Family Home

Spring Break
March 2015

It's been a while since there's been an update on our adoption... Needless to say, we've been a little busy! We celebrated Jordany's one year homecoming on April 7, 2015. In some ways the year just flew by, but as I think over it, so much happened in those 365 days of finally having him home.

Coming Home
April 2014

One thing I've learned is that I hardly knew anything about adoption until Jordany became a permanent part of our family. It's not that I didn't study, go to seminars, talk to people, read books...it's that it's just not the same as having your child with you...in living color, in real life! Occasionally, we get told, "Well, you knew what you were getting into." Haha...that's like telling a first time pregnant woman that she should know how to be a mom while she's carrying her baby in her tummy...It's just different when the child is "birthed". Books help, seminars help, friends who know help the most...but at the end of the day, you have to learn how to parent yourself. You have to know yourself and get to know your child...and in the learning comes the only true way to gain experience.

Official U.S. Citizen!
April 2014

There is plenty that is misunderstood about bringing a child home (adopted or not). Often I was asked by well-meaning, loving people, "Are you just in heaven?" Well, ummm, my response was usually, "We are so happy to have Jordany home, but truthfully, I'm tired to the bone." (don't feel bad if you asked me that! It's a normal question...and part of it was heaven for sure)...but... Guess how long it takes you to get to know your child? All your child's life, and we missed the first 4 years of Jordany's which meant we had a lot of catching up to do and so did he!

"There's a snake in my boot"
October 2014

At some point, I think I will expound on some of our experiences but not now. We suffered through many traumas, blank stares, exhausting tantrums (mine and his!), heaves and sobs and even a few hits and bites...yup...once I got bit on the head. What's a mom to do? This mom fell apart in heaps of tears and cried in my closet. It's real life. Jordany had to adjust too, and we have all come a million miles away from those first few months.

Christmas 2014

It's still hard, I'm a 45 year old mom of a 5 year old. I'm not as spunky as I was when I was 27 and a mom of 4 children 4 and under! Ha! I was pretty tired then too. Parenting is hard, but it's also a tremendous blessing, and our family has experienced an almost unexplainable gift through Jordany...one that we could have never imagined or hoped for except through adoption. It's pretty mind blowing...and that's a good thing. (God's adoption of me as His own has a completely different feel and understanding now...He choose me? Me? This mom? Yep...and He choose you too...that's what He does. He adopts us and claims us as his own!)

Aside from the major adjustments and just learning to live life as a family of 7, Jordany is thriving...I mean THRIVING. He grew 5 inches in one year! He's full of life and joy. His smile stretches from ear to ear. He ABSOLUTELY LOVES BEING PART OF A FAMILY! I can only attribute that to God...the miracle worker.

Sweet CeCe's Yogurt
August 2014

Visiting Baker at UT
September 2014

Jordany is so proud of his siblings. He plays with all of them and can hardly differentiate between friends who are 5, 15, 25 or 75. He has just molded his little self right into the sibling group and right into our whole family...grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends. Having brothers and sisters is Jordany's pride and joy. Baker, Brennan, Cara and Eliza hung the moon in his eyes.

May 2014

Jordany also loves having a mom and a papa. Some days he and I will be walking from one room to the other, and he will lift his little arm up and around my waist and say, "You're my mom," and I'll say right back, "You're my son." And then we sing..."So Happy Together."! He tells me he loves me and showers all of us with kisses. He often grabs any and all of us who are home and calls for a "family hug." How can we resist? We all wrap our arms around each other and hug! Bath time means a great big run and jump into papa's arms. Before a bath, Jordany finds a place at the end of the hall and runs full force into our room and papa reaches out and catches him. He giggles and giggles...his laugh is contagious.

We have so much to be thankful for. I have many stories to share...the good, the bad, the ugly. I don't really give advice, but I can often suggest what NOT to do :-) Jordany is a true gift. Adoption is a gift.

Emerald Coast
March 2015

If you're here reading this, more than likely, you contributed in some way to our bringing our son home. Thank you. Home is sweet, and as Jordany says when we pass our home..."family home"...Yes. It is. Our family is home and our home is family.

Joyeux Noel...

In a manger He lay...the One who would save the world. Love came down. Behold the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Thinking of Christ's birth this Christmas season has been especially emotional for me. I have listened to and read tender interpretations from friends, preachers, Max Lucado and others who have brought a life to the Christmas story that continues to illicit tears from my eyes and secure joy in my heart.

Reflecting on Jesus' birth this season has brought me nearer to Him, the Christ child, and nearer to my child who doesn't know me. I long to touch my son as Mary touched the face of her baby boy. I long to hold him in my arms and rock him as Mary rocked God Himself.

There is countless imagery that emerges...we are orphans; God adopted us; Jordan is an orphan; We are adopting him; The manger scene is called a creche; Jordan lives in a creche. In no way am I comparing Jordan to Christ or our adoption to God's adoption, but the tangible nature of adopting Jordan has renewed the Christ child within me.

Christ is alive and well. In this world, we will encounter many trials and tribulations. We will mourn the loss of friends and family. We will lose our jobs. We will face divorce. We will be hurt by others. We will hurt others. We will long for a child we do not know. We will wait for answers. We will agonize and ache, but God says, "Take heart. I have overcome the world and everything in it!" He did this with a tiny baby, born in an insignificant town in a dirty stable to preteen mother and overwhelmed father. He came unnoticed except to a few shepherds, wise men and animals. Heaven was not unaware, though. Joy exploded as the Prince of God came to save us from the prince of darkness.

Emmanuel. God is with us. Always and forever.

Joyeux Noel

A New Donahue... called by Name

I've been working on a family blog for our adoption journey. Several of the posts about our adoption were on my personal blog. So, I transferred them over here.

A journey is a great way to describe the process of adoption. There are hills and valleys, fast rides and slow crawls, and we are only in the beginning.

Our home study is complete and we now begin finishing up documents so that we can get our fingerprints and then send our dossier to Haiti. It's a lot of work, but I have to continue to remind myself that our adoption road is not planned by me. There is comfort in knowing that the God of all Grace and Comfort has planned our journey step-by-step.

When things don't go my way or the way that I had thought they would go, it is a privilege to rest in the assurance that my missteps and mistakes are all in God's hands. He has already planned this journey, and He steers me. I need to allow Him to do just that.

As I reflect on the beginning of our adoption decision and this giant leap of faith, I can't help but be reminded of Isaiah 43:1: "I have called you by name. You are mine."

I want to put an exclamation point at the end of "you are mine"... I can hear the Father shouting from the heavens: "Laura Lyn. I have called YOU by name. YOU ARE MINE!" The same way He calls me by name, He has called each one of us, including our yet-to-be-named, new Donahue.

We have all been adopted by God our Heavenly Father. He ransomed His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, so that He could shout our names from the heavens and declare that we are His. WE ARE HIS!

In this season of Christmas, as we prepare for the celebration of the Christ child's birth, I'm reminded of Mary's obedience to the Lord's calling on her life. She was unaware of His plan, yet she agreed to trust and obey. In essence, she agreed to adopt Christ into her own womb and raise the son of God as her son. Joseph agreed to be Jesus' earthly Father and care for Him as his own.

Adoption is a part of everyone's story. Each of our journeys is different, but we are all called by name by the Lord of Hosts. He shouts from the heavens that you and I are His. We long to shout from the hills of Tennessee the name of our new child...our new Donahue. We wait with expectancy.