Mother's Day 2015

Happy Mother's Day to all moms our there everywhere!!  It truly is a blessing to finally be a mom this year to our son, Gabriel.  Despite my toddler pouring Softsoap all over the rug in the living room and throwing his crackers on the floor for the fifth time this week, it is a blessing.  He is a blessing.   I remember not long ago longing for these moments-- even the messy ones and the ones full of toddler mischief.  And now those moments are here-- all of them:  the loving moments, the funny moments, the messy moments, the fun moments, the amazing moments, the proud moments and even the scary moments.  All of those moments that all moms experience are my moments now, too.

Here are a few pictures of those fun, loving, and memorable moments just from April:

However, I am also reminded that someone else is missing those moments.  Though I think of her often, tonight especially, I am reminded of the woman who did not get to experience those moments.  I am reminded of Gabriel's biological mom.  We know very little of his early story and know nothing about his mom.  However, I can only imagine how she must have felt.  I can imagine him being born and her looking lovingly into those same eyes that mine meet day after day.  And then, very soon, she learned that something wasn't right.  He was very sick.  From what little we know, she likely didn't have the money to give him the care that he needed, so she did the only thing that any loving mother would do.  She made the sacrifice of giving up her son in the hopes that someone would find him and help him.  She risked her life to do so.  Women who are found doing this in China can be imprisoned.  She cared that much for him.

 I hope she read the finding ad that would have given her the chance to know that he survived.  I hope she knows that he is alive, taken care of, and loved beyond measure.   I hope she knows how grateful we are to have the chance to love and raise this cute, sweet, kind, loving little boy who was once her little boy. 

 I would want her to know that he is sweet.  He gives the best hugs, he'll kiss us very gently on the cheek, he'll kiss our "boo boos" just as we kiss his, and he'll even kiss the pictures of animals in books.  He loves playing with other kids, both younger and older than himself.  (He hasn't really had the chance to play with someone his own age, but that will come soon enough.)  I would want her to know that he LOVES animals, especially birds, cats, and dogs (despite us having none of these, except for the birds in our yard).  I would want her to know that he has a great sense of humor with facial expressions to match, and we wonder if this part of his personality comes from her or his biological father. I would want her to know that he's extremely smart and has a determination to do things that are challenging for him to do.  And I want her to know that we are getting him the medical treatment that he needs to live a full and healthy life.  Our extended family and we love him more than we ever knew we could love someone.

We pray for her and for Gabriel's father and will light a candle at church in her honor every Mother's Day.  We will never forget.