The Apple of Our Eye... Part 2

Saturday.

We prayed each night for her for a week. The Lord made it clear in my heart not to say much about this little one to Steve, just to pray and see the Lord work. With each day that passed I saw God revealing to us His plan. At first our prayers were "Lord, please bring a forever family to this little girl." Gradually our prayers began to be more "Lord show us if we are to be her family." The more we prayed for her the more we realized that we might be her family. But how could we? With summer coming up and Steve looking for a temp job, this was not the timing we had hoped for. Yet, we could not hide from the burden and call to adopt her that we both felt.

Another week of prayer went by and I was driving, on a Saturday, to meet two very precious friends for lunch who are also adoptive moms. On the way I received a call. It was from my friend who had sent me this little girl's file. She called to tell me that she was part of a non-profit organization that gives grants to aid adoptive parents. She had brought our situation before the board and they voted to give us a $3000 grant! A grant!! Even before we had "locked" this little girl's file or even sent in our Letter of Intent! Or even said "yes"!! Incredible!! We had prayed the night before for confirmation. God was moving! Practically unable to finish driving to the restaurant due to stunned joy I called Steve and told him the news. It was a lot to process. Was God really telling us "Yes"?

After arriving and sharing the exciting news with my friends one of asked "What orphanage is she from?" I didn't even know. The week had been so chaotic I hadn't even remembered. We went online and read her file again. She was from the very same orphanage as my friend's daughter! My friend and her husband had visited the orphanage a few years back when they were there to adopt their sweet girl. She said she might even have photos of our girl! I wasn't quite ready to say she was "our girl". Steve still had not said yes. We were still waiting on the Lord.

There's more. Oh yes, there's more! Also, my friend let me know that their church was preparing for their Panda Mania VBS next month. Each year the kids and families raise money during the VBS to support some type of ministry. And she wanted to let me know that our family may be chosen to receive yet another grant! This was a lot to take in. And the day was only half done.

Later that evening Steve and I were able to have a night out together. (Chinese food of course!) We were able to talk over so many thoughts and concerns as we waited for our table to be ready. We even discussed potential names and I ran a few by him. God was speaking to my husband and before I knew it he said, "Go ahead and call the agency on Monday and tell them yes." My mind was spinning and my heart was rejoicing! After dinner when our fortune cookies came Steve opened his and read "You will adopt a little girl from China and name her Lily" with a grin and a chuckle. (His humorous way of letting me know that he was willing to move forward! )

The day was not over. More confirmation was to come! Later that night I received and email from my friend whose daughter was from the same orphanage. She sent me an album of photos of the institution. She also sent two photos of a precious baby girl sitting in a bamboo chair. Was this the same girl? Yes. The baby in these photos looked identical to the baby photos that were the file I had received a week earlier. Her message read, "Okay, so don't freak out... but do you think this is your girl? She sure looks like the photo you showed me today. If it is... we need to talk. I stroked this sweet one's face, cried over her and told her Jesus loved her." She had also told this precious girl that "her family would be coming to get her soon."

At this point I knew. I could now say it. She was our girl.

Lily Hope Jia




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