I've been missing you too....whoever YOU are.
It has literally been a crazy year. Since May 28, 2015, it has been cray-cray to the nth degree. My husband and I are now parents to two little girls. There is no more speculating on when my barrenness will end and when I will be a mom. On May 28th, the oldest child moved in with almost little to no fanfare. The newness set in when she threw her first cry fest with us at bedtime. It seemed to last forever. Today, she doesn't cry as much anymore - or at least, not for the same reasons.
In July, the little one that we had been waiting forever for moved into our home and immediately we were renamed "Mommy" and "Daddy". This tiny little girl whom we loved on every weekend for a year as alternative caregivers became our daughter legally on April 29, 2016. She became our Ariyanna and we became hers.
Unfortunately, in this same climactic year, I gave up on writing, art, and photography. I gave up on helping others with their books because I was never paid for work I had done. My work and my passion was overlooked for the sake of their pocketbooks. Funny how that happens. So I stopped announcing that I was so passionate about the oxygen in my lungs and the heartbeat of my life to others, even though it felt like my bones were burning within me. I still laid my pen down.
That is why you didn't hear from me.
That is why I remained silent.
That is why I convinced myself that no one cared about what I had to say or my view of the world captured through photographs or the paintings in my studio.
I gave up on all that creative stuff and stuffed myself into my return to foster care case management. I literally threw myself into helping others.
They were helped but it didn't really work for me. I lost me in the process.
Here I was a new mother to these little girls that I didn't physically give birth to, but was laboring to bring forth into a new life, nonetheless. Here I was trying to please the "powers that be" that they made the right choice in selecting me for my position at work. Here I was ignoring the studio in the basement of my home, starting to use it as storage. Here I was keeping the camera in the bag and never taking it out to snap one picture of my girls running around in the backyard.
Three weeks ago, I made a decision to follow the unction of God. You know how when you pray and ask God to work a miracle or move a mountain and he does and you know that you have to be obedient to the answer you received? Well, that's where I found myself. I asked God to get me out of the place where I was emotionally, financially, and even physically because I no longer felt like me. Some prayers are radical because you don't really know how in the world things will work out and you know that a sacrifice will have to be made.
Three weeks ago, I made a phone call, submitted some paperwork, and started transferring cases to other co-workers. I looked into my children's eyes and knew that I had to press the stop button on some things in my life and the start button on more pertinent and serious things in our lives. I went on a parental leave from my job because even though I didn't physically give birth to them, they deserved to have my attention; I needed a maternity leave of sorts for them.
They needed to see their "real mom". They needed to see their mother painting in the studio. They needed to go to the movies in the middle of the day on a Friday afternoon with their mother so they could enjoy "Finding Dory". They needed to learn more stuff to get prepared for preschool and kindergarten. They needed the real me because honestly, in this year, they haven't truly had the privilege of meeting her yet.
I know that I am in a middle of yet another transition in every area of my life. Truthfully it is a spiritual transition; I need to draw closer to God so I can be a better mom, a better wife, a better career/business woman, a better writer, a better artist, a better photographer, a better daughter, a better minister to hurting people. I need to allow this time to refocus and build a stronger foundation for me and my family with my husband.
I am excited about taking a break. I have never done this before. I just knew I needed to. And I hope that even in this, I am helping others realize what is most important in their lives as well.
I think the most prolific thing about this season is that I see others that are in the same place as I am - transitioning from one place to another. I see others saying no to those obligations that take them away from their families, themselves, and their passions. I am glad I am not alone.
