Thoughtful

My mail-buddy called me today to let me know we had a package. I was quite surprised to see that the package she dropped off at my mom’s was not something Ryan ordered off the internet. It had my name on it and it was from Jayme.

I tore open the box and pulled out an Ethiopian blanket with a little hand written note from Jayme. It said something along the lines of “This blanket is from your friend, Cori Calvert. Love Jayme.” I was blown away.

It didn’t take me long to figure out how Cori came up with the idea. I’ve had a link to Jayme’s blankets on my blog ever since I started drooling over them. I so appreciate this gift. Thank you Cori for the surprise gift. Thank you Jayme for sharing in the surprise. Cori, you seriously don’t know how much this means to me. This is something that I totally wanted but not something I could justify spending money on. You rock my friend. Your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated.

When Scott was born, our church threw a baby shower for us and we received lots of gifts. It was wonderful. When Bethany was born, some people within our church provided us meals and we received a few gifts. It was nice and appreciated but definitely not the gifts like Scott received. When we brought Judah home from Ethiopia, I think we received two gifts from friends and some meals. Now, I’m not saying that anyone should feel obligated to give a gift or that I don't appreciate what I did receive. I’m just pointing out that in my little world, with each child you bring home, the gifts decrease. And with bringing an adopted child home, most people here are only used to the traditional method of adding to your family so they don’t even know how to react to adoption. Is it normal to give gifts to those who adopt? Is it normal to have a “baby” shower for an adopted child? Seeing how people have or haven’t reacted to our family situation has been interesting. Now, I’m very curious about how it’s worked out for other adopted families and what their family situation was/is.

My goal is not to come across as whining or complaining. I’m super thankful for what we have. In our specific situation, many friends and family participated in us raising financial support to bring Judah home. In my mind, that’s worth as much, if not more than receiving gifts. Thank you, thank you, thank you for our friends and family who’ve prayed for us, helped us raise money, and sent Judah a gift once he got home. We are truly thankful.