From Our Hands to Hers

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like the shifting shadows. James 1:17 

   

      We are so thankful for God's timing! Just when we were getting a little sad about not seeing our baby, God gave us a little "Happy Day Surprise." A few weeks ago, I sent two care packages to Mary Alan. It took me quite a while to figure out exactly what to put in them. Our agency said it was very important that we send boxes no larger than a shoe box, because they could possibly get lost in customs if they were bigger. This was really hard for me considering that one of my love languages is gift giving. This is our "baby" child. We have not had a baby in our household in 10 years. Does anyone understand this? I want to lavish this little one with all the things she doesn't even know exist yet. So.....I carefully figured out how to squish (is that a word?) as much into these shoe boxes as possible. We filled them with a pink bunny, a baby blanket,  two towels, a few little toys, two little books, two disposable cameras, a little outfit and some accessories to go with it and a photo album of our family. I even spent time translating what was in each picture into Chinese for her foster mother.
Hopefully, I didn't say anything crazy to her in a wrong translation. That wouldn't be good.

      Weeks went by and I was guessing all of our goodies had gotten lost in customs. I really didn't know if these things would make it all the way to her orphanage in China. That is really far away and really hard for me to fathom. I am still having a hard time believing this is really happening.....that we are adopting another child. I still feel like I am pretending. Well....NO more pretending for me. This totally sealed the deal!! If you can see in this picture, she is kissing her mommy and daddy. Needless to say, there were a bunch of tears shed when I saw this.

   She also seems to love her new little pink bunny that her big sisters picked out. They loved it because they both had pink bunnies too.

     

She also seems to be very interested in our dog, Clementine. My mother commented that she is studying the pictures. I would love to know what is going through that little mind of hers. Hopefully it is not, "What in the world are they getting me in to?" Maybe she is just trying to figure out what in the world is in the picture.

 

      It is so amazing to have things in our hands and then see them in hers. Amazing!! When I saw these pictures, I finally realized this is really happening, that this is really our little girl. Our agency can say all day that this is the little girl we are matched to, but this concept has been really hard for me to grasp. With these pictures, I can feel such a connection to her now. She has actually seen her mommy and daddy and her brothers and sisters.....and her dog. WOW!! This little "happy day surprise" was a much needed gift from God!! Thank you Lord. You knew exactly what we needed!