Stick Figure Family
Jensen asked me today to draw 'our family'…my first thought was "oh Lord I barely passed art in Junior high school"-- Yes, it is possible to barely pass art in Junior high…though everyone said it was graded on effort-- i'll never believe that. No matter how hard I tried I just plain ol' stunk at art.
So here we are- J's box of Crayola crayons and a notepad. My heart may have began beating at a faster pace as emotions from my early teens flooded in. I began to draw and he told me what he wanted in the picture. He wanted our family, house, and animals {though he may have had a minor panic attack when he saw how many cats we have}.
I obviously started with the sweeping grass hills, filled with flowers-- never mind that in our yard the flowers are dandelions…and we don't really have sweeping hills.
From there I proceeded to draw our home-- forget about the garage, and shape- I went for the simple two sides, a door, two windows and a roof (I added the chimney at the end for effect).
From there we drew the sun, and of course it is bright and right there on the corner of the page-- I probably learned that trick in my art class circa 2000.
Needless to say, he was impressed with my skills. So we began drawing the little people that make up our family tree. I thoroughly enjoyed it. We haven't really had any family pictures done yet & I can't wait to have them done when we are {finally} all together.
As I was drawing I just began to think. One, I am terrible-- my stick figures are definitely not top notch. But, isn't that how life is? It's messy and imperfect. I loved that as I looked at that silly picture I saw 'us'. Our lines are rarely straight, our hair is often a mess, we do in fact, have way too many cats. This little stick figure picture so perfectly depicted our kind of crazy-- & that brought a smile to my iminthemiddleofanadoptionstressedout face.
Ya'll (I am totally a southern wanna-be), I would be lying if I said our family was pretty or put together all the time. Adoption is messy, it comes from such loss, devastation & tragedy, and while redemption is beautiful, the road to it isn't easy. Jim and I would be fooling you if we made it seem like the road we chose to parenthood was an easy one. I couldn't have imagined our lives like this. That is the beauty of it though-- that little stick figure family-- imperfect and working hard to get through each day. Grace upon grace is how we manage it {most days}.
I don't know if we will ever find our normal- at this point I hardly remember what "normal" is :)
What I do know is this, we would do it all a million times over for the lives of our children. Each one so different, so unique, and each one fighting a battle that I will never fully know, yet I try daily to understand better. There is beauty in brokenness, and that is where we are right now- a little stick figure family finding their way, failing regularly, and forgiving often.
It is amazing what a little drawing can do for your soul-- if only I would have discovered this in my Junior high art class…I may have missed my calling ;)
With love from Africa,
Em & Jensen
So here we are- J's box of Crayola crayons and a notepad. My heart may have began beating at a faster pace as emotions from my early teens flooded in. I began to draw and he told me what he wanted in the picture. He wanted our family, house, and animals {though he may have had a minor panic attack when he saw how many cats we have}.
I obviously started with the sweeping grass hills, filled with flowers-- never mind that in our yard the flowers are dandelions…and we don't really have sweeping hills.
From there I proceeded to draw our home-- forget about the garage, and shape- I went for the simple two sides, a door, two windows and a roof (I added the chimney at the end for effect).
From there we drew the sun, and of course it is bright and right there on the corner of the page-- I probably learned that trick in my art class circa 2000.
Needless to say, he was impressed with my skills. So we began drawing the little people that make up our family tree. I thoroughly enjoyed it. We haven't really had any family pictures done yet & I can't wait to have them done when we are {finally} all together.
As I was drawing I just began to think. One, I am terrible-- my stick figures are definitely not top notch. But, isn't that how life is? It's messy and imperfect. I loved that as I looked at that silly picture I saw 'us'. Our lines are rarely straight, our hair is often a mess, we do in fact, have way too many cats. This little stick figure picture so perfectly depicted our kind of crazy-- & that brought a smile to my iminthemiddleofanadoptionstressedout face.
Ya'll (I am totally a southern wanna-be), I would be lying if I said our family was pretty or put together all the time. Adoption is messy, it comes from such loss, devastation & tragedy, and while redemption is beautiful, the road to it isn't easy. Jim and I would be fooling you if we made it seem like the road we chose to parenthood was an easy one. I couldn't have imagined our lives like this. That is the beauty of it though-- that little stick figure family-- imperfect and working hard to get through each day. Grace upon grace is how we manage it {most days}.
I don't know if we will ever find our normal- at this point I hardly remember what "normal" is :)
What I do know is this, we would do it all a million times over for the lives of our children. Each one so different, so unique, and each one fighting a battle that I will never fully know, yet I try daily to understand better. There is beauty in brokenness, and that is where we are right now- a little stick figure family finding their way, failing regularly, and forgiving often.
It is amazing what a little drawing can do for your soul-- if only I would have discovered this in my Junior high art class…I may have missed my calling ;)
With love from Africa,
Em & Jensen
Your drawing is priceless and precious. Your comments humble me and your family is exceptional. Your and Jim's love for your children will bring them through any hardships or fears they might have. Much Love Carol Kruckeberg
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