This verse rings over and over in my head when I think about our sweet girl. As we celebrate her 2 Month Gotcha Day, I think back to the road she has traveled that has led her to us.
When we first met our sweet Mia, we were given a photo album along with 4 disposable cameras with photos taken of her during her 15 months in her Orphanage. The album was filled with photos going back as early as her first days, while the disposable cameras were used once the Orphanage learned that we had been matched with her and would be coming to adopt her soon. We sent these cameras in each care package that we mailed her, never knowing if they even ever made it to her..but apparently they did and were used.
I have only allowed myself to flip through the album given to us by her Orphanage workers two or three times since returning home with her. I am not going to lie, it is very hard for me to see her in those photos...an Orphan..with no family...alone...My heart breaks for what she must have felt and my eyes fill with tears, especially when i see the photos that I know to have been taken AFTER we accepted her file. We were matched with her in October of 2012 and did not get to bring her home until February 3013, so for 4 months, as she lay in her Orphanage, she already HAD a family. A family who had seen her face, learned her story and had been been praying and preparing for her....but she NEVER knew it.....It definitely makes this Mommas heart hurt....
We learned from the Orphanage bits and pieces about her "story", some of which we have chosen to keep private, but others we are very open about sharing. This girl is a SURVIVOR...meant to be FOUND...meant to be HELD and destined to be LOVED. During her stay in her Orphanage, she was cared for by 1 particular Nanny...this is the Nanny who told us that she never smiled, did not like people and was scared of "sounds"...We are currently working on a photo album to send to this Nanny (through another Adoptive family traveling to her Orphanage), so that we can show our sweet girl now enjoying ALL of the things that she supposedly didn't like....
These are just a few of the photos we received of her time apart from us...
Here is our sweet baby girl..
Getting a little older.....
While our past does not reflect where we are headed, it is a vital piece of WHO we are. For some,the past may serve as a hindrance or obstacle, to keep you from moving to your future..but we hope that our sweet girl's past will serve as a constant reminder of WHERE she came from,THOSE that loved and cared for her and of the STRENGTH that she was given, in order to sustain her early months. We have abundant hopes for our Daughter;that she will grow to know all of the love and support that surrounds her. That she will learn God's promise, see the Mountains that he moves and always find comfort and grace through HIS love...
We love you, sweet girl......
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD ~ Psalm 31:24
