Gabby: Families Have Fun

Oh, how we love this girl! She has been such a blessing in our family. Every day she amazes me with her ability to be real and allow herself to love and be loved. She looks around and takes cues about how to do things from those around her. When it was her turn to speak on Sunday, she stood up and actually did a great job of ad-libbing some of her comments from the original text on the paper in front of her.  She says she added things that came into her heart as she listened to her new siblings. She claims she was afraid, but you couldn't tell. (Picture taken ice skating on Saturday)

I am Gabby. I am in the Jarman’s family. I’m new in this family, and I like having fun with my family.  (This was in the original talk, added because she was new and introducing herself.  When she stood up she decided she didn't want to be different so she skipped the introduction and just started with the text of the talk below.)

Families have fun by playing with each other and going out to dinner, going ice skating, fishing, going down town, sledding, building snowmen, playing with your sisters and brothers and dogs, playing games, playing with cousins, and play fighting with brothers. That’s how families have fun. You can do it by having fun with your family and being loving. Sometimes we fight and it isn’t fun. When we fight we don’t feel good about each other. Then we say sorry and ask them if they want to play and we start playing together again and we are so glad we got together.

Forever families have to know how to have fun together if they want to be happy with their parents and children forever.

She also ad-libbed and spoke from her heart about finding out that she was going to be adopted.  She said she was "glad and sad."  She said she was sad to leave behind her foster mom, school and friends, but really wanted a family.  She said she always wanted a family with a mom, dad, two brothers, two sisters, and dogs.  

It amazes me how she talks openly to us about the loss of leaving behind family and friends in Omaha, but she talks all the time about wanting to be in a big family.  At first I thought she didn't understand what she had given up there, and wondered when it would hit her, but the more she talks about it, the more I realize she did know, and she followed her heart anyway.  

Adoption is never without loss, and our love is never far from the people who have loved our children before us.  I was amazed that Gabby included this in her comments in church, and was once again impressed at the strength of her heart as she spoke about finding her family.  What a girl!

(Link to the story of our family speaking in church on Sunday)