Women come to be mothers in many different ways. My niece excitedly awaits the birth of her first-born, a daughter, any day now. After 40 weeks of pregnancy (why did it take only 9 months when I carried my children years ago?), she is quite ready to put her birth training to the test. Recently, a woman I know triumphantly birthed a baby, longed-for and conceived by in vitro fertilization. Now, due to science, egg and sperm can combine in a laboratory, with the resulting embryo placed into its mother's womb to grow and become a beloved baby. Early in the fall (and ongoing still), our small group prayed for another woman, whose own mother story is attached to horrendous headlines in our local paper. Her brother was murdered "by-hire," arranged by his own wife. Three innocent children remained. In the wake of this inexplicable tragedy, custody was awarded to the father's sister (the friend of a friend of ours) and her husband, together a childless couple totally unprepared for and blindsided by an instant family.
And then..there are the uniquely courageous ones, like my friend Shawna, who choose and then adopt children waiting for a home. Shawna joined our newly formed "9th grade team" many years ago. Four of us, two men and two women, a history teacher (Steve), a science teacher (Frank) , a math teacher (Shawna) and me (the English teacher), spent five years working with a sizable group of 9th grade students; we tried to teach them something while at the same time ushering them into the realities of high school. Shawna was the exact age of my daughter and so a sort of mother/daughter relationship augmented our collegial relationship. She moved, we lost touch a bit, and then she returned a little over a year ago. In the midst of her return, she was awash in the process of searching nationwide adoption banks for children to fill her childless home and her yearning mother's heart. She found three lucky children (a sibling group of two boys and a little girl) from Kansas City who needed her and her husband Mike as much as she and Mike desired them. Thus this family was pieced together, forming a beautiful new creation.
About this time last year, I started making bedtime bags for young children to keep their "jammies" and books together while hanging on their bedposts. But the one above is for Shawna, a "Mama bag," for one of the best Mamas I know. I filled it with three books (this and this and this, crafted by a writer/collage artist and an illustrator I admire), one for each of her three kids. May blessings rain gently on you all, Shawna, as you continue to grow together as a family.
Very sweet!
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