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That saying is true -- "no guts, no glory" As a single woman in my early 50s, adopting a 9 and 11 year old Brasilian brother and sister to become a first-time mother was by far the gutsiest thing I had ever done, and I am pretty adventurous, so that's saying alot. Wading through my own fear of the unknown, the seemingly endless red tape of the adoption process, 5 weeks in Brasil away from family and career, then back home with two strangers that spoke no English and who would be sharing my life - wildly risky stuff, even for me. So, we've established that serious intestinal fortitude was summoned - Brasilan bureacracy "dealt with", the kids and I returned to Houston, and family life was established. So, where does the glory come in? Well, certainly there's the joy of a parent, watching children develop and thrive -- the commonness of this doesn't diminish it, but "glory" might be too strong a word. Then, there's Julianna and August -- to say they are bright, funny, gifted, altogether beautiful people, and our family grows in love each day - that's all true, too -- but I'm not sure that's genuine "glory." "Glory" -- that's a high-dollar word-- --the stuff vast sunsets and the coming of the Lord are made of -- not a word you would use to describe family life full of things like High School Musical 3 or the Veterans Day breakfast at your daughter's middle school Yet, sometimes I stop in the midst of all this family life - the soccer, piano, gymnastics, Samba, African drums, barking dogs, water balloons, silly charades in the midst of Hurricane Ike, or just listening to my son read -- and I think about what these two crazy-wonderful kids and I have learned and continue to learn from each other about acceptance, forgiveness, hope, second chances - and I think about how we love each other -- and I think about what each of our lives might have been if I hadn't done something "gutsy" vs. what our lives are now and the wonderful adventure we are living out - and I figure that if that's not glory, I don't know what is.