Thursday, December 23, 2004


Toby & Nina Posted by Hello

posted by Nina @ 9:04 PM 0 comments

A Very Merry Christmas

I want the world to know that this is the best Christmas that I can remember since my earliest memories! But I guess for you to understand fully why it is so special, you need to know a little about what has happened in the past 8 years. You see, my husband and I married in 1992 and by 1994, we decided that we wanted to adopt. So in 1996, we brought a brother and sister (girl, 9 yrs and boy, 10 yrs old) into our home.
It took less that an hour to learn that we had jumped in over our heads but God had led us here and we were committed. My step-daughter decided that she was ready to rebel just prior to the new kids moving in, so our house was in great turmoil for quite some time. After the step-child moved to her mother's in August of 1997, things seemed to settled down somewhat and we learned of another sister and brother who needed a home. We moved them in (then 7 and 9 years old) in August of 1998. We had one year of activity and fun with 4 kids and a dog in a small house. That Christmas was was also fun, I must admit. You just can't enjoy Christmas like it should be enjoyed unless you have kids around.
And then it happened. My world began to crumble. I was already hurting because of the departure of what I considered my first child, my step-daughter. She left in anger and would only return to our house to claim gifts for birthday and Christmas. Then, in December of 1999, we learned that our older adopted son had been molesting the 2 foster kids for most of the year. Within months, DSS took the 2 younger kids out of our home and by November of 2000, we were forced to place our son in a residential treatment program because he was not responding to any counseling we were able to acquire from home.
During all of this, my mother was slowly but steadily deteriorating from Dementia and by 2001, had forgotten who I was. As a side note, I stopped all contraceptives in 1993 in hopes of having a child of my own. That has never happened and has been a recurring source of pain for me.
In 2001, we added the problems of our only child remaining in the home becoming seriously effected by BiPolar. Every 8 weeks, we could count on an extreme and usually dangerous episode. We would never know what would set it off but it was guaranteed to happen. She began hitting Toby (my husband) in the face and eventually, we were forced to call 911 and have her arrested. We were hoping to teach her the consequences of violence but it never seemed to work. In early 2002, she was placed in foster care and through ridiculous circumstances, I was accused of emotionally abusing her and we lost all authority over her.
Things were looking up by the end of 2002 when my father decided to move in with us so that I could help him take care of my Mom. We built a bigger house, with my Dad's help, and at around the same time that they moved here, our son returned home as well. In March of 2003, my son accepted Christ and began the amazing turn around of his life. He is growing into an impressive man. I was really looking forward to Christmas last year.
However, in June my father had a massive heart attack and by July 25th, both of my parents had gone home to be with Christ. That, and still not having my daughter home or even interested in knowing or talking to me, put a big damper on Christmas. My sister, Mary Lu, came to stay with us from Thanksgiving through Christmas for the same reason. She needed to recover from our loss.
But this year! My daughter has turned her life around and has the BiPolar under control with medication and is really desiring a close relationship with both of us!!
I have my family back! My sister is here again and my heart is full!!
Thank you, Lord, for ALL you have done!

posted by Nina @ 8:23 PM 0 comments