As I was once again tempted to count the shopping days left until the retail world\u2019s biggest annual holiday, I was prompted to pause, challenged anew to focus on the actual meaning of this season.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure I always get it.\u00a0 Yes, I get that Christmas is far more than Santa and sleigh bells and egg nog and elves.\u00a0 I get that it\u2019s more than cookies and carols and those pied pipers and presents under our tree.\u00a0 I get that.\u00a0 I\u2019m just not always certain I get or we get or even society gets the depth of what the day denotes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Then I remembered the words of a contemporary wise man who suggested that this season is about generous love.\u00a0 Not just love.\u00a0 Not just generosity.\u00a0 The meaning of the season centers around a love that is generous.\u00a0 A love that is authentic and real.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As my pause prompted reflection, I couldn\u2019t help but wonder where now on this planet we see evidence of that love… a love that is so big, unparalleled, sometimes overwhelming, often sacrificial.\u00a0 A love that leaves a mark.\u00a0 Yes, generous love leaves a mark.\u00a0 That\u2019s what I think neither we nor society gets.\u00a0 I think we miss the mark.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So I interacted with multiple persons for whom that mark is obvious and deep.\u00a0 This is what I found… this is what they said…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing up I always told my mom, \u2018I want to adopt children; there are too many that don’t have anyone to love them”… \u201cBottom line: we wanted to be parents and to raise a family.\u00a0 We chose Ethiopia because we knew there was a need\u201d… \u201cI always thought people were crazy to adopt internationally, and now I’m one of them.\u00a0 I was always amazed by the leap of faith I saw in those families, never expecting one day that was what God had in store for our family.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yes, I interacted with families who have chosen to adopt.\u00a0 When reflecting on generous<\/em> love, what other example comes closer to the concept than persons who have made the intentional choice to share all of their emotional and material resources with another?\u00a0 … to forever alter their family?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThere was nothing about our situation that made this \u2018make sense\u201d… \u201c$23,000 and almost 3 years into an Indian adoption, we got news that India had instated a Family Limit Law that we exceeded by far!\u00a0 We had no recourse and no additional avenue to take.\u00a0 We were even financially tanked\u201d… \u201cWe once had plenty of things and money.\u00a0 We once never worried about making a house payment or how much gas was.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The giving of that love \u2014 that generous love \u2014 isn\u2019t necessarily easy…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThere is so much loss and grief associated with adoption. My children grieve that loss at a very primal level\u201d… \u201cShe has no medical history, no cute stories of her birth, no memories that we can relay of her earliest months\u201d… \u201cHe longs to know his birth mom, and it is a great loss to him, a part of him that he finds as \u2018unknown\u2019… \u201cHer very first experience was of loss and rejection\u201d… \u201cHer sadness often comes out as rage\u201d… \u201cPeople wonder if I am her mother \u2014 assume she is with someone else. Throughout her life, I have cringed when this has happened.\u00a0 She is ours through and through, but there is this constant reminder that she is different.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n And somehow this tangible process leaves a mark…\u00a0 on both the kids and<\/em> parents…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPeople tell me all the time how lucky my children are to have me.\u00a0 I tell them that I am the lucky one\u201d… \u201cAdoption has helped me understand the depth of the love of God\u201d… \u201cMy love for her is <\/em>fierce<\/em><\/strong>!\u201d… \u201cI learned that God\u2019s plan was way bigger than the little box I thought my life was going to be in\u201d… \u201cWhat I know now is that this family of mine fills my soul in ways that I can\u2019t even articulate or understand.\u00a0 I am blessed.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n There is something authentic in that blessing \u2014 something that speaks to the depth of the generosity and the vastness of the love.\u00a0 Something that has more to do with the meaning of Christmas than any Santa, sleigh bell, egg nog, elf or present under the tree.\u00a0 Those who have chosen to adopt \u2014 as seen above in families who adopted from Africa, Asia, the inner city, and more \u2014 typical kids, foster kids, kids with cognitive and\/or physical disability \u2014 infants and teens \u2014 they have a powerful message, especially this time of year…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe have embraced the sweetness of every color, every hair type, every body shape, every language, accent, and claimed it as our family.\u00a0 We\u2019ve learned to pick and choose our battles.\u00a0 We know the Lord will only give us what we can handle. We are truly blessed.\u00a0 <\/em>This is family!!!\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0This is our<\/strong> family! \u00a0It has grown us immensely.\u00a0 These kids have humbled us, sobered us, and taught us more about our faith than we ever could have realized.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yes, the blessing is real.\u00a0 The mark is deep.\u00a0 Generous love leaves a mark.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Respectfully… and today, also, humbly blown away…<\/p>\n AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As I was once again tempted to count the shopping days left until the retail world\u2019s biggest annual holiday, I was prompted to pause, challenged anew to focus on the actual meaning of this season.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure I always get it.\u00a0 Yes, I get that Christmas is far more than Santa and sleigh bells … <\/p>\n