Sudden Uncle

Happy New Year! I'm excited to present my first post of 2009:

I don't have any brothers or sisters of my own so I'll only really be an uncle through Marissa's brothers. However, I have lots of close friends whose kids I often think of as nieces and nephews. A pair of friends, Alan and Sarah Martinez, have always had it on their hearts to adopt children. Even before they were married! Well, they finalized all the paperwork a while back and in December, they grew their family. By four (4)!!

Yep, I'm now the proud uncle of Irene (9), Henry (8), Matthew (7), and Isaiah (3). They are siblings one to another and Alan and Sarah couldn't split them up. They have a world of new challenges and could use prayer as often as you think of them.

Marissa and I offered to babysit for our friends the first night we met the kids and they asked, "What about Saturday? It's our anniversary." So, last night we were chefs, entertainers, disciplinarians, cohorts, and companions to five of the sweetest kids we've ever met (Aidan played piano for us all evening). Irene wanted to play Candy Land. Henry taught me all about Avatar, the Last Airbender. Matthew quoted the Avatar movie all the way through. And Isaiah wanted only toast (with butter) for dinner. By the end of the night, I had two boys snuggled up in my lap and Marissa had the others making party hats (our New Year's Eve children's church craft). It was a great evening!

I'm looking forward to getting to know these kids better. They've already created a soft spot in my heart and I only met them Thursday. I'm proud to be their sudden uncle.