12 months.
That's how long it has been since Nikki sent me an email to tell me that God had placed a little girl at the state orphanage on her heart and to ask if it was okay with me if she joined our family as soon as she was transferred to SCH. She said the girl was Charlotte and sent me the only thing she had - a blurry photo of a little girl with no eyes, lying on her side.
The second I looked at that beautiful little girl in the photo, I knew God was saying that yes, this girl was meant to be a part of our family.
We requested that she be transferred to us and were told she would be ours as soon as the paperwork went through.
This was all before I had even moved to India.
Flash forward 6 months and still all we had was that one photo and the promise that one day, Charlotte would be ours.
It was then that we finally got to meet our Charlotte.
And found out that Charlotte wasn't really Charlotte...
The girl in the photo was actually Chloe and the real Charlotte was very similar, but 2 years younger.
We couldn't possibly choose between them.
But God made it clear that we didn't have to. He had us praying for Charlotte, the little girl in the photo because He wanted us to take them both - Charlotte and the little girl in the photo.
And now 6 more months later, on September 27th, 2014, we finally got to bring our girls home!
This journey has been filled with so many ups and downs. So many times we would finally see a breakthrough and then have the next door slammed in our faces. Every way we turned there seemed to be yet another obstacle (down to getting rear ended on the way to pick the girls up!). We have been told we would get them in a few months, which turned into a few weeks, which turned into never, and then back to a few months so many times, we started to let ourselves not hope anymore.
Some days we wondered if they would ever come and even started talking about what child we would add to our home instead if they never came.
But every time those doubts came, God would send a reminder of how many times He had confirmed that these girls would be ours and that we just needed to keep fighting for them, no matter how long it would take or frustrating it would become.
5 days ago, I had just about given up hope.
Tonight, I am writing this with my baby Charlotte drifting off to sleep in my arms.
God had made us a promise and while yes, it was a long road, I look back and see His hand in it every step of the way. Everything happened in His perfect timing and I am ashamed of the times I doubted His promise and started to lose hope.
I look back at all the frustrations and obstacles we had to work through and the time we had to wait and I realize it was so worth it. Every single moment we had to wait is nothing compared to this moment right now.
Our girls are here. They are curled up in bed in cute new pajamas. They have their nails painted. They have received more kisses today than I'm sure they have in the rest of their lives combined. They are loved.
They are home.
Chloe and Charlotte, I am so incredibly excited that you are finally home with us. I've been praying for you for so long and loved you long before I even met you. We fought hard for you, babies. I want you to know that. I also want you to know that are worth every bit of that and more. I pray that one day you will find your forever families, but until then, know that you have a family and a place to call home here and you will always be loved. Jesus has some incredible plans for you girls. I can't wait to see what they are. I love you so much and I pray that you will always know that.
Welcome home.
Chloe and Charlotte are in need of monthly sponsors. Will you come alongside us and make sure our girls get the care they need?
Charlotte: http://schindia.com/children/charlotte/
Precious jewels in His crown! <3
ReplyDelete