it doesn't take long

So I'm just thinking of my Thai Tornado a lot lately. Obviously, he's here with us safe and sound and has been for two and a half years now.

Thinking of him is easy to do.

But I'm pondering how all of this will affect him. How he will respond. How he will feel when his "baby bruh-wer" comes home from China. The decision to adopt again had as much to do with Joel as it did with our conviction from the Lord. Joel was actually our jumping off place. I've been telling Jason for two years that I believed Joel needed a brother.

A brother with brown skin.

And dark, almond eyes.

And black hair.

As many of you know, I was just convinced that his brother should also come from Thailand. Okay, so I was wrong. Once.

Ahem.

We've been very open with Joel {and of course the girls} from the start about adopting again. We told them what we believed they needed to know at certain times and a little more than that at others. And as much as I would have like to spared them the pain and struggle of the last three months, I wouldn't change it. I'm glad they loved Seth. I hate that they lost him too. I would have gladly carried that burden alone and saved our children and families that grief. But we didn't. We were forthcoming with everyone very quickly.

I thought a lot about that this time around and while I didn't share everything, every file, etc. with my mom {who grieved Seth nearly as badly as I did}, we did tell them about the little prince a few weeks after praying about him specifically.

I guess I'm not the best person to keep a secret. Maybe it's in my genes. Maybe I'm just a talker. I don't know. Our family shares things. I talk to my siblings weekly. To my mom most everyday. My dad calls routinely to say, "Hey princess. Haven't heard your voice in a few days...." So it seems natural to me to want to tell the world that we have another son in China.

But I worried that we would be setting our kids up. I wondered how Joel especially would handle it. And you wanna know something? He's handled it beautifully. I can't explain it. He already loves his brother. He had already loved Seth.

It doesn't take long.

For these children to be grafted into your family. It doesn't take long at all. And they are a part of you. They are us.

There has been a lot of discussion about the little prince's name to be. We've all had the MacBook out searching and trying different combinations. It's been comical. And heart warming as the girls try to pick the perfect one and wow us with it. Jase and I had gone back and forth for a few weeks about it and this weekend, Joel gave us his pick for a name.

Are you ready for this?

Really ready?

Joel wants to name our sweet little China prince...

Darth Maul.

You heard me right. Oh, yeah. He's dead serious.

We broke it to him this weekend that we wouldn't be going with Darth Maul.

We're sorry, you didn't win. But thank you so much for playing. Please try again next time.

Joel had a hard time understanding why the prince couldn't be known as Darth Maul. I kinda get that. The boy is nearly obsessed with Darth Vader. It only makes sense I guess. Still, we had to emphatically say "no" to his request.

Heart breaker.

A couple weeks ago, I was sitting at my desk doing some work for a photography client. The rain was falling again {we had a very wet January!} but it wasn't storming. The only sounds I heard were a steady rain and Joel building his latest roller coaster out of wooden train tracks in the floor in front of my desk. All of a sudden, a roar of thunder rocked our house. In a blink, literally .7 seconds, Joel was all over me. Grasping my arm, head buried in my chest.

"What that noise, mama?"

"It was just thunder baby. It's okay. I've got you. You're okay."

"I no wike funder, mama."

"I know, baby. It's okay to be afraid. But you don't have to be. I've got you."

"My new baby bruh-wer be fraid of funder, mama?

"Yes. I'm sure he will be."

"I take care him, mama. I help him not be fraid."

"That's so sweet of you, Joel. I'm sure he'll be so happy to have a big brother like you."

"I take care him, mama. I teach him sing, 'God wuvs me, I NOT be fraid, not be fraid, not be fraid! God wuvs me, I NOT be fraid, not be fraid anymore!' "

I have never heard Joel sing this song. I have no idea who taught it to him. It was a precious moment in time with the Tornado though. Already, he loves him. Already he wants to protect him and shelter him. And just like Christ does with us, sing over him.

It doesn't take long.

Oh, I'm not kidding myself. I know that hard days are a coming! I realize that anytime a new child is added to a family, there are struggles and emotions that can be stressful. But I also know that Jesus does all things well.

He does all things well.

The grafting of the prince into our family, that the Lord is doing even now by growing this love in us for him, is once again giving us the most beautiful picture of salvation. He changes our name and makes us a son. Joel knows that full well. He is as much a son as any boy could be. And it's evident that he wants that for the little prince. It's so clear already.

It doesn't take long, y'all. Not long at all.