My friend (and travel-mate) Donna e-mailed earlier this week asking everyone to share their daughter's "foundling" story. So, I took a walk down memory lane. It had been about two years since I had read that information given to us upon Lily's referral. And, I was surprised at how emotional I got once again.The report read:
Jiang Hao, female, on June 24, 2004 was picked up at the gate of The Civil Affair Bureau of Pingjiang County. Because they did not find her parents, the Tianyue Police Station confirmed her as a foundling. She was then sent to our institution by workers of The Civil Affair Bureau of Pingjiang County. On admission, she, with thin hair, wore baby clothes with flowers on white back. She did not carry anything. The child's physical examination showed weight 3.5 Kg; height 47 cm; head circumference 31 cm and chest circumference 33 cm. It was found that there was an angioma of 2 mm in size on the right side of her face. The doctor advised she would receive a surgery to remove it when she was older. Except this, she was fine. The doctor of our institution estimated her birth date as June 12, 2004 based on her development and we gave her name Jiang Hao. Jiang expresses Piangjiang County and is the common surname of all of the children in our institution; Hao is our best wishes for her, hoping her happy and healthy.
It went on to describe her daily routine and some of her personality traits. My favorite was "She is a beautiful, clever and active child with being strong." I think they might have been trying to express her strong-will way back then. It is still a very accurate description of Lily. She started off strong...she had to be. God knows what He is doing when He makes us. He knew the path that Lily would be taking and He equipped her for the journey.
Psalm 139:13
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful.
I know that full well.
While waiting to meet my daughter, I remember finding comfort in the fact that God made Lily. He knew her and loved her long before I ever did. And, I trusted that while I was not there with her -- He was. His hand was on her, and it still is!
*Just a note regarding Lily's "angioma" or hemangioma/strawberry on the side of her face: our doctor here told us no surgery would be needed and that it would most likely go away on its own by age 5 or so. If you will notice in her recent pictures -- it is already gone. It started fading and decreasing in size almost immmediately, and then it was gone completely. It was never a big concern of ours. We thought she was perfect with or without it.*
*the picture was taken on "Gotcha Day" when we got back to our hotel and she had finally cried herself to sleep. She is wearing the pajamas she was given to us in.
What a precious gift she is. To our family, our friends, and everyone who is blessed enough to know her.
19 comments:
Amen, Amen, and AMEN - so true - all of it!! She is such a blessing and I don't even know her on a daily basis!! I remember that day well - makes me all teary just reading about it again - yep, it was hard for me to read over again this week too -
Nikki, thank you for sharing your your story of Lily. I can feel the love just from reading it. That picture of her is so sweet and special. I can tell what a wonderful little girl she is.
Hugs,
Jonni
:)
You already know it was hard for me to read mine again as well from my email. We are all so blessed......they are the most wonderful gifts from God. And the friendships that we have been blessed with because of these little girls have become just as meaningful! Hugs to you my dear friend.....
That is so wonderful of you to share that piece of personal history.
Keep smilin!
Thank you so much for sharing that, Nikki (and Lily). I have goosebumps and tears in my eyes. That picture is just heaven. Of course I only came in on your story recently, but it's hard to believe she was so tiny just a short time ago.
Yep, making me tear up here. It is amazing to me how God works out all the details. Thanks for sharing.
I am tearing up right now. God is so faithful, merciful and gracious. What I love about finding family's blogs with children who are adopted from China, is that the majority have been Christian families. We kept a journal for our Spicy Girl from the moment we were approved by our agency. We expressed to her through our writings, how God knew we would be a family before we even did. "All the days ordained for you were written in His book before one of them came to be." Thanks for sharing this story.
BTW, I hope you don't mind if I add you to my links.
What a beautiful post Nikki! Thanks for sharing, I love the picture of her! She looks so cute sleeping!
Lily looks so cute with her little "gal-friend". I'm glad they enjoyed their day shopping with their mommies. I wish I could see my grandkids on a blog daily but I understand............
Love the story. I too am a Mom of a Chinese daughter named Lilly. Mommy Spice is one of our friends, got your site from her. We also have the brown eyed shirts for the girls!Check us out sometime!
Thank you so much for sharing your personal story with us. I always love reading about others' stories and it makes this whole adoption process more real.
What a beautiful, sweet girl!
Thank you. That is very beautiful and I know that it was emotional to write.
You all are blessed, you, Lily and everyone who loves her.
Jeeze, I'm bawling again!
Such a lovely story it just really made me cry. Lily is so beautiful.
I love the memories of those days. Our baby girls were so sweet. I'm looking forward to making some more of those memories.
you know I never noticed anything amiss with that cutie pie, how very cool...
Thanks for sharing! I can't wait to learn about our Mia!
Hi Nikki,
What a beautiful post!! Thanks for answering my foundling question and creating a blog for it. I can't believe we never shared those stories before!
Donna
The story you shared here is so moving, and I can't imagine at all what it must feel like to imagine the circumstances of your daughter's life prior to her becoming a part of your family... and I can see how it would be painful to read that again.
I only know that God's will for her happiness brought her to you, even if that wasn't his initial plan (I often think man's free choice/mistakes are opportunities for God to work new magic). And certainly her face, her smile, and her presence in the life of your family is just that... magic.
you write so beautifully.. i was transported by in time when i re-read emily's ... oh what peace i feel knowing she is asleep now in her room at home where she belongs ...
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