Nine months

We have now had Michael for nine months. Yesterday marked our "gotcha" day and today marks the finalization of the paperwork at the Civil Center in Nanjing. If you don't know, Mickey and I adopted Michael from the Xuzhou Social Welfare Institute in the Jiangsu Provice of China last September.

As Michael, Carly and I played in the pool last night a few thoughts occured to me....
1. What an amazing little guy God created ... and he was created for us. "I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord..." God knew that we would adopt Michael, and he knew that we would be faithful to his call to do so.

2. Since God knew we would adopt Michael, what wonderful plan has He got in store for our son?! What great things will he accomplish in his lifetime? I am excited to see how Michael's life unfolds. I want to be deligent in helping him to build a relationship with the Father who brought him into our care.

3. What an awesome responsibility we have, and what a great gift we have been given. We often joke about being "older parents", but I always say that 'old parents are better than no parents'. Since God chose us to bring up this child, we are responsible for making sure that he is not only physically cared for, but spiritually as well. A huge thanks to Darryl and Denise Manias, his Sunday School teachers. They have done a fantastic job of getting him to come out of his shell in class. He is not only learning to love God at home, but he is seeing that church is a place to learn about and worship our Savior!

4. I could go on and on...but I will end with this.... I feel so blessed that Michael has fit right in to our family. Our three daughters love him, and feel like he has just 'always been here'. He and our granddaughter are the best of friends, and the babies will learn to adore their Uncle Michael.

I believe that God's plan is perfect, and if we listen closely and answer his call...we will just get our socks blessed off!!!! And right now... bare foot is feeling pretty good!

Have a glorious day!