Food for Thought

I received the story below from one of my weaver friends. Never are these wise words more true in my life than now....

The Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all..

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Springtime

Wow - it's been a long time since I've posted. I think I've subconsciously been avoiding it - something along the lines of "another month - no new news". Our only adoption-related achievement for the past month was to complete our home study renewal. We're now hoping to drag out the fingerprinting process as long as possible. In the back of my mind, I know we'll have to redo our paperwork a third time, but for now, I'm deluding myself into thinking that if we stall on the front side, maybe, just maybe, it will buy us enough time on the flip side to avoid filling out that flippin' I-600A form one more time.

Truthfully, this long wait has gotten to me, and I've had to check out of the adoption process for a little while to maintain my positive outlook on life. It just seems like becoming a parent shouldn't be this hard....

Thankfully, the sunny spring weather has brightened my spirits a bit lately. Even though the early warmth heralds the blistering summer to come, I'm still thankful for the season change. Everything just seems more doable in the springtime.

On that note, nothing says "spring" more than butterflies - here's a few shots we took at the Natural Science Museum in Houston, TX. They have an incredible butterfly exhibit - very worth the trip if you are ever in the Lone Star state. I also threw in a shot of the exhibit's resident iguana, who, while photogenic, is light on patience (which I found out firsthand when he took exception to me standing quite so close!)

D.'s mom is coming in town this weekend to celebrate Easter with us. We're hoping to spend some time hiking and enjoying this beautiful weather. I know many of my fellow waiting adoptive parents can relate when I say that our faith in adopting from China is being tested. May the spring sunshine bring renewed hope for all of us.