One Year With our Hopey

It is hard to imagine that it really has been a year since they walked in with Hope in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia.  She ran into our lives with a smile on her face.  She was ready...ready for a family, ready to have fun, ready to have someone pay attention to her, and most importantly, she was ready to be loved.  Our sweet girl ran in that day and ran straight into the arms of her father.  She had arrived, she had a earthly father who scooped her up and made her feel secure and safe.  She just kept staring at him wondering if he was real, or if the idea of a daddy was still just a dream for her.  The expressions and smiles on her face that day is one of the things that will forever be retained in my own memory.  It is almost as if I can hit rewind and watch the scene unfold again and again in my head.  Isn't it such a lovely picture, and picture of how we should all be?  We should all run straight into the arms of our heavenly father realizing that we were chosen, chosen to be adopted by him.  I am so thankful that everyday I get to replay this real life example of Hope's forever family day in my head, so I can be reminded of where to run to....and boy do I need to run there so often.

Surprisingly, adopting an older child has been such a blessing for us.  Hope's adjustment over the last year has been easier than we ever expected it to be.  I kept wondering, when is this all going to fall apart, but it hasn't yet.  She just fits in so perfectly.  She somehow seemed to be our missing link.  She still is everyone's best friend in the house, and with her here, there is just more peace and harmony.  Now, it is definitely louder with Hope around.  I was once watching a video series where a man mentioned that loud children were a good thing because it meant they had life, and to a mom who had lost her children, noise would be something she longed to hear.  So, I try my best to rejoice in all the noise....after all, they are all full of life.  Now that Hope has been home for a year, and is in school, we are starting to see where she struggles.  She is an amazing auditory learner.  She picks up language quickly.  She also figures things out quickly, and remains the tattle tale that her orphanage described her to be.  She also likes to fuss.  It is funny, because after living with our sweet Emily for a year, I got used to the fussing.  When Hope starts it, we call her our mini-Emmy.  Emily of course says she doesn't remember fussing, but the two of them are very similar.  I think God prepared us for Hope by giving us Emily first.  Hope appears to struggle with academic learning.  At this point, she just doesn't see a need, so we are working to point out why she needs to learn.  She still struggles with her fine motor skills because of the mild cerebral palsy, so her writing skills are still lacking, but are improving.  

To us, Hope is, well...PERFECT!  I know she isn't perfect on pen and paper, but she is perfect for us.  I think she has taught me much more than I have taught her.  What a blessing she is to us, and what a blessing she will be to us for many more years to come. I love you my sweet girl...I am glad that you found your way to us....my only regret is that we didn't find each other sooner.