Thoughts on a Plane

I am writing this as a bit of an exercise as I evaluate why I feel the passion I do in helping the children out there who do not have homes or wait minutes, days, months, years passing by not knowing what it is like to have a bed to wake up in that is all theirs or run out in the morning with one intent, to receive a huge hug from a parent, Mama or Papa. The small things we take for granted every day, those moments, whether simply being able to sit with your son or daughter and realize you are giving them a life, a starting point to something greater.

I will never forget the moment my son was in my arms and I held him up to a tree to touch a leaf. The leaf between his fingers widened his eyes and yet almost gave him a reality check, like, this is good, this is different, but this is what I needed these past 15 months was to feel the leaves between my fingers, touch the grass beneath my feet and feel the warmth wrapped up in a mother's arms.

When I leave Russia, I sit in the plane my head pressed against the plane glass looking down with a heavy heart. There will never be a day that passes that I do not think of Russia, of the children I leave there each time wanting to give them more. I have said this before, a piece of my heart will forever be in Russia.

Michael and I may not have been able to conceive and in some crazy thought, I am so grateful as I would not have the beautiful son I cherish each day or the daughter who is coming into our lives soon. The road may be seriously difficult, incredibly challenging, life altering and often bumpy but in the end I have realized my life direction was and is to continue to be a part of supporting these children who need a home by doing whatever it takes to give them a little piece of what we all have each day in our lives.