An 11 year old's heart

I have seen many different phases in the lives and hearts of my children over the past 3 3/4 years. I know that when we first arrived, my kids fell head over heels in love with the BG kids. For Elijah, he made some pretty solid friendships despite the language barriers. Then one by one the kids began to get reunited with family or they would get adopted and I noticed that as each friend went away, so did Elijah's carefree friendship with the BG kids. He eventually stopped going to the playgroup and even tried to refuse adoption ceremonies. His heart was broken and it was too hard to love and lose a friend. Before furlough, he even began to lose his smile and became very serious.

During furlough, he reconnected with a few of those special friends and got to see them in their new home, new country and new family. It was like it all clicked and he could realize that they were happier in their new family than they ever could have been at BG. I think he began to soften his heart toward adoption more and not feel the sting of a lost friend.

Since we came back, I have noticed that the carefree and fun big brother attitude is back and Elijah has been making friends with the kids again. He has one little boy who adores him and wants to spend every minute with Elijah that he can. Before furlough, I would have to beg Elijah to play with this boy, but now he seeks him out. He says nice things just to make this boy feel good about himself or to reassure the boy when he is having a tough day. I am so proud of Elijah for his growth and that he came to this conclusion on his own that it is better to love and lose a friend than it is to hide at home and not make friendships. Yesterday when he was watching a slide show, he saw this boy and said, "that's my buddy!" I could not be more proud of his heart. He even asked if we could adopt this little boy and I had to tell him that he is now matched and rather than be disappointed, he was happy that he would have a family and even wishes that he will have a big brother in his new family.