4 MONTHS HOME

Wow.....I can't believe it!! Some days it seems like our little guy has always been here. We are still amazed at all he can do and how fast he has picked up our habits. Yes, some good and some bad!!! He is such a blessing to our family. We had our Christmas play at church and he was a camel! Sooooo cute of course.(well, at least i thought he was:) ) He loves to be around the other kids and they love to be around him. We have a really neat little church family that helped us raise some money in the beginning of our adoption and then prayed and prayed us through to the end of the adoption. We are so grateful for all of them.

Of course, Gabe doesn't really understand all the Santa hoopla going on around him but he does love all the lights and he can sing a pretty darn good version of  "Must Be Santa" too, thanks to Cole Lawrence!! (and even does the cards!) We are having so much fun with this little one!  And although he doesn't understand all thats going on around him, we are making sure he DOES understand that we love him beyond measure and our Father in heaven loves him even more than that.

This time last year Gabe was one among many little lost and lonely boys and girls living in orphanages all over eastern Europe. Living in a system and a country where ones with special needs are not accepted or wanted, even by their own families.

This time last year, we began praying that this little one would be ours one day soon. And what a MIGHTY GOD we serve!

This year, this Christmas, we are praising God for answered prayer and for allowing us to be this boys momma and papa :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE DECKERS!!

(scroll down to bottom of blog to turn the music off in order to hear the video better)



HERE TO STAY

About this same time last year, I did a post here and told you about 2 little boys who now had a forever family coming for them. My heart had been so heavy for these two little guys and when I found out that they would soon be coming home to families who would love them and accept them just as they were.....well, my heart was just filled to the brim with thankfulness and joy for these kids and their families.  As a matter of fact, one of the little boys we named our Gabe after.  Gavin, now the House's son, was Gavin on Reece's Rainbow and when they decided to make him their son, they changed his name to Gabe.  This is the little fellow who pulled at my heartstrings big time (he and others) and also helped turn Rick around too.  God has the neatest ways of making everything fall together at just the right time. You should go to their blog and see for yourself what a difference a loving family can make for these special kiddos.
We are still amazed at our little man's progress in such a short time. We have been home with him for almost 4 months now. (Dec. 23 will be 4.) And oh the joy he has brought us! He is so happy. I mean, you can just see the joy all over him. When we go to bed at night, he gets to lay down with us and play for a bit. He loves to tickle and be tickled, he loves to sing songs, and he loves to just lay between us and touch our faces. He lays there and will caress my face and then reach and kiss me, and then turn and do the same with his papa. Over and over, he reassures himself........"yes....they are mine.....yes, this is real." 
A couple of days ago, we were moving somethings out of the barn to the storage container and Gabe was right there in the middle of things. At one point, Rick and Kobie went to the storage container and I went in my mom's house and I guess Gabe came into the barn right when everybody else had walked out. Now this boy goes all over our place and never misses a beat, but for some reason this particular time, he just sat down in the barn all by himself, and when Kobie and I walked in, about the same time, he was sitting there with tears just a rolling down his face. He was even snubbing alittle he had cried so hard.  I think he found himself all alone and couldn't see any of us and it flat scared him to death.  The thought of that right now brings tears to my eyes. Can you imagine spending the first 5 yrs. of your life as he did and then having your life change completely in a matter of months, with new family and friends showering love and affection all over you, and then suddenly thinking you've lost it all. Your going back to the lonliness and emptiness you'd known before.  Mama and Papa are gone??? Oh my. Breaks. my. heart.  I pray this precious little one will never, ever, think he is going back or we have or will ever leave him. No sir little man.....you are here to stay!  Needless to say, I think he did maybe sleep with us that night. And not because HE wanted to......... but because his MAMA and PAPA just couldn't let him sleep alone that night.
We continue to praise God for this precious treasure and for allowing us to be his parents. Christmas at the Decker's will indeed be special this year. Merry Christmas little man.......Merry Christmas!

