"and just like my sister..."

i was in the kitchen making sandwiches.
my girlfriends and their kids were over, chaos and laughter and massive amounts of all kinds of toys were strewn about.
the recipe for a great morning with friends.

laurel says to me, "you've gotta hear what foster just said. i said to him, 'you look just like your uncle steve today!'"

and foster said "and just like my sister."

plain as day. second nature.
she's my sister. we look alike. duh.

i wish i had heard it with my own ears...it brings tears to my eyes and a lump in my throat to think about his beautiful heart and the amazing shift that our family has encountered.
adoption shifts a family.
my son looks at emery and sees his sister. in his mind she is so much his sister that they look alike.
we've talked about birth moms and adoption and he knows she has a birth mom and birth father. but his heart is linked with her and she isn't adopted anymore. she's his sister.

it's so simple, but it astounds me.
i would have never known his heart could grow and understand such huge things. i probably wouldn't have had the wisdom to spend the time talking about adoption and the beauty of the way God adopts each of us. God's love and plan for each of us involves adoption and siblings and birth parents and so much of what we are seeing in front of us.

i know i'm not saying anything profound. but in my heart, i just can't explain the magnitude of what i feel. it's simply beautiful.
amidst the harder parts of what the past few months have been...
the beautiful parts always shine through.