Anna Mei's Chinese New Year

This girl has a passion and a zest for life that I find hard to describe so she was thrilled when her teacher told this momma I could throw a Chinese New Year party for her preschool class.  We ate dumplings, drank tea, got red envelopes, had a parade, ate sheep cupcakes, and had a great time. 

 This sweet four year old of mine was all smiles.  It is amazing to me that she is so good with chopsticks.  The girl can put down serious amounts of dumplings too.

She was thrilled to be at a restaurant to eat even more dumplings that evening too.  She is too, too much this girl. 

If you gave so that she could be ours, THANK YOU with all my heart.  How I love this crazy, full of life girl. I can't believe she has been home almost two years already.  It has gone so very fast.

Unanswered Prayers

Dear Jillian
It is Chinese New Year.  You are dressed in your beautiful, red qi poa with your hair swept to the side adorned with a beautiful, creme flower.  You are stunning today.  After your Daddy left this morning with your other two sisters to take them to their school, I pulled you in and had a few moments of you to myself before taking you to kindergarten.  Daddy ran back in the door because he had forgotten something and saw me photographing you through tears.  He crawled right up next to you and had a few tears himself.  As I look at you today, I am (as always) overcome with love and grateful that I have you in my life.  Today as I was driving you to school, I remembered all those days, those ten months of waiting to bring you home, that I prayed for you.  I prayed that you would be healthy, safe, fed, loved, cared for, and stimulated.  For ten months every single day I prayed that for you.  None of those prayers were "answered".  I thought about this today.  All of those things that I petitioned the Lord for those ten months weren't at all a reality when you were placed in my arms.  It would seem that my prayers weren't answered and literally speaking they weren't.  Given your emotional and physical state, you didn't experience any of those things that I prayed you would all those ten months of waiting.  In His wisdom, God had a bigger plan for your life than I could have ever known to pray for.  I was thinking that while He didn't answer my prayers, He has done so much more than I asked him for.  I have experienced more JOY through your hardship than I could have ever imagined.  I have seen Jesus more clearly than I could have ever hoped.  I have grown in my faith and need for Him.  I have been given a deeper love for you than I could have ever prayed.  This purpose you have given to my life, to be your momma, is so much more beautiful than anything I could have ever dreamed!  This morning, I was praising God that those ten months of prayers weren't answered the way I had hoped.  You have opened my eyes to so much more because of who you are and what you have been through.  I was, once again, thinking that I am the most blessed woman in the entire world that God would entrust another special treasure to me.  This family that He has given me, this purpose to raise you up as a daughter, to love my husband, to bring Glory to Him is so much more special than any plan I could have ever prayed for my life.  It is beyond my comprehension that I should be so very blessed.  Remember dear baby that seemingly "unanswered prayers" are always God's plan and trust that His plan is bigger and more beautiful than you could ever imagine!

All My Love,
Momma
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.  Psalm 37:7

A Matching Grant

Truly, I am overcome with gratitude as I share with you that LifeSong for Orphans is, once again, facilitating a matching grant on our behalf for our Molly Kate's adoption.  This is the third time that LifeSong has played a part in our stories.  Each adoption, they have faithfully come alongside us and helped us to raise our funds!  They are so close to our heart and we are absolutely grateful for their existence!

If you would like to take advantage of this incredible opportunity and help support our adoption of Molly Kate, you can give a tax deductible donation HERE AT THIS LINK electronically.  You can also use the paypal button at the right to donate electronically.  There will be a fee taken from all electronic donations to cover the paypal charges. 

If you want to avoid the fee the best to donate is to mail a check.  Please write a check with our family name "MASTERSON" and account number "5006" in the memo. 
It can be mailed to..
LifeSong for Orphans
PO BOX 40
Gridley, IL 61744

We are blessed to have a local congregation at Community Bible Church in Mt. Vernon, very near us, backing this grant through LifeSong!  THANK YOU Community Bible and LifeSong!  We are about $14,000 away from being fully funded.  We know that God will use this matching grant in mighty ways through your giving.  We thank you, each of you, for your investment in our Molly Kate! 

She Wrote Her Name..and so much more

Nearly four years ago now, you came home to us so broken and so isolated by the circumstances of those first two institutionalized years of your life that we were told by many professionals you would never be able to function.  We were told  that you would never learn, never attach..the nevers could go on and on.  Sweet girl the list of what you accomplish just continues to grow every day! As  I watch it happen in the day to day, I am overcome with emotion that I just can't express.  I am so thankful for you..

This morning, I watched you "ask"  your daddy for breakfast in bed.  You signed "red eggs" (eggs with ketchup)  "here" as soon as he greeted you to get you up for school.  I saw your daddy snuggle next to you in your smallish twin bed and lovingly feed you right there because he spoils you shamelessly and I love that about him. 

At school this week, YOU WROTE YOUR NAME ALL BY YOURSELF!  You are even writing many of the letters of the alphabet with a model. 

You are working on reading eight sightwords, identifying your numbers to 40, naming your letters, and so much more. 

You are potty training, building sentences in your computer to tell us what is in your head, and using your natural voice to say some sounds that represent words to you.

You are playing spa with your sister and I signing blue to tell us you would like blue nail polish. 

You are sassy when I put your sister in time out sticking your little fingers up to mock my counting 1, 2, 3.

You sign "wait" "i love you" when you want us to leave your room so you can do something ornery like climb up the walls in your bedroom.

You are a tornado when it comes to sensory experiences you enjoy.  You love your bath and like to splash your water everywhere.  You love to play in sand, flour, beans, gravel, and the snow.  You keep us on our toes and we embrace that about you. 

Dear baby girl, you love us!  This morning you signed sister when Anna was playing in your room on the sit n spin.  You sign daddy when you want daddy to put you to bed and momma when you need momma to feed you or sit with you at the game.  You are our miracle my baby girl and walking alongside you in this life is just so much more than this momma deserves.  You are a treasure and your family is so very proud of you!  I remember writing this post when you took your first steps after having been home only a few weeks.  I remember thinking that all you needed most was a family to love and believe in you.  Sweet treasure you have defied the odds and blossomed in this family.  We are so very thrilled about that and that we were the family chosen to be yours.