Beat Me To It

I was going to Blog about our lunch with Mike and Kari yesterday, but Kari beat me to it.. In fact, my post was going to be very similar to hers, but a little different.

Yesterday we had a couple of pretty profound moments as we shared about our struggles. We have hard lives. We get tired. We don't do our best. We feel discouraged. But being surrounded by people who "get it" is the best comfort ever.

I have also been encouraged lately by the support of those who may not "get it" the way that other adoptive parents do, but who are willing to try and be supportive. Our church family has been incredible lately, as have others. As we have shared our pain, they have stepped forward and said "we care about you".

I used to lie to myself and say that the only people who could truly help were those who had been through what we've been through. And although I must confess that there is a kindred spirit between us adoptive parents who have kids with serious issues, it is not fair to suggest that the love, support and prayers of those with lives very different from ours doesn't count.

And during these very difficult past weeks, we have seen people who may not understand what it is like to be us, go out of their way to send emails, cards and notes, to call, to offer a hug or a handshake. And I'm finding that the fact that they are willing to "get their hands dirty" by learning about us and attempting to understand our lives means way more than I realized.

So to those of you who "get it" and those of you who care enough to try to, thank you. Your support is amazing. And, since Kari already profoundly blogged about the topic, I'll just quote her and agree that it's great to know "we've got people."