Our Next Daughter

When Brian & I started this past adoption process early last year, I truly felt it was an answer to prayer. Besides the fact of us believing in the spritual aspect of caring for "the least of these", we wanted Emma to have a sister who shared in her heritage. Our paperwork was officially logged into the Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs last summer and that's when the wait basically began. We've been waiting now for almost 15 months and have no idea as to when our next daughter will join our family.

There has been a lot of angst in the adoption community over the extended wait times with the China program and for the most part I have remained positive that we will indeed one day have another daughter. However, there have been some weeks where the wait has gotten me down - just a little. But yesterday I received an update to a blog that I have subsribed to that is written by a lady who is from South Africa and runs a foster home in China for medically fragile children. Her story has really touched my heart and I hope that one day we will be able to financially support this mission. Anyway, as I read the post from yesterday my heart was once again touched and the desire for another child was strengthened. I again realize why we are doing that which we've set out to do. As I read the story and came to the part with the child with the red coat, I couldn't help but think of my little Emma bug and how precious she is and how much of a blessing she is to us, our friends at church and to several of her teachers at daycare. And to think that she could possibly have been that child with the red coat - it breaks my heart.

I shared with someone yesterday how that when we adopted the first time that it was really important to me that our child be as young as possible. There were several reasons for that - but now I realize that really wasn't important at all. What's important is that a child be placed into the loving arms of a family that will not only provide a home, but more importantly a forever family to love and cherish that child. Children truly are a blessing from God - they are his reward.

The story I'm referencing can be found at this link, it's the entry dated Wednesday, 9/26.

http://http://http://www.chinesestarfish.blogspot.com/