happy thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving I'm once again far from home, sitting on a couch in South Africa as I wrote up this blog on a scrap of paper. Today I'm thankful for the opportunity to love....
Putting the Lions to bed last night was a good summary of what I'm thanking God for. I remember mostly sitting on the little blue baby couch with Solly, Warren, and Kingston. We were just cuddling, reading books, and listening to the Tarzan soundtrack. Solly on my lap, thumb in his mouth, hand touching my face. These are the precious moments- the ones I'll never forget.
I had another such moment this morning, when someone carried sleepy Martin into the nursery, and he slept on my shoulder for close to an hour. When he woke up, he leaned back his sweaty head, smiled at me, and leaned forward with his lips puckered for a kiss. Really it's hard to believe that God's given me this gift of being with him again.
My heart is so full for all of them today. Last night was one of those nights when I could cry just for loving them so much- for wanting so much for them. I just knelt on the floor of their bedroom as they fell asleep and prayed for them. I can't explain the intense longing in my heart that they'd come to know Christ. I want for them a double adoption- into God's family and into an earthly family of their own. In the meantime, I'm so blessed to be here to love them. Here to kiss their sleepy foreheads in the dark, to pick them up when they stumble, to cheer for them when they succeed. And this- the opportunity to love them and to tell them about God's love for them- this is one thing I'm thanking God for this Thanksgiving.