What An Amazing Week!
This last week has been a whirlwind to say the least which is why I haven't posted all the amazing incredible things that have happened to us this week. It's been a little crazy around here. After we made the connection with Lisa from Beijing, she showered us with pictures. Beautiful, sweet, adorable pictures. We have enough to make Meili a baby book, we have pictures from when she was just a baby! She looks so happy and healthy. She is in such good hands. They love her and take care of her. She just glows. We will forever be grateful to these wonderful amazing ladies who are taking care of her. It is an amazing blessing she is where she is. We thought she was in Yuncheng City which is a desperately poor and deprived area. The pictures we have seen of the kids in foster homes/orphanage there are very depressing...dirt floors, rooms without walls, etc. They truly do suffer in that area of China. We feel so blessed and thank our Heavenly Father everyday that she was able to go to Beijing and be in this foster group home where her needs are being met.
We also learned of a wonderful lady named Susan. She took all the money from her wedding and asked if she could donate it to a child that would benefit from it. They chose Meili. They call her YuanYuan. :) They felt that she was a perfect candidate to have her cleft palate fixed. Right before the surgery though Yuanyuan got sick as well as her caregiver that was going to go with her. The surgery was cancelled. The amazing thing is that there was a bigger plan. Just a few weeks later, a clinic in Shanghai called to say they could do 9 surgeries free of charge but the travel expenses would not be included. Susan was contacted again to see if she wanted to donate the money that was meant for Meili to be used to benefit all 9 children. She agreed and changed the life of not 1 but 9 beautiful children. These angels in Meili's life will forever be in our hearts. And we will always be so incredibly grateful for them and their unselfish service to our sweet girl.
Day after day this week we received pictures. Most of them bringing us to tears. It has been truly amazing to see our sweet angel all grown up. We suddenly feel like she's not so far away. They went to an international fair at a school last week and had a picnic with happy meals from McDonalds. It was so fun to see these adorable pictures and know they were taken just the day before. Here are a few from that day.
Sunday was Mother's Day and I wasn't expecting any emails from her caregivers. But as I woke up Sunday morning, I decided to check. Much to my surprise, a wonderful lady named Meilin was thinking of me on Mother's Day. As I opened these emails, we were again brought to tears as we saw through pictures, Meili looking at our family picture for the first time. It was a very sweet moment for us. They also sent an adorable picture of Meili holding out a red rose and the email that said "love and flowers from Meili." What a wonderful Mother's Day we had. What an amazing woman Meilin must be to think of me and really put forth the effort to make my Mother's Day so special. It will be a Mother's Day I will never forget.
Last week, we were able to put together a care package. It was pretty crazy gathering everything up. We asked what was needed and although Meili's specific home didn't need a whole lot there are other orphanages that need a lot. We gathered up cleft palate bottles, medicine droppers used to feed the cleft palate babies when bottles aren't available, bibs, mosquito medicine, dum dums for the kids, etc. We also were given permission to send a blanket, a teddy bear, PJs, sundresses, and a photo album to Meili. We were able to send matching sundresses for her and a little girl her age in the home. Can't wait to see the pictures. It really is so heartbreaking to know that there are thousands and thousands of children that need help over there and a lot of them never get it. We are hoping to do something in conjunction with Josh's Eagle Project and raise some money to buy more supplies so that when we go over to pick Meili up, we will be able take them some of the things they desperately need.
We love this little girl more than ever! Seeing her pictures all week and seeing how she has grown has been an incredible experience for us. We feel like we already know her. We feel very humbled and grateful to see how the Lord's hand has brought us together with these ladies that are so close to Meili. We know this was under his direction and we are truly grateful. Our countless prayers over the last many months have been answered time and time again. We prayed that she would be healthy and happy and that she would know we love her. The Lord has taken care of all those dreams and hopes for us. We couldn't ask for more and we are so grateful for his love.
We also learned of a wonderful lady named Susan. She took all the money from her wedding and asked if she could donate it to a child that would benefit from it. They chose Meili. They call her YuanYuan. :) They felt that she was a perfect candidate to have her cleft palate fixed. Right before the surgery though Yuanyuan got sick as well as her caregiver that was going to go with her. The surgery was cancelled. The amazing thing is that there was a bigger plan. Just a few weeks later, a clinic in Shanghai called to say they could do 9 surgeries free of charge but the travel expenses would not be included. Susan was contacted again to see if she wanted to donate the money that was meant for Meili to be used to benefit all 9 children. She agreed and changed the life of not 1 but 9 beautiful children. These angels in Meili's life will forever be in our hearts. And we will always be so incredibly grateful for them and their unselfish service to our sweet girl.
Day after day this week we received pictures. Most of them bringing us to tears. It has been truly amazing to see our sweet angel all grown up. We suddenly feel like she's not so far away. They went to an international fair at a school last week and had a picnic with happy meals from McDonalds. It was so fun to see these adorable pictures and know they were taken just the day before. Here are a few from that day.
Sunday was Mother's Day and I wasn't expecting any emails from her caregivers. But as I woke up Sunday morning, I decided to check. Much to my surprise, a wonderful lady named Meilin was thinking of me on Mother's Day. As I opened these emails, we were again brought to tears as we saw through pictures, Meili looking at our family picture for the first time. It was a very sweet moment for us. They also sent an adorable picture of Meili holding out a red rose and the email that said "love and flowers from Meili." What a wonderful Mother's Day we had. What an amazing woman Meilin must be to think of me and really put forth the effort to make my Mother's Day so special. It will be a Mother's Day I will never forget.
Last week, we were able to put together a care package. It was pretty crazy gathering everything up. We asked what was needed and although Meili's specific home didn't need a whole lot there are other orphanages that need a lot. We gathered up cleft palate bottles, medicine droppers used to feed the cleft palate babies when bottles aren't available, bibs, mosquito medicine, dum dums for the kids, etc. We also were given permission to send a blanket, a teddy bear, PJs, sundresses, and a photo album to Meili. We were able to send matching sundresses for her and a little girl her age in the home. Can't wait to see the pictures. It really is so heartbreaking to know that there are thousands and thousands of children that need help over there and a lot of them never get it. We are hoping to do something in conjunction with Josh's Eagle Project and raise some money to buy more supplies so that when we go over to pick Meili up, we will be able take them some of the things they desperately need.
We love this little girl more than ever! Seeing her pictures all week and seeing how she has grown has been an incredible experience for us. We feel like we already know her. We feel very humbled and grateful to see how the Lord's hand has brought us together with these ladies that are so close to Meili. We know this was under his direction and we are truly grateful. Our countless prayers over the last many months have been answered time and time again. We prayed that she would be healthy and happy and that she would know we love her. The Lord has taken care of all those dreams and hopes for us. We couldn't ask for more and we are so grateful for his love.
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