Keep Me Forever!

Early on a Christmas morning quite a few years ago, when Eli was truly little, he came bounding into our room, leaped onto our bed, and snuggled himself between us under the warm covers.

"I have a little present for you!" he announced with an impish grin.

Wondering what he could have managed to get us without our knowing, I asked, "What is it?"

His grin growing wider, he replied, "My present is that you get to keep me forever!!" :)

Awwwww, he has no idea what a gift he really is.  There's no way to describe it.

But this time of year we always remember eagerly watching the judge sign on the dotted line, legally confirming what we already knew:  Our son is our son forever and always.

It seemed like such a long, dramatic road from the moment we met him and took him home until the time the judge's pen scratched against that page.  It wasn't "supposed" to be that way.  And yet it was.  For whatever reason, it was.

Wow, I don't know that I could honestly say I would choose to have to go through that difficult time again, if it was my choice and I could have my son without it.  But the lessons learned, the building of faith, the deepening of trust in my Father that came from that situation are irreplaceable.

Our little family likes to celebrate the big things in life, and maybe some of the not-so-big things, too.  Why not celebrate whenever possible?  Life itself, a new day, a loving heavenly Father--they're all reasons to celebrate!  So we celebrate the day we met our beloved son and the day it became "official," because they are both outstanding days in the life of our family!

Days we won't ever forget or allow to fade into oblivion . . .