It's Birthday Week In the Cul-De-Sac!

Two of our four GRANDchildren will celebrate their birthdays this week. Our precious and only granddaughter will be 13 on Tuesday. Isabella a teenager. Unbelievable!! And our sweet Josh will turn 9 on Saturday. He is a big boy with a big heart. Can't believe it's his last single-digit birthday!

We didn't have the blessing of receiving the news from Amy and Brian that they were "expecting. We didn't get to experience Amy "carrying" her first two children. We didn't receive the phone calls that she was "in labor" and headed to the hospital. We didn't know Isabella nor Josh as infants. I didn't get to rock my two grandchildren as babies, give them their bottles nor burp them. I never changed Isabella's diaper. We didn't hear their first coos, watch them learn to sit, pull-up, crawl, or walk. We didn't see their first tooth erupt. We missed out all of that for both Isabella and Josh. Some may be asking, "Why, where were you during those years???"

It's not where we were. It's where they were. Isabella and Josh are both Ukrainian by birth. Their life story is that they were adopted in Ukraine by Brian and Amy in June 2001. Isabella was 6 at the time of her adoption and Josh was almost 26 months old. The picture at the top of this article was made at the airport when we first met them. We had never laid eyes on our GRANDchildren until that moment. All I can say with every ounce of my being is that I could not LOVE THEM ONE IOTA MORE than what I do. They have enriched our lives beyond measure. We love them. They are God's special blessing to us.

Right after the kids were adopted nearly seven years ago, I remember Amy telling me that she and Brian pray for the salvation of Belle's and Josh's bio-parents so they can meet Belle and Josh in Heaven and see what great kids they had given birth (and life) to. I remember crying buckets of tears when Amy told me their perpetual prayer because I realized the prayer was born from the heart of a true mother and a true dad who would pray that for their children. It was the mark of true Christian love on their part. I pray that someone has gotten to both Isabella's and Josh's parents with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that they have been born again. If that transaction hasn't occurred yet, I pray that they will be reached with the good news of God's gift of salvation before it is too late.

Happy Birthday Week to my dear Isabella and Joshua. May you always know how much Grandpa and Grandma Dean love you and thank God for you. Happy Birthday and MANY more!!

Love,
Grandma