Hi Family, Friends, and Prayer Warriors
It seems as if a lot of water has gone over the dam since I
last wrote a letter. Our dream from many
moons ago of adopting a precious little girl from China has finally
happened. God decided it was time. People telling us that God’s timing is
perfect while you are waiting seemed wrong in so many ways. But
now looking back, we see how God worked in our lives during those months and years
preparing our hearts for Josie. We just
had to wait till God found us OUR daughter.
We are in awe every single day how blessed we are to be chosen to be her
parents.
So you may have figured it by now, that this is all about
Josie. Yes, we have become those
annoying parents that just can’t stop talking about our child.
We received her file on Dec 23, but China didn’t approve us
officially until Jan 23. After all the
paperwork and legal stuff was finished, we finally got to meet our perfect
beautiful daughter for the first time on Mother’s Day, May 10. Mother’s Day wasn’t all warm and gushy as one
may expect, as the grieving hit her hard.
We struggled, fumbled, and grieved as we watched the most heartbreaking moments
of our lives as she lost everything that she ever had known.
Four months later….I’m not sure where to start with the
difference. Only God. Oh the sheer joy that she finds in every
little thing. She is changing every
little thing about us too.
She screamed, grieving, at night,
she now goes right to sleep and mostly sleeps through the night (crossing
fingers now that I said that). She threw
everything that she didn’t want, she now rarely throws. She didn’t know to hold her hands up to be held;
now she is pretty much always asking “hold me”.
She hated being read to, but now Dr Seuss’ books are her favorite and
she carries them around begging us to read.
She would throw a fit if we tried to relax with her on any flat surface,
now she loves to “snuggle” (although normally taking people’s eyes out). She didn’t prefer her mom but now if she can’t
be held or helping or watching me, she is wrapped around my ankles, literally (disclaimer..
this is at home, unless dad is home).
She liked dad, but now she loves loves him and it is her highlight of
the day when he comes in the door. She
would only eat noodles, but now, mostly everything.. but noodles, grapes, Lucky
Charms, and jello are still at the top of the list. She wasn’t into hugs and kisses, but she will
not be left out on a dad’s home hug now.
She HATED with capital letters to be buckled into anything, now, she
wants to be buckled in even the shopping cart.
And don’t forget it.
We forget sometimes that only a few months ago, she knew no
English. She is learning so fast. She recognizes her ABC’s minus 3J. Although she just told Gary last week that U
was for “you come down” (Zacchaeus song) when it used to be “umb wa wa”(umbrella).
Oh, ok, then. We aren’t traveling too fast in the number
department but we may get there… next year.
Her counting method today was 1,2,5,7 and then she complimented herself,
lol.. “big ga” and “good ga” (girl). Really…
She loves people, I’m not sure if she has ever met a
stranger. Oh, unless you are about her
age and have to share toys, then she will struggle with liking you and will
often respond with a loud NO. We are in
the threes, people. Tonight she asked, “company? No, no company tonight. She said, “naughty, fight, Tyrone”. Ha, apparently she remembers well.
About a month ago, she had just eaten fruit snacks and
cereal for being good and then promptly ate a lunch of leftover steak and
mashed potatoes, grapes, and oranges. Large
amounts (I was worried about her getting sick, belly bulging). Then she asked
for more grapes. Me, being the sweet
Mama (lol, who am I kidding), said No. “Candy”? Still No.
“Burger”? No. “Cheerios”?
No. “Oranges (insert J throwing her
head back and laughing)”? No. “Coffee (insert J giggling)”? Triple NO.
She stole our hearts long ago and is already busy twisting
our arms.
She has taken to the
pool like a fish. She loves to wear her
googles and do jumps, rolls, and anything else she can think of. She begs for her life jacket to be taking off
so she can go under and explore. She
knows G is for googoo googles, at least according to Dr Seuss’ ABC book. She has an unmatched desire to see
everything. If we visit, your every
closed door is not safe, although we try to contain her. She needs to see in every drawer and behind
every door. You see, it’s a brand
spanking new wide open world to explore.
We love to find similarities with her. She loves the pool
and music like her Mama and never misses a chance to dance. She loves to eat fish and hates to get her “mingers”
(fingers) dirty J just like Baba (dad in
Chinese) and likes to dress up with her fire coat to be like him.
Every day, we think of the blessings of being able to teach
her about Jesus. Our hearts melts just a
little more, each time that she begs for “God is great” before meals or just
randomly during the day and when she calls out names in the middle of our
prayers.
May you have a blessed fall and remember to be beyond
thankful this Thanksgiving. We are
blessed in so many ways. May your Christmas
be filled with joy. We can be forgiven and
have joy because of Christ. May your New
Year be filled with awe as God speaks to us through all the little things of
life. We need not to fear the unknown
future because we can trust in the One who made it all.
Love to you, Gary & Paula & Josie
