My wish on Mother's Day

On this Mother's Day, my heart is full.  In part because of this wonderful little boy who calls me Mommy and the life we are able to enjoy as a family.  As we enjoyed our Saturday yesterday, I felt we were truly blessed.  And I am very much indeed, thankful for my blessings.

I have another reason to be grateful this day.  Her name is An Jing.  She was born March 28, 2012 in China and in a few months, if all goes well, we will be bringing her home to join our little family.

She was born with a cleft lip and palate.  Her cleft lip has been repaired, although you can see she will need plastic surgery on her little nose.  We will have her cleft palate worked on when we bring her home.

We received our initial pre-approval this week which means we can start telling people, share her darling pictures and we can also send her a small care package.  I can't believe how much we love her already.

An Jing was abandoned on a dirt road when she was a few days old.  Now your initial reaction might be something like "how could a mother abandon her child? and on a dirt road?"  May I tell you how I feel about it?

I believe that the dirt road indicates that An Jing's family was not wealthy or even middle-class.  I think that the dirt road indicates they lived in the country and were poor.  Perhaps very, very poor.  And when this poor mother in China gave birth to a child to had a cleft lip and cleft palate, she knew she would never be able to provide the medical needs this child needed.  It's likely that medical resources weren't even available to her.

And so this mother bundled up her child with all the love and care in the world.  She left her on a well-traveled road where the authorities were sure to find her.  And I believe this mother hoped and prayed that someone would care for her daughter and love her as if she were her own flesh and blood.

And so on this Mother's Day, I want to tell that mother on the other side of the world that we will.  We will love her daughter and care for her.  She will have food in her tummy, a warm bed to sleep in, medical care and attention and most of all, we will love her as she is, our very own.