Monday, June 9, 2014

A Spirit That Never Says Quit

How I wish this little one's birth parents could have been at her elementary school today. I feel quite sure that they would have teared up, just as I did, to see her presented with the "Pride of Pearson Award", given to just one child in each class who exemplifies hard work, scholastic excellence, and kindness to all. 

I couldn't help but think back years ago, to our second day together in China. She was attempting to pull herself up on a chair, but her hand slipped and she hit her head. Hit it hard. Hard enough that any baby would cry, but she didn't. Not even a whimper. She sat down, put her thumb in her mouth, and slowly rocked herself back and forth. We'd learned about institutional behavior before we started this journey, but to see it firsthand, to see it in the child we'd just promised to love and nurture forever and always, it scared us and filled us with doubt. 

Could this girl ever be O.K.?  Could she learn to trust?  Could she overcome?  Could those sad, vacant eyes ever look at the world as a place of love and kindness?  Time and again, to every challenge in her life, this diminutive fighter has answered with a resounding YES! What a blessing that we get to be part of this tag-team effort with her birth parents. If I could talk to them right now, I'd show them these pictures and say, "That's YOUR girl, and MY girl, OUR beautiful, talented daughter! Can you believe it? Eight years ago, looking into those eyes, I could hardly have believed it either. But she's taught me something. When Heavenly Father combines forces with a spirit that never says quit........miracles happen."





1 comment:

Laura said...

I opened my old computer and found Scravings in my folder. It's been a while but I am happy to be back and read this. It reminded me so much of my adoption journeys - when my daughter was 5 1/2 months and my son (from Yunnan) at 2 1/2. I'd add one correction - I am sure the love of your big and beautiful family had a lot to do with enabling your daughter's spirit to shine. It's always a pleasure to catch up here - Laura