White + White = Black

We get a lot of things from our parents. Our eyes, our hair, our body type, etc. I have heard that I look like my dad ("You must be Henry Braun's daughter") and my mom ("Your Alice's daughter, right? You look just like her"). We are better at one thing than another, like math or english or mechanics. Some things are taught but some of it just comes in your genes. Before Kellin and I started planning to have kids, I would wonder what they would look like. What parts of Kel and what traits of mine would come from the two of us.

I definitely get my math skills from my dad. I wouldn't say that I love math, but I like it. I'm a logical person and math makes sense, 1+1=2. I have alway seemed to be able to get math. In the last few years, I have learnt to be less logical though, with the help of my husband and the fact that life doesn't always make sense and add up to the right equation. In life, 1 plus 1 doesn't always seem to equal 2. Sometimes, it equals 3 or 1 or 0. Sometimes blue and yellow equals green. But sometimes it equals red or purple and we don't know why. Sometimes white plus white equal black.

I have been thinking a lot lately about our children in Ethiopia. When a baby is born here, one of the first things people say or ask is "Who do they look like?" Whether people think that I look like my mom or my dad doesn't really matter but it identifies me. It will be plain to see in our family that our children where not born to us. Although Kellin can get pretty dark during the summer, I am white (although I am very proud of my watch tan that proves I have some color)and neither of us will be anywhere close to the dark brown of our children. Although my hair is curly, Kellin's is straight, but our children's hair will so curly, unlike anyone of us. I have learnt a wonderful thing from my neices and nephews and that is that even though they come from their parents, they can look like others and have personalities that are very different from their parents. I have one neice in particular who reminds me of Kellin. From the way she bugs her brother, to her love to make people laugh, as well as many other things. They seem to share a special bond with each other and it isn't just because of their genes, it is just how God made them.

So, just like life doesn't always add up, God can make it beautiful. Just like when a man and woman get married 1+1=1 and when they have a baby 1+1=3, 0ur adoption is allowing one white mom and one white dad to have two black babies. And, although they will look nothing like us, God has created them and has them hand picked to be part of our family because that is what he designed.

"Born in our hearts, not in our wombs"

Not sure where this quote is from but I love it and it perfectly describes where my children are now. Though they are not with me and may not even be born, they are in our hearts.