Addy’s Adoption Adventure

About a year ago my brother and sister-in-law made a bold move. God nudged their hearts open wide, and into the opening he put a dream of adoption. Then God brought a little girl from China to fill up that dream.

There have been risks, sacrifices, fears and tears along the way. But God has been faithful, and six months ago a beautiful little girl became part of the Peterson family in Marshalltown, Iowa.  Addy’s mom Valarie is my wife Karla’s sister.  On her Facebook page she posted an update – which I found to be a super compelling reminder to us all, not only of the joyous progress of one little girl, but of the life-changing power of love through adoption. Here is Val’s post:

Last week marked six months since we first met Addy and so much has changed! I (Valarie) compiled a list of lots of changes from then until now and want to share just a portion with you.

We have gone:

• from a stoic, distant, expressionless face to an animated happy little girl
• from stumbling around while just walking, to scaling the six-foot climbing wall at the playground (with VERY close supervision)
• from single-piece puzzles, to a 24-piece floor puzzle
• from crying starting in the church parking lot as we leave for Iowa City, to taking a seven-hour trip with little difficulty
• from many health uncertainties, to a clean report of no cancer
• from a small opening where her eye should be, to an eye that looks so natural that the nurse planned to put eye drops in it
• from one-word books, to stories
• from a girl with no family, to one who is constantly checking where all the other family members are
• from a trip to a doctor and four people to get in the plastic conformer back into her eye socket, to a three year old who can put in her own eye all by herself (albeit usually upside down)
• from knowing only one English word (“bye-bye”), to knowing colors, numbers, body parts, food, animals, sea creatures, shapes, polite words, names of lots and lots of family members, and so much more
• from crying and pointing as the main avenue of communication, to speaking in full sentences (and still a fair share of crying)
• from a child who grabs one thing after another out of curiosity causing messes in her wake to …. oh wait, we are still there
• from having the offer of having her blessed by a Buddhist monk before we left China, to Addy knowing that God made her and loves her
• from a family that did not know what we were missing, to a lot of laughter and joy (and exhaustion)

Thank you, God, for blessing our family in such a big way!