Uncomfortable.

We've been home about 12 weeks.
In our ongoing quest to make the boys fully comfortable here we have found that
at times
it necessitates making them
uncomfortable.

Case in point.
I love saying case in point. 
Does it make me sound lawyerish? 
Do I sound really intelligent when I say that? 
I like sounding intelligent. 
Especially cuz I tend to make up words like "lawyerish."

But I digress...

Case in point... 
apples for snack after school.
Weeks 1-10 at home
you get your very own plate of apples from which to eat.
This makes you very, very happy.

Weeks 11 + at home
I'm putting a big plate of apples in the middle of the table and we can all
~gasp~
share.
This makes you slightly uncomfortable.

The first time I tried this
(which...btw is how I typically serve apples....because hello... less dishes this way.....and hello.....mama likes less dishes)
they immediately started grabbing as many as their tiny little hands and mouths could hold.
Alrightythen.
Choking hazard aside,
I realized at that moment
that I was on to something.

How can you possibly relax and fully settle into a family until you realize that your needs
....apple and otherwise....
will be fully met?

And how can you realize this if you've never experienced it? 

So there we began.
1 giant plate of apples.
And we sit around that table together
chit-chatting about our day
casually and leisurely eating
one
cut
up
apple
at
a
time.

And when that plate is empty for them to be able to see me get up and cut some more
is
a
gift.

Case in point #2
I object! 
Sustained!
You're out of order!
No you're out of order!
You can't handle the truth! 
~Ahem~ 
sorry. 

When we need to gently correct them or speak to them about something they have a hard time physically coming near us.

They
are
scared.
So, so incredibly scared.

I won't go into why
....I'm sure you can {sadly} figure that out....
but insisting that they come over to us when we are speaking to them is yet another way that they are learning correction lovingly.
Check it out.
We're not screaming at you
we're not hitting you
we are merely speaking to you.
And they relax a little bit more.

So for better or worse this is what we have found in the last few weeks.
That making them uncomfortable is actually helping them to heal.

I think this is also such a picture of the love that the Lord has for us.
Our growth is in the valley.
Our growth is when we step out
when we leave what we know
when we are uncomfortable.
Because that's where He is. 
And that's what the boys are learning.
Their past is familiar,
their old ways are comforting
but there's such life outside of that.
There is such love waiting for them beyond that.

Just thought I would share that experience with you
I would tell you more
but I have to go study for the bar exam
and buy a power suit.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
2 Corinthians 12:9