A Month that Changed My World

One Month.

That is all it has been.

July 1 - August 1.

WOW!

 

(Yes, I know according to our blog, we are still in China...I promise to one day get that caught up!)

 

If I am being completely honest, I'll share that I had this picture in my head of what our "gotcha day" was going to be like.  I knew that Olivia's foster home/parents had shared with her about me, had showed her pictures, and done everything in their power to prepare her.  I had visions of Olivia catching my eye for the first time, getting a big smile, and leaping into my arms.  I had already begun to craft in my mind what our "gotcha day video" was going to be like and how I would format it.  None of those dreams and visions came true.  It was brutal.  Mom and Dad said that they had never prayed so hard in such a short period of time.  Olivia wouldn't look at me.  She clung for dear life to her nanny.  If I tried to touch her, she moved my hand.  For an hour and a half which seemed more like an eternity.  Slowly she calmed down and her nanny slid her onto my lap and quietly exited the door.

 

The poor sweet thing was so exhausted that she crashed on me on our way back to the hotel.

 She flashed me a smile when she awoke to gifts of sun glasses and fun shoes (she loves to accessorize).  And she has been smiling at me ever since.

 

In many ways it seems like just yesterday.  But in many more it seems like this little person who kicks me out of bed at 6:15 and tells me, "Mommy shower" has always been a part of my life.

 

We speak "Ch-English" in our house.  Her English combined with my Chinese has given us the incredible gift of our not yet experiencing complete communication frustration - yet.  I'm sure it'll happen at some point (our topics of conversation are pretty basic), but for now, it has been a blessing beyond measure!

 

She has the most precious little faith.  Her favorite song to sing - in Chinese and in English - is "Jesus Loves Me".  She sings it at the doctors, in the hospital, walking down the hallway, in Costco, everywhere... and she is adding more to her repertoire!  It is so amazingly precious when she puts her hands on either side of my face and says to me, in Chinese, "God loves you.  Jesus loves you."  And then in English adds, "I love you so much."

 

She loves to pray.  At meals.  Before sleep.  In the car.  In the frozen food aisle at Giant Eagle.  Sometimes she has me pray.  Sometimes we do tag-team praying where I will say something and she will repeat.  And sometimes she wants to do it all her self - usually in Chinese - she prays quickly but with her cute little voice I can pick out themes and words.  If you've met her more than once, you're likely on her prayer list.

 

(We are both blessed that she spent time living in an amazing Christian foster home.  I believe all the more passionately now about the incredible gift that they gave to both of us.  If you have a heart for your faith, for kids, for orphans, any or all of these, might I ask you to prayerfully consider supporting Christians who are loving and pouring Christ into the lives of kids until their families can?  If you're interested, I can help get you connected either directly or you can do so through my ministry.)

 

She is compassionate.  One night my back was hurting so she took my hand and led me to the couch, had me lay down, covered me with a blanket, moved her frog chair next to me, and gave me a back rub.  She loves to look at pictures of other little ones like "Big Lucy" meeting their family and prays for them.  She gets tears in her eyes when she knows that "Baby Lucy" and "Baby Lizzie" aren't sick.  She passionately prays for them.  She can't wait to watch new videos and see updated pictures of her guy, "my Regis".

 

She loves to dust, do laundry, make the bed, and load the dishwasher.  I promise we're not into forced child-labor here, but she has some passions that just aren't mine, so I'm happy to let her help.

 

She loves ice cream and swimming and the promise of either of these things serve as great motivators for her to have "good sleep".  And she uses them as a part of her negotiating (she is 4, after all).

 

She is smart.  I am going to have my hands full!  Her memory is like a steel trap.  She puts pieces of info together and spits it back out at me...sometimes days later.

Olivia is an amazing traveller!  Buses, cars, airplanes...no problem!  She loves them!  Which is great because we have lots of road trips planned!  (And she is learning to say to her Grandpa, "Pop, please take me to the Caribbean"...)

 

And she loves to laugh.  She is a silly monkey.  She laughs, giggles, makes faces.  And oh does she laugh.  You can't help but laugh when she does.

 

Dozens of times a day she tells me that she loves me, that she is so happy, that I am beautiful, and that her best friend Addison (who will be soon coming home to her family) loves flowers.

 

Sure, we have lots of things we're learning through together.  We're learning to share, to be patient, to listen, and to not eat watermelon at every meal to name a few.

 

But without a doubt, God blessed me mightily when He chose me to be Olivia's mommy.

 

"'I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshipped the LORD there."
1 Samuel 1:27-28