AUTUMN LEAVES

"AND GOD SAW ALL THAT HE HAD MADE, AND BEHOLD, IT WAS VERY GOOD." Genesis 1:31



I JUST LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!

THIS IS "THE FOREST" ON OUR PLACE.

THE KIDS LOVE IT.

AND SO DOES THE MOMMA!

THEY WERE MAKING IT "RAIN LEAVES!"

THANKFUL THIS DAY FOR THE SIMPLE BEAUTY OF COUNTRY LIVING.



ADOPTION AWARENESS MONTH

Were you aware that November is Adoption Awareness month?? Oh my, how special this is to me. If it were not for adoption, I would not have 3 of my own 4 precious treasures. God has blessed me with the best of both worlds. For this I am truely grateful. But I must say, the adoptions of Casey, Cole and Gabe were the most God felt experiences in my life. God had the perfect plan for placing these kiddos in my life. Each one of them from 3 different decades (man, that makes me sound old!), three different countries, 3 little lives lovingly placed in my care by the Master plan maker. I just love the way He takes our broken hearts and shattered dreams, all our excuses, our fears and shortcomings, and then turns them into miracles. Wow, how awesome is our God!

Every child deserves a home filled with love and affection. Every child deserves a family who will love them unconditionally and always be there to meet their needs. Every child deserves this....period. There are millions of kiddos all over the world who do not have this. And I believe that we, as christians, have a responsibility to do something. I recently read this, " According to Voice of the Orphan, an outreach of FamilyLife Today, 143 million children worldwide have lost one or both parents, and at least 16.2 million children worldwide have lost both parents. Closer to home, more than 800,000 children pass through America’s foster care system each year. On average, children waiting for adoption have been in foster care for 43.8 months, almost four years. More than one-third of Americans have seriously considered adopting, but no more than 2 percent have followed through."  Only TWO percent.  If others had just an inclinging of the blessings that come from adoption.....well, it would be more than 2 percent. I know some may say there are a million excuses NOT to adopt. But if we ask ourselves.....What would God say to do???.....IT IS QUITE CLEAR. It really is that simple. As humans, we are going to worry about this and that and what ifs and what nots.....but if we just give God our YES......HE takes care of us to see HIS WILL DONE, to the end.  Now that doesn't mean it will all go smoothly, and that there will be no fears or doubts, or tears. But it does mean that when we do the will of God, He gives us EVERYTHING we need to see it through. And on the journey, He teaches us, and He makes himself visible so, so many times. OMGosh, He shows up in the darnest places, at the darnest times!!! And believe me.....you know without doubt....it is Him.  Tears are rolling down my face just thinking about how many times He revealed himself to me during our adoptions. God's heart is for the orphan.
This time last year, my heart was so heavy for these precious kids.  I knew what the Lord was asking me to do. He set things in motion back in Jan. of 2010. Let me tell ya......from Jan. 2010 to Jan. 2011.....it was a looonnnnggg emotional stretch. When God is dealing with you on a day to day basis and you know what it is your suppose to do, but the worldly things don't line up with God's heart and yours and people in your life don't understand.....well, it's just plain hard. BUT, I have come to realize, its all just part of the MASTER'S PLAN.  He used that year to continue my spiritually growth, as well as my husbands. He used that time to stir some hearts of others as well. He(the Lord...just making sure your still with me!) started it with a nudge to help the orphans in Haiti and then Africa, and then revealed, without doubt, the plight of special needs orphans in Eastern Europe. It became quite clear through this time, His time, that this is where I was suppose to be. I had to wait alittle longer than I wanted (while He shook Rick up alittle!lol) but a couple months later, Rick and I, found ourselves on a plane headed across that big ole ocean, to meet our new son for the first time. Into a world of unknowns......but with a GOD WHO KNOWS ALL leading the way. If you could be in our home right now, and see the joy and love this little guy gives......you would be booking a flight to EE too! All God needs is a willing heart to say "YES". He will take that yes, and put you right where you are suppose to be. It will be the journey of a life time and you will wonder why you waited so long to do it.
God is so clear about what to do about the millions of little ones who need families. If adoption is too much to ask of you, then there are other ways to help them or to help another family who is willing to give them a home and family. Please, please go to Reece's Rainbow, and look at their website.  There are many ways to help these kiddos. Look at their precious faces. Read about them and how you can help. Old or young, poor or wealthy, extremely busy or with alot of time on your hands, there is a way to help these kids. Give God your YES, and this time next year......you could be writing this instead of me! May God bless you with a heart that breaks over the things that break His and may you take that heart and run as fast as you can into His loving arms and say, "YES LORD, HERE I AM.....SEND ME." He can, and He will!!

