  She said, "is he the adopted boy?"  I said, "yes". She said, "his birth mom must be beautiful." I said, "yes, she is."  She went on to say, "I think that E is extra special, and God made him extra special...I just love him, and my daughter and I hold him in a very special place in our hearts."  She asked if we had any other children, and I said, we are waiting for our next one.  She said, "will he or she be adopted?" I said, yes, and told her where we are adopting from. She said, "God chooses special people to love children who don't have a family. People who can love beyond themselves and love a person that doesn't share their DNA." She hugged me, and then thanked me/us for what we are doing.

We are just doing what God has called us to do. Not for praise, or to be a "hero". Just plain, simple obedience. And we are the ones who are blessed by these children. We are the lucky ones.  Our family looks different..we are created by God's design.  This one thing is true and what we live by, Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27