passkids.com

Yesterday, February 12, 2006, was the anniversary of the date that my daughter was found outside the gate of the orphanage where she spent the first 2 1/2 years of her little life. A passerby saw her and reported her to the police who took her in to the Haikou Social Welfare Institute. So, while we don’t know for sure what the day of her birth is, we know now that she is 3. The first record of her life was on February 12, 2003.

In addition, on Anne Louise’s 10th birthday-Feb 22, 2006- we will also be celebrating 6 months of having Ella Grace in our family. Time flies! She is having real trouble sleeping, but she has made huge strides in her recovery this week. We will visit Cleft Clinic this Thursday for her follow-up.

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do. After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.”

The old woman smiled, “Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.”

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it’s the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You’ve just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

Frank and Robin’s Interview with Faith Radio—AWAA

We were honored to be asked this past week to represent AWAA, our adoption agency, in Alabama by hosting seminars around the state and leading adoptive families in regular bible studies. If you are interested in having an adoption seminar at your church, keep us in mind and we’ll set it up as soon as we are trained. Also, I know from having met so many of you, that there are many adoptive families in the area who love Jesus. Send us a message if you would be interested in meeting together for a group study, which will be provided by AWAA and is sure to be a great support for us all, You can find out more about AWAA by visiting their site, linked to the right.

Please take a moment to visit the link to the right for Half the Sky. They are a charitable organization who is responsible for all the nicely painted colors at Ella Grace’s orphanage and wonderful toys. They are also the reason we got a journal of her activities and many photos of her before we got her. We have just discovered that she is the little girl pictured holding the horse at the end of the play table in the picture on their web-site! It’s a small world after all…