July 15, 2011
Dear Ones,
Have you ever had one of those days that seems to make things really come into perspective and make lots of other days that were difficult simply fade into the background? Recently I had one of those days, it was a great day that suddenly had a heaping spoonful of God's loving kindness piled onto the top of the sundae of life and I was savoring .
Our lives here are lived moment by moment in a very real way. More often than not those moments are difficult ones where little ones are sick and we are doing everything we can to provide the care that they need. In those moments I often ask God "What do you have planned for this little life, this precious gift that lies before me? What lessons do they have to teach me, what lessons will you teach them? Will this little boy thrill a mommy's hand with the grasp of his pudgy little one in hers or will this little girl wrap her daddy's heart around her tiny finger? Will you give them a forever family here on earth or a heavenly home safe in Your arms?" So many questions, many of which I will never know the answer to but every once in awhile I have the awesome opportunity to catch just a glimpse of some of those answers...last week I had one of those days. One of those "forever family" days.
Adoption is an incredible concept; it is a subject I am faced with every single day as I live among the orphan children of China. These precious children are waiting, longing for a Mama and Baba. There are those who ask when they will have one, there are those who will never understand the concept of family, those who will never be placed in a forever family here on earth and there are those who will. These are the moments that I long for… seeing children with their new family, watching the reactions and the interactions. Each time I see it I am in awe of how God knits hearts together, I know I shouldn’t be it is the picture of God the Father’s adoption of me, He is the ultimate adoptive Father but every once in awhile He likes to add some special touches just to show how much He loves us and is working in us. Some of that “God working” is so incredibly visible that I simply have to sit back and marvel at His gracious hand that holds my heart and shapes those incredible moments.
We have lots of visitors through our Big House and more and more often we actually have groups of adoptive families who choose to spend an afternoon riding a couple hours to visit here as one of the stops on what we love to call “The Adoption Trail.” The longer I am here the more often I have the privile
ge of seeing some pretty incredible moments like when my friends Bill and Kelly returned to pick up their new baby girl almost exactly 9 months after they visited here with a Show Hope Sponsor group in August of 2010, both trips were life changing for them and I loved having the opportunity to witness some of those changing moments. And then there are moments like Wednesday afternoon when a large group arrived and I was called…”Mariah your baby is here with her family!” I headed down the stairs curious to see who was here, we usually know when there is a child who was previously from Maria’s coming through with their adoptive family but this was a surprise…in God’s providence and by His design it was a surprise to them too. That morning when the offer was made to make the drive to Luoyang to visit Maria’s this couple had contemplated staying back and resting from the busy days but at the last minute decided to come along. One of the other couples on the trip began encouraging them with some special stories and some connections they had with Maria’s. You see Megan, the one doing lots of encouraging, was excited to once again visit Maria’s as she was one of Maria Sue’s preschool teachers and through the encouragement of the Show Hope Family and the passion for adoption shown by the Chapman’s she and her husband had decided to adopt after their first visit to Maria’s in July of 2009. 
Now two years later they wanted to visit along with their new son and some of the other adoptive families. So here this couple stood in the middle of the entry trying to tell an ayi that she was mistaken that their daughter had never lived here. The ayi simply smiled and called to me when I walked up- yes, this sweet little girl, snuggled up in her daddy’s arms was my Carolina, now Ally! One of the first babies I took care of when I moved to China and here she was walking, talking, and right in the center of her mommy’s unbelieving tears as she looked and me and said are you sure and I smiled and said YES! There was hugging and laughter, sharing of stories- the group was moving slowly through the building no longer paying attention to much other than the amazing fact that this little one had lived her first year here and was now in her forever families loving embrace. The group reached the 4th floor and once again there were tears of joy and delight and wonder as Megan’s little one, the one she had prayed so fervently would have been touched by Maria’s Big House was welcomed by his nurses and ayis- what a day of rejoicing. What a picture of adoption, what a taste of grace- God’s unmerited favor poured out on me, I
stand in awe of Him and rejoice to see His mighty hand at work as the loving Father of the Fatherless as He takes notice and crafts even the smallest details to bring glory to his name in the lives of these children who are so precious to Him!
With love from my house to yours,
Mariah
