6 Months with Emmie.....

Today marks half of a year with Emmie. It seems like just yesterday that we were dealing with the disappointment of being delayed to get Emmie, then flying to Beijing, then meeting a very sad girl .

I remember being in China longing for months to have already passed, in hopes that Emmie would have adjusted to her new family and that we wouldn’t be experiencing the same things in 6 months that we were currently experiencing in China! Now, 6 months later, Emmie has transitioned into our family more wonderfully than we could EVER have imagined during those turbulent first weeks.  

It may sound cliché, but she is hardly the same child that we met in China. Though we certainly saw glimpses of fear and grief for the first months, we now only see them from time to time. Emmie is such a funny, sweet, and affectionate girl. Sometimes I look at her and and just wonder what we ever did without her! She brings so much life to our family!

She has gone through so many changes in these last 6 months, as have the rest of our family members. She now is the “baby” and has two brothers, while Caleb and Noah are now both big brothers and have had to learn how sensitive and delicate (at times) a little sister can be.  For the most part the three of them have bonded and fit in together wonderfully, but there have been some very challenging times for all three as well. But through it all, when we look at them, we can’t help but feel that our family is complete, and has been totally woven together through God’s leading.

 

Since being home, Emmie has started preschool, probably one of the biggest challenges she has faced other than learning to trust her new family. She was very hesitant and resistant to the idea initially,  but thankfully, over the course of about 8 weeks, she slowly has transitioned into attending preschool 4 days a week, is making friends, and is learning so much.  It is a true praise to see her walk hand in hand with her brothers into school every morning.  She also loves her church family and friends and her Sunday School class. Again, this was a slow transition for Emmie, but she now tells me “bye”, gives me a kiss and off she goes!  Such a miracle!

Emmie’s English is also progressing quite well. She is quite a talker and is learning new words everyday. Her brothers have helped many people,  (including mom and dad) understand Emmie’s “Chenglish” as we call it. These days it is becoming much more like English that Chenglish.  Some of her favorite statements: “No more!”, “Okay, okay”, “I don’t know, maybe”, “It dark…goodnight?”, and my favorite, “I lub de too”  (I love you too).

As I am sure is the case for any other family of five, life with three kids is crazy! Most days are a whirlwind.  My house isn’t really clean that often, and laundry is a continuous process J But there are more laughs, tickles, chases, and hide n’ seek nights than ever before, and for that, we give God all the Praise.  We are learning to have a new sense of “normal” . Our desire is for our “normal” to be one that focuses on the joy we receive from being Children of God, one that cherishes each moment (despite if that moment may be changing two beds full of pee and doing laundry at midnight ;)  one that seeks to guide our children into the Truth of Jesus Christ, and one that above all else, is full of grace.

The last 6 months have been full of triumps,  as well as tough times- there is no way for me to cover them all in this post! The one thing I can say, today, without a doubt- I would do it all again. I look forward to each day. I am very blessed.  We give God all the Glory.

 

Through all the changes of learning to be a family of five, we have learned so much about what God desires for us as a family that seeks to follow Christ, especially how much grace Zack and I both need as parents! There are so many attributes of God that I am beyond thankful for, but the one that seems to be most prominent to me in this season life is God’s mercy He bestows, new (thankfully), with each morning.

 

Merry Christmas! Hopefully Emmie will get a chance to enjoy her first taste of sleigh riding and making snow angels this season….fingers crossed!

 

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness”

Lamentations 3:22-23