Grateful

It is election season here in the USA and everyone is waiting for November 2nd to arrive. What are we most upset about seems to fuel the fire of our voting. But what are we grateful for? Now that is a question that seems worth asking and is missing from our news, movies, schools and every day environment.

I am thankful for my wife and son. Everyday I get to wake up to a happy boy and every night Vivian and I get to put him back to bed. I am always reminded of God's grace every day that Patrick is around. This doesn't mean that it is all roses if you know what I mean.

I am grateful for friends that I don't see or talk to often but are always in my thoughts. Every time I get the Burley out with Patrick, I am reminded of the Kings who gave us the Burley and who are living in Seattle. Patrick has enjoyed the Burley since he was 8 months old. Every time I think of Patrick's adoption I think of the Clement's who live in San Francisco and adopted their son 4 years before Patrick was born. Bruce is a great friend who I was roommates with in College.

I am grateful for my church family, my neighbors and most importantly the God who we worship and who created this universe (without any help from us :))

I am grateful for night riding with Patrick who is happy as long as one of his parents are around. Adventures abound and more are to come I am sure. Life will throw us curves but that will never mean the absence of things to be grateful for.

Bounce House for a 2 year old

The 2 year appointment confirmed what we already knew. We have a healthy tall and thin 2 year old. 37 inches and 26.5 lbs. We had promised him after that appt that we would go to bounce house that they have in Town Center during October and he had a blast. It was a great Friday night activity for the family. It is amazing what you can do with the iphone. It now does video! -- what could be easier than that!

Bounce House from Jim Turner on Vimeo.

2nd B-day party pics

Thanks to all who came out to the party. The video as Patrick's 2 favorite theme songs. If you have kids under 5 I am sure you will recognize them :)

Enjoy

Patrick's 2nd B-Day from Videos on Vimeo.

2nd B-day Party and the 3 A's

Thank you to the 25 kids and adults that came to Patrick's B-day on Saturday. It made the day really special. I will post pictures later in the week as we get them.

Amazing....the word that describes that which we can't describe. It goes along with awesome, a word that describes something deeper than you describe. Both words correctly describe Adoption, the process that placed Patrick into our lives 2 years ago.

On October 7th, 2008 I wrote "Latest reports from the mountain are the the medical director and the doctor and the birth mom met today and decided that today would be the day to induce. Hopefully all will go well, nothing will change and everyone will be very healthy after this is all finished."

On October 3rd, 2010, we went to church, prayed together with the kid's ministry team and dropped off Patrick in his 2yr old class. The verse that I thought would be important before the adoption is even now more prevalent in my mind.

Ephesians 1:5-6
"In love ⁵he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves."

Not only is adoption something that God has chosen to do, He gives us the amazing opportunity to be involved in the process and all for the purpose of giving praise to the creator of this world and His son Jesus Christ.

So the conclusion for us is this: When those "2 yr old moments" are more frequent than we would like we have to remember that the purpose of Patrick's life is not to acquire more stuff, or be the best kid he can be, or impress the world with how cute or smart he is. The purpose of Patrick's life should be to give God the praise that He is due, and I hope and pray that we are up to the task of teaching him that.

Thanks for reading