Without Further Adieu...

...I would like to introduce to you Melia Xinai Horner! (pronounced Meh-lee-uh Shin-eye)

Just today Ryan and I received word from our adoption agency that they have approved us to be the parents of a sweet, 13 month old girl from China. We are bursting with joy, excitement and anticipation! She is our long awaited, hoped for daughter and we feel so very blessed!

This past week has been an incredible journey of faith and trust in God as we learned about some heart conditions that our daughter has. I won't go into all the details, it's her story to share, but I will tell you that God has changed us for good through the process of finding our daughter.

Our precious Melia was born with a heart condition that will likely require some surgery down the road. We spent the week educating ourselves on her heart issues with several doctors, other mothers and our social worker. In the end, we felt God drawing us to this gem. Every time we resisted the idea of adoption anxiety would well up in me and I realized that fear of the unknown was the source of that anxiousness. When we submitted to God and made the choice to say yes to what God already chose for us,"peace that surpasses understanding" flooded over us and has been "guarding my heart and mind" against fear ever since.

This process also made us dive into the idea of God's goodness. After all, how is it good that any child should be born with physical affliction? Why should any child be living outside the love of a family? How is that good, God?

That's when my wise, wonderful husband reminded me that God's good is not ours. His definition is greater and far better than mine. That's when I became aware that most of the time I define good as something that makes ME happy, makes ME smile or pleases ME. It's so self focused. God's good is bigger. He wants us eternally and His goodness seeks to save us eternally. That's when I began seeing good in Melia's physical condition.

Melia's heart is her way out of an atheist country. She will learn about God and His eternal love for her in our family. It is good to live life fully with a mom and dad, brothers and a sister. It is good that we are more aware, after only one week, of the blessings and goodness of this day. Because, we are not guaranteed tomorrow or the next heart beat. Melia has already made us more intentionally thankful and thus more fully alive and present in our moments.

So, I give thanks today for...

921. Another daughter

922. Her smile, her button nose, her beautiful eyes

923. Her growth and development thus far

924. A husband who repromised to love me always...in sickness and in health

925. Hallie's squeal over a new sister

926. Jacob's confidence, "I knew that was my sister"

927. Zac's determination to be her protector and helper when she comes home

928. Our parents joy, support and love for their new granddaughter

929. New friends to help us with new information...Chelle

930. God's promises fulfilled when we act in faith, trusting His goodness always (Phil 4:7)

If you have read this blog post, then you are part of Melia's story too. I would ask you to pray for her while she is away. I ask you to pray that God would prepare her for all the new sights, sounds, smells, foods, textures, experiences that she will have in our family. I ask that you pray for our other children as they welcome a new child into our family. It can be very emotionally difficult. Please pray that our marriage would remain strong. Please pray for God to touch her body with healing and that his strength would be powerful in her weaknesses.

Thank you for sharing in our joy!