thankful 4, 5, 6

Posting everyday is hard!  I've had this post floating around in my head since yesterday and just haven't had a chance to sit down and type it! 

Anyway, things I'm thankful for parts 4, 5 ad 6.

I am so, so, so, SO unbelievably blessed to have been given the family that I have.  See, two months after I was born I was adopted. 

*To answer the questions that statement always brings I will say this: I've just always known, I've never met (nor do I really have the desire to) my biological family and I look just like my daddy.*

So the first aspect of my family that I'm thankful is a woman I've never met- my biological mother.  Without her and her sacrifice, I wouldn't be here now.  I'm thankful that she chose to give me LIFE and that she made the most difficult choice to give me a BETTER life.

I had a couple of friends growing up who were also adopted.  I've often wondered if my life would look like theirs if I had been adopted by THEIR family... but that's a question only the Lord knows how to answer. 

That thankfulness flows directly into my parents.  How blessed am I to have been adopted into a family who loves the Lord and seeks Him wholeheartedly... who taught me of Him from an early age... who loved me as their own without any hesitation? 

My parents have always supported me and wanted the very best for me.  Have I always believed that- of course not!  I was a teenager too, you know!  Have we always gotten along beautifully- no.  But I have NEVER once doubted their love, never once doubted they would be there to pick me up when I fell.  I have always known and FELT their prayers surrounding me.  I couldn't ask for more than that in parents.

I remember when I was in the first grade, a girl who knew I was adopted said to me- "you know, you're mom isn't REALLY your mom."  I immediately burst into tears and ran away... when I got home from school, I collapsed into my mommy's arms crying.  When I told her what my friend said, she took my chin and wiped my tears and said to me: "What is a mommy?  Let's make a list..."  She walked to my desk and got a pad of paper and began to make a list.  We sat there on the bed for an hour, writing out all the things that SHE did for me day in and day out... at the end of the list she wrote: "now THAT is a real mommy." 

Even now, 21 years later, tears fill my eyes as I remember that night.  I can close my eyes and SEE my mom's handwriting, I can picture the list.  I still have that list and would have to say that's one of my most prized posessions. 

My daddy took care of me like no one else could!  To this day, I believe that my love language of "acts of service" stems from my relationship with him.  It was obvious that he took his responsibility of taking care of his girls most seriously.

While some dads were too busy to be at their kids activities, my dad never missed a single basketball game, piano recital, church play... he was always sitting there proudly with my mom (and usually a couple of grandparenst!) and was happy to be there.  That's something I'm sure I've taken for granted far to often.

Ephesians 1:5 says "God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ..."  I've always thought that it was so cool and such a privilege to have been adopted twice.