One week home with Gianna, reflecting….

Its been one week since we have been home from China with Gianna. Each day gets a little better with our jet-lag…each day our brain is feeling a little less upside down. Thank you for praying for us!
A HUGE blessing has been the meals. Thank you SO much for those that have been meeting that need, I can;t tell you how that has helped us.

Thank God we are seeing the light in tiredness….Gianna has been doing pretty good. Each day more and more of her funny personality is coming out and she is so hilarious!! She has been bonding well and calling me mommy so much! I LOVE IT! Each day she falls more into me and relaxes when I rock her and feed her the bottle. Each day she cuddles a little bit more and rubs my face with even more sweetness. Each day she giggles more with baba and laughs at his antics, and each day she gets sillier with her siblings and spunkier with the doggies. What a gift to see her heart mending and grafting so clearly with ours.
Of course, she is still such a mystery in so many ways and I am sure we are to her too. ha! ….we are still trying to figure each other out… But, that will come with time..and we will understand more of what she is thinking and feeling and she will understand more of what we are saying.  (Gosh, we would give anything to know mandarin!) LOL
I gotta tell you, we are truly in love with this girl. We all, each and every one of us of us, looks at her and just still can NOT believe what God has done. Its unbelievable how He got her home to us in 8 months from the time we first submitted paperwork on her (that is with starting from scratch on the homestudy). It is clear that He wanted her home quickly. He moved mountains. Being in China together as a family to get our daughter/sister/grand-daughter was a PURE miracle. Each moment God revealed himself in HUGE ways to our family and continues to while at home. And to now be home with her, looking at her, GOSH…it is still so hard to process fully, to be honest. We are just in awe. I have so much to say…..hoping eventually I will have time to write it out. I can sum it up by saying that God calls us to the “HARD” so we can see HIS strength perfected in our weakness. If we only do in life what we feel we “can” do, then why would we ever have the need for HIS power in our lives?

I want to share something: it was one year ago that a very special little girl from China received a new heart….then two weeks later, sadly….earned her angel wings. Our whole family sobbed and sobbed for sweet Teresa. Well, it was that precious heart hero-princess, Teresa, who wrecked us in the hugest way possible. She changed our lives forever. God used that sweet warrior princess girl (along with a trip to a SHOWHOPE EVENT) to start breaking our hearts again for the orphan, especially for heart babies/orphans who were waiting for their forever family. It was an awful tragedy that she lost her fight on earth. But, here is the GOD MIRACLE: Teresa did not die an orphan, she died a daughter who knew she was loved fiercely. Her mommy and daddy and brothers and sisters walked her to Jesus……The worst tragedy would have been if she died an orphan. THAT fact haunted us. It was because of her that we started advocating, which God used to further break our hearts, which then led us (through a series of GOD events) to our Gianna.
See friends, God is in the business of breaking hearts with what breaks HIS.. but “only” if you let Him get you uncomfortable…..He has to wreck us to get our attention. Honestly, It was SUPER scary to hear his voice telling us that He wanted us to run to a heart baby….and let me tell you, fear almost won. COMPLACENCY almost won.
What if it had? What if we were numb and turned the other way and protected our hearts from being wrecked. What if we sought His Word less and Sought comfort more? Then, we would have missed His voice, His command, His whisper. We would have missed beautiful Gianna. Oh SO thankful we didn’t miss her, thankful for HIS grace!
It’s a risk, its not safe and it is surely NOT comfortable….but the blessing to hold this treasure in our arms overwhelms us with gratefulness.
So thankful that we didn’t miss Gianna, So grateful God chose us to run to her. We are humbled by this.
Lets be clear (for those that want to pat our backs):He did NOT choose us because we are strong or able or even worthy at all. It was only by Grace. He only asks that we are willing. See, He does not call the equipped, but I guarantee to you He equips the called after you step out in faith. It is HIS promise that He will be with us always. He will never leave or forsake us.

 What is God whispering to you? I urge you to please search out for His still small voice, “whatever” He is calling you to do. I guarantee that it will feel SO NOT comfortable, and So “out of the boat” and so NOT logical, and many will try and talk you out of such craziness….but, if you accept His invitation to get out of the boat to be wrecked…..you will get to experience His miracles….you may even get to walk on water!!!!

I urge you to resist the climb and that never fulfilling fight for the “american dream” and see where God may be calling you and your family to.

I remember a time when I dreamed about hardwood floors and granite counter tops and acres for my kids to run and play in. Now we dream about orphans getting a chance at life, getting the hope of life saving surgeries and forever families, I dream of getting out of adoption debt so we can sponsor more babies and go on more missions trips to serve and have our hearts wrecked even more.
That is “God’s dream” for us..to fight for the fatherless and speak up for the oppressed.
OH Lord Jesus, keep us out of love with “comfort and complacency” and the that empty American Dream of affluence and keep us fighting for YOUR dream of making a difference in this ONE life you have given us.
(BIG SIGH)

On that note, Thank you for all that are still praying for this adjustment at home, we still NEED YOUR PRAYERS, it isn’t easy, nothing WORTH it comes easy….yet, it is SO VERY wonderful to be right in the center of God’s will. I am so thankful she is home….my heart feels so much peace and calm….even among the stormy moments of complete chaos.
Still can’t believe our home is filled with 6 beautiful CRAZY kiddie blessings.

We are asking for is prayer for her heart to feel peace at night. She is waking often. Please pray for an overwhelming peace of calm for her. I selfishly would love the rest too! ha 

Also, we have a HUGE doctor appointment scheduled for July 10th at CHOP with Dr. Rychik. Gia will be getting an EKG, and echo and a full heart and all-over evaluation. Please be praying for good news. Please be praying for wisdom for the doctors to best know how to help heal Gianna’s heart.

We don’t know what is ahead for us in the immediate future. Right now we are enjoying the calm of settling in to home life and attachment and sort of NOT thinking about the roller coaster ahead. Knowing God is already in the tomorrow’s. One thing we do know is that another open heart surgery is pretty imminent for our Gia (she had one already in China). We have no idea when this will happen, but knowing full well that we will be getting a lot of information on July 10th. Yet, we are Praying for encouraging news!
We have no idea of the ride ahead but there is no other place we would rather be then on God’s roller coaster and seeing HIM and HIS power so clearly!
Thank you friends for loving us and Gianna. 

Some pics from the past week….