The Father Says "I DO"

This weekend we'll celebrate the start of Kadee and Jason's lives together as one. Kadee is Lance's little sister. We are all really close and we also have the joy of living beside her. Kadee's life started much like my daughter's. They will always have a special bond because of the Miracle of Adoption. This weekend, we'll officially adopt another member into our family....Jason. He crawled into our lives when we weren't looking and has been finding a place in our hearts every since. We love him like a brother, uncle and close friend already. We are not losing Kadee, we are gaining Jason. We feel really excited about celebrating with them this weekend as they exchange vows and join together in holy matrimony.

I guess this time makes me reflect on relationships and how it was in the beginning of my own marriage. Time changes things, in good and bad ways. Lance and I have grown up together. We've grown a family increasing in numbers by 4. Each addition has brought new joys and new normals...and even hardships. Each time we chose to love one another and even the child through it all. LOVING IS A CHOICE. I have learned this and that LOVE WILL HEAL WHAT YOU NEVER IMAGINED COULD BE HEALED. I think the most successful relationships balance one another, by providing what the other needs to feel loved. If you can figure out what your mate needs to feel loved and provide that for them, even if a little work is involved, I think you can make a relationship work. And if all else fails, start back at the beginning and remember why you fell in love with one another. I know all relationships don't work, and some must end. My advice there, having never been through that before, mind you...would be that you need to forgive yourself before you can forgive others. Every single divorce happened because not one but two people couldn't make it work. You are the only person you can control. You are a work in progress. The "sin" isn't in the failure of the relationship, it lies in not learning and growing because of the failure.

We hope that Kadee and Jason will live long and happy lives together. We need another baby on the hill...all mine are grown it seems.