As I look back over the last two years our youngest daughter has been home, I see how the Lord has answered our prayers and has healed so many of the broken places.  The tiny little girl I first held in my arms was so filled with pain, with uncertainty, and hurt.  So afraid to let me in, to let me love her and oh, so afraid to love me back…. She waged a daily battle.  Pushing me away, then finally clinging to me for dear life.  So strong willed, (it was her means of survival), yet as fragile as a delicate flower.  She was not able to regulate her emotions.  She was either all the way up, or all the way down.  You could see how she wanted to hope…. wanted to trust…. but was so afraid of letting the walls around her heart fall down. 

Our God is an amazing, awesome, Almighty God!  He loves our children even more than we do.  He knows the reason for every hurt… every broken place.  He is the Great Physician, and He is able to heal those broken places.  We have seen the Lord work in our little ones life and how He has helped her in miraculous ways to blossom.  Every once in a while we still see glimpses of the shadows of the past make their way in… but we know it will only be for a short while, they will not claim victory over our child’s life.  The time she spent orphaned, in an institution,  endured and suffered so much will not define who she is… Jesus Christ is so much bigger than that!  It is His love for her, our love for her, the life she has with her family,  and the amazing, resilient, loving, funny, smart, thoughtful, sensitive, strong, beautiful, and kind little girl He created her to be…. this is what will define her.

We will continue to pray for her, love her, teach her, guide her, and watch her blossom…