6 Months Home-Emotional Healing

I can hardly believe that Mila has been home for 6 months. It was 7 months ago that we met her...hanging on to life by a thread. Lips barely visible from dehydration, transparent pale skin, labored rapid breathing, misshapen head, her skeleton-like nose, eyes sunken in, and all 7.5 pounds of her fighting with each breath to survive.

I remember how her body was as stiff as a board because she had no idea how to be held. This is common for crib babies, but to actually hold a child, your own child, who has been left alone so long that this is the result, well that's enough to bring you to your knees. Watching this video, the only part of my girl that looks semi-familiar is her eyes...those deep, soulful eyes that just kept shouting "I'm in here, please help me, please love me, I'm scared to death but something about you is different, have you come to make it all better? Can it be true?" Yes, baby girl, it was true....we came for you because God sent us and told us you were a very special gift. And he couldn't have been more right. You have been such a gift to your Daddy and I. We've been through so very much in the last 6 months and I'm so proud of you for being so brave!

This month has been a month of emotional healing for us and for Mila. Mila is finally trusting us fully. I know this to be true because this past month she has transformed into a child who can't get enough hugs, who reaches her arms up to be held, who opens her mouth for kisses, who looks for us when someone else is holding her, and who is finally laughing a lot, so very happy and comfortable. I think we've finally gotten to the point that Mila knows she is 100% safe and loved and will always have her needs met. Tomorrow marks the day that Mila has officially known us longer than she hasn't. A milestone that allows us to put her past in the rear-view mirror and keep on driving, breathing in the breath-taking scenery as we travel further on this beautiful journey. We are so thankful Mila is a part of our story. Without a doubt, even when we couldn't see it through our tear-stained eyes, God has always known that Mila would be our daughter.  She wasn't the back-up-plan when we lost Laina, she was always the original plan...the one we couldn't see, but the one we followed because we believed.

Praising God for this blessing, tonight, and always!