One Year!!

It was one year ago today that our daughter was placed in our arms forever.
I think it was probably both the best and worst day of her little life to this point.
What a JOYful, long anticipated day for our family.
What a terrifying shock for Grace.

We celebrate Grace's life today, but we mourn her losses.
Until you are touched personally by adoption, you don't realize
the grief that is intermingled with the great joy.
The intense loss and the huge gain that happen at the same instant.
We are forever grateful that Grace's birth mom chose to give her life.
Abortion is, sadly, very much on the rise in China.
We are forever saddened that she will never know anything about us
and Grace will never know anything about her.
We HATE that she was abandoned.
We are beyond grateful that she was placed somewhere she would be found.
She was given EXCELLENT medical care.
And lived in a poor orphanage where they really CARE for the children,
thanks to the fact they have a Half the Sky Program.
And God perfectly orchestrated the events that allowed us to be the ones to get her file.
We gained a daughter, Grace gained a FAMILY
but she lost a familiar culture, language, and the comfort of being part of the majority.
We can't describe the privilege it's been to watch
as the Great Physician heals our little girl.
We are humbled and in awe of His GRACE.
We love that she smiles almost all the time now.
She smiles so big her eyes completely disappear!
She laughs often, and it comes from way down deep in her soul.
She sleeps peacefully in her own bed, most nights.
We are humbled by the endless amount of unconditional love that Sam, Joe, Will and Ben have for their sister. It's been a year and she still has a hard time with them sometimes. But she does LOVE them, and is slowly coming around.
We are SO THANKFUL to have Grace in our family.
She completed us, and has added so much fun, laughter, sunshine, cuddles, and PINK
to our home.