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!