Math and Mites

Celebrating today!  So, this is a picture of all of those who have helped to bring Vitaly home in any way so far!  It hangs by his bed to remind him that sooooo many people came together to help him.  The puzzle is orange - his favorite color.  Each piece names a person or business involved in getting him home. We add on every time a new helper comes along.  Those are the folks I want to celebrate today!

Today's blog post is called "Math and Mites" for a reason.  See if you can figure out why....

Celebrating The Widow!  She has given far beyond anyone else on this puzzle.  Interesting. Because she has probably "less" than anyone else there.  Ever heard of the widow's mite?  How does one come to giving away so very much when having what others would see as "just enough"?  Hmmmmm.....

Celebrating Adoptive Families!  So, a huge percent of the puzzle pieces carry names that represent other adoptive families - folks who are in the middle of gathering their own thousands to bring home a child or more.  Some who have just completed adoptions costing 5 digits.  How does that make sense?  Ever heard of the boy with the loaves and fish?  He gave what he had and everyone ended up with enough.  Hmmmmmm......

Celebrating Friends and Family!  We have had people give time, airline miles, money, bingo-calling and coordinating skills, and paypal account borrowing - among other things!  These are just regular folk who want to help.  Good friends, old friends, new friends, teacher-friends-who-haven't-had-a-raise-in-ages-and-pay-for-their-own-pencils,  family near and far.  This is what friends do.....

Celebrating Businesses!  Our adoption coordinator is beyond description.  Rare to find someone who will laugh, cry, pray, and dance with you - AND efficiently process hundreds of documents at all hours of the night. Our workplaces are flexing for childcare leave, the doctors and dentists and eye doctors give discounts and rewrite forms over and over and over to perfection.  This is above and beyond "business as usual"....

Celebrating Strangers!  There are some puzzle pieces that have question marks on them.  These represent people who have given - and we don't know their names.  Either donations were anonymous or they were passing through - like the lady at the yard sale who didn't want to buy anything.  She just wanted to help.  Strangers acting strangely....

So, you see the math lesson here?  If the puzzle represents a whole, the pieces are fractions.  A boy's heart and our family are that whole.  All of those we are celebrating today are the fractional bits without which the heart and the family are incomplete.  Adoption math is different than regular old school math - it includes widows and orphans and mites and giving beyond what you have.  Sometimes it doesn't add up on paper.  I can't work these figures out neatly and prove the result.  I just know that the pieces will add up to love and healing in the end.