Our Thanksgiving celebration has come and gone, but giving thanks at CSC is not done.  We have so much to be thankful for every day.  We give thanks for the opportunities we have to be a part of each child’s life that comes through our doors.  We give thanks that we can be God’s hands and feet to do the things we do each day for the children.  And most of all, we give thanks for the families who make our children a part of their own family through adoption. 

        A week ago, Mitch and I had the opportunity to host Thanksgiving dinner at our home for the staff and some of the children from the shelter.  Before we ate, Mitch asked everyone to share one or two things we were grateful for.  One child said she was thankful for life.  One can just imagine what her life would be like if her parents had not entrusted her and her siblings to CSC’s care.  Another child, one of the winners in the turkey coloring contest, was shy to say what she was thankful for.  But everybody knew she was thankful for her adoptive family whose pictures she had just received a few days before. 

        Yesterday we said goodbye to a handsome two-year-old boy.  He came to CSC when he was just six days old.  Everyone, especially the aunties and uncle in his home, will surely miss his laughter, screams of joy, and affectionate hugs.  We will miss him calling us, using the last syllables of our names.  But the joy of knowing he is now a part of a family that loves and trusts God beats the sadness of saying and waving goodbye.

        Thank you, Lord, for the miracles of families You are blessing our children with!