pastorjfreeman

Here we are again, another Christmas Eve and Christmas Day approaching. This will be our second Christmas without Trey. I had thought it might be easier this time around, but I was wrong. It is just as difficult today as it was this time last year…BUT, we continue to press on with the grace and strength God provides.

I was talking with some of my family today and found myself reflecting on how much has changed in our lives these past two years. It truly is hard to even put into words all that we have been through. This year is a little different though. Our family has had two new additions that we never foresaw coming…especially coming at the same time. Both additions have been a blessing though and it is with joy that I tell you about them.

The first addition was a new puppy. Our kids have wanted a dog for as long as I can remember and have begged us for years to get one. Emily and I finally broke down and surprised our kids with a 6 week old white English lab about 4 weeks ago. Our kids were shocked. We named the dog Brecken because of our fondness of Colorado and annual summer trips to Breckenridge. Brecken has been a handful to say the least. She is such a bundle of energy.

However, about a week ago, Emily and I got a call from DHS letting us know about an opportunity to foster a four month old little boy named Phillip. They asked if we were interested. Emily and I said, “Of course,” but needed to pray about it for a few days. The timing was not great for several reasons, but one reason was due to our new puppy. Anyone who has had a new puppy, especially a lab, knows how hard the first year of training is. Emily and I were not sure we would be able to keep the dog and take in an infant. So…we had some decisions to make.

To make a long story short, we sat down with our children and we made a family decision…if we were going to take Phillip, we needed to find another home for Brecken. Well, in the midst of all this, my brother in law and sister in law had begun thinking about “adopting” Brecken from us. As many of you know, they, as well as their children, have been through a lot too, and they thought the addition of a dog might be good for their family. So, they decided to take in Brecken and keep her in the family. This was great news for us because it allows us to still be a part of Brecken’s life since they only live about a mile down the road from us. I will say that when they came to get Brecken from us that I cried like a baby for about 3 hours. I can’t believe how much I bonded with her and how close we got in such a short time. I plan to be her favorite uncle…and I’ve gone to see her everyday I might add :-). I will forever be grateful to Ben and Jeannie for taking Brecken in as their own and keeping her close to us.

So, today, Christmas Eve, Emily and I, and our children, went to pick up Phillip. Our plan is to foster him with the hope of adopting him as soon as possible. We have prayed about this very much and we all believe that Phillip is to be the next Freeman. He is so cute and sweet and we cannot wait for everyone to meet him. We are not allowed to post pictures of him online, but I can tell you that he is a beautiful baby boy and has already blessed us so much…and we haven’t even had him for 24 hours. Please pray for us as we seek God’s will for his life and our’s.

So…needless to say, this will be a special Christmas. Oh how I miss Trey, and how my heart hurts so much all the time without him, but it is because of him that God opened our hearts to adoption. So…in many ways, Trey is right here with us. We could never replace Trey and would never try, but I am grateful God continues to use him to make an eternal difference in people’s lives. Phillip’s life will forever be changed because God used our son, Trey, to change our lives. We love you Trey and we can’t wait to see you soon.

Any way, pray for us. Tomorrow, Christmas morning, will be special, but difficult. It will be filled with a mixture of joy and sorrow, laughter and pain. But…in it all, our God is faithful and continues to see us through. I will leave you with these words:

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭1-5‬).”

Amen and amen!!! Jesus is HOPE!!! Merry Christmas everyone.