December 2008

WOW! We just passed our six month Gotcha Day anniversary on December 23rd. We simply cannot believe how fast the time has gone. Last June 23rd, just six months ago, we received our little Philip Bao in China! What a day to remember! God has blessed us with Philip beyond whatever we could imagine. What a wonderful, precious little boy we now have as our son and brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, and friend!

Since August, Philip has attended preschool, gone to church and Sunday school often, and has had lots and lots of fun times with family and friends. He is settling down to our routine, and he loves his family and home very much. In fact, whenever we are out anywhere, Philip always says, “Home, home?” We also have taken to calling him Philip Bao sometimes because that is what he calls himself. However, he cannot say all of the sounds correctly, so it sounds like “Heem Bao!” Very cute!

Philip is growing, growing, growing! He is healthy and strong, determined, and oh so loving! What a joy he is! We could go on and on about how much happiness and joy he has brought to us and those around us. We just finished celebrating Philip’s first Christmas home, and it has been beautiful! From his singing in his preschool program at our church, celebrating Christ’s birth on Christmas Eve, to our family celebrations, this season of Joy has overflowed with emotion and happiness.

To think that just last year at this time we were wondering if God wanted us to stop our plans to adopt, and now here one year later our young son is home and in our arms! One of our favorite songs about adoption is Third Day’s “Merry Christmas.” It sums up our feelings in the following words. The first two verses say,

“It’s Christmas time again, but you’re not home.
Your family is here, and yet you’re somewhere else alone.
So tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in His arms
And tell you from my heart
I wish you Merry Christmas.”

But the third verse says,

“It’s Christmas time again and now you’re home.
Your family is here so you will never be alone.
So tonight before you go to sleep, I’ll hold you in my arms
And tell you from my heart
I’ll tell you from my heart
I wish you Merry Christmas.”

Like the song’s verses, we celebrated two Christmas seasons longing for our little one, but by the third Christmas he was here! Philip Bao, you are home! Your family is here, and you will never be alone!! We love you!