WE SHOW LOVE BY .....

DAD AND MOM SHOW LOVE BY:
Feeding you
Giving you clothes
Give you a home and a bed
Giving you a slide outside
Building a swimming pool

CHILD SHOWS LOVE BY:
Not yelling at dad and mom
Talking kindly
Doing my jobs
Being respectful

A BOND TO CREATE

A BOND TO CREATE

by Ben Richardson

First thing you'll need,

is a boy or a girl.

Choose wisely, because this will be irreplaceable.

Make sure he or she

has a difficulty.

Now for the mother.

Base with compassion and care.

Add a dash of worry.

Mix with hard experiences.

Mix carefully, not too fast.

Make sure you can see,

a truly inspirational person.

Top off with a few cups of determination.

The last ingredient is

something impossible to add.

It is always there,

no matter what is done.

Set the child and the mother together,

and you will get it.

Love.

Spring 2011

Benjamin wrote this poem as an assignment for school.

It's depth is amazing for a 12 year old boy!

THE POWER OF LOVE

THE POWER OF LOVE

By Connie Richardson

 Written in Spring 2003

                Recently, our family has experienced the great power of love.  We recently adopted 3 beautiful children from Russia, ages 2, 3, and 4.  This added to our beautiful family of 6 children, ages 2, 4, 7, 9, 10, and 12.  Many people looked at us with dazed eyes and spouted off many questions of “why?”  Our family could do nothing but reply with excitement about our adventure the lay ahead.

            September 2003 we met 3 beautiful children in an orphanage in far east Russia.  After 19 hours in a plane and 5 hours on a bus, we were able to turn our 2 dimensional photos into real children.  We spent just 10 hours with these precious children over 2 days.  Our goal was to share our love and desire to be their parents and pray that their hearts would receive.  At the end of 2 short days we saw somber children begin to open up and receive.  At our final visit we goodbye.  As we parted, our quietest little girl came running back to us and didn’t want to let go.  I had our interpreter promise her that “mama will be back.”  It tore my heart as I left my babies.  Love had softened their hearts, but love had also placed them in my heart.

            We didn’t return to Russia for 4 long months.  January 2003 we finally arrived to bring them home.  We worried that they had forgotten us.  We were so wrong. We were told of times when our children had misunderstood caregivers and thought we had returned.  When they did not see us, they sobbed and cried. This broke our hearts.  They were longing for us to return.  They longed for the love and acceptance they had felt.

            Our legal work and waiting period had finally passed and it was time to go home.  As I made the trip home, these sweet children never looked back.  They took hold of my hand and trudged the 27-hour journey through a new and foreign world.  It was truly a miracle to me that they had endless trust in me, their mother.  They never doubted, never feared, never resisted.  They pushed forward as we journeyed “home.”  Did they understand what “home” really meant?  I was sure that they didn’t understand how their lives would change from all they had ever known, but in their hearts they were miraculously at peace.  The only explanation I can formulate is that they knew in their hearts they were loved.  They knew they had a family and off they were to find them.

            Gratefully, we are all finally home.  All 9 children and 2 parents are adjusting very well.  We have challenges, of course, but as we strive to love more and more, each day our patience and ability to work with love increases.  These beautiful children have never questioned our parental role.  They seem to embrace it with hugs, kisses, and beautiful smiles.  Our older children have developed love for their new siblings so quickly and the love is returned.  This has been a beautiful miracle of love to witness as well. 

All of our hearts are full of love and gratitude for these new children.  What a wonderful experience that demonstrates “the more love you give away, the more you receive.”  We are in another chapter of our journey as we unify and solidify our family relationships and continue to develop love and trust.  I do not doubt that love will be our strongest glue.

MOTHER WILL ALWAYS BE THERE

I thought this was beautiful.

 

MOTHER IS ALWAYS THERE

The young mother set her foot on the path of life.  “Is this the long way?” she asked.  And the guide said: “Yes, and the way is hard.  And you will be old before you reach the end of it.  But the end will be better than the beginning.  “But the young mother was happy, and she would not believe anything could be better than these years.  So she played with her children, and gathered flowers for them along the way, and bathed them in the clear streams; and the sun shone on them, and the young Mother cried, “Nothing will ever be lovelier than this.”

Then the night came, and the storm, and the path was dark, and the children shook with fear and cold, and the mother drew them close and covered them with her mantle, and the children said, “Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near,” and it guided them beyond the darkness.  And that night the Mother said, “This ist he best day of all for I have shown my children God.”

And the days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years, and the mother grew old and she was little and bent.  But her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage.  And when they way was rough, they lifted her, for she was a slight as a feather; and at last they came to a hill, and beyond they could see a shining road and golden gates flung wide.

And mother said; “I have reached the end of my journey.  And now I know the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk alone, and their children after them.”

And the children said, “You will always walk with us, Mother, even when you have gone through the gates.”

And they stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gates closed after her.  And they said:  “We cannot see her, but she is with us still.  A mother like ours is more than a memory.  She is a living presence.”

Your mother is always with you.  She’s the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street;

She’s the smell of bleach in your freshly laundered socks;

She’s the cool hand on your brow when you’re not well.

Your mother lives inside your laughter.

And she’s crystallized in every tear drop.

She’s the place you come from, your first home; and she’s the map you follow with every step you take.

She’s your first love and your first heartbreak, and nothing on earth can separate you..

Not time, not space… not even death: