One year home

This day last year, at this exact time, we were arriving at the childrens hospital in PA.  We were told that the children were already sleeping and we would have to return in the morning.  I remember trying to find a hotel, and ordering pizza at 10pm, because we were so hungry.  While watching the 11 o'clock news in PA, I caught a glimpse of some eyes that I had gotten to know so well.  All was well.  Dania was indeed one of the 54 children rescued in the airlift. A moment in time etched in my mind forever.

I am having to swipe Nate's laptop, because our computer is completely down.  It is just as well.  I don't know how to adequately describe the past year.  How do I do justice to God's goodness and his amazing grace.  My story is a truly happy one. This past year has brought so many wonderful things.  The little girl sleeping in her bed upstairs tonight is the same little girl that has been here for the past 12 months, and that in itself is a tremendous miracle.  She is the same, minus a little language barrier and shyness.  She is still as happy and delightful as she has always been.  There have been a few bumps in the road, but they have mainly been in my lane.  Her lane has mostly been smooth.

How do I thank so many people that walked the long road with us for 4 years?  How do I thank the countless  faces that prayed for us last year at this time? How do I thank the people that gave of themselves physically to welcome my child to her new home, when we had yet to arrive?  Mostly, how do I thank a most kind, and gracious father, who saw fit to bestow on us the blessing of adoption?  Who has allowed us to glimpse his heart, and share in his sufferings.  These thoughts occupy a good portion of my mind when I think of my girl, when I think of the road she has traveled to rest in this house.

If you google her name, you will find the updated story on some of her friends.  We looked at it tonight together, and she sure was happy to see them with their families too.  My greatest wish for our adoption legacy, is that some other family catches the adoption bug.  That some other families find God's heart for these children of the world that don't sleep in a bed that belongs to them, that have no idea what it is like to belong to a family, that have never experienced the love of a parent, that are always wondering when will someone come for me.  Remember these little children that have such small voices.  Remember them to the father of the fatherless, and let us remember them to one another.  So much can be done for the least of these.  Right now All Blessings International (they work with Bresma, Dania's former home) needs 50 families for adoption.  There are at least that many kids in one orphanage, and there are so many orphanages, and so many have yet to reach an orphanage, but will be there soon.  Things are really bad in Haiti and so many other places in the world.  My sweet little girl found her family, and yet there are so many bright, beautiful children still waiting.