     

First ER trip!

Well, our little monkey had his first visit to the ER. Seems he was trying to climb up on the bar stool and turned it over on him. It landed just right on his bare foot and chopped the end of his big toe off. I was at the stove cooking supper and had my back to him, but heard the crash and him scream. When I turned around, he was holding his foot and blood was everywhere. I didn't think it was so bad until I saw his toe stuck to the bar stool. (too much info??!!!!) Then I knew we were in trouble. Bless his heart. He never cries but he was beside himself with pain and fear. We hurried to the hospital with his toe in a cup of ice (i know....too much info)and hoped for the best. He is a trooper I must say. As we drove the 20 miles, I sang his favorite songs to him and he would join in with hand gestures and words he knew, all the while still crying too. They chose not to try to sew back on what was ripped off, but to let it try to heal as it is. It was either this or go to a surgeon who would have to take off more of the toe in order to repair it, and then that would have left him with balance problems they said. Soooooo, we are hoping and praying that we made the right decision and things will go smoothly with the healing. The doctor said it would take weeks for it to heal but really felt this was the best way to go. Gabe on the other hand thinks this is a bunch of bull!! He has tried to walk a few times and that ends with frustration and whining. We know it must be very painful for him to sit around and not be on the go. If you will, please say a little prayer for him. Thanks guys! Besides that bit of excitement, everything else has been running pretty smooth. We are just having lots of fun with this boy and wonder what we ever did without him! Here are afew pictures of the last few days. Bless you and yours!

a favorite of his.

say what?

say hi santa!

doing his daily report.

Now I know why his glasses are so scratched,

the dinosaur ate them!

poor baby:)

gotta have his bath!

Some lovin from Paw.

Last but certainly not least, this was ORPHAN AWARENESS SUNDAY, and although I didn't do a post about this, I will in the next few days. Also, the month of November is Adoption Awareness Month. Oh my, theres so much I could say about this. What a blessing adoption has been to me and my family. Thank you Lord for choosing me and for sending me. I am blessed.



Wonders

I WONDER

IF HE WONDERS

 

WHERE WE'VE BEEN ALL HIS LIFE????

I WONDER WHAT HE REMEMBERS OF HIS PAST LIFE.

I WONDER IF HE EVER WONDERS.

WE'VE BEEN HOME 2 MONTHS AND THE TRANSFORMATION IS JUST NEARLY UNBELIEVABLE. THIS LITTLE GUY HAS THE FUNNIEST PERSONALITY, THE SWEETEST KISSES, THE TIGHTEST HUGS AND THE MOST AMAZING LAUGH.



WHAT A BLESSING. WHAT A WONDERFUL BLESSING!

GOD OF WONDERS, BEYOND OUR GALAXY

YOU ARE HOLY, HOLY

THE UNIVERSE DECLARES YOU MAJESTY

YOU ARE HOLY, HOLY.

Gabe's Friends

When we announced in January of this year that we were adopting another child, I think we had lots of people shaking their heads. It was a shock to some of our own family members too! But for the most part, we did have support. We had old friends, new friends, and then friends we didn't even know we had, and still have never met, that helped us love our boy home. Some gave money, some gave hugs, some gave time and energy, some gave words of encouragement, some gave uplifting prayers....... and ALL GAVE HEART. How blessed we felt then and how blessed we still feel  for having these friends in our lives.

I'd like to re-introduce you to one of them.

