Black Friday

“It’s different when they are your’s”.  

Two years and a few months ago, Cheryl and I had the fortunate encounter of listening to friends talk about their own experience as foster and later adoptive parents.  Long time readers might remember me writing about them.  They showed us the path to fostering and took our baby puzzle blog in a whole new direction.  They explained to Cheryl when she asked, “when did you feel like they were yours?”  “Oh honey, they were never mine, they were gifts from God, we just got a chance to take care of them for a little while.”

On our Balck Friday we head to the stores in search of new possessions.  New things that we can own.  New things we can manipulate and change.  New things that are ours.  They can be held as a shiny new object.  They can be thrown away without  a second look.  On this glorious discounted day we search for the deal of a life time.  We search for things we can possess, things we can own.

Humans cannot be owned.  “It’s different when they are your’s”.  I was raised by an adopted mom.  My dad was raised by adopted dad.  The children who are placements in our home cannot be thrown away without a second look, therefore they are not our possession, but gifts from God.  

Today, yes even on Black Friday, I am happy for things that I still long for.  Many of my things are not able to be bought at a store.  Today I am happy to know that God has given me many gifts.  Today, I am happy to be reminded that family and friends alike, have given goods examples of the gifts I have been afforded.  While others still believe “It’s different when they are your’s”, I know the things that truly matter in life are not those things that I own, they are not things I can throw away or dismiss, they are something much different then any Black Friday sale can provide

Today, remember what you were thankful for yesterday.  Happy Black Friday!

Turkey Tuesday Thanks

As we prepare for the holiday coming this Thursday, it leads me to be introspective about the things we have experienced and are thankful for.  2015 has been another unique year.  I am thankful for many things and I am sure that if I sat listing them all it may sound like everything in my life.  Here are three things for our “Turkey Tuesday”.

Since last Thanksgiving, Cheryl and I have said goodbye to two of our three placements, hello to two new kiddos and grown closer to our three current placements.  I am very thankful for the many gifts that each child gives us.  They all have their own personalities, but in their own unique way they show us what it means to love and be loved.  They grow and discover the world around them and as they do they remind me of the simple things in our lives that are just as important as the more complicated ones.  Seeing the world through a child’s eye has a certain level of innocence and can un-complicate a complicated decision without even trying.  I am very thankful for our three little ones with us and the two littles back home with their families.

My second Turkey Tuesday Thanks is from back in April. I spent 16 days in the hospital and another two weeks on “couch rest”.  During that time a lot of the slack I left behind had to be picked up.  Some of the slack was by family, some by co-workers and a whole lot by my loving wife.  Cheryl was a rock who went to work, came home and took care of our kiddos and found time to take care of her emotionally fragile husband.  I am thankful for the family and friends who lent her a hand in taking care of the kiddos, of the house, the dogs, and her.  Cheryl went to bat for me, making sure the doctors were on track, she slept on hard chairs and she held me up.  This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for all of the slack pickers in my time of need.

The third Turkey Tuesday Thanks is for the many coming changes that Cheryl and I anticipate in the coming year.  We feel like we will have a more clear understanding what our “baby puzzle” picture will look like.  We have been working feverishly to set ourselves up for our “domestic dad” plan and we will have a more active role in forming the people our littles are becoming.  Every year there is change and I know that nothing is ever static.  Having a chance to live out our goals and our plans makes me thankful.

So, from the Covert’s house and my own blogging desk, I want to wish you a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving.  And that you may remember to remember the many blessings in your life.  Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving

I am posting this a bit early because I imagine that on Thanksgiving I will most likely be busy giving thanks.

Cheryl and I have so many things to give thanks for.  I will write this from a “me” position since it is a me list of thank yous.  I am thankful for Cheryl; she keeps the ball rolling and puts up with Nick the grouch.  I am thankful for the kiddos who have come to us; they give us a chance to see the hands of God and impart just a little piece of wisdom.  I am thankful for baseball; yes less than serious than some of the others to some, but still just as important.  I am thankful for the overabundance of gifts I have been graced;  I am far less deserving of them and much of the time I rely too heavily upon them, but I do my best to enhance my world around me with them.  I am thankful for a good job; the grass is never truly greener on the other side of the road it just has a different view of the world around you.  I am thankful for the extended family who lives close by and a bit further away; so many instance that I have relied on your generosity and taken more than what could be my own fair share from you and still you give your love and your support.  I am thankful for the many friends whom I call my “urban family”;  many times I rely on you just as much or more than I would a family member and I know that many of you have given me a hard push back on track to where and how I live today.  I am thankful for those who I may be able to spend this holiday and holiday season with; and know that even for those who I may not have that chance to spend it with many of you are still on my heart and my mind and all of those people are with me in spirit.  I am thankful for the many things I have to be thankful for; going without, being without, not having is more than many can handle.

We plan to have some extended family over for dinner on Thanksgiving.  We plan on finishing our Christmas decorating outside and in on the Friday/Saturday/Sunday.  We plan on going to Flagstaff to cut down a tree.  We plan on making a few good memories that Cheryl and I will cherish for our first parenting Thanksgiving.

I want to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!