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Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Happy Birthday Justus!!!

Our Little Bear is 3! Wow! We had a fun "woo-woo-woo" celebration this weekend, visited the fire station (No. 1-they are awesome over there) and had the coolest firetruck cake in the history of little boys who love firetrucks, made by Erin Whitley at Sweet Memories. Awesome! Erin, you're a super star!

Kathleen, Justus' birthmom came to visit! We fly her here from Las Vegas, her home, to be with us for his birthday. It was a WONDERFUL visit with Kathleen, and I had the chance to have many conversations with her about the Lord. Please pray for her as she searches for Truth. Pray for God to make his Son's name known to her everywhere she looks. She is looking for a "sign" for the right religion. I told her we are standing in front of her holding up a billboard sign with the name Jesus on it. We love Kathleen, and are enjoying a closer and more intimate relationship with her. Our adoption has been busted wide-open now that she has been to our home. It feels good to me. I love this woman so much!

It was sweet for me, watching them together. I was overcome with emotion on Sunday night after she left. She is not an emotional person, but I could see on her face what she was feeling when she left, and I felt it for her. I watched Justus stand on the driveway and wave goodbye to her until she was out of sight. She knows she won't see him for another year. As she was leaving, she was telling me what she knew I needed to hear...what a great decision she made for him...how well he's doing...how she saw God's hand in this...how thankful she was for us. Again, this woman is thinking of Justus and us, and not her. This overwhelms me! I know Christ, and I'm still not that selfless!
There is an undeniable connection between them. There should be. I hope there always will be. I am his real Mom, no doubts about that. I am the one who holds him, bathes him, laughs with him, and spanks him. But she has a place in his life as Kathleen, his birthmom. It was neat that he knew who she was this year when she came. That thrilled her!

The Ambulance Bed:

So here is Super-Dad! He is building an ambulance bed to go in Justus' fire house room. It's awesome! It will be a bunk bed, so Treston can share a room with him when he gets a little older. It has a trap door that you can lift up and crawl in. Could that be any cooler? Justus talks about this all the time, he's so excited! Super-Dad wanted it to be finished today, so he woke up at 4am and started painting. Yes, it's dark in this picture, not because it's night, but because it's morning. I love my husband!!!

The end result is going to be spectacular! Can't wait!
Happy Birthday Justus! We love you so much!!!

12 comments:

Ryan Price said...

That's just so awesome to me to think through Justus' story and to see how sovereign the Lord is in orchestrating things. It would have never crossed my mind in a million years that it would be a good thing to have a close connection with your birthmom that lives far away. I love that people like ya'll don't just accept the cultural norms with stuff like this, but hold it up to scripture and then proceed.

You people are amazing! I'll miss ya'll.

Anonymous said...

ok, i could barely read through my tears...i remember the first time i held justus that first week...wow, God is so good. I know you love and pray for kathleen and it is amazing to see from the outside. praise God for His provision and blessing...we love you, precious Justus!
love, hoeksemas
ps...did you get my email? baby #3 coming in feb '08! yikes.

Anonymous said...

Hey jenn!
Great stuff! I am so excited for you and your family! Praise Christ!

Lisa and I saw your brother play last night in the Woodlands. So much fun!

We miss y'all a ton and we can't wait to see y'all again during our next visit. Hopefully soon! Tell Rusty "bravo" for me.

-Kevin (&L)

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday sweet Justus!! I miss your handsome face!!! I am praying for you :) And Kathleen! Much love!

Unknown said...

how fun...love the bed! way to go rusty!
glad your visit with K was so good.

The Roberts' said...

im also teary... but for the reason that Rusty is such a great dad & loves justus so much! i know josh is going to be an amazing dad to our kids-of-the-same-dna & to our adopted ones. arent we so blessed?

nancy said...

your story with Justus is beautiful beyond words. my only concern is the ambulance bed. having ridden in one lately, i can honestly say they are not comfortable. put a little padding on Justus'bed. :) and don't make him wear the neck brace.

Laurie said...

Jenn!

The blog world is such a strange and wonderful one--I just found your blog today via Legacy, and I am so happy to find you!

You have such a beautiful family, and I am thrilled to know that you have a new little one (three boys!). Treston is adorable, as are your other children, and Emma is SUCH an image of you.

Anyway, I miss you and will link your blog to mine, if that's okay. I would love to keep in better touch this way--

Laurie Howard Couch
http://deuxbijoux.blogspot.com/
laurieanncouchATyahoo.com

Kathryn, Michael and Alex said...

Happy Birthday Justus...the big three, how exciting for you. I am glad that you have so many people who love you.

Way to go Rusty!!

Amanda said...

Happy Birthday sweet boy! Watching you grow is such a joy to me. I love you lots and lots (or if your world, a million red pops!)

Jennifer Bacak said...

Justus slept in his ambulance bed in his room last night. It was awesome. It really is amazing, feel free to come by and see it, friends.
Also, keep praying for Kathleen! She told me she is reading the book of John, per my Mom's request, in the Bible we gave her for Christmas years ago. It is a New Living Translation, so she's understanding it very well, she said, and trying to open her mind and "meet God half way" she says. This made me want to scream, it's so exciting! Wow! God is good!
jenn

Hendrick Family said...

Wow! Two amazing things...the cool bed AND Kathleen reading John!

So great!!