It's absolutely amazing how Raeanna has developed and grown over the last year! We went to the adoption clinic for our 1 year checkup last week. The doctor just looked and smiled and said, "It's amazing what love will do for you!" They measured her and weighed her, and like us, marveled at her. This doctor really thought she was 2 years old one year ago. The bone scan even said she was. Now, the doctor is convinced she is at least 4 or 4 and a half, maybe even a little older. We' ve decided to move her birthdate back 1 year, which will make her 4 and a half. At the rate she is developing physically and mentally, I believe she will be ready for kindergarten next year.
I think often of her birth mother and father on the other side of the world. I pray that they will know the Lord and be saved, so that one day, they will meet their little girl in Heaven, and know that she was loved, well-taken care of, and happy on this earth. I know this sounds absurd, but I feel certain that they abandoned her because they loved her, and it was the only way they could save her life. You see, Raeanna was a very, very sick baby girl when she was found. She had an intestinal obstruction due to her special need, and she was severely malnourished. She wasn't a newborn, so it's likely that they tried to keep her. It's my theory that she was a second child or third, and because of China's One Child Policy, she would've had no health insurance, because children born after the first one don't have the rights of citizens. In order for her to get the help she needed to live, her parents would have to abandon her so that she would be found and brought to a hospital. I can't imagine the pain they felt then when they left her, and now, not knowing where she is and if she survived. I pray they somehow know that she is safe and healthy in America with her family who loves her so very much, and that they have peace.
When I hear the song, "Amazing Grace," and the verse that says, "Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come. But grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home," I think that it describes Raeanna's life so well. The Lord was definately with her. She suffered, not only in sickness, but in living in an orphanage for so long, but He brought her through and brought us together, and now she has a home with us, and ultimately, her home will be with Him. He has plans for her. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I am so happy to be a part of the Lord's plans for her, and I feel extremely blessed to be the one He chose to be her Mommy and to get to teach her about Him. I feel very grateful for the blessing of this child, who blesses everyone she meets, and I feel grateful to her birthparents for giving her life and that beautiful smile!
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| Wearing Baba's (Daddy's) Shirt |
