This is a simple story of God's amazing power.
Jordy has become such a part of our family that it's hard to believe that he was ever anywhere else. He always belonged here. When we made the leap of faith last year to begin the adoption process, we did so like any other parent expecting a child. We anticipated, began preparing his bedroom, and even started including him in some family traditions like our yearly Hallmark ornament purchase. Every year after Christmas is over, our children get to pick one ornament from Hallmark to call their own because they are 50% off. Knowing Jordy was joining our family, we decided to pick one out for him for his first Christmas home. We packed it away and gave it no thought for the whole following year.
In the meantime, we spent the last year filling out countless forms, making countless calls, working our way through the adoption process, and then finally travelling to China to finally bring Jordy home. Since he's been home he has acclimated to American culture with no reservations. One thing Jordy has enjoyed is having his own bed, his own clothes and ultimately, his own toys. I had purposely saved Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jesse and Bullseye from the chopping block during our spring toy clean out and I left these on Jordy's bed for when he came home. After having surgery, Jordy really took to the Toy Story movies. Up until Jordy's surgery, he didn't really pay too much attention to the toys but after the surgery, Jordy really clung to Buzz. He loves Buzz. He's learned the phrase "Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!"
We are back at Christmas again and it's the time of year to throw up the Christmas tree. This year's tree proved to be my nemesis. We bought a 9' pre-lit tree years ago and over the years it's began to lose some lights here and there. Last year, two whole strands went out after the tree was up and I was unsuccessful at finding a fix. This year, I decided to leave the tree down and work on finding the bad bulbs one tree piece at a time. After an hour of work, I had brought two tree pieces back to life out of four. There were more than five strands out this year. While working on piece three, it became apparent there was no fix! With five children pestering and two hours gone, I finally made the decision to remove the pre-lit strands from the tree. This is no small task!!! About two hours later, I was ready to head to Wal-mart to purchase the new lights. I began the process of putting lights back on the tree only to find that my second strand of brand new lights had 10 lights in the middle completely out not because of defective bulbs but because of defective wiring. By this time, I'm beyond upset. Kids are still anxious, and I'm steaming because I really just wanted to buy a new tree to begin with but was nixed. Back to Wal-mart I go. I buy extra strands this time and it's a good thing because the same thing happened again. It's getting close to 7pm and I started this whole project at 9am. I'm not behaving very nicely because I keep thinking to myself, "putting out the Christmas stuff is supposed to be fun!" All I really want to do is cry. I'm exhausted from being on my feet. Once the lights were finally on the tree, I looked at Dustin and said please help the kids decorate because I just want to sit and watch. And watch I did. I snapped pictures and just watched as my four children (Melina was asleep) and Dustin decorated the tree. I unpacked ornaments and began handing them out.
And then I stopped. One box in particular brought me to tears. I called Dustin over because I couldn't believe the box I held in my hand. Nearly one year ago, we had purchased Jordy's very first ornament without knowing anything about him. Heck I couldn't even recall which one we bought but each Hallmark box is marked with a child's name. When I pulled out the box labeled with Jordy's name, I turned it over and immediately began to smile and cry. God's little reminder that one year ago, he had a plan for our family! That plan has come full circle and now in our home is this incredible soul that for the first time gets to decorate his own family tree. For the first time, he gets to hear the story of Christ's birth . . . the true reward during this holiday season. That one ornament melted away all the frustration of the day and brought pure joy. Jordy's first ornament on the family tree is his very own Buzz Lightyear!
I don't believe in chance. I believe in God's amazing grace and I'm thankful that even in my broken and imperfect state, he can still find ways of reminding me how important and powerful he really is!!!
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