2009 riddle....

What's 32 inches, 22 pounds and has the most beautiful smile imaginable?

Our little girl!

This is the post I have waited to write for so long!! We know who she is!
Yes, you heard me correctly.. we KNOW WHO SHE IS!

I am trembling as I write these words. It's not that I am cold or scared. I am truly in awe of God and how He hears us. You see, if you look back at this blog throughout the year (and if you have talked to Jeff or I at all this year), you will see a consistent theme to our prayers. We have prayed diligently, along with our family and friends, to know who it is that God has designed for our family, to be our daughter. Specifically though, we asked that He show us her by the end of the year.

This is where it starts to get really good...

On December 20th, I got online to check some emails, and like I always do, I looked at the website for our adoption agency to see if there were any new girls listed. I didn't really expect it, but it's become a routine to me. Anyway, much to my surprise there was a new little face smiling at me there. There was no more information, so I emailed our director asking for some specifics and thinking she would get back with me in a few days (it was a Saturday after all!) Sue, our director, emailed me back immediately asking if she could call me.

She called me minutes later and told me about this little girl... as much as she knew at that time. There wasn't a lot of information known, if truth be told, but what we learned was sad and exciting all at once. I shared all of this with Jeff while Sue emailed us more pictures of this girl. We felt a connection immediately. Precious doesn't begin to describe her! We were told that a video of her would be sent to us to view, but also we were told that another couple was considering her for adoption as well. We began to pray, along with many others.

On December 22nd, we learned that the other family had decided to wait for an infant girl, as they had originally planned.

On December 27th, we received a DVD of this little girl in the mail. I was a nervous wreck as we began to watch it! We were able to see her playing with a ball, and it was such a blessing to see her healthy and with all of her developmental skills as they should be. We wept as we watched her take the hand of the nanny and walk outside. Wow... what else can I say?

Jeff and I decided that we would not make any decision until the medical evaluation was complete. On December 30th, we received word that she had been evaluated and that there were no medical concerns. We knew that she was the one for us. God had indeed answered our prayers faithfully... and just when we had asked (by the end of the year). For good measure, He also gave us a bonus... our dossier was returned to us on December 31st, authenticated and sealed by the US Department of State and the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC!

Today, we received the complete medical evaluation, and it has only made us more and more certain that this child is truly meant to be ours. We feel a tremendous connection with her, and we want to rescue her from where she is currently living. Please pray for her as she deals with severe malnutrition (and little hope of having that improved in her current placement), some minor and common illnesses (we are talking about a third world country), and mostly for her emotional well-being. All reports indicate that she is a very scared and sad little girl. Who wouldn't be? She's experienced a great deal of hurt and loss in her life, so we see this as a normal response. We are fully aware of the extra time she will need to trust us once she is home with us. She hasn't exactly had a lot of reason to trust people in her life.

We trust that God has held her protectively and lovingly in His hands throughout her life. And we trust that He has brought us to her, shown us her face and overwhelmed us with a love for her that is amazing. We trust that His love is ever-healing, and that she will eventually blossom and flourish in our home.

"Now to Him who is able to immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" (Eph. 3:20)