"I like adoption" (Asa, age 6)

Last week was a normal week.  We were driving home from school, which usually means I have at least 5 kids in the car with me.  I drive a Honda Odyssey (thanks to my sister and her husband, who gave us a sweet deal several years ago).  The Ody seats 7.  Ray drives a Honda Pilot (thanks to our local dealership, who also gave us a sweet deal because our family is in ministry).  Ray calls the Pilot a "truck".  The truck seats 8.  I am telling you this so that you understand that our family cannot ever go anywhere together.  We always have to take two vehicles.  Good thing gas is so cheap....
Anyway, we were on our way home.  Normal day.  Six kids in the back seat and one teenager up front with me.  Out of the blue Asa says, "I like adoption."  I chuckle and without even thinking say, "Me too, buddy.  Me too."  I am not sure what the other kids thought when he said this.  Honestly, they may not have considered it much.  With a houseful of young kids (who lack filters between their brains and their mouths and who are painfully unaware of social taboos) we have learned to speak in pretty plain language about the world of foster care and adoption.  It is what it is.  BUT, as the Mom of Asa, the one who knows what makes him tick, I was wondering what in the world was going on in his sweet little head.  Why was adoption on his mind in that particular moment?  Asa didn't give me much of a chance to ponder, or ask questions.  He continued (and this is where writing is so much more difficult than having a conversation) "You're pretty much all here because of me."  As he said this last part he pointed his finger in the air and did sort of a sweeping circular motion in everyone's direction.  I laughed REALLY hard.  Because now I knew exactly what was going on in the mind of my little boy.
The backstory (approximately 3.5 years ago): We had just bought our first house.  Asa is 3 and Gretchen is 1.  Our family is.... normal size.  Which is what we now call small.  One night at dinner Asa recognizes that our table has two additional, unoccupied seats.  He motions "who are those for?"  Again, this writing thing is hard because Asa is still in speech therapy today and at 3 years old Ray and I were pretty much the only ones who could understand him.  It probably sounded more like "Who dose fo?"  "Those are for our friends.  In case we ever have anyone over for dinner" I tell him.  Undeterred, he says, "I want two more babies."  Dramatic pause.  And a little more history.... I always wanted 3 or 4 children.  Ray wanted 2.  Period.  End of discussion.  And after 7 years of marriage I was also convinced.  Two was perfect.  So I smiled and began to explain to Asa that Daddy and I already had two babies, and we thought that was enough.  A satisfactory answer, I thought.  And the conversation moved on.  Until the next night at dinner.  And the next night.  Over the next several weeks Asa was persistent in his request for not one, but TWO more babies in our house.  We continued to tell Asa that we believed our family was complete. And to us, it was.
It was not long before we were riding somewhere in the Ody (before the days of the "truck") and Asa noticed (gasp!) that there were ALSO two available seats in the van.  Again the requests.  For weeks.  And again our response.  Same as before.
One night I was tucking Asa into bed and he asked me "Mom, when are you and Dad going to have more babies?"  I'm a say-it-one-time kind of parent so, to be honest, I was getting a little irritated by this ongoing dialogue.  "Asa, we have discussed this.  Daddy and I are happy having you and Gretchen.  We are all done having babies."  Asa looks me squarely in the face and says "I am going to pray that God changes your mind."
...
We tell that story now and again around our house.  We like our kids to know that it WAS an act of God that got us to where we are.  Sometimes our adopted kids will thank Asa for saying that prayer many years ago.  I like to thank Asa for that prayer.  Sometimes people wonder how Asa and Gretchen feel about our growing family.  Is there jealousy?  Do they get one on one time?  Will they grow up resenting the decision we've made?  I smile.  I think about Gretchen wrestling with Sarah and laughing so hard she can barely breathe.  I think about Asa and Jessica playing video games together (Asa's love language).  I thought often about our adopted kids' bond to Ray and me and wondered how that would all work out.  But one of the most amazing things I have ever witnessed is the bond that has formed between our adopted kids and our biological ones.  It's a little slice of heaven every day.  Heaven, right in my living room.  How's this all going to affect Asa and Gretchen?  Well, I think they're going to be just fine;)
So, I'm gonna have to agree with my son.  I like adoption.  I like it a lot.  Good prayer, little guy.