Three Little Ladies

There are three little ladies I find myself thinking about, praying for, and adoring right now.

Three stunning ladies...

 Lily

Lily--my little girl is growing up!  Yesterday was her 6th birthday.  She's not so much this sweet little baby face anymore is she???  As adorable of a baby Lily was, I have to say I have LOVED watching her grow into this beautiful young girl.  She is stunning.  I am blessed to have a little "Mini Me" in this world.  We not only look a heck of a lot alike but we also have a lot of the same personality.  There is spunk in her, perfectionism, and a deep desire to be noticed and appreciated.  There is drama, emotion, tenderness, and a huge heart to encourage others.  I pray I can now be an example to her of how to embrace and love the person God has made her to be--flaws and all.  She is worth the love.  She is pure.  She is beautiful.  She is not only our daughter, but a daughter of the High King and He loves her with a passion I will never even come close to...a concept I find hard to comprehend since I know how deeply I love her.   Happy and blessed 6th birthday to you, Lily girl.  You are a joy to our family.

Maddie

Madison Joy Pflug.  My sweet niece in the fight of her life this week and next and in the coming months ahead.  Today is her 4th day into her full body, 2x a day radiation treatments which are all getting her body ready for her bone marrow transplant scheduled for this next Tuesday.  She has endured some really yucky days of nausea so far and we are praying for her medicines to kick in here and get her headed in a more positive direction.  Isolation began today.  6-9 weeks of isolation.  Isolation from her little sister, Sydney, as well as the majority of people.  I can't even get my brain to wrap around that feeling.  Dan put this photo out on facebook today and I just wept.  There is something incredibly beautiful and profoundly sad captured in this photo--these girls are meant to live life side-by-side, yet for the next few months that isn't going to be possible.  God, would you grant them each tremendous patience, internet capabilities to make video chats a constant ability, and the assurance that their love and relationship as sisters who have endured separation will be that much stronger and blessed in the future.

Maddie, you are a rock-solid, determined, bald and bold witness of God's unending love.  Your fight against cancer has been amazing to watch.  Your maturity has been an example for all of us to follow. Your determination to continue living life is exactly what I pray we all have when faced with challenges and struggles and battles of our own.  You know Who is on your side and you rest in that fact.  You don't challenge Him, you don't question Him, you don't hold anger against Him.  You simply trust Him to love you, take care of you, draw others towards Him through your witness, and WIN this battle against cancer with you.  I love you, Maddie, and I love the story you are writing with your life.  God has BIG plans for you and I'm excited to watch it all unfold.  I am so proud to be called your aunt, and I'm SO proud to be a part of "Team Maddie"!

Nora

Can I be honest with you?  My heart is aching to hold this little one again soon.  She just turned 9 months old this week and I haven't gotten to see her face to face in 7 of those months.  It's agonizing as a mother. My spirit is aching that all of my children are not yet under one roof.  My sister and I are in such different roads of life right now with her facing Maddie's cancer treatment and I facing our adoption, but there are a few things I feel we can relate to each other about...a great need for patience in ever-changing circumstances, praying for our daughters to have all the abundant blessings of the LIFE God desires them to have, and a deep desire to not have our children scattered in separate living spaces, but to have them all in our arms, in our homes...together.  That is where I find my aching heart this week.  A deep desire to have Nora physically in my arms.

She is growing up before my eyes on a computer screen and I hate that.  I want her to be growing up before my eyes...literally.  Getting pictures of her little bitty knee rolls is wonderful, but being able to pinch them myself would be amazing! : )  I know it's impossible for her to be in my actual home right now, but in my arms is not something completely impossible.  I would love to jump on a plane and head for Haiti to make this happen, but financially, we are trying to be patient and wait for the next required trip.  Each trip gets costly and involves a lot of schedule craziness so it's hard to just throw another unplanned one in the mix.  Our next required trip could literally be months and months away or it could be by the end of summer.  Who knows...well, only the Lord does...and as much as I would rather be the one to know that information, I guess I'm also glad that God is the One who does.  I'm praying so hard for God to hear my aching heart and bring that required trip in His miraculously fast time.  Would you join me in that prayer?  Will you go before the throne with us and continue to plead that God's Good Will and Desire to see Nora with her forever family be given the freedom to be completed?  I know all too well there is a battle raging all around us that only wants to see us defeated, killed, destroyed, and separated from God.  That enemy will not win in my life.  I am determined to protect, defend, and smooth out the way for God's Will to be done.  Especially for our adoption and for Maddie's life right now.

Three little ladies.  Three creations of God I am blessed to be forever tied to.  Three little ladies who have changed my life and have the ability to change so many more--even yours.  They are stunning...don't you agree?