We had our fifth and final adoption of the year! Our chubby cheeked 7 month old was placed happily into the excited arms of her mommy last week. Our little "drama queen" must have been responding to the prayers coming at her from all around the world. Even though we had to wait for almost an hour to meet her family she was calm and quietly sucking her dummy when she met her mommy. She was a little bit sleepy which led to precious cuddles (rather than grumpy yelling) much to the delight (and relief) of all who were present! We are so thankful that 5 of our littles will be spending this Christmas with their forever families!
Once upon a time there was this little baby girl who was born premature and had been abandoned in the hospital. I fetched her at 3 weeks old and then around 3 months old she struggled with a viral pneumonia that ended up almost taking her life (see the pic above). She spent over a week in the NICU fighting for her life. Her lung collapsed and the doctors basically told me that there was nothing more they could do for her. Since she was in the NICU I could only visit her for a few hours each day and she was so ill that I began to pray that if the Lord was going to take her home that I would at least be there so she wouldn't have to die alone. One day while I was visiting she started to have trouble, so much so that they had to bring in the crash cart and call for the doctors but she pulled through! Then the next day she took a miraculous turn for the good and started to get better. Eventually she was released with a clean bill of health! When I visited I spent my time singing, reading scripture and praying over her little body. I feel like God had given me Psalm 27 for this little one and I had always wanted to write a letter to be added to her file so that she would know of the miracle that God preformed in her and how her life had bolstered my faith in God's ability to do more than we could ask or imagine in the lives of His kids. Sadly, life got busy, I left Door of Hope and even though I thought of baby K often I never took the time to write a letter. Fast forward to 3 weeks ago. When I was picking up our newest baby I ran into two folks from Door of Hope who were picking up two littles for themselves who casually mentioned that baby K had been adopted the day before! I was super excited to hear that she had found a forever family to call her own and that night I decide to write the letter I'd meant to write so long ago. I sent it though to the adoption agency and they passed it on to the family! A few days later I received a call that if I had time the family wanted to meet me so they "could show me how good" baby K had grown to be! Last week I had the privilege of meeting up with them in Pretoria and share our story in person. It was such a blessing and a divine moment set up by the Father. I truly believe that God wanted this baby girl and her family to know of the miracles He has already performed in and through her life! I believe He wanted her to return to her home in Europe with Psalm 27 tucked in past so that she can draw strength from its promise in her future. I was able to bring her a "Bible Book" and spend time with this new family unit, reveling in her toddler self and the bond that already exists between mommy, daddy and sweet baby girl!
We've been enjoying the rainy season of summer here in Lanseria. We've been getting this amazing thunder and lightening storms complete with torrential rain, howling wind and pelting hail! Just the other night I came home in the midst of one of these crazy storms only to find a cat family had sought refuge in my bed! I spooked the mom, who ran off leaving her littles behind! I was tempted for maybe 2 minutes to keep them inside but then the logical part of my brain took over my compassionate heart and I eventually was able to tuck them safely into Thabisa's uninhabited kennel in a dry area of the porch. In the morning mommy had already rescued them from the kennel and they've been spotted safe and sound on the property near the preschool since. If I don't remember shut my sliding glass door between the rain and Thabisa I get a whole myriad of visitors once the rain starts... rain spiders, park-town prawns, thousands of flying insects, 1 bat, 1 baby bird and now a family of cats. I'll take a herd of cats over 1 park-town prawn any day! if you don't know what they look like and want don't want to sleep for a week you can check them out here: http://www.rentokil.co.za/blog/parktown-prawn/ They are my least favorite bug to date! Ick!
I've been having a good time getting to know our littlest and newest baby girl. As you can see from the pictures above she does manage to find herself in my office helping me out with day-to-day tasks! She is doing really well... gaining weight, smiling and find her voice! We are so happy to have this little mite in our family and are praising God for her growth and continued health.
We've already entered our festive Christmas celebration season here but some of us Americans were able to fit in a modified Thanksgiving last Friday night. I was introduced to a mid-west delicacy called "pickle rolls"... I had to grab a picture of this one with a face when I was making them. For some reason it made me laugh super hard! Sleep deprivation, anyone?! I've already been to two Christmas Carol services... one at City Life Church (which was awesome) and one with our preschoolers onsite. It was bittersweet to see my big girl's classmates dancing and singing without her by their side. I trust she'll put her carol memorizing talents to good use with her forever family! I've included a quick (poorly shot) video of her classmates above singing the last verse of "the reindeer pokey".
Speaking of Christmas, yesterday I officially booked my ticket to CA so I can spend this Christmas with my family! I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to afford a ticket home but God provided through the kindness and generosity of a sweet friend. If you are living in CA (or want to fly me to whatever exotic place you call home) I would love see you and share with you about what God has been doing in this itty-bitty part of this side of the world! Just email me at nicolegillette@gmail.com and we can try and set up a time to see each other. I will also be sending out an update letter of sort, if you are not currently on my mail list (i.e. you haven't received anything in the mail from me in the last 3 years) and would like me to, email me as well.
As you enter this Christmas season, I pray that your heart will be attentive to the special and unique aspects of this season that Christ wants to share with you this year. I pray that you will have moments to bask in the holy beauty of the Incarnate Christ and all the glorious assurances His birth poured out upon humanity. Thank you for your continued prayers, support and interest in what God is doing in and through my life here in South Africa.
Much love from Nicole and the babies at El Roi
God bless you and all the others at El Roi taking care of the precious little ones there!
ReplyDeleteOh I want to be on your mailing list! and I would love to see you, but I'll be in So Cal. Actually, I'll be in the Bay Dec 37-31!
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