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I never thought that
when I whitewashed thrifted furniture, painted a fresh coat on the walls, hung
the shelves and arranged the baskets, stacked tidy rows of beautifully printed
cotton,
My first project
Months after that first hopeful stroke of
paint,
Would be the weight of a baby’s blanket
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Amaris’s tears
started then
And have slipped ripe
and full over the beautiful brown of her skin since
All the tenderness
offered could not sooth the fragility of her hurt
I have wept with my
daughter
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With the sun rising
hopeful over our days and long into the soul crushing hours of night
Days slipping way to
a whole season of tears
Experts say the moist
is memories
An infant’s way of
expressing the depth and force of pain
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I weep because I
can’t go back in time and wrap my infant with security and safety
I weep so weary
The tears rattle a
soul right through to my brain
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This is adoption
So much brokenness
Mine, hers and a God
who is molding us
Forming the bond
through the wrestling pains of life
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God leads to wisdom
Teachers, experts and
Doctors
Who deposits tools
and keys and a whole new way of life
That covers the
broken and heals their wounds
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I’m the mother and I
see the signs
The special care it
will take going back, journeying the darkness, letting the brokenness be filled
with light
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That pendulum of
special needs swings wide and vast
We teeter in the
sensory processing spectrum
Along with almost
every other child of trauma and neglect
I ache for my girl
who is worth so much more then was given
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Knowing why the tears
All her pain gushing out
Knowing her brain formed around stress and the damage it has caused
My Mothering heart winces
It can cripple with this care
Or it can cradle this wee one
Draw her nearer
Embrace the broken
Wipe another tear and then a thousand more
I can swaddle her then tuck her under a weighted blanket that calms and soothes her senses
I can grow and learn
I can be a purposeful healer
I can
Love
And be assured that God has
Kept track of all my sorrows.
You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
You have recorded each one in your book.
You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
You have recorded each one in your book.
I can offer
A sacrifice of thanks for your help.
For you have rescued me from death;
you have kept my feet from slipping.
So now I can walk in your presence, O God,
in your
For you have rescued me from death;
you have kept my feet from slipping.
So now I can walk in your presence, O God,
in your
Life-Giving Light
Psalms 56
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