A Glorious Day

Spiderman is an amazing boy.  We often marvel at what all he has been through in his short, little life and yet he has such a positive attitude (most of the time).  How beautiful to watch today as his earthly Daddy helped him publicly identify with his Heavenly Daddy through believer's baptism.  Precious!

It was over 2 years ago that he gave his heart to Jesus and we've watched him grow in his faith ever since.  He's been "contemplating" baptism for the past year but had been too scared to get up in front of everyone to do it.  All this week he has been praying that God would help him to be brave so he could be baptized.  Well God did help him and he even told me afterward that  it really wasn't that scary after all.  That's the peace that comes from knowing you've obeyed what your Father has asked you to do.  Thank you Jesus!

In God's timing, All God's Children International chose this week to share the miracle story (check it out) of what God has done here in our little family and our little church.  Today was a neat reminder about the bigger picture of why God brought this child to our family - to help bring him to his eternal family. 

 "Come and see what God has done, how awesome His works in man's behalf!" Psalm 66:5 NIV

Parting shots of August

This month we celebrated Spiderman's 3rd Gotcha Day.  Yep, we've been blessed to be his parents for 3 years now and time has just flown.  We've watched him grow physically (5 clothing sizes, 26 lbs and 7 inches since coming home), mentally (he has progressed in school - not easily but with much hard work), culturally (now loves pizza, Bill Cosby and often says "Dude"), socially (while still quiet, he's gone from painfully shy to everybody's best friend), and spiritually (he's come to faith in Jesus Christ and prays for everyone he can think of to do the same ).  He seemed to accept us as his family from the get go but has definitely grown very comfortable in his place here with us.   God has exceeded our expectations!

In honor of the celebration, Grandma and Great Aunt Liz made a trip out to visit for the week.  We had a great time and played a LOT of games.  We're thankful they took the time to travel so far out to see us.

August was also a time to get some summer projects done that we've been putting off due to the crazy heat.  My man and I worked on powerwashing the house and decks, water sealing them both and scraping, sanding and painting the trim on the front of the house.  Nothing too enjoyable though it all looks pretty nice.  The kids got in on the action by painting our shed (now lovingly called the barn) a more festive color.

It's very cheery now and it complements the nice new roof my man gave it earlier this summer.  The kids were proud to put their own elbow grease into the project, though they were surprised to see that painting was as much "work" as it was.  Looks great guys!  Now we're ready for fall and school!