So much more than good will

This is not a post about thrifting, but really, it's actually better.  Much better!  It's about unexpected blessings.

This year, on Valentine's Day, my husband was scheduled to have a knee replacement surgery.  I had to leave the House of Goodwill to come home for it, as well as a few other commitments the week before.  Needless to say, I wasn't expecting much this year from Valentine's Day, but not a big deal, really.  We decided to celebrate Saturday night with a steak dinner and a movie at home.  (Our son cooked the whole thing; he will do anything for steak.)  It was great!  We had our Valentine's dinner.

Then Sunday was the Super Bowl, than we spent all day Monday at the hospital.

Anyway, I told my twenty-one-year-old son he didn't need to come to the hospital.  After all, it would just be a day of sitting around and waiting, and there wasn't anything he could do there anyway.

"Could you just empty the recycling containers in the kitchen?"  I asked him, before we left.  "And walk the dogs, since I'll be getting home late."  (We usually walk the dogs together.)  "Sure," he replied. 

Note here that I had a massive mess in my kitchen by Monday morning.  I had been running errands on Sunday between church and the Super Bowl, and by the time it was over I didn't feel like doing dishes.  There were leftover steak dinner dishes, homemade guacamole and chips dishes (what my son made for the Super Bowl) and lots of others.  It was significant.

So fast forward to Monday.  I did spend all day in the hospital (minus two Goodwill runs while my husband was in surgery - and were they good!  But more about that in another post.).  By the time we came home, it was about six pm.  I was sure my son had walked the dogs; the dogs wouldn't let him forget that.  But I wondered if he had remembered to dump the recycling bins?

So we walked in the house, me with my arms full of Goodwill bags.  And what did I discover?

Well, not only had my son dumped the recycling (as I'd asked) but he also took all the trash out.  (Which I didn't ask, and he never does.)  He had also walked the dogs.  But there was more!  My kitchen, which had earlier been an epic disaster, was perfectly clean!  All dishes were washed and put away.  He'd even cleaned and organized the countertops.

But wait, there's more!

He had gone to the store that day and bought me a dozen pink roses for Valentine's Day.  Then he went into my vase collection, picked a few out, and spread the roses between four different vases, putting them all around the house.  There were roses in the kitchen, roses in the hall, roses in the living room, and a single rose upstairs by my bed.

This is not the first time my son did this for me with the roses.  He did it once before this year, the night before I was starting a really long work week.

But there was more!  He had also bought a "Welcome Home" balloon for my husband:

But there was more!  On the way home from the hospital, my husband said he wanted to pick up ice cream from Andy's that night.  He was going to stop when my son took him to the drugstore to get his prescriptions.  But he didn't need to, because:

My son had already picked up Andy's as a Valentine surprise.

There was ice cream for both my husband and me in the freezer.

But there's more!

As I was trying to pick my jaw off the floor (still stunned about the dishes), I noticed a table with presents.  My son had two presents each for my husband and I, and a card to us both.  Wow!!

I really didn't know what to say.

So, the point of this post isn't just to share about my Valentine's day (maybe a little) or to share how amazing I think my son is (though he IS).  It's to share this:

My son in this story (my only child) was adopted six years ago, when he was fifteen-years-old.  I liken that experience to jumping off a cliff; we (and he) really had no idea exactly what we were getting into.  We just prayed and did it.

I imagine a lot of people think of adopting a teenager (especially one you've never met!) as a high risk proposition, and I certainly understand.  I think many people imagine lots of anger, holes punched in walls, and drama.  (Based on many people's comments - and warnings - before we did it, this is definitely true.)  I'm sure there are many of those scenarios.  I can't say it didn't cross my mind.

But while our adoption wasn't challenge-free, there were WAY more joyful moments that hard ones.  I can't speak for others, because I know of other adoptive families who struggle, but wow, was it worth it.  (I know lots of biological families who struggle too, for what it's worth.)  This adoption has brought so much happiness to all of us.

When I was twenty-one, I never did anything like this for my parents.  Not because I didn't love them, but just because I was too busy taking them for granted.  It just never crossed my mind.

Adopted parents and children don't take each other for granted.  When you wait a (very) long time for a child, you enjoy every moment that you have together.

When we adopted our teenager, I never imagined this.  I'm still amazed.

I have witnessed the power of God slowly transform the life of our son.  He is a caring, loving person and I am grateful for him every day.  Life can be so hard.  Which makes the unexpected blessings along the way even better.  It was a wonderful Valentine's Day this year indeed.