Faith is turning SEVEN!

Our Faith turns 7 tomorrow and today we are throwing a party for her!! Faith has come LEAPS and BOUNDS ... I as her mom have come LEAPS and BOUNDS! OH MY HEART!!

I clearly remember the day they put her in my lap, and she cried and cried and cried and cried! I finally was able to get her to stop crying by giving her a fruit roll up! We had arrived in Nanchang about an hour before, and we were still trying to get settled! We had Matteus and Bella with us, so you can imagine the whirlwind!! God SO protected the trip though ... despite Matteus being just 1 (he turned one in Beijing two days previous), Bella being almost 4, and Faith being almost 3 (although more like a 1-2 year old) ... it was an amazing trip! God totally used Bella especially to calm our very scared Faith, all of Faith's first smiles and laughs being with Bella!

I remember the day God said, "what about the girl with the sad eyes, did you see her, she is supposed to be yours?" AND I remember how I kicked and screamed in my heart, "NO, I only want to have two children God ... you know I can't handle more God!" But eventually I gave up the fight, and I LEAPED off the bridge and TRUSTED God's direction!

And I remember the first year and a half home (plus), how HARD it was ... ohhh, her screaming and screaming ... and my uglies in return instead of patience and gentleness! I remember me also still screaming in my heart, "God, this was NOT what I signed up for ... and I thought I told you I wanted only two and then you give me one who literally came kicking and screaming!" AND then after SOME time God healed not only her heart, but also mine ... and WE BONDED and WE ATTACHED!!!

AND NOW I AM HER FOREVER MOM! AND I LOVE BEING HER FOREVER MOM! AND I TOTALLY ADORE HER! AND I GET TICKLED BY JUST WATCHING HER, AS SHE IS SOOOOOOOOOOO AMAZING!

The determination, the passion, the sweetness, the helpfulness and the thoughtfulness of OUR FAITH blow my heart and mind away! She is an AMAZING GIRL, smart, fun, funny, adventourous, brave, loving, ... AND I somehow for some reasons that only God knows get the SACRED PRIVILEDGE of being her forever mom!!! What a BLESSING our Faith is!! OH how I LOVE her, and that is something that I consider PURE joy to be able to say!!! THANK YOU JESUS for faith!! THANK YOU for seeing what I was unable to see!

P.S. A side note on the cake, when Faith first came home she did not even like vanilla cake without icing without anything on it ... and now HER request for her cake: chocolate cake with chocolate icing with chocolate decorations ... makes me laugh ... I have never made such a chocolaty cake before =)