April 21st!

Each of us has those days.

You know, those days that jump off the calendar at you and scream, "Remember! Don't forget what happened on this day!"

April 21st will forever be one of those days for us.

Why?

One year ago today, I was awakened very early by the ringing phone. When I answered it and found that it was Kevin (who would never wake me that early unless it was an emergency), I immediately said, "What's wrong?"

His reply? "You need to go look at the email."

Me: "Has someone died?" (As a side note, as soon as I said that I knew that wasn't it...he'd never break that kind of news to me that way!)

Kevin: "Just check the email and call me back."

So, I go downstairs and check the email. And there in my inbox was an email marked urgent with the subject line: WAITING CHILD MATCH-LI JI HAN

Yes, in all caps!

At that point my heart was racing as I sat in a mixture of sleepy fog confusion and excitement.

The email was forever long and I remember struggling to process anything except her picture and the big, bolded type that read:

Li Ji Han, female, born 10-7-2009, with congenital missing left lower leg, hemangioma on left abdomen, from Shantou/Guangdong.

Those who know our story may remember that that birthdate is hugely significant. The Lord had told me we would have to wait 5 years for Lily. My question had been 5 years from what? As the months and years moved on, the thought that He meant 5 years from Ally's age came to mind over and over...with a "we'll know when we know" assurance to it.

Ally's birthdate is 10-26-2004. You can do the math.

A year ago today, I sat staring at an email of my precious little girl who was 5 years younger than her closest sibling. 5 years.

I knew this was our Lily!

The rest of the day was a flurry of phone calls and prayer and emotion. The decision had to be made in 24 hours.

But truly, I knew, right there in the wee hours of the morning that this was Lily. He had promised. He had fulfilled!

He always does exactly what He says, exactly as He promises. He is faithful to complete what He begins. He knows all things!

So, today we rejoice and celebrate and give thanks for having looked at her little face for exactly one year!

Here is what I saw a year ago....

This is the face we kiss today...

In Him,