Three

Yesterday was Nate's third birthday and since he didn't quite get the concept of birthday, we worked hard to make it an extra special day! (There was one minor meltdown when the store did not make the Batman cake we ordered 3 weeks earlier but thankfully, the local grocery came to the rescue, in true superhero style.)

Not happy about waking up, not knowing what fun was ahead!

Birthday? Presents? Hmmm....

Okay, sounds like fun!

Excited to see decorations

He got to open one gift (from Lucy)

Went to Chuck E Cheese for lunch

Slip and Slide in the backyard

dinner, presents and cake with friends

It was a very special day for a very special boy! We love our Nater Gator!

The Point

Well, you have probably noticed by now the blog is back at public setting. So there's some weirdo overseas who is reading. Whatever. The point of this blog has been to bring awareness to adoption - the good, the bad and the ugly of it all. And the fact that we all* need to be participating in some way either by adopting or helping those who are.

I'm so excited to learn that an old college friend (recently reunited through the wonders of facebook) and her husband are on the path to adopt from India! They are in the application part 2 phase and I am going to live vicariously through them and the excitement of it all (until we're ready to start again ourselves...someday?) They have a blog and are trying to raise funds so feel free to check it out and help them out! Update: They are using Dillon, the same adoption agency as us!
Sears Family

Also, I had the joy to briefly attend a seminar/workshop/exhibit? locally regarding orphans in Missouri state foster care. For Sparrow Ministries (our orphan ministry at church), we are trying to learn more about domestic adoption to be able to meet the needs of all those who are willing to adopt. It was fascinating to be educated on the wonders of adopting out of foster care. There are thousands of kids whose birth parents have terminated their rights and are ready to be adopted today! The cost is minimal and the wait time is ridiculously short compared to the unpredictability of international adoption. Hope for Kids was an eye opening experience for sure.

While there, I met Ian. Ian is an adult adoptee from Kolkata, India! He works for a coalition designed to help families find the right local agency to adopt from the state. He started an orphanage for girls in Kolkata in 2006. He was so excited to hear about Cole and our experience involved with adopting him. It was a surreal experience.

So the blog will stay up and I'll continue to advocate adoption here (as well as keep the grandparents satisfied with pics of the kids) and hope and trust all will be well!


*Referring to believers - the Bible clearly shows God's heart for orphans

Dedicating Cole

(Kids wearing Indian attire from their Aunt Michelle, who traveled there a few months after us last year)

Sunday at church we had the privilege to bring Cole before the Body of Christ and dedicate him to the Lord. (A lot of people ask us why we don't baptize our babes but instead dedicate them. The baptism issue is another post in itself but thought I'd explain about dedication here!)

The Bible does not command us to dedicate our children, nor does it command us to make such a vow. But it does tell us that if we do make a vow, it is a very serious thing to God (Numbers 30:2).

( Our pastor with Cole)

We specifically looked at Deuteronomy 6 and Psalm 78 which commands parents to tell the future generations the praises of the Lord. Not in a pastoral/preaching sort of way, but in a lifestyle way. ("...when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Deut 6:7-9)

I also really liked verses 2-7 of Psalm 78:

"2I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
3Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
4We will not conceal them from their children,
But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.
5For He established a testimony in Jacob
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers
That they should teach them to their children,
6That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to
be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children,
7That they should put their confidence in God
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments..."

We do not, in any way, believe this dedication to have input on Cole's eternal destiny for we know that salvation comes after an individual's confession (Romans 10:13). We simply vow to teach him (as we have vowed for Lucy & Nate) the truths of God's Word and commit to pray for him to come to a saving knowledge of Him.

It was especially neat because there was another adopted child being dedicated, a four year old boy who just came home from Ethiopia in March.

It was a wonderful Mother's Day for me to have all my babies home with me!