Two Months Home: A Forever Family Story
A special thanks goes out to Kari Nichols for sharing about their adoption story.
Sean has been in our arms for 2 months! I can’t believe how much he has changed in such a short time.
I can’t believe how much I have changed in such a short time!
Sean has microtia and atresia. Essentially, he has no ears. We don’t give it a second thought. He may have hearing loss but he manages to get his point across just fine. One day I accidentally threw a paper bag with his sunglasses into recycling and he let me know exactly what I did and what he needed. Don’t get me wrong, it involved tears, hand gestures and when I didn’t catch on with that he progressed to arm flailing, door beating and a whole lot of pointing. He never gave up though. This little boy can pantomime like nobody’s business! He communicates more with his handful of words and his face and hands than I ever thought possible. He is amazing for any child but for a little boy with no ears, moderate to severe conductive hearing loss and very limited speech, he is a miracle.
I forget that a lot. The last two months have been painful. I have never been more aware of my flaws and weaknesses. I hate mornings, love my sleep, like my space, value peace and quiet and desperately need alone time on a daily basis. I’m low energy, impatient, quick to judge, inflexible, and fiercely independent. I could slide by and ignore my shortcomings with one toddler but now that we have added another there is no ignoring the obvious. Change hurts, growth is painful and there is nothing enjoyable about being hurled outside my comfort zone. Sean sometimes inspires me to bring out the best version of myself. My life is a million times richer for loving him.
Being Sean’s mother is one of the greatest challenges and biggest blessings God could have given me. We could have chosen comfort, sleep, slow southern living and avoided the unknown but I thank God every day that we didn’t because then we wouldn’t have Sean. He is funny, witty, smart, athletic, sweet, gentle and patient. He is quick to forgive, tenacious and relentless in how he loves. If we hadn’t said yes then we’d be missing out on his radiant smile and his infectious laugh. There are few things that hurt more than having my son called an alien and a monster to his face but the thought of life without him is one of them. He is worth the hurt that comes with growing and changing and letting go of the old, comfortable ‘normal’. Oh, I mourn it sometimes but the new normal is turning out to be pretty breathtakingly beautiful. We were happy before Sean but we had no idea how incomplete our joy was. He has been our family's greatest ‘yes’.
I am so grateful God called us and so thankful he gave us the courage to say yes!
For more information on the China adoption program contact china@awaa.org