Thank You!

Thank you to my bloggy friends who left amazing uplifting and very supportive comments on the last post....they were just what the doctor ordered.  In fact, some of your comments and emails had me laughing pretty hard! I so love the fact that you all "get it"....this blog and the meaning behind it that is.  I got so many wonderful comments and even several emails from people who've been touched by the blog...people I had no idea were even reading. Thank you for sharing your supportive thoughts with me and taking time to introduce yourself and share a piece of your life with me.  I love hearing from you!  At times when I face criticism on this blog, I wonder why I take the time to blog and sometimes have to feel like I am defending myself and my decisions as a mother and as a person. Originally it was to document our journey to Zoya for ourselves and to share with Zoya when she is older.  I decided to continue blogging after we returned home because I always got annoyed when other bloggers shared their wonderful adoption journey and then dropped off the face of the planet after returning home...I always wondered what it was like and how things were going after they returned home. 

Then at some point my purpose for blogging turned from that to feeling a need to share our journey with others in an effort to encourage others to help orphans with special needs...almost to try to show the rest of the world how amazing and special these kids are when they are given a chance and some love. When we returned home I felt so completely helpless for the other orphans left behind. Such a suffocating feeling to know we were walking away from so many sad faces in such desperate need of love.  God gave me His eyes for just a moment, just as I had begged Him to do...and I feel He allowed me this peak into what must be a daily burden on His heart so that I could share this with others.  God opened my eyes and has asked me to be a witness to others and so my purpose for blogging now has turned to sharing our special angel and showing the world what love and acceptance can do, and to be that witness that God has asked me to be.  I just LOVE when I get an email from a family looking into adoption of a child with down syndrome who has been reading our blog.  I love sharing with and encouraging others who think God is calling them to adopt.  I will never have any idea just how many people our blog has touched, but I sure hope that God continues to use it as a way to speak to hearts of people who are on the fence about adopting.  I'm not pushy and I know adoption isn't for everyone, but I hope that the words written here give people courage and peace to know that this path is a really amazingly beautiful path to choose.  I also believe through this blog eyes will be opened to the pure gift that people with Down Syndrome are to this world. I wish everyone could have an opportunity to know and love a person with down syndrome because this is the best gift we've ever been given.  People with down syndrome, orphans or not, contribute an amazing amount to our world, but if people aren't open to receiving their gift and viewing them as valuable then they sadly miss the opportunity to see the world through the most pure and content eyes in this world.

One of you commented, "A blog that demonstrates that love has no boundaries, no limitations, no restrictions just pure love......" and this made my heart full because this is exactly what I'm trying to convey to explain our love for Zoya, but moreso her love for us, but I have never had these exact and perfect words to describe it. Another comment that really touched me was, "Jesus certainly stepped on many toes and was quite unpopular with some of His decisions" and this was a reminder that I definitely needed tonight.  Sometimes I just try too darn hard to make others happy and avoid conflict....but today I am reminded that even if I step on toes, I need to continue on with my decision, knowing it is right.  And one of my favorite comments was a story about how someone's 5 year old daughter was too scared to get her ears pierced but after reading about how Zoya was so brave, she went and got hers pierced the next day! Love it! So my friends, I will continue to blog trying always to keep my purpose in mind, being honest--sharing the good and the bad--and trying not to let negative Nellys rain on this parade, because it's a damn good parade...and if it rains we will put up our umbrellas shielding ourselves from that rain and continue watching and appreciating the beauty that surrounds us.