The Next Three Years...

Gates is lying next to me playing with Sister Aimee. He is saying to her, "Hello. Hello. Ni Hao." it's impressive how he is interchanging the correct words with one another already. Very clever little guy! (Parents who are sharing this with their children skip to the bottom while reading out loud)

Gates continues to rock himself very roughly and quickly from side to side at naptime and bed time. This is common among institutionalized or detached children. If you are sitting next to him it seems as if he will throw you off of the bed from the jarring. I get concerned he might separate his shoulder or sprain his neck. It's difficult to watch him mimic the restraints and pull against the imaginary cords that once kept him bound in bed. He also rubs his eyes so hard that he makes himself cry. When he first wakes up he begins the ritual again but I pick him up and distract him as best I can before he assumes he must continue in the bed beyond his nap. He comes around slowly and cries a lot until he 'surfaces' then he is all smiles again. He won't allow himself to be soothed before falling asleep, it's the only way he knows. If Paul or I try to comfort him he points across the room with a look that says, "Go over there. This is how I have to do this." We are praying for peace in his little heart and for healing to continue.
Tomorrow Gates will be four years old. Even though I've only been his Mother legally for a couple of weeks, considering his circumstances on this day four years ago utterly breaks my heart. I am amazed at the way God saves. Today he has hope and a future by the hand of God. No longer a 'foundling' but a Son. No longer alone but in a family of his own. We stand in awe of how God takes the fragmented pieces of our experiences and knits our hearts together in a love that transcends the divisions of this world. Sometimes something beyond natural connections occurs in the love of a family... something supernatural. Thank you Lord, for something to celebrate this year for this precious little boy. Last year we grieved knowing that he didn't even know it was his birthday. He was ours in our hearts at just two years old, on the day we received PA from China, one month and a week before his third birthday.
Paul and I longed to celebrate with him... and this year we will. His life is significant to God and to us. We know, to all of you as well.

(We are back to the read aloud part) We feel honored and blessed to stage Gates's first little birthday party. Other than immediate family, there will be two special guests who: prayed for Him while he waited to come home, who devoted themselves to be his friends before they even met him, who took their own pocket money from their piggy banks to donate toward plane tickets for Gates to fly home. Will & Drew, " May God always bless you with the desires of your precious hearts. We have seen that you love who God loves and that you do what Jesus would do."