Thorburn Family

Since bringing Benjamin home, we have been recalling the precious first days.  Here are some precious first memories of Jubilee, our oldest adopted kiddo who joined our family at 4 1/2 in an adoption that was completely unplanned by us, but perfectly planned by God. Jubilee is currently about to turn 13:

**Jubilee realizing, all of a sudden, why I was there with her in Colorado.  She popped her head up out of bed, eyes completely wide open, intensely meeting my gaze.  ”Are you going to be my new Mommy?” she asked.   Words from a very traumatized and confused kiddo who could barely put a sentence together at that point.. this one, I couldn’t avoid.  She was earnest.  I couldn’t give her a for-sure answer because all the legal things were not in my hands.  I didn’t want to promise her anything and be another trauma to her life when it didn’t work out.   I prayed for wisdom real quick.. and answered, “Do you want me to be your new Mommy?”  ”YES!!!!”  I took her hand, said “OK, let’s ask God if I could be your new Mommy,”  and started praying with her that I could be her new mommy.   Four days later, I was able to tell her “God said yes.”   Happy day!  

**Giving Jubilee a baby doll during her our first days together, and teaching her all day in specific ways to nurture it like “a good mommy.”   This went a long way on a number of fronts. 

**Having Jubilee come to me 5 months after joining our family, after a conversation with her sisters about how we named them, saying, “Mommy!  I want a ‘new, special name, too!!!!’”   She got one!

**Having Jubilee inform perfect strangers on a regular basis of every detail of her life, from varying points of view.  We’ve turned some heads and fumbled through some interesting explanations… it wasn’t funny then, but I cherish the memories now.

**Trying to explain the concept of who God is to Jubilee.. she kept saying, “Is He pixie dust?”

**2 AM, bus station in Albany, NY, after at least 15 difficult hours of travel with Jubilee and Josiah:  Jubilee jumps out and runs spread-armed (like the movies) towards Valerie and Lydia.. “LYDIA!!! VALERIE!!!”  They embraced and have been tight ever since.   Praise God.

**Lydia, probably the best big sister on earth.. quietly singing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” with Jubilee as we rode from the bus station to our apartment.  We sat in the dark listening, wondering what the future would hold with these children.  

**We have some adorable videos of Jubilee singing “Wonderful Grace Of Jesus” at the top of her lungs, swinging her blond hair back and forth, at 4 1/2 years old.  This is probably in the top three of my favorite memories of Jubilee.  She knew every verse of it within 1 month of arriving home.  She could not remember that e says “eh”.. for over a year, and she tried so hard.  The brain, and the effects of trauma in a little life, are an amazing thing.  Yet, she learned every verse of at least 20 hymns and some other songs very quickly.  They were a comfort to her and a blessing in so many ways.  Jubilee loved, loved, loved running around the house singing and dancing.  Her jubilant spirit continues to light up our house today in the same way!  She hasn’t lost one bit of her sweetness.  

Those days of our first adoption were actually quite hard because of the way the twins came, the adoption’s unexpected nature, their needs & our inexperience, and many other reasons. In some ways, we didn’t savor the sweetness of things until years later.  God used all of it in our lives greatly over time, all for good, and we are sooo thankful that Jubilee can laugh about being part of our “first adoption experiment.”   When we remember the hard stuff, we are thankful for it, and so thankful that we have these sweet memories of our blond-haired cutie and the precious first days we enjoyed with her.