"Do you still love me?"

“Do you still love me?” Jenna asked me with tears in her eyes.

“Of course I do…I will always love you, no matter what” I answered her, with tears in my own eyes as I swooped her up into my arms to hold her close.

These five words have come out of our precious girl’s mouth a lot lately…and each time she asks me this question, my heart aches as I share words that I hope will reassure her heart and mind.

It’s hard to believe that two years ago we met He Tong in China…a scared little girl that rarely smiled and had never experienced the love of a family.

But love alone is worth the fight...and here we are two years later. 

 

 

Jenna knows she is loved and she adds so much joy to our family.  Our sweet girl talks non-stop and is full of spunk, laughter, and life!  Yet no matter how much love we pour into Jenna’s tender heart and soul, it breaks my heart that she sometimes questions our love. 
I suppose we all do this from time to time…we wonder if others will love of us if we make a mistake or if we don’t perform the way we “should” or if we don’t look the way we think we “should” or if we…

Yet for a child that comes from a hard place and has experienced so much loss and heartache in their first two years of life, no explanation of love I give can fill that void, that pain, that loss, that grief, that wound.

Only the love of Christ can do this.

 

I absolutely love being Jenna’s mom, and I have the blessed opportunity to share the love of Christ with her…to tell her with my words and my actions that she is loved no matter what...forever.

And then I must simply trust God to work deeply in her heart, mind, and soul to believe these truths.

Just like I must continue to believe that God loves me no matter what...forever.

Once again, the miracle of adoption keeps teaching me about the unconditional love of my Heavenly Father.