Adoption Sunday

Today was a day for celebrating adoption. With this in mind, we chose to attend First Reformed Church this morning. They had a special service this morning that was a celebration of adoption as well as highlighting the plight of the many, many orphans around the world still waiting for their forever families. This is the church that hosts the after school Kid Zone program that I wrote about a few weeks ago. It is a large church and this morning it felt like everyone in Sioux Center was there. A very nice family even gave up their spot in a pew so that my family would have a place to sit.

First Reformed has a large adoption ministry and there were many families in church with adopted children. As part of their ministry, which includes support groups and a prayer ministry, they have launched a grant program that helps raise money toward the cost of adoption, both domestic and international. At the end of the service they asked the families that had been helped by Katelyn's fund to come forward. I can't even tell you how many families went forward, they filled the front of the sanctuary. It was a beautiful thing. The fund helps families from all over the country, not just those from this church.

This evening we invited George and Regina and their girls over for our own adoption celebration. For both of our adoptions, we traveled to their countries in November (and returned home in December) so it felt like a good time to celebrate. We made Romanian sausages (mititei) from a favorite recipe and a traditional dish called mamaliga that is very similar to polenta. It is a big favorite of Maria's. For the Colombian portion of the meal, we had Colombian hot dogs (which must be served topped with crushed potato chips) and three milk cake (torte tres leches). Regina brought vegetables. Everything turned out great and we really had a fun evening. Regina's girls have already asked if I would make them torte tres leches for their birthdays.