Yesterday a friend and I had a conversation on the phone about adoption. After we hung up, I remembered a conversation I had with a stranger in Chick-fil-A about two years ago. Lauren and I were eating lunch. A mom and her three kids were sitting next to us. The mom asked if I had other children and I told her that we were in the process of adopting a baby girl from Guatemala. Her face lit up and she said, “Your daughter is so lucky. This will forever change her view of people. What a gift you are giving her.”

Those of you who have adopted will agree that this is the type of reaction you hope for but not the one you always get. I am pleasantly surprised when people are positive about adoption, particularly international adoption.

I had hoped that our adoption story would inspire others to adopt. Perhaps it will. Dave reminded me last night that we haven’t reached the end of the story.

I hope and pray that because of Carmen, Lauren is seeing the joy of adoption and the value of every life. I can’t think of a better gift.

Lauren and Carmen, July 2008, by Rashmi Pappu (www.rashmipappu.com)

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Every year I buy or make one Christmas ornament for each of my girls. My plan is that when Lauren grows up and has a home of her own, she can take her box of Christmas ornaments (Dave’s parents did this and his ornaments are very special to him and he is NOT normally sentimental!). Carmen’s ornaments will hang on our tree forever as a reminder of our Guatemalan princess.

This year, I ordered the following for Carmen’s Christmas ornament:

The blue in the middle of the heart is the shape of Guatemala!

Daphne, mom to two beautiful girls born in Guatemala, is selling these for $12.50 each, which includes shipping. You can pay directly with paypal on her site, www.guatemalanharvest.com

Daphne is donating 100% of the proceeds towards building a playground at New Dawning Christian School in San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala. To learn more about the New Dawning Christian School, visit this website: www.childrenoflakeatitlan.com/Home.asp.

I know some families with children from Guatemala read our blog so I wanted to tell you about this ornament! And thanks to Martina for sending me the link!

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Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman will be on Larry King Live tomorrow night (Thursday) at 9 pm EST. For those of you who might not know, the Chapmans adopted three girls. Maria, the youngest of the three, was tragically killed in a car accident in May. You can read more about it here.

From what I’ve read, the Chapmans will be Larry King’s guests for the entire one hour show. Don’t miss it!!

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Please pray for one of our heroes and his family. Today, Steven Curtis Chapman’s youngest daughter, Maria, was killed. The Chapmans adopted Maria from China. The Chapman’s teenage son was driving down their driveway and accidentally hit Maria. She was just 5 years old. Click here to read the full article.

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Here is our first video, which is finally done.

Isaiah 41:10

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Lauren said something cute the other day. We were eating lunch and all of a sudden she asked, “Are you my birth mom?” In Lauren’s world, adoption is the norm. She has been asking for a brother named Carlos ever since we brought Carmen home!

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Today is a VERY special day! One year ago, we brought Carmen home from Guatemala. A year ago we had such hopes and dreams for our little girl. Now we hope that Carmen will feel loved and that we can keep her comfortable. And we hope and pray that Carmen will make a difference in this world and that we can share her with many others.

My mom gave us a CD with a song called “Little Hands, Little Feet”. One line says, “You were created for eternity.” Based on my understanding of the Bible, I believe that Carmen will spend eternity in Heaven. There is one particular passage, 2 Samuel 12:19-23, in which King David grieves after losing his son. He says that the child will not return to him but that he will go to the child. Many scholars believe that this verse points to babies/young children going to Heaven since they never have the ability to make a decision to follow Jesus. This makes sense to me. So I think about God choosing Carmen to have eternal life- how special she must be to Him!

A big thank you to John and Jessie for the TV for Carmen’s room for the nurses and to Bella Tunno for the bibs (www.bellatunno.com). To my Aunt Sally for making dresses for Carmen that snap all the way down the front. And to Rachinee and Tatiana for bringing Lauren home from school. And to Monica for playing card games with Lauren today!

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