i walked for her

saturday morning, i set my alarm for 6:30 am...which was earlier than it's been set in a long time.  i had the honor and privelage to, not only walk in the buddy walk...but photograph it for a team of 70 people who where all their to support a little girl named, scarlett.

scarlett changed my heart when she was only 24 hours old.  chad and i entered a quiet, dimly lit hospital room that housed a sleeping baby girl and her mother and father.

that is when, with a swaddled...sleeping baby in my arms, God began whispering and slowly opening my heart to the idea of being a mother to a baby girl with down syndrome.

the medical profession and the majority of the world may view a child being born with down syndrome as unfortunate and  feel sorry for their families for having to be dealt that hand...but i'm here to tell you that this is not the way that Jesus, their maker, feels about these children.  my heart sang...this is His child, who is wonderfully made!*  this is a day to celebrate the blessing of this life!  He has placed her in this world and in this family and He has plans and a purpose for her...plans to give her a future and a hope.**

i can't wait to tell this little girl, someday, that she is who God chose to bring me to the realization that we were to adopt a baby girl with down syndrome.

but until then...i will be content to take pictures of her, and the people who love and support her.

her little brother's feet walked for his sister

this day was emotional for me for several reasons.  it was amazing to see over 7,000 people come together to show support and build community.  it was incredible to see these children celebrated like they deserve to be celebrated every day.  it was heart warming to see the love among friends and family.  but most of all...i thought about a baby girl in an orphanage in ukraine...who may be ours.  i imagined her laying in her crib...waiting.  waiting to be loved.  waiting to be appreciated.  waiting to have a family. 

waiting to be celebrated.

i walked for her.

*  Psalms 139:13-16  For you formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

**  Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.