happend to me today. I few days ago I was asked to speak at my oldest son's high school class because they had just done a study of China. I was happy to come and speak and tell the kids about my trip to China and the things that we experenced there. I brought Alenna with me and the kids just loved her. Anyway, today my son brought home a large package of letters for me from all of the kids in the class. They had handmade Thank You notes for me that were just wonderful. I was really moved to see how much they had learned from what I had told them, and how great they thought Alenna was. I will be saving those notes for Alenna for when she is older.
I would like to tell you about my little Alenna. She is truly one of the greatest joys in our lives. When I first saw her referral picture, she has the sweetest smile on her baby face. She was about eight months old in the picture. She had not had her cleft lip surgery done yet, so there was this big hole in her lip, but I thought that she was the most beautiful little girl. I knew that when her lip was repaired that everyone else would be able to see the beauty that I saw. It is truly amazing what can be done with a little surgery. Now she is a very healthy happy little girl.
Our Story began many years ago, when I was just 17 years old. A lady from our church was the sister of Bertha Holt from Holt International. She was very active in telling people about the needs of orphans around the world. The adoption program in China had just opened up, and agencies were seeking families for the children. As she was telling me about this I decided that someday I would adopt a little girl from China. The years passed and the Lord blessed my husband and me with three wonderful kids. Two boys and one daughter. After our daughter was born I remebered my dream of one day adopting a little girl from China, but I was way too young. I still had many years before I would be old enough to apply to adopt. Plus my husband was not interesting in adopting. EVER! So I prayed, cried, and prayed some more. After many years of praying, the Lord put it on my husbands heart to adopt from China. YEAH!!! I had spent many of those years researching China adoption and looking a Waiting Child lists. For those of you who don't know, Waiting Child lists are files that adoption agencies have of children that have minor to major special needs, like cleft lip and palate, or heart defects or Hep. B+. So, when we decided to adopt I knew that my heart was open to a special needs child. But my husband was not too sure. I had found this beautiful little girl with a cleft lip and palate that I just fell in love with. With much prayer though my husband realized that she was our daughter and we proceeded to adopt her. She has been one of the greatest blessings in our lives. This blog is about her, and it is a way for me to avocate for other wonderful special needs kids that just like her need special homes and families to love them.
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