30 days of thankfulness {day 1 & 2}

Last year I saw that a lot of Bloggers were taking part in a ’30 Days of Thankfulness’ challenge. I thought it was a super neat concept as I think it can be so easy to take so much of our lives for granted. But being the nerd that I am, I didn’t like starting mid-way through. So this year I get to start at the beginning. And since I normally blog at night, I figured I’d just do Days 1 & 2 together, so I can stay on track.

Did you know that November is also ‘Adoption Awareness’ month? So with that, I’d have to say that I’m thankful for Adoption. My story is the typical ‘baby abandoned, no birth parent information found’. It has never bothered me that I know nothing about my ‘roots’. I don’t know who I look like, or where certain personality traits come from. I don’t know if  anyone would say, ‘you laugh just like your dad’ or ‘you wrap presents just like your mom.’ But you know what? It doesn’t matter to me.

Instead, I hope to humbly serve like my Dad does. Or have the incredible ability to relate to kids like my Mom. I may not have the physical example of the traits I mirror, but I have two great examples of what I wish to become.

I know that had I stayed in Korea – be it as a child of a single parent, or raised in an orphanage – I would not have been given nearly the amount of opportunities I received as a result of being raised by my Parents in America. My parents weren’t out to save the world. They weren’t looking to start a crusade. They were just looking to expand their family. And for that  … I’m truly thankful.

And while seemingly the same, I’m thankful for Adoption again, because it brought me my two little kiddos. I never thought that I would adopt. I wasn’t ‘against’ it, but I didn’t ‘set out’ to do it either. Life easily brought us to this choice and I’m so glad it did. Because I cannot imagine my life without my kids. Me – the girl who loved to sleep late and take long naps. The girl who loved to shop for herself and not have a schedule. The girl who had issues with poop and got nervous holding other people’s babies. Sure, I still love to sleep … and still like to shop (but now for the kids) … and I follow a schedule … and I change poopy diapers (but I still get nervous holding other people’s babies) … and I really do love being a Mom.

But having my kiddos makes it pretty easy.