Birthdays and Praises

6th birthday celebration.

The other day I had the amazing privilege of spending the morning with my newly six year old daughter.  It was an awesome morning where I took her out for breakfast followed by a walk on the beach to look for sea shells.  Gretchen took her to get her nails done, and then she had to head off to school.  Later that afternoon Gretchen and I went to her class and spent time teaching them how to make rubber band bracelets.  The day was just amazing, but it did get me thinking.

I was not able to be home when Hayden was born.  I was at military training and simply could not make it home in time for his birth.  I remember that day very well.  I was standing in morning formation when I got the phone call telling me that Gretchen was in labor.  It would be 12 hours before I was able to hold Hayden for the first time.  My life changed at that moment almost 10 years ago.

What daddy does best.

When Gretchen was pregnant with Hannah I was gone all the time.  There was not one single month of her pregnancy that that I was able to be home for, but I was able to be there for her birth.  This was a completely different experience for me (there are a lot of funny stories here...for a later date).  It was an amazing thing to hold her for the first time, and again my life changed.

Henry was born a couple years later.  This time, neither Gretchen nor I were there.  He was born some 700 miles away from his family.  From the hospital he went into a foster home, where he would wait until God gave him to us.  After 2-1/2 months in foster care he came home, arriving on my 25th birthday.  Holding him for the first time reminded me of holding Hayden for the first time.  God had gifted our family with another son.

Henry 10 days after he came home.

I also began to think about the children that God has yet to bring home to our family.  Who have already been born and spent many birthdays away from their family.  Maybe they spent them in an orphanage or living on the streets.  Maybe they did not even know that it was their birthday because they did not have someone there to tell them.  I realize that I was not there for their birth, but that does not make me any less their father.  One day, God will bring them home to us, and I will hold them as my children for the first time.  I cannot wait to celebrate that day.

We are moving closer and closer to them coming home.  We have found a place on island where we can have our psych evaluations and testing done, which is a huge answer to prayer.  We have also collected 80% of all the required items, which means we can now schedule our home study with the social worker. Our goal is to be 100% done with our paperwork and interviews by the end of March, God willing.

We continue to raise funds and seek out prayers from our friends and family.  Through these things we have seen God provide for us in every way imaginable, which is a ton of fun. :)

 If you would like to help us adopt, you can find more information and give HERE.