Thankful

Elijah doing his snow dance

Nathaniel trying to catch the flakes

I can honestly say that this was my favorite Thanksgiving. There was so much to be thankful for and experiencing it through the boys' eyes only made it that much sweeter. They basked in the love and attention of family, enjoyed playing board games, reading books and playing outside. They savored every bite of the "big food" and the Macy's parade. They were even able to see snow flurries. Every bit of the long weekend was enjoyed by all. 

As we reflected on all the things we have to be thankful for and how much the boys have changed our lives for the better we were also reminded that their adoption is not yet complete. We call them Nathaniel and Elijah Lusk but legally they are not. They are still Aron Okello and Dan Ogai, citizens of Uganda. The Ugandan Government gave us legal guardianship of these precious boys so that we could take them home. But it is only in our home nation that we can legally adopt them. This is commonly called "Re-adoption," and our Re-adoption journey is just beginning. 

This is a journey similar to what we experienced in Uganda in that we must continue to meet different legal requirements, hire a lawyer to represent our case, and jump through hoops in order to get the necessary documents for the boys (certificates of citizenship, passports, etc.) It is also like our journey in Uganda in that there are probably things we must do but still don't know about. The difference is we get to do these things from the comfort of our own home. But make no mistake, we have to do this and do this soon. We know these boys are ours and we know God has graciously given them to us. But the U.S. Government still views them as resident aliens, and we want that label to go away.

I (Morgan) often struggle to come up with creative gift ideas for people. I would love it if I could just go buy stuff on a list. But that takes a lot of the fun out of gift giving. If you're like me (or if you aren't) and you're looking for a creative gift idea this Christmas, how about helping to give someone (or two little someones) the gift of U.S. Citizenship? Nathaniel already thinks he is a US citizen...he has told people he is not from Uganda any more, he is American. :-) He has been here 4 months and he already has more American pride than most of us who have lived here for years. Won't it be great when that pride is based on the reality of being a true U.S. Citizen? Would you be able to help make that a reality for he and his brother? 

While these children no longer lack a family, love or basic needs they do still need to be adopted, whether they realize it or not. If you would like to help out with this, you can make your tax deductible donation at adopttogether.org/missionadoptable