Addy's Adoption Adventure
About a year ago my brother and sister-in-law made a bold move. God nudged their hearts open wide, and into the opening he put a dream of adoption. Then God brought a little girl from China to fill up that dream.
There have been risks, sacrifices, fears and tears along the way. But God has been faithful, and six months ago a beautiful little girl became part of the Peterson family in Marshalltown, Iowa. Addy’s mom Valarie is my wife Karla’s sister. On her Facebook page she posted an update – which I found to be a super compelling reminder to us all, not only of the joyous progress of one little girl, but of the life-changing power of love through adoption. Here is Val’s post:
Last week marked six months since we first met Addy and so much has changed! I (Valarie) compiled a list of lots of changes from then until now and want to share just a portion with you.
We have gone:
from a stoic, distant, expressionless face to an animated happy little girl
from stumbling around while just walking, to scaling the six-foot climbing wall at the playground (with VERY close supervision)
from single-piece puzzles, to a 24-piece floor puzzle
from crying starting in the church parking lot as we leave for Iowa City, to taking a seven-hour trip with little difficulty
from many health uncertainties, to a clean report of no cancer
from a small opening where her eye should be, to an eye that looks so natural that the nurse planned to put eye drops in it
from one-word books, to stories
from a girl with no family, to one who is constantly checking where all the other family members are
from a trip to a doctor and four people to get in the plastic conformer back into her eye socket, to a three year old who can put in her own eye all by herself (albeit usually upside down)
from knowing only one English word (“bye-bye”), to knowing colors, numbers, body parts, food, animals, sea creatures, shapes, polite words, names of lots and lots of family members, and so much more
from crying and pointing as the main avenue of communication, to speaking in full sentences (and still a fair share of crying)
from a child who grabs one thing after another out of curiosity causing messes in her wake to …. oh wait, we are still there
from having the offer of having her blessed by a Buddhist monk before we left China, to Addy knowing that God made her and loves her
from a family that did not know what we were missing, to a lot of laughter and joy (and exhaustion)
Thank you, God, for blessing our family in such a big way!