Yesterday, on Liana's 2 1/2 birthday (hey, when you miss her first birthdays, you'll take the 1/2 birthdays!) we had her dedicated at church. This is always very meaningful for us when we dedicate our children, as it is our public declaration that we will try to raise them as God wants us to and in His word. Taking her to church is always such a wonderful feeling and I haven't gotten over the feeling of awe for how many prayers were said for her last year and tears were shed as we waited to go and get her. And now she's here! I love our church and it is so nice to have Liana there with us every Sunday, learning about Jesus and all of the things that Erik and I grew up learning about. One thing that was kind of amazing was that each family had someone up there with them to hold the baby during one of the prayers and the woman who came up to be with us told us that her sister is waiting for a referral for a baby from China right now. She told me that she has been waiting for 5 years so I know she must be doing non-special needs adoption and, if she continues in non-special needs, will probably be waiting at least a couple more years. I told her that it was much, much faster for us and explained to her about special needs adoption and Liana's "special needs" or really lack thereof. I told her that you can be matched with a child with very minor special needs and she got really excited to tell her sister about it. I'm sure her sister already knows about special needs adoption. If her agency hasn't told her about it, I would be shocked because people can make the switch to special needs and be matched and get to their child very quickly. But, maybe after her sister meeting one of these beautiful, amazing "special needs" children and seeing what a non-issue it can be, maybe she will really consider it. Who knows...maybe God put us together with this woman on this day for a reason. I really hope so. I wonder how many lives our beautiful girl will touch without us even knowing it.
After the baby dedication, we celebrated with ice cream. The only thing that could have made the day better was if all of the grandparents were there but we will be seeing them very, very soon! :-)
Liana with her first Bible
Our three sweeties
Family pic...can you believe we got one with all three kids smiling?!
Congratulations on Liana's Dedication! We would have loved to be there as we were for Ella's, but we were there in spirit, praying for her to grow up loving and following Jesus. What a precious heritage she has inherited. I believe she will be responsible for many people taking a look at "Special Needs" adoption, and deciding that is for them! What an awesome little spoksperson she is! God bless you all, and SEE YOU SOON!! :)
ReplyDelete