Back in July I told you in this post about a little girl named Alyssa. Well, we finally got to meet her and her brother Lendon and actually it was quite by chance! Orrrrrr maybe not. You see, her grandma and I both thought it was actually one of those "God moments". See, we were going to eat in town that day and decided on the DQ but then changed to Madi's and then at the last minute changed our minds again and went ahead to the DQ. I wasn't paying attention to who was coming in and out but thank goodness Rick was. He was like " hey....isn't that the little girl who raised money for Gabe???" By now she had her back to us and I couldn't see her face. Rick kept saying "I know thats her!" (he had only seen that one picture and post I had done back in July so I wasn't really thinking he knew!) Anyway, she turned around and we were pretty sure. I went up to her and asked if her name was Ali. She looked at me like I was a total stranger (which I was!!)and quietly said, "yyyeeess." Bless her heart, I then told her who I was and that Gabe was right over there and wanted to meet her. Her little eyes lit up and a big smile came across her face. So.....Ali and her brother Lendon, who by the way helped her with her "Gabe project!", got to meet Gabe with his mouth full of chicken tenders and fries! Best of all, we got to meet this young girl and boy whose hearts lead them to take action, and become the hands and feet of Jesus. Ali and Lendon, thank you again for helping us love Gabe home. Hope to see you at the DQ sometime soon!!!

The next little friend I want you to meet is Kayton Shahan.

Kayton's mom and I grew up in the same town and then we ended up some years later in the same town again just 20 miles or so down the road! Anyway, while we were in the process of trying to bring Gabe home, this little guy told his mom he wanted to give his $20 to help Love Gabe Home. How bout that!! Well, we kept missing each other and then before we knew it we were off to Russia without giving Kayton the chance to give this special gift to us. But he held onto it and when we ran into him at the circus in town, guess what I got??!! Thank you Kayton for having love in your heart and helping us love Gabe home.

"From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another."

John 1:16 

ROMANS 8:28

When we learned that Gabe had been transferred to an orphanage for the mentally impaired, just weeks before we were to get him, we were devastated. I couldn't believe this was happening. They knew we were coming for him. They knew how tramatic it would be for him. He would be taken from the only place he had ever known. Taken from the only caregivers he had ever known. Placed in a car, another something he didn't know, and taken 4 hrs. away and placed among 400 other kids, in an unfamiliar environment, with strangers to care for him the best they could.

I didn't understand. And I cried out to God......why??? why now??? why at all???

We worried for days, imagining what he must be going through, how scared he must be. But we clung to our faith, and we held on to Gods promises, and we kept believing God would provide everything Gabe needed and everything we needed to see this adoption through. And we knew that there had to be a reason that this transfer happened the way it did.

Maybe we were suppose to see something there. Maybe the Lord was preparing us for something down the road. We didn't know, but we trusted that one day we would. Now here is where it gets good!!!!!

I received an email on Friday from one of the coordinators from Reece's Rainbow that said this:
"Hi Kim -- 

I have 3 lovely little girls listed, who I've been told are in "Gabe Decker's" previous orphanage -- the one he had been transferred to.  The girls are Tiana, Jolene, and Claire on the region 26 page. 

Also, I want you to know -- without you going to adopt Gabe, Claire would've likely been lost in the system.

We were told she had a sister, and did not have DS.  They (the govt) had apparently mixed her up with a different little girl!  Now, she's relisted and will absolutely be able to be adopted -- and we have new pictures of her.

The agency has told us, it's all because of Gabe Decker :)
Kim, this is truly all because Gabe was transferred here.  The agency has told me this -- several times -- that it's all thanks to Gabe.

This boy is now listed:  http://reecesrainbow.org/dexter-26ha and Marina tells me she has other children to list -- I'm assuming from the same place.

Claire was lost in the system, and now she's found -- that's just amazing.  I'm so grateful we can give these children a voice now!"

