The rain sluiced off the roof and over the gutter in a solid sheet, battering through the leaves of the rubber trees, and a fine mist blew through the screen, cooling me briefly from the humid heat. Outside, water ran down the slope in front of the house and splashed over the tree roots. I'd arrived in Indonesia a stranger and a foreigner not long ago, but I was quickly growing to love this land, and struggling to find my place in it. There was so much need, both physical and spiritual...I watched the storm and pondered... From that moment my life unfolded into paths I never dreamed were...

Calvin Paul was my son for 11 of his brief 13 years-technically, less than that, because although he was placed with me when he was two, his adoption wasn't finalized until shortly before his sixth birthday. But in my heart, I feel like there was never a time when he was not my child. He was a game changer, he was a hero, he was a lover, and I thank God I was blessed with being his mom.