A Special Blessing!

I apologize for those of you who follow both Daniel's and my blogs, but this story was too encouraging to leave off of my blog as well! The woman who we have talked to at the children's home sent us a neat blessing on Wednesday of last week. Daniel received this note in his inbox:

"I wanted to get this off to you quick as I thought you might appreciate it. This morning I went up and found Ellie the first thing. She was crawling around this morning. I held her for awhile and prayed over her. For protection and health as she is here and for the blessing of being adopted into your family. Then I held her as I read to a couple of the older kids. The book was one of the those feeling books that has different textures on different pages and she was super interested in touching each of the pages. When I picked her up and held her in the air she would get a big smile on her face. She is precious indeed! Just thought you might want to know! See the pic of her and me this morning actually taken by Onoria...one of the older girls here at Nido.
Blessings!"

I am so thankful for this dear gal, who, I am told, just found the children's home online and made arrangements to go and serve on her own. What a great gift to know what Ellie had done and looked like that very day! She had someone willing to seek her out and pray over her! We also got a little glimpse of what she likes to do and I was reminded to pack some books!

As to the story I eluded to in the previous post, here was the email and picture we first received:

"What a small world! I have met Ellie. But now its good to put a face with a name. I know the older kids' names because they can tell me but I don't want to bug the mamacitas by asking them who is who all the time. I will make a special effort to spend some time with her. A group from North Carolina has been here this past week and today they cleaned the whole orphanage from top to bottom. So all the babies were moved to another facility...quite an undertaking. I've attached a picture of their temporary housing! :) They are back now as I can hear them right above me. It's awesome you guys are going to parents to one of these "preciosos" I've only been here since Monday night and have had quite an experience. Monday was tough...but I've gotten control over my emotions! :) I'm glad to spend some time here for sure. I'll try to send you a new pic of Ellie soon as well. Blessings! And if there is anything you want to know before your trip...let me know!"

A little chaos is an okay trade off for top-to-bottom cleanliness! I like seeing the team members fussing over the kids, too!

The reunion dinner was great fun! I loved meeting other families with kids from the children's home. Biological siblings that live across the country from each other were reunited and it was neat to see all the kids were running around and playing together! I met another mom very close to us in the process. We chatted with our case worker and others from the agency and got their opinion of what the HAGUE would bring in the coming year, news of the children's home, and needs they have. The event was highlighted on our local news. The family mentioned is the one that was our original contact with the agency and the children's home! Have you picked up on the fact that this ministry excites me?!?!!!!! Less than three more weeks...I should get busy and end this long post! Thanks for your prayers!

Added comment: Most all of the 75 children at the home are placed and waiting to go home to their families, even among the older children, I believe. Unfortunately, some cases take much longer to complete. All of these children need your prayers to be united with their families soon!