Just One Month Ago...
I fell in love with a precious little girl sitting in her crib reading a book so intently she reminded me of a special man I love.. The next photo showed her on a plastic toy with the most contagious smile...
How did I find her... She found me. I reached out to thank a friend for an amazing act of kindness that changed our family forever. That act of kindness brought Sienna Grace to us. This email led to an adoption discussion, that led to some photos of waiting children... That was December 31st.
January was a month of great sadness and great joy for our family. We said goodbye to our sweet Caymus... It was a month of tears of loss, and incredible blessings. The song with the chorus, "He gives and He takes away" has played over an over in my head.... It's true...
Many of you have reached out to ask me how we found her.. I think the answer is God found her for us. I have learned a lot about our faithful God this past month. My favorite new quote is, "When He reveals and we respond, He blesses us!"
God blessed us with an amazing contact and new friend who has put us in touch with YuQiao's orphanage. We have discovered that she is in a place that she is being very loved. You can see from these photos that it is bright and clean. She is in a new children's building! This orphanage is run by a Director who cares about his charges and his families. I have been given the gift of peace about her while I wait.
This morning I woke up to an email with a precious photo of two children. One our daughter, and the other her very best friend who is being adopted next week. Priceless!
God has revealed Himself with a great big exclamation point this month. My prayer is that our response will glorify Him. As we study Isaiah this verse will always remind us of our adoption road to precious YuQiao and of an amazing weekend of confirmation about God's plan for our family.
"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, the will walk and not be faint." ~Isaiah 40:28-31
As for what will this precious child be called by us.. We are almost there!
Blogs I Try to Keep Up With!
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God's Got Her3 weeks ago
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Hilton Head ~ 201412 years ago
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DON'T EVER QUIT !!!12 years ago
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23 comments:
Wow...what gifts you've received. The new photos are great. She is soooooo precious! I'm so happy for you.
What a doll, she is so precious!! So happy for your family!
I believe that 100% Diana.
God knows - He already knows our families, how big they'll be, how many there will be...long before we ever imagined even having a family.
However...
He shows us.
He speaks to us.
And we must respond.
Just the same as He gave us His Son and He gave us a choice.
I love watching God work in your beautiful family, I love seeing you respond YES! And I'm praying that He will work in ours too - I absolutely have faith that He will.
Jill
I can't get over how stinkin cute she is! I don't know how you get anything done. I would be just staring at her pictures all day long. The little hair clips remind me of early pics of Miss Ruby.
I am sooooo excited for you!! I had no idea and could not be anymore excited for your family!!! As I sit in our hotel room in Guangzhou, I am reminded as I read your past few posts how a piece of each of us is left here and while we may "think" we are done with this adoption process, it is not our choice rather HE makes the choice. People ask if we are done and I usually say yes, but more and more I just say that we will follow the Lords lead becuase HE knows!!
GOD IS GOOD!!! I am thrilled for you and your little one. She will probably be just about 3 when you get her and speaking from Finley being just over 3, it is a great age and we have totally enjoyed her little personality!!
With Love,
Chirsty
What a crazy, amazing month! What a blessing from heaven she is. I can't wait to meet Chow Chow!!
Love you!!
Diana,
Thank you so much for your encouragement and comments on our blog on our journey to our son. It is such an amazing journey I wish I could even put into words the way God has grown us and our hearts on our journey. I know you totally get that. We are trusting in his leading and his timing as we feel him calling us back again to bring another home. He is faithful and we trust he will lead us. It has been a blessing and encouragement to watch your family, your faithfulness to his call and the daughters he has handpicked to be part of your family! What an awesome God we serve!
Blessings
Julie
PS Maybe someday we can meet in person as we come to your city a couple times a year. First we have to get Max to like the car seat before we even think about venturing out on any type of road trip :)!
Diana I can readily identify with "God found her for us". Our sweet girl came into our life almost as unexpectedly as your precious YuQiao. We had "raised our kids" to adulthood and was ready to settle down in our "empty nest" and await the grandkids. Not only did God bountifully bless us w/grandkids but a "child of our own" to raise. Her along w/our beautiful grandkids has catapulted us to a state of love that can't even begin to be put into words!
I feel so priveleged to share this journey with you and your family to yet another one of God's most precious gift....YuQiao.
One word...precious!!
Diana, what a precious gift from God! I am so happy for you and your growing family! She is just adorable!!! She looks like like she will bring so much more joy and laughter to your home! God Bless!
Diana,
I am so glad that God led me to your blog. Your heart encourages mine. I love the quote that you referred to in your post...a great reminder of His faithfulness. It is just what I needed to hear today as we have hit a wall with fundraising for our adoption. Your reference to Isaiah reminded me of the moment I was sitting in BSF and heard Isaiah 1:17 and felt His stirring in my heart in regards to adoption.
Can't wait to hear the name y'all have chosen for your cutie pie. :)
By the way, we love the name Ainsley and would seriously consider using it if God brings another little girl into our family. All five(soon to be seven)of our kidlets have "A" names. Also the choice would be fitting considering that we live on Ainsley Ct. ;)
Blessings,
Nikole
What great pictures! I actually found my daughter on the same individual list when I went to look at the super cute pictures of your little girl. We are still waiting on our homestudy approval and hoping that it comes soon! I want to be in the I-800a line too.
She is beautiful Diana! I can't wait to hear what you will name her! Congratulations again!
She is beautiful Diana! I can't wait to hear what you will name her! Congratulations again!
He gives and takes away indeed! What a wonderful reminder, and what a precious story!
Beautiful Di....it is all so true.
I DO know and I HAVE heard!! One of the biggest reasons I keep coming "back" to this community it to see the Mighty works of The Lord! How He LOVES us!
Do you have a name yet for Chow Cow? Cant wait!
She is absolutely beautiful. I am continually amazed at God and how HE chooses these kids for our families. They may not have always been a part of our family physically, but one way or the other, they have been in our heart forever.
I can't wait to hear the name you have picked out for this beautiful little girl.
Mylee is from Jiansu as well, where exactly is she from?
She is so precious! We are so excited for you guys! What an incredible chapter God is writing in your book! AMAZING! LOVE YOU GUYS! Praying for things to move along quickly!
Yet again, it is clear that this journey is laced with God's fingerprints all over it! Reminds me of just over 1 year ago. Oh how I LOVE watching His plan unfold!! Beautiful photos and I'm SO glad God has blessed you with a special new friendship/connections! It will certainly help with the wait. He is faithful! <><
Congratulations again, and God bless you all!
OXO,
Tanya
Hello Diana.
I adopted a little girl from China in 2008. We have been considering the Waiting Child program. I was just curious as to what agency you used and any other details that my be helpful. My blog is sophia.emerle.com and my e-mail address is dani@emerle.com if you have the time to reply. Thanks in advance. I have been following your blog since Ruby came along :)
Thanks,
Danielle
Oh, I'm so very excited for you and your family!!! I can't wait to follow your trip to China again. You have such a beautiful family. CONGRATULATIONS!