It's a wonderful life.

When a family's adoption story grows silent, I always wonder how things are. If everything turned out okay. Now that we've been absent here for over a year, I thought I'd return with a quick update, just in case someone else delving into the adoption world, looking for any information they can, happens upon this space.

Our Christmas cards last year read, "It's a wonderful life." That's really an accurate summary. Of course there are hard moments and days and weeks, and there are tears shed and raised voices and frequent need for forgiveness, for all of us. But more than that, there is joy and fun and togetherness and adventure and celebrating. There is love and grace and more good things than we can count.

We're homeschooling again this year, as it continues to be such a good (if sometimes difficult) fit for our family. We have two independent readers and two boys eager to learn, and are filling many of our days with many good books, as everyone in this house loves a good story more than almost anything.

We are happily awaiting the arrival of baby number six (!), another little sister, who we're expecting in the next few weeks. We're also enjoying the last few weeks before James's first deployment. This year holds big, new things for all of us, that is for sure. If there's one thing we know, it's how little we know of what God has planned for us in the days and months to come!

Six Months Down, Forever To Go

It's been six months since the judge said yes. Six months since we officially became a family of seven. Like many things do, it feels both like we were in Uganda so much more recently, and that so much more time must have passed since that life-changing day.

Now, six months later, we're still learning each other. Still figuring out how to best communicate with each member of our family. Still experimenting with the best ways to promote harmony and teamwork. That might look a little bit different here than it does in some other homes, but really, isn't that the continuous journey of parents the world over?

As we learn more about each other, we're drawing closer to each other. We're finding better ways to communicate love, appreciation, and respect. We're noticing the wonderful, unique way each person in our home was created, and trying to facilitate an environment that will help each of us thrive.

We've been homeschooling for six weeks now, and it's been such a great (stretching!) experience that has been an important part of the dynamic we're trying to promote here. Curiosity and exploration are able to be encouraged and provided for, relationships are able to be the priority, and flexibility is able to be taken advantage of. (Of course, these things don't always happen. Our family struggles as much as the next, but, our current situation makes these things possible. They're on the table, and by grace we hope to choose them more often than not.)

Not everything we've tried has worked, but part of the beauty of where we're at right now is the ability to set the things aside that don't seem to fit and try, try again until we find what does. Despite the inevitable bumps in the road, the progress that's been made in six weeks has been kind of remarkable.

One of our biggest goals is to encourage a love of lifelong learning - an inclination they already have. (Don't we all, at least at first?) So far, it feels like we're on the right track.

In case it needs to be said, the decision we've made for our family, for this year, is just that: a decision based on what's best for us at this time. We support homeschooling, public schooling, and private schooling. Learning is beautiful wherever it's happening, and what works for one family may not for another. We're for families doing what's right for them; we all have different journeys, each as beautiful as the next. Today, may we each be able to see the wonderful in the stories of the people around us and encourage one another in love and sincerity.