Letter to Madeline

Dear Maddie ~

One week ago today I saw your sweet face for the very first time. The first moment that your photo opened on my monitor, a lightbulb turned on in my head and everything became clear, crystal clear. In that one tiny spec of time, I knew that God answered every prayer that your daddy and I have ever prayed for you - and many, many more that we didn't even know to ask for.

Your sweet face was the face I had been trying to picture for four years but couldn't quite see. However, the moment I saw you I felt as if I had known your face all my life. In less than an instant I recognized you, my daughter - there was no question, no doubt - we belong together, we are family. You are my daughter, born in my heart. You are the one that your daddy and I have loved so fiercely since long before you were born, the one that my arms ache for. In that instant I knew why we had to wait for four years... because you are part of God's perfect plan. In that instant, I fully understood the meaning of "God's perfect timing."

Sweet Baby Maddie, my heart aches for the great losses you have already suffered in your short life. Your daddy and I recognize that the events of the next two months will be another source of immense grief for you - as you are taken away from your familiar surroundings, from the foster family you have grown to love so much, from familiar sounds and smells. We will be there to comfort you and help you get through it. We promise to be patient and to give you the time you need to grieve those losses. We also recognize that when you are placed in our arms for the first time, we have had four years to get used to the idea of the three of us as a family. But, you will not have had the luxury of that time. Again, we will give you the time you need.

Your daddy and I promise to love and nurture you; to teach you about God's love, about faith, and the importance of prayer; and to protect you. We promise to love you enough to let you make mistakes sometimes, and we will teach you about making good choices. We promise to raise you to be proud of who you are, proud of your Chinese heritage. We promise to take time to celebrate life's golden nuggets as they are presented to us and we promise to address difficult issues.

As you are starting your day, dear Maddie, your daddy and I pray that you can feel our love from half a world away.

All our love,

Mommy (& Daddy)