My Brother, My Guest?!

I had a very interesting conversation with our four year old daughter the other day. Just a little background info..........E is our daughter by birth and L is our son that we adopted from Ethiopia. E is 4 and L is 5. They are VERY close. E has been L's language tutor and best friend since the very beginning of our family uniting. It has been beautiful to watch their relationship grow.

Anyway, E says," Mom, Levi is my guest brother." I ask her what she means. She explains that he is her guest brother because we got him from Ethiopia. I cringe a little at her word usage here. I went on to explain that we wouldn' t call him our guest because guests just stay a little while and then go away. I said "Honey, L is not going anywhere he will be in our family forever just like you. We met you for the first time in a hospital and met L for the first time in Ethiopia. God has planned you and L to be in our family forever!" She seemed somewhat comforted by these words and was soon skipping of to play with L in their pretend play world.

I was left reflecting on this conversation. We continue to deal with many questions from all the kids regarding adoption. Lately, K,I, and E want to know more about L and J's life in Ethiopia. The other day out of the blue while I was hard boiling eggs, L had a very far off look in his eye and expressed that he remember his mom in Ethiopia making those. It took my breath away to be reminded of how often he thinks of her. I thanked God that he shared this detail with me. He is doing more of this since we started taking him to counseling. When he opens up it gives Layne and I more opportunities to show him our love and comfort.