So I’m really glad I became a blog slacker BEFORE The Cherubs arrived, because now there’s no danger that I’ll blame these long dry spells on parenthood. This season has confirmed for me yet again that while I’m wildly adaptable in the midst of life’s turns and swerves, at heart I’m a creature of habit. With each new “normal,” I hunker down and create a routine. And if that routine doesn’t have a social media component in the early days (as this one hasn’t due to the privacy requirements placed on adopting parents) then my blog takes on this look that suggests “she’s dropped off the face of the planet.”

I haven’t. We’re just living a kind of quiet life as we get used to all this newness.

The truth is, the current routine is lovely.  As I type, #1 Cherub is out in the driveway playing basketball with a friend, while #2 Cherub is reading a book she’ll tell me all about later.  We swim for hours in the local pool. We’re trying to figure out tennis.  We cook. We clean.  We emphasize that yes, showers happen every day. We laugh at the endless farting.  We pray. THIS DOG has never been so well loved, walked, fed, groomed, chased, or snuggled in all her life.  (Evidenced by the additional 5lbs. she’s gained since last year’s checkup. Oops.)

Of course there’s texture to this life, too. We’re four different people, and we each  have our own experiences and emotions, secret hopes, deep fears, and dreams. We’re working through all of this, sometimes right in the middle of figuring out tennis or deciding what to have for dinner.  And it all happens at such an all-at-the-same-time pace that I probably couldn’t describe it even if there were no restrictions. So perhaps the restrictions are a good thing, a nice boundary that allows our new family  a small place to put down roots. There’s a lot of growing going on.

And in this, I see God everywhere. At bedtime when we pray, “May Your Kingdom come, and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” I often think, Like it did today, God. Please let there be more of that tomorrow…

In this, I’ve read some great books (I’ll blog about them soon), kayaked on the Charles River (surprisingly awesome!), almost worn through two pairs of flip flops, and swam in the ocean when it was so cold that it took 4 hours to warm up afterwards.  It all sounds vague as I try to blog about it. But in person it’s vivid and real.  I guess that’s the plight of the writer, to live in this tension.  I’ll get better at it :)

In the meantime, I hope your world is feeling vivid and real, whether or not you can share about it. Happy Summer.