Mason--One Week Mark

It's hard to believe that it was one week ago that Mason was brought into our lives. So much has happened in the last 7 days. We've all learned so much!

What Momma has been learning in the last week: a lesson on love. We'd been waiting for this little guy for what seemed like a very long time. In my little mind, I guess I thought that once we finally met we'd magically fall in love. Hmmm.

God's been using this experience to teach me about love. He reminded me in Matt 5:46 that "If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?". Mason is just learning to trust us...he has not come to the place that he can love us yet. But as his mother, I am called to love him. It's easy to love when I see those smiles and hear his giggles--you know, when things are magical. But what about all those other times? What about when he's tantruming because we won't let him get into a stranger's car? What about when he's screaming because he does not want to go to sleep? What about when he has a lost stare on his face when I hug and kiss him? God's word tells me to love--especially when it's hard. A dear friend reminded me that love is patient, kind, and not self seeking. Self seeking---wow, I think I was/am guilty of that one--seeking Mason's love and approval so I could feel better about being a mother.

 As I sat down to write this blog posting, I received this verse in my email: "At that time we were completely overwhelmed, the burden was more than we could bear, in fact we told ourselves that this was the end. Yet we believe now that we had this experience of coming to the end of our tether that we might learn to trust, not in ourselves, but in God who can raise the dead." (2 Corinthians 1:8b-9 PH). Learning to love and trust in God. Those are my major lessons learned this week.

 

What about Mason? He's learned so many things this week. I will just list the ones that come to my mind readily:

• who his mom and dad are
• what mom and dad look like, smell like, and sound like
• that people have changed his name to Mason
• how to throw a ball
• how to go down a slide
• what American food tastes like, including pizza, Kraft cheese slices, McDonald's fries, oatmeal, yogurt, bread, apple juice, bananas
• how to build towers with squeaky blocks
• what it feels like to take a bubble bath
• how to fall asleep in a hotel room, on a chair
• how to take a bite off of a loaded spoon
• how to say Momma, Daddy and apple in English
• what it feels like to ride in a stroller
• what it feels like to be carried around by Mom or Dad
• that it feels good to be tickled sometimes

 What about dad?  Today, an older, friendly Chinese gentleman came up to me in the street and started asking questions about Mason. At one point he asked if we had biological children and I said no.  A sad look came over his face and he said something like, "What a pity."  He meant to be empathic but his empathy was completely misplaced.

My boys are "my boys."  If he knew their personalities, their giggles, their eyes, their spirits, etc. like I do, he would know that the only possible response to our family is to celebrate and thank God for leading us down this road.  If I had a chance to do this all over again, I would do it the exact same way with the exact same people.



Looking forward to the days and weeks to come!