Make a Wish...

It's Rachel's turn to "make a wish" through the Make A Wish Foundation.  We had thought of putting it off until after open heart surgery #2, but recently decided to go ahead.  One small problem though...  How do you explain to a 7 year old girl, home from China for only 4 months, what it means to make a wish or get her to verbalize what her's might be?  She's so happy and rarely asks for anything much more significant than "noodles" or a pack of gum.  The smallest of things thrill her, including the single quarter she finds dropped into the jar next to her bed as a reward for making it before leaving for school in the morning.  


We sat around the dinner table last night and started by explaining what it means to "wish" for something, like..."I WISH I had some candy", or "I WISH that I could be a real princess" or maybe "I WISH that I could meet Cinderella".  She seemed uninterested!  "No... Nothing!", she said again and again.  I was certain she did not understand this concept we were so eloquently describing for her!  Kate and Ellie looked at her with disbelief and started to offer some suggestions of their own!  Don't you get it, Rachel? You can wish for anything!  Dream big!   Finally her eyes lit up as if, suddenly, the greatest wish of all had occurred to her...  "Oh," she said, "like... I wish for a Mommy and Daddy!"  I choked back the tears and asked her if this had been her wish while she waited in China...  "Yes"  She shook her head and smiled as if to say... "What more could I want?  My greatest wish has already come true!"  

I am humbled!  If given the opportunity to make a wish for myself, I'd have no problem getting started on a list of wishes that I've come to believe would somehow bring happiness, while completely taking for granted the blessings surrounding me!  But to this precious orphaned girl, whose known nothing more than hopelessness for 7 years,  everything else pales in comparison to having a Mommy and Daddy of her own, in a place called "HOME"!  My heart aches for the millions of orphans around the world tonight, wishing for home.  If only there were a "Make A Wish" for every single one of them!  May you prick the hearts of more and more of your people, Lord, that they would become a dream come true for the millions who wait...

Speaking of "wishing"... I'm wishing for many of you that would join us in praying for Rachel in the coming weeks.  We are headed to Gainesville for another heart catheter to determine if Rachel's heart is strong enough for surgery #2 (the Fontan) or if she will need to be listed for a transplant instead.  Hopes were high following her first surgery in October that her heart would remain strong and a Fontan could be performed this year, delaying a transplant until adulthood.  Unfortunately, Rachel's single ventricle is weakening and there is concern that she may no longer be a candidate for the Fontan.  The uncertainty has been the most difficult part of it all, and we are ready to finally know what God might have planned for the next few months.  If Rachel's heart is found to be strong enough and her pressures low enough, then surgery will be planned in the immediate future.  We are also praying that Rachel's cardiac surgeon will agree to operate here in Jacksonville, instead of in Gainesville, 2 hours away...  It would be such a blessing to be near family and friends during that time, and even be able to give this Mommy some opportunities to go home a few times a week to spend time with my other two angels.  Difficult days lie ahead... We are committed to taking each day... one step at a time... trusting in the One who holds us all!  We're leaning hard on His complete sufficiency these days!  Thanks for standing in the gap on our behalf!

I think we could be on to something here!... I'm just not sure "what"!