Now to Him who is able to do IMMEASURABLY MORE...: Abigail ~ "The father's JOY"

Doug said we were "done". He said it so many times I almost believed it myself! Done adopting that is... He had, in fact, said that before we adopted Rachel too, but he was so adamant this time that he almost banned me from ever looking at another orphan advocacy site again! I tried to reason with him... Banning me from even looking at the faces of the hopeless would mean that I could no longer be a voice for them either. I have found God's sweet plans for my life through the gift of adoption. If there were to be no more for my own home, I felt compelled to at least draw others to the children in desperate need of forever Mommy's and Daddy's. Doug finally relented and agreed that I could continue to look and advocate for those that wait. This I would do with great joy!

But what was I to do when my eyes landed on the face of this precious little girl who I was convinced was to be my own? What she needed more than anything else was a Daddy. And she and her foster Mama had been praying for just that! Sure- Abby needed a Mommy too... but her Foster Mama loved her well and the hole in her heart needed a Daddy to fill it! I happened to know of a most wonderful Daddy... and I prayed he would be the one this little girl longed for!

Of course, you know the rest of that story by now. God would make it clear to Doug that Abigail was to be his daughter and his heart was so tender toward her that he could hardly speak her name without tears. Suddenly the man that was convinced we were "done" was driven to pray and to work tirelessly to do whatever it took to get his daughter home!

On the other side of the world, news would arrive to the little girl that had waited so long... Abigail had a Daddy! As photos arrived of him on the computer, she would wrap her arms around it to hug her dream come true and the screen was smudged with kiss after kiss planted on her new daddy's face. Finally the two would meet via Skype. There are no words... just one picture to tell the story.

Sadly, Abigail's Daddy couldn't travel to China to bring her home, so our "Gotcha Day" included another introduction via computer screen.

She would have to wait almost 2 more weeks before finally meeting Daddy in person and being in his arms for good! This made their meeting on November 22 at the Jacksonville airport, that much more special! I'm certain words can not capture the moment, but a video camara did! Here then, is the beautiful moment when Abby's dreams finally came true...

"Hi Abby... I'm your Daddy!"

We made it home just in time to celebrate Thanksgiving! It would not be difficult to figure out what this Daddy is thankful for this year! Pretty obvious, huh?

It would be an understatement to say that Daddy is smitten with his newest little girl! S.M.I.T.T.I.N.!

Is it any accident that a fatherless girl was given the name Abigail~ "The father's joy"? No accident at all! God knew who her earthly Daddy would be and his JOY does indeed overflow!