Other lights...

In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets...  -The Four Loves, C. S. Lewis

As soon as we started the process to adopt Hannah Ryan from China, Ryan and I started noticing a change in both our boys...particularly in Hudson.  Hudson is now a big brother.  Even though he has not yet met his little sister, there has already been a change in him...he has already assumed the role.  As we started to see this happen, I immediately thought of the above quote by C. S. Lewis.  Even though he is specifically talking about friends, I see it already in Hudson's life as a result of the coming "light" of Hannah Ryan.  He already loves her unashamedly...he tells everyone about her.  He is already talking about how he is going to protect her and help care for her.  He has even described how he will make her laugh when she is upset.  There is a tenderness that Hannah Ryan is awakening in him that is absolutely blowing me away!  I think one of the things I am looking forward to the most when we arrive at the airport is seeing Hudson's face when he meets his baby sister for the first time...somebody is going to have to have their video camera ready!

The week after we officially told the boys that we were adopting a little sister from China, Hudson came home from school with a pink purse.  He regularly comes home with prizes that he has earned from the "Treasure Box" of one of his teachers at school.  When he has earned enough stickers for working hard, he can redeem them for a prize.  Well, apparently, he had been saving up to get something really good.  This particular week, after learning that he was going to be a big brother, he redeemed ALL the stickers he had been stockpiling to get a pink purse for his little sister.  The purse has remained hanging on his bedroom door since that day...waiting for the day when he can give Hannah Ryan her purse.  Before we left for Summer Beach Project, I was cleaning the house and picked up the purse.  I was surprised to find that it was full.  I poured out the contents to discover that Hudson had been bringing home more and more "girly" treasures from school (and finding things around our house) to put in Hannah Ryan's purse for her...a purple brush, beads, stickers, a necklace...  Oh how blessed this little girl will be!!!  I am so thankful for the "other light" that God is bringing into our family and for the "facets" of her big brother, Hudson, that we would never have gotten to see without her!