Lyla

Many of you have already heard LYLA'S story. If you haven't, you might need some tissues before you read about her. I had a special connection to Lyla, as I had prayed so hard for her to find a family when I saw her listed on Reece's Rainbow.  I didn't know why but she stood out to me among many other children listed (if I only knew then what I know now!!!!)  I emailed my friend Christina in Switzerland (we became friends through this blog!). I knew Christina would have a special interest in this little muffin because Lyla was born with a missing hand, similar to Christina's daughter.  Christina became Lyla's prayer warrior across the miles and prayed her heart out.  She got her own family involved, even printing Lyla's picture and keeping it in a special place in their home so they would remember to pray for her each day. The day Lyla's picture was posted on "My Family Found Me" I was so very excited!!! Christina and I literally jumped up and down together across all those miles, rejoicing that "our" girl finally had a family!

Never did I imagine that "that" family lived only an hour away from us! Lyla's soon to be mama, Summer, and I became fast friend through many emails about this sweet girl! Our adoption stories were even featured together in THIS ARTICLE. A few months after we brought Zoya home, we had the privilege of meeting The Spitz Family. They had followed our adoption of Zoya and at that point, were in the midst of their own adoption to bring Lyla home from Eastern Europe.  While they were waiting and working through the adoption process, they came to meet us for a cookout. You can read about that visit HERE.  We hit it off right from the start! Summer got out of the car crying (if you know Summer this will not surprise you hehe). And as we hugged I had tears in my eyes thinking how blessed Summer and Dave were about to become when they met their daughter-to-be, Lyla. We celebrated with a special cake:

This special meeting was almost 2 years ago...look how much smaller our families were then :)

We said our goodbyes and wished them good luck on their travels to meet their precious girl! And then we heard the most awful news ever. Lyla was taken from the orphanage to the hospital, where the Spitz's were told she was not going to make it. Summer and Dave contacted a million people trying to see if they could help arrange life saving surgery that she needed on her heart. They met obstacle after obstacle and ultimately had to come to terms with the fact that Lyla was going to die in that hospital and meet Jesus much sooner than they had hoped. They would not get to hold her or love on her or become her parents. To say they were devastated doesn't even begin to cover it.

Through the pain, Dave and Summer pressed on and were led to another precious daughter in Eastern Europe. They adopted their sweet Belle girl who was most certainly always meant to be their daughter. At that point they still had a tiny piece of hope in their hearts that maybe, just maybe Lyla would recover. They promised her, and themselves, that if that somehow happened, they'd go back for her in the spring. Spring came and went with no word about Lyla. So they felt led to bring a sweet little boy named Gavin home. They assumed Lyla was already dancing with Jesus, but they were wrong. As they were in the middle of the adoption process for Gavin, hearts 100% committed to their sweet boy, they learned that Lyla had SURVIVED! And was eligible for adoption. What were they supposed to do? They were only approved to adopt one child, and they had already committed to this sweet boy and could not let him down. Their hearts broke all over again. Summer promised herself that she would personally find a family for Lyla since it could not be them. Can you even believe that the child they chose, Gavin, just happened to be living in the same orphanage in Eastern Europe as Lyla was??? Do you KNOW how many orphanages there are there???? This was not coincidence! Between the Spitz's first and second trips to adopt Gavin, a family committed to adopt Lyla!!! One the second trip to bring Gavin home, Summer got up enough courage to hold Lyla and love on her and tell her that she had a mama and daddy of her very own coming for her! You can read about that tear jerking meeting HERE.

Once the Spitz's were home with their newest addition, they discovered that the family who committed to adopt her (who loved her so very much) would be unable to proceed with their adoption. Could this really be happening? Their hearts shattered a third time. It seemed impossible that those broken pieces would ever be able to be picked up again. Summer posted on her blog pleading, begging, for Lyla's forever family to come forward. They were certainly not in a position to finance another adoption after having adopted two children in the past two years. Well guess what? God is bigger than all that because he said "mountain move" as he cast each mountain that stood between the Spitz's and Lyla into the sea!!! God is making a way for The Spitz Family to return to Eastern Europe and FINALLY bring their beloved Lyla HOME!!!!! God certainly must have big plans for this little girl because Satan has been working overtime for TWO YEARS keeping this girl from being held and loved on by her family. This story is about to come full circle. The Spitz family is hoping to travel very very soon and could use your prayers and support! One form of support you can give is by participating in THIS GIVEAWAY! Please, if you feel led, make a tax-deductible donation to this amazing little girl!!!

Please pray Lyla home with The Spitz Family! She is still very sick and will require heart surgery upon her arrival into the US. If this story doesn't show you how amazing and mighty our God is, you must be comatose!