FIVE YEARS!

Milestones that end in “0” or “5” seem to be a pretty big deal and cause for celebration in our culture.

Celebrating the 5 year cancer-free mark.

Celebrating 5, 10, 15, 20, 25...year high school reunions.

Celebrating 5, 10, 15, 20, 25...year wedding anniversaries.

Today our family reached a big milestone that ends in a “5.” 

It was 5 years ago today that we met our daughter in China.

 

He Tong was a scared little girl as she was put in my arms on November 11, 2013.  She didn’t know who I was nor could she fathom that in a matter of days, she would be whisked away from all that she’d ever known in her 2 ½ years of life and travel thousands of miles on a plane to a land full of new sights, sounds, and smells...a new land that would become her new home.  And she’d also have a new name…no longer “He Tong” but rather “Jenna Jean Preston.”

Not only would she have a new home and a new name, but for the first time in her young life she’d have a family.

A family who wanted her, chose her, prayed for her, and loved her.

And now, 5 years later, this little girl who was stripped of all that she knew is healthy, smart, strong, full of joy and deeply loved.

Does this negate the fact of what was lost?  Absolutely not! 

Jenna’s life in China…what little we know…makes my heart cry.  How badly I wish I had answers to all of the questions I have and Jenna has/will have.  How badly I wish I could take away all the grief and loss that comes with adoption.

But this in and of itself is part of the miracle of adoption…how grief and loss can coexist with joy and love to create a beautiful masterpiece.

We have much to celebrate!

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory...throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen." ~Ephesians 3:20