Getting Started

How difficult is it to post a blog? I just found out it's pretty simple and very free. Even if no one reads them, it's a great opportunity to write and reflect--to put down thoughts that may just flutter around our minds.

Speaking of, what's on my mind? 4 boys and a wife of 16 years. We are very blessed here at the Voth household. "Are you done?", people continue to ask. "Never say never", I tend to respond. I do wonder if we will have more. Biological or adopted? Let's see what's in store. . .

One thing I have learned over the years is not to put God in a box. As a young married couple, Molly and I pictured ourselves in the house with the picket fence and our 2.3 kids. We would go to church, watch our kids grow up, move out and we would move into a small condo on the beach until they carried us away in a box.

Never did we realize that God had a much different plan. It took nearly 4 years to have our first once we started trying, then out of nowhere they kept coming. Throw in one with Down Syndrome and the condo on the beach better not be too small!

Andrew, who is our youngest, turned 4 this week. He is the most loving, spirited little boy I've ever been around. He goes to school at Schwarzkopf Elementary and literally has everyone wrapped around his finger. All of the teachers and administrators know and love him. When we went on our family vacation for a week, they all told us they missed him so much it hurt! He has taught me so much about myself and I have have had no choice but to stop and learn.

Molly started blogging within days of his birth, primarily to disseminate informational updates to everyone. His diagnosis and subsequent complications made life quite a bit different than I had planned. Yet through it all I have learned that Andrew has an amazing purpose on this earth. People may look at him as "different" and well, in some ways he is. But the more I get to know him, the more I understand that he is better equipped with what's important--a love and kindness that is so unconditional it melts me. I tend to think it's ME with the disability!

I hope that this blog will be one that is interesting, insightful and thought-provoking to you as a reader. When Molly started blogging, I never realized the therapeutic value not only for her, but for so many that have been reading hers for all these years.