Parks, People, & My Own Prejudices

The weather here as been in the high 60's and 70's. Beautiful!!
Normally, I would scoff at February weather of this caliber, but being cooped up in a house with 4 kids is not my idea of a fun winter experience. Plus, I have been making spring plans like T-Ball for Jayden and hotel reservations for a road trip during Spring Break...so I am welcoming the feeling of spring even if it is a whole month early!

Plus, Isaac's wildness is much more contained when he can get some good exercise in, so I have been trying to make an effort to take advantage of the great weather.

All three kids have been blessed with fantastic bikes from their Nana and Padre.
So anytime a bike ride is on the schedule, it is very well received by all. :)

Uh Oh! We lost one!
Good thing for big brothers, cause obviously Mom was not going to put the camera down to check on him! And we're off!

I love this nearby park because there is like a mile of sidewalk and it is all contained by grass so I don't have to worry about traffic, or kids riding off into the ditch. It is nice...they get to ride ahead and I get to peacefully push my baby in a stroller while taking a break from the nonstop talking. It's a win-win!

I only hear from Isaac when he needs a water break.

I was so happy that Jasmine is now big enough to ride in her umbrella stroller.
She was so cute!!

As the sun dipped in the sky, the wind became quite cold.
Jasmine always gets teary eyes in the cold.

This is her "where's Jasmine?" face.

Having my particular kids opens a lot of doors for me to have conversations with people that would probably normally just pass me by...figuring we have too little in common to be friends. On this particular trip to the park, Isaac struck up a friendship with a 9 year old boy that I could tell was on the Autism spectrum. Normally I might look at this child and think "what is wrong with that boy? He is too old to act like that?" Isaac could have cared less that the boy was "in his own world", he just liked being chased around by The Leaf Monster. His mom seemed a little embarrassed by her son's actions so when we left Isaac invited them to walk back in the direction we were going. She opened up about his Autism and said it was hard for him to make friends. I said, "because he can't read social cues?" and she got really excited and said, "YES!" I told her I understood and that we were just happy to have had to time to play with them, assuring her that my kids don't care if he wants to make up all the games...they will play along! She made sure we knew the days and times they go to that park.

That made me happy, hoping that we might have made her feel a little less alone in this world.

On Monday, Billy and I went to Ikea to take them up on their free breakfast offers. A black woman in front of me said, "are you foster parents?" we said no, these are our kids. She proceeded to tell us that she was getting her license to be a respite provider through the same foster care agency we had adopted Isaac from. She said how wonderful it was that we adopted black kids because so many agencies have a hard time finding homes for this race. We nodded and said we knew. She was shocked to find out I do Jasmine's hair and said, "Wow, I don't know too many white women that can do hair like that! Well done!" Awesome compliment!! When we parted at the cash register, she asked for our names and said she would pray for us.

Then yesterday I drove into a nearby town to visit a different park. An African American family came up with their four kids, and I will admit they looked a little rough around the edges. The dad had huge tattoos all over his arms and was dressed in a giant basketball jersey. The boys had their heads shaved into an interesting style. I just smiled politely when they passed. I felt real bad and embarrassed that I had prejudged them when later Isaac (0f course!) strikes up a friendship with their boys. The dad came over to where I was and said, "you have a beautiful baby." And that was all it took for us to all get to talking! He shared that they had moved from Dallas where it was nothing but police sirens all the time. He said, "its quiet here in the suburbs. We like it a lot better." Then he opened up about his childhood in Chicago and the gang violence there, which he said killed more people one summer than troops had died in Iraq. When they left the park, it was like we were long lost friends! I prayed to myself, "Thank you God for giving me these opportunities that I would not have had otherwise had my kids looked just like me. Thank you for using these experiences to knock away at my own stereotypes and judgements of people."

My kids are my very own, even if they didn't come out of my body.

But they aren't really mine.

They are God's children whose lives will be used in mighty ways.
As a testimony to the unconditional acceptance and love that comes only through Christ.

I feel beyond privileged to be able to have this role this side of Heaven, in their life journey.