It's hard to believe how quickly time has flown, and how long it has been since I've written! I can blame this on many things, but perhaps it would be a healthy thing to pick up 'the pen, ' so to speak, and get back with this blog project.
All is well here. We're enjoying a beautiful Saturday afternoon ~ well, most of us are enjoying it. Some of the children are lamenting the fact that beautiful weather = more farm work! But it's good to see them getting muddy while accomplishing some important fall farm tasks.
Something I've been considering, and thought I'd copy over from another writing:

One strong feeling I have about international adoption: I deeply wish that we never would have been called to adopt... but not for the reasons which may first flood to a person's mind. Perhaps a more accurate statement would be, "I deeply wish there had been no need for us to be called to adopt."
You see, I love my Ethiopian children more deeply than they will ever understand. I have had the joy of watching God work to provide for their needs. My husband and I (along with our bio children) have experienced the unmistakable Hand and Voice of God in our call, and have watched His provision in bringing 4 more children into our family. The children have been a part of God's work in our family, stretching and changing us... and providing much joy.
However, in an ideal situation, our Ethiopian children would never have needed to know us. In an ideal life, they would be nestled securely and safely in the arms of their biological parents - free of disease and danger. In an ideal world, America would be for them a distant land of interesting stories... but home would be in a village full of immediate family and generational friendships. Instead, they have experienced the trauma of sickness and death... and now the separation from all that was once familiar.
But another truth is evident: God places the fatherless in families. He has a special plan already designed for each of our children, and it is our privilege to be part of it.

I'll continue chewing on that theme - at least when the demands of parenting settle for a moment to give me a brief, deep thought.
For now, back to the laundry mountain. I must take advantage of nature's clothes dryer in order to catch up!