The best idea I never had (thoughts from Derek)

Not sure if that is a country song, but if its not should be.  And if its not, I plan on writing it.  This won’t be a lengthy post, but this is my wife’s long awaited final ripple that has taken me forever to write.

I titled this as such because all of the joy, sweetness, laughter, affection and grace that Mei Sims has brought into our home is due to Rushton.  

Were I married to myself (which would be weird and would surely end in divorce), we would not have adopted.  Why open us up to potential hurt, inconvenience, more financial commitments and who knows what else could go wrong? 

But thankfully I’m not married to myself.  I have a wife who, when she was little girl, God planted a desire to adopt in her heart.  She patiently and persistently kept bringing the subject up and waited on me.  

So I write this to other husbands who have wives with hearts inclined to reach out and bring another baby into your fold, listen to them and then pray about it.  Pray about it with an openness and honesty between you and your God and ask him to show you.  He will:

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

Mei Sims is so much fun.  As with all children, you could spend all day talking about them, but I want to mention a few aspects about her that thrill me.  

She is gracious. She is our most polite, thankful and courteous child.  She always says ‘thank you’ when someone gives her something.  She is quick to join in cleaning up when its time.  If someone is crying she comes over quickly to pat them and give a hug.  

She loves to ride on things that move fast.  One of her favorite things to do is to ride on the golf cart in my lap.  She squeals with joy when I hold her out like I am going to drop her.  Rushton doesn’t like it when I do this. When I take a turn quickly in my car she says ‘go fast daddy’ followed up by ‘more!’

And she is mine.  I tell her this all the time, ‘you are mine, mine, mine, mine’ Saying because it is true and she needs to hear it and because it comes from the very core of my being to her that she is mine and I want to drive that as deep as I can into her heart.  Period.  And it just hit me as type this that God shouts this to me as well, but sometimes its so hard to believe him. And he feels the same way, no matter if I believe him or not, I am his adopted son.  

Thank you Rushton.