Can you believe it????!!!!! I get goose bumps every time I think about it! 3 more kiddos now have a chance of finding a home. A home filled with love, a home with a mama and papa and family that will hold them when they are hurt and scared, feed them when they are hungry and teach them of a Fathers love that goes beyond anything even we will ever understand. And all because Gabe was transferred to this mental facility. Wow. Here are the 3 little treasures who are waiting for their forever family.

Jolene

Tiana


Claire


Thank you Lord for continuing to show me your promises. Thank you for saving this little boy of ours and for leading us to him, and Father, thank you for using him to shed light on this hidden place where only a few outsiders have gone. Lord, my prayer is that someone reading this will say "yes" to Your nudging and allow You to work through them to bring one of these little ones home to the family they deserve, and Lord in doing that, all glory and praise will go to You and You alone. Thank you Lord for blessing our family and bringing Gabe into our home. Amen.

"And we know that in all things God works together for good for those that love Him and are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28



p.s. i have no idea why the spacing looks like it does! It looks correct and then when I post, it goes all weird???!! drives me crazy! :)

BUSY!!

I have about 3 different posts started and for the life of me......i cannot get them finished!!! It has been a bit crazy around here I must admit. But Gabe is still doing great. He is absorbing his new life like a sponge:) Cole, on the other hand, has been having a hard time. This is nothing new for us and certainly won't be the last time we face these "trying times". If you know anything about FAS and Autism, then you can identify with what I'm talking about. Change is not our friend! And for the past 3 months, there have been alot of changes in Cole's life. Changes in daily routines, school beginning and changes there, me being gone for 3 weeks and changes during that time, and then getting home with Gabe and changes with a new brother in the house. Sooooo, he finally just had all he could take and has been letting us know he is not a happy camper. So therefore, I have been alittle pre-occupied with trying to keep everything better for him and to be quite honest.......I always want to keep this blog real and honest.......I'm just drained and can't get my thoughts together for the posts I have started but not finished. Soooooooo, I'm just gonna let you see some of the pictures I have been taking of our much blessed life here in Goree, Tx.  Hope you enjoy, and I will get those posts finished soon.  I promise!!

Gabe, Jake and Pee Wee sharing snacks.

Ummmmm, something about this doesn't look safe!!

(the tractor isn't running!)

Takin a water break.

We love to eat!

Rick and Cole workin on tractor.

My boys here at home.

STOP takin my picture!

Oh! and we have new glasses too.(one of the unfinished posts:) ) Say hi kitty!

The monarchs loved our forest.

Pee Wee loves to stroll around!

Monkey see....monkey do!!

I love YOU!

Hope you guys have a great week. We intend to:)

ONE MONTH HOME

We are so thankful to God for allowing us to be this treasures mama and papa.

The journey has been crazy at times.

It's been overwhelming at times. 

It's been very hard at times.

But it's the BEST, MOST REWARDING crazy, overwhelming, very hard time, and we are so in awe of God's blessing to this family.

We will never understand everything we saw, heard, and felt while in the confines of this boys world that he had survived in.

And we will never, ever, forget those left behind.

So on this "one month home" day of joy and thanksgiving for our family, I can't help but be taken back to the others. Please scroll down and look at these kiddos. They are not the ones whose faces I see daily, but they are none the less just as important. They have all already been TRANSFERRED. They are now in the "land of the lost boys and girls."  These are only the kids with down syndrome from Reece's Rainbow who have already been transferred to the mental institution from their baby houses. There are many more with other special needs.

This is Sheridan.... TRANSFERRED

This is Nicholas.... TRANSFERRED

This is Maxim.... TRANSFERRED

This is Kyle.... TRANSFERRED

This is Ruslan.... TRANSFERRED

This is Grant.... TRANSFERRED.

This is Danielle.... TRANSFERRED

This is Kennedy (girl).... TRANSFERRED.

This is Tony.... TRANSFERRED.

This is Heath... TRANSFERRED.

This is Angelia (girl)... TRANSFERRED.

This is Josiah.... TRANSFERRED... JUST THIS WEEK....

This is Lawrence.... TRANSFERRED

This is Katelyn...TRANSFERRED

This is Will.... TRANSFERRED

"Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12