June 1, 2009
ABREE DAY!!!!!
Wow!!! What a wonderful, incredible, amazing, AWESOME day!!! I
don't believe adjectives can describe what a great, great day we
had!!! We left for Beacon House at 7:30 this morning and arrived
a little after 8:00. The trip seemed to take forever because we
were SO excited to get there! When we walked in we were greeted
warmly by lots of precious children...but Abree was not in that
group. My heart was racing with excitement as we walked into the
house and there was standing our PRECIOUS DAUGHTER! I
immediately began to cry when I saw her. I picked her up and she
did not seem to mind a bit--she was looking at me in
wonder...likely wondering who I was or perhaps thinking "don't I
know you from somewhere?" Our hearts were full of JOY!!! She
quickly laid her sweet head on me and gave me one of the best
hugs of my life! After I held her for a few minutes, it was
Daddy's turn.
She went to Daddy without reservation and was holding on to his
neck like she did not ever want to let go. Neither DO we want to
let go and neither WILL we let go....she's ours FOREVER and we
feel so incredibly blessed on this amazing day!!!
I was able to feed her breakfast...she had grits and seemed to
like them quite well. We spent some time playing and hugging and
holding her, and then it was time to begin the eye exams. James
and I managed to hold her lots during the exams and played with
her and her sweet friends. We performed 54 eye exams today and
were very blessed to be able to help so many wonderful children
and workers many of whom were in desperate need of glasses.
After we completed the eye exams, it was time for Abree's Beacon
House exit prayer. Wow!!! This was amazing. The children and
workers all gathered around in a circle with sweet Abree in the
middle and they went around one-by-one and said a prayer for
her...it was one of the most beautiful and touching sights I
have EVER seen. It was unbelievable to see these incredible
orphans praying for Abree to have "a wonderful life in America,"
"obey her mother and father," "bless her life," "guide her to be
the person that You would have her to be," and many, many more
heart-felt prayers of blessings to our sweet daughter. Many of
the children and staff began to cry as they prayed for her.
After the prayers, they went around one-by-one and held her and
gave her good-bye hugs and kisses. It is SO obvious that she is
SO very, very loved by all of Beacon House!
There were many tears as we left Beacon House, but Abree
continued to hold on to me tightly...she seemed to be making
sure we took her HOME this time! I held her close in the taxi
and she quickly fell asleep on the way to the hotel. When we
arrived at the hotel, we went to the hotel restaurant for
dinner. She ate and ate!!! She loved the fried chicken! She is
so funny when you give her a bite of something she does not care
for--she would calmly pick it out of her mouth and hand it to
us. One time she even tried to feed me the food she picked out
of her mouth...so thoughtful of her! She tried orange pop at
dinner and that was NOT her favorite....only water for this
sweet girl!
After dinner we went to our room, played a while, and then gave
her a bath (a first for us!). She seems a little reserved about
things--I'm sure she knows some huge changes are happening and
she is trying to deal with all of this in her own way. She has
been very quiet this evening, but still very, very cuddly! She
fell asleep while I held her and we have her in bed right
between James and I so she will feel safe.
We look forward to a relaxing day tomorrow. We plan to take her
to the beach and play in the sand and maybe take her swimming in
the beautiful hotel pool. Thank you all so much for your
prayers! We could not have asked for today to be any better! We
have our precious baby girl in our arms...another amazing gift
from God!!!! |
Ours Forever...The Sweetest Hug!!!!!
Daddy was so happy to see his baby girl again!!
Our Beautiful Girl!!!
The Eye Exams
The Beacon House Exit Prayer |
