My heart is full
It would seem that this beautiful red thread
is pulling our hearts to China.
From early on in our marriage, Mark and I have felt drawn to China. We had hopes of traveling there to bring a daughter home while we were living in Oregon, but with Mark in grad school, the timing was just not right.
A few years later, after moving to Hawaii, our Indonesian-Chinese daughter came to us, followed 2 years later by Kalea Kaura, putting all thoughts of China out of my mind.
When Naomi was born we had plans to name her Mayzi after my grandma Maza and call her Mei (pronounced "May") for short. However, when we were with her in the nursery just after her birth, Mark looked at me and said, "You know what her name is, don't you." "Yes," I said, reluctant to let go of the name. It was Naomi. We knew.
Though, somewhere in my heart I've always felt that a little Mayzi would one day come.
I "stumbled upon" the link to this video on facebook and wouldn't have given it a second thought... but then her name called to me... and then her eyes and little nose and hands... and something happened to my heart...
Our red thread journey leads here... View and fall in love with her!
Living in an orphanage in China is a little 2 year old girl named Mayzee. She was born just days before my Grandma Maza's passing. Mei Mei ("little sister" in Chinese) is 10 months younger than Kalea and has the same strong will and little nose as both of the girls. (I think we're in for quite a ride!) She has been waiting for a family, and from the moment I stumbled upon her photo, I knew in my heart. Maybe I should clarify. My heart beat so intensely that the next day I went in for an EKG! That first night I did not sleep. At all. Suddenly I felt myself being drawn, physically, spiritually, emotionally... to China. To her.
Perhaps the clarity with which the Lord let us know this is right is proportionate to the mountain we must climb to get her home. Adoption is not for the faint of heart - I know that, but what I'm realizing is that international adoption is so far beyond what I imagined! I feel very grateful for the powerful and yet very peaceful answers to prayer we've received to guide us forward!
Mayzee (we can't share her beautiful Chinese name with you online until her adoption is finalized) has a history of seizures and needs to come home as soon as possible to get the care she needs. We would be grateful for your prayers on her behalf. Our daughters' pediatrician is also a pediatric neurologist at the Children's hospital in Honolulu. Go figure. It's amazing how the Lord often sets things in place years before we realize what is happening. I still have no idea how we will pull this together financially, but everything else is falling into place beautifully!
We were selected by the agency out of three families all hoping to adopt Mayzee and our file was pre-approved and "locked to Mayzee" by the CCCWA (China Centre for Children's Welfare and Adoption) this week! We have a long road still ahead of us, but hope to have her home with us in 8-11 months.
Naomi and Kalea are delighted to have a little sister and talk about her constantly! Kalea pulls her photo down from the bookshelf anytime someone comes to the door to show them little Mayzee and tell them all about our red thread story and her soon to be little mei mei. I can't wait for them to be together.
My heart is full on this Thanksgiving day.
