A 'Normal' Family

Ahhh, the quest to be normal.What exactly does that mean? Many don't view our family as normal. I have been asked, by children, teenagers, and adults many rude and unbelievable comments since Little Man and I became a family.

 "Can't you have children?" (Yes, I do have children, I have one son :) "No, you know one of your own?" (Last time I checked he was my very own son...I don't have any others.) "Is he your real son or are you his real mom?" (Neither one of us are pretend...you can see me right?) "Is he...?" (Very tall for his age...yes he is.) Was his father black? (Yep.) "You do make sure you tell people that he's adopted, right?" (Actually, that's really nobody's business but ours, he's my SON, not my 'adopted son'.) Ethiopia huh...did his parents have AIDS? (Again, nobody's business but ours.) He's your son? (Yep, we're both tall, we both have brown eyes and curly hair, he just has a better tan.)  Well, you know how it is over there (Ethiopia). They just keep having babies and then giving them away.(Actually, choosing to place your child to be raised with someone outside of the birth family is one of the hardest decisions a person ever has to make. Most of the families only do so when they see that the alternative for their child is death by starvation or illness. I've been there and seen the heartbreak in the birth families eyes.)

I'm sorry perfect strangers. The amazing, beautiful, heart breaking details of how we became a family are none of your business, even if we are in the same aisle at the grocery store. :) Little Man knows that the details of his life in Ethiopia before he came home (he was almost three) are not for everyone to know about. His birth history is special, and it's his to share with those people who are close to him, not the whole world.

There are not real children and adopted children. Just children and their loving families.

So, what is a normal family?

 

I've decided that I don't care. I work really hard at trying to not keep up with what the world thinks is normal in other areas of my life, and I don't plan on changing that now.  I'm choosing to go by God's standards and while there are a ton of 'begats' listed in the Bible, there are also stories of adoption of the natural and spiritual kind. I am just a mom who loves her Little Man, and Baby B (that she has yet to meet). A mom who recently spent nine days sleeping on the living room floor because he son was allergic to something in his room and it was keeping him up at night. A mom who would walk through fire to protect her children. A mom who believes an institution (no matter how loving)  is not a home, and no child should have to be raised in one. A mom who believes that families are grown in the heart. 

Is adoption better than having biological children? No, but it is an equally normal choice for forming a family.

 Are we normal?

I may be a little biased, but I happen to think our family is EXTRAordinary!

 

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. James